Toyota Etios Tuning

"Thank you for reading our Toyota Etios tuning guide."

The Etios is a good project car to fill your spare time. If you do your homework then you can create an awesome Etios but don't be fooled there are lots of modified parts out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

In this article we consider Etios tuning and highlight the best modifications for your car. Toyota Etios have loads of potential and with the optimum motorsport upgrades like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will positively enhance your driving enjoyment.

 

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

 

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for car enthusiasts first priority in your Etios tuning project.

If you set the toe out to 0.8 to 1.3 degrees on the front, and add a little negative camber then cornering will dramatically improve.

We would go to a maximum drop of 21mm - 35 mm. on most models. You risk grounding out if you go lower than this.

For dramatically improved braking put better brake pads and combine this with larger brake discs.

As a word of warning please note that motorsport pads will be noisy and will need to be hot before they are effective.

In every day driving the brakes are occasionally used and won't be all that effective so source friction pads which don't need to be really hot.

Our aim in engine tuning should be to increase peak power at the top end.

 

With our advice your Etios can make some decent track times and still be a reliable daily run around.

To be completely frank and honest, on the more modest engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.

Tuning modifications.

These are the modified modifications are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you begin.

  • 1.2 L 3NR-FE I4 (petrol)
  • 1.3 L 1NR-FE I4 (petrol, South America)
  • 1.5 L 2NR-FE I4 (petrol)
  • 1.4 L 1ND-TV I4-T (diesel, India)

Getting the best tuning mods for your planned usage of the car is essential. Stage 3 motor sport mods just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best Engine Mods for your car

  1. Engine Tunes - engine tuning/remapping provides the most advantage in terms of cost savings,  aftermarket ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
  2. Fast road cams are one of the most significant mechanical changes, but they must be installed by someone who knows what they're doing and they are not always easy to source but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft.
  3. Intake and Exhaust - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD POWER in most cases, but they can help enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
  4. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - forced induction is the most efficient approach to increase air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades but provides the best gains.
  5. Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.

Typical stage 1 mods often include:
Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Sports exhaust, Suspension upgrade (drop 21mm - 35 mm.), Lighter flywheel, Remap.

Typical stage 2 mods often include:
fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head, Power/Sport clutch.

Typical stage 3 mods often include:
Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox.

Peak power is all well and good but for a drivable and fun car you need a long power band and perhaps extending the rev range.

 

The point of our hints is to give a limited introduction of car tuning modifications and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best motorsport mods and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road camshaft usually works out as one of the best NASP power modifications you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.

It improves the intake and exhaust durations and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a remap. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a motor sport cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to ramp up the fuelling.

If you find you experience flat spots and power surges after your motorsport upgrades you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Increasing the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Contrary to popular belief there is often a small if any power gain to be had by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you raise the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for Etios engines you should settle for a sports panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but do not go too big or you could very well end up with a reduced flow rate. So generally speaking, keep to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Getting a professionally ported and polished head with larger valves can fully maximise your power gains. Your clutch can lose you loads of power as the power goes up if it starts to break and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 45%. Fit a competition clutch to avoid power leak through the transmission. The best mods in our experience for your Etios are Remapping or piggy back ecu, fast road cam and air intake and exhaust.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give impressive power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block.

We've also come across some owners toying with twin charging conversions and making some seriously high power hikes.

Adding forced induction will see massive power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Superchargers are often easier to add than turbos. With a turbo the power curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it more challenging to map.

 

The nice proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them simpler to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include reducing your unsprung weight and better brake cooling. Don't forget that your choice of rubber greatly affects your cars grip and handling. It is not worth compromising performance with cheap tyres when you can buy soft compound performance tires.Large Etios alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 17 inches, although we know some of our members have fitted larger wheels with no problems.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Etios options in more detail with our Etios owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Toyota tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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