Modding and performance tuning parts for the Vauxhall C22LE engine!

All you need to know about "C22LE Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Vauxhall C22LE

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Vauxhall C22LE engine!"

Our friends at TorqueCars are regularly getting posts about how to improve the C22LE from people inquiring about getting more power from the C22LE and wanting to know what are the premier C22LE power upgrades. So let us look into Vauxhall C22LE parts and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Now we shall examine the options for your C22LE tuning and point out the best modifications for your car. Vauxhall C22LE great bases for a tuning project and with the right motorsport parts like a remap, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively enhance your driving pleasure.

The best C22LE parts on an engine are in our opinion the ones that give the best power gain for your hard earned cash.

We won't be swayed by popular C22LE parts, they need to be cost effective.

C22LE induction kits

Improving air intake on the C22LE

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is insufficient fuel then it will run lean, if there is too little air it runs rich resulting in lost power . We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So the aim to any performance tuning project to force more air and fuel into each cylinder but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is common that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the C22LE when loads more air is being drawn into the engine.

When tuning you may well find you need to get an air sensor or flow meter capable of upto 4 bars to cope with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped bhp at a much lower level.

Intake take the on the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

Shape and rate of flow of the Intake headers can make a noticeable difference to to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the C22LE.

Commonly we find the intake are ripe for an upgrade, although some OEM provide decently flowing intake.

Increasing the C22LE valve size, getting port matching and head flowing will also improve bhp and torque, and importantly will make space for a better bhp and torque increase on other tuning parts.

C22LE performance cam tips.

Different C22LE engines respond better to more aggressive camshaft durations than others.

The engine timing and injectors and fuel pump also will make differences on the torque gains you'll make.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large power band gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams commonly boost the bhp and torque across the rev band, you could drop a little bottom end power but the top end will improve.

Competition cams, boost the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Motorsport and race camshaft will just annoy you whilst in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your engines power to your driving style so for a car used daily stick with a fast road C22LE camshaft

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the C22LE

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

  1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
  2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
  3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
  4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
  5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
  6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
  7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 C22LE parts:

Drilled & smoothed airbox, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Intake headers, Panel air filters.

Tuning tips and articles Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

Stage 2 C22LE parts:

induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 C22LE parts:

Engine balancing & blueprinting, Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression.

The C22LE engines respond well to mods and thanks to their popularity there are increasing numbers of modifications and tuning parts around.

Mapping should help to fully realize the full potential of all the mods you've done to your C22LE.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the end result may differs on the mods you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the C22LE

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the C22LE.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

When an engine is turbo charged modifications are going to net you a larger power gain and we find turbo engines use better components.

However you'll find engines will need better parts at higher power limits

We recommend you find these limitations and install better pistons and crank to cope with the power.

It's not unheard of tuners spending a fortune on turbocharger upgrades on the C22LE only to suffer the indignity of watching the motor catastrophically fail when it's been enthusiastically driven.

Bigger capacity turbochargers tend to suffer no power at low rpm, and little turbochargers spool up much more quickly but won't have the peak rpm bhp gains.

In the last 10 years the range of turbo chargers is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbo chargers, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust flow into 2 channels and flow these at differently designed vanes in the turbo. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large bhp gains, although harder to install. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the C22LE

When you lift the torque you will need to pay attention to to the fuel system.

More torque needs more fuel. Care modifiers usually say to over specify your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 15% to the flow rate when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and provides a little spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended C22LE performance exhaust upgrades

The only time you should look to boost your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if your exhaust is creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still fine even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but avoid an exhaust that is too big or you may end up will reduce the flow rate. Stick to one and a half to two and half inches as a rule of thumb.

Typically exhaust restrictions come around the emissions filters installed, so adding a higher flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Decat pipes (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the C22LE

Like most engines an C22LE, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the C22LE, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned C22LE this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your C22LE why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about C22LE tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their C22LE.

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