The limits of tuning a 1.9 dci.

[craggle]

I'm a little new to the dci engine so I have a few questions. I know what to do to a HDI to get 180 bhp but I'm struggling on the DCI. I've heard the turbo won't take much more than a remap. How about the intercooler? I'm aiming for 180 bhp. If the turbo won't take it I'm going to get a tuning box and then start researching and saving. If the turbo can take it to a bit more than a remap then I'll look into uprating the intercooler and piping, a decat and then go for a custom remap at RSTuning. What are the limits of the turbo, intercooler, injectors etc? Surely someone has done it? I can't be the first to want to take this engine to it's full potential, can I?

Any help or comments are most welcome.

Craggle.

[anth_dci]

buy a sport dci, 175bhp without worrying about it blowing up, will probably work out cheaper aswel.

[Poddy]

a remap and a hybrid turbo would get you to ur 180 mark.

Remaps cost £200-£300
Hybrid Turbo costs £300-£500

you might also want a bigger intercooler or hardend pipes.

im looking to do this to my kia which is a 1.6 Diesel, and after a remap, hybrid turbo, bigger intercooler and exhaust, will be sitting around the 180 mark.

[R55VYS]

apparently its the injectors and the clutch which will prevent you getting any real gains, i spoke to someone a while back, and they said that the 1.9 if you remap it much above 160bhp will eat clutches for breakfast so you will need an uprated clutch, larger injectors, probs a sports cat & full system, intercooler wont do much, unless its a red hot day, pannel filter, larger turbo and custom remap + everything above would maybes see you above that figure, depends on what your car is standard. wouldnt really bother with the tunning box if you plan to get everything above done.

As for turbos you might find somewhere that will sell reworked turbos so it will have larger bore, or better blades or something. But i dont think anyone has uprated the turbo on the 1.9 which im very supprised at as they are a right sh1tty little thing, you need to change the oil every 5k on the 1.9 to as the turbo cant handle the oil thickening up after this point. and believe me, its a big chew on when it goes.

So....

Pannel Filter - £40
Exhaust System - £350 plus fitting get done with cat maybe save some £s
Sports Cat - £250 ish plus fitting, https://www.jetex.co.uk/website/sportsca ... dia=2+inch
Hi Flow Manifold? ? ?
225 Forge Intercooler? ? ? may make no difference whatso ever £400 can be fitted yourself
uprated clutch ? ?
larger/reworked turbo ? i would of thought anything from £800 to £1600 maybes more, plus fitting (£100-£300 depending on who you know)
larger injectors ? ?
Custom remap. £400ish

So your looking at about 3k at least so you might as well just save that money and put it towards a 225 where a remap alone will take you to £265

[deni.babe]

personally mate i'd wouldn't try for the 180bhp mark unless you have a few grand to it the clutch ,turbo intercooler,pipes,injectors all need upgrading you could always look for 225 with light front damage for around the £3000 be a good project.

[Poddy]

larger/reworked turbo ? i would of thought anything from £800 to £1600 maybes more, plus fitting (£100-£300 depending on who you know)

Where are you getting your turbos? lol

[R55VYS]

larger/reworked turbo ? i would of thought anything from £800 to £1600 maybes more, plus fitting (£100-£300 depending on who you know)

Where are you getting your turbos? lol

why?

Standard turbo costs around about £600. therefore an upgradded one will cost you more depending on how daft your going to go with it.

[R55VYS]

https://www.turbodynamics.co.uk/shop.htm

Petrol performance turbos, obviously ott for the job but bearing in mind you might have to get one customised to suite you could be looking at 1600 easy

another place seems abit cheaper

https://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/index.htm

although they dont do one for the meg

[Poddy]

I am able to get a hybrid Turbo for £320 for my Kia Cee'd 'not including fitting'

[craggle]

Thanks for the replys. Firstly, I'm not looking to change my car for anything faster or more expensive. I'm planning on keeping this car for a while and spending a few grand on the engine is the plan. An RS dci is out of my league and a 225 isn't an option yet; I'm a big diesel fan and it's about time I practised what I preach. I have been banging on for years about the potential of diesels to my mates, who are all petrol heads. My last 3 diesels have been remapped/tuned but nothing really quick so this is going to be the one.

Clutch; I know the clutch will need uprating to cope with the extra power so I'll be phoning around to see who does what for this engine.

Turbo; if the turbo isn't capable of going above 160bhp then I'll look into a hybrid. I will be keeping my oil changes at 6k and using quality stuff (I've heard too many horror stories). The Derv Doctor pointed me in the right direction for a hybrid on my Escort TD, £800 fitted. So I'll give him a call to see what he can do for me on this.

Intercooler; from what I've read about tuning other diesels, a bigger front mount usually gives good gains. But if the standard one is good enough then obviously I'll keep it. Is the the standard really that good?

Injectors; I've had no experience of changing injectors before and wouldn't know where to start. 2.2 dci maybe?

So, in a nutshell, I'm not looking at changing my car, I want some big power gains and want to keep it as reliable as a French car can be. Anymore comments, advise is more than welcome.

Craggle.

[R55VYS]

Clutch - i spoke to a company a couple of year back who found me a heavy duty performance clutch for the 1.9dci, ended up sacking it off as the turbo went shortly after. it was a company in ireland called ???? brothers, maybe one of the irish lads could point you in the right dirrection, struggled finding anywhere in uk that could get me one, but that was a couple of year back so you might have more luck now.

Turbo - i think im right in saying the turbo will handle more than 160bhp how much more im not sure, but in my own experience i have found this turbo to be sh!te, and if you want some big gains a decent turbo maybe the way forward.

Intercooler - the standard 1.9dci intercooler is the same one fitted to the 225 2.0turbo, diesels dont run at as high temps as petrols so you will find that the intercooler wont make as much difference as it does on a petrol. although it may still make a difference if you are planning to mod the car quite heavily, ie larger turbo. as said i think the forge item is around £400+.

Injectors - not to sure on this topic as i briefly spoke about it with a remapping company, it may not be a case of injectors from a 2.2dci although thats may be a cheaper alternative, but if you find out the manufacturer of the standard ones, you might just need to find the next size up with a larger bore, etc, but you will probs need to speak about it with someone with some knowledge as if you go to large it will be running to rich, you may need to do the work and then see if there is a defficency? ? ?

Remap - RS Tunning, im sure will be able to offer you a custom remap, and get it on the rollers to set it up properly, Paul from there makes the remaps for the megs so if your serious about getting it done it may well be worth a run to leeds to have a chat or whatever.

As said the ITG pannel filter from themselves or k-tec has been found to give the best improvements to the 225 althought minimal, but induction kits where found to loose bhp, if this is the case with the dci im am unsure.

as i said, maybes get a sports cat and a miltek cat back system for the 225 or get a custom single exit one made if your just going to leave the body work standard.

Youll need to uprate the brakes to if you plan to do all that along with the suspension, probably some new shocks or coilovers rather than just springs, and people have given mixed reviews about the performance pads, not herd any reviews about a disc and pad set.