Find out about "E.torQ Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Fiat E.torQ

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Fiat E.torQ engine!"

People often ask our friends at TorqueCars how to improve the E.torQ and what the best E.torQ upgrades are. So let us look into Fiat E.torQ parts and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

The Fiat E.torQ have loads of potential and with the ultimate sports parts like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will certainly improve your driving enjoyment.

Let us outline options for your E.torQ tuning and point out the optimum upgrades.

Just because particular parts are are common on E.torQ it doesn't mean you should fit it, so we'll concentrate on the best parts that will give your E.torQ the best power gain for you money.

Without us falling into the common myth of 'if it's shiny and makes more noise it must be good' you seem to get in many tuning magazines and on car forums'.

Improving air intake on the E.torQ

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

So the primary aim of any engine upgrade job is to feed air and fuel into your E.torQ but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

You'll commonly see there is a restriction in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the E.torQ when a lot more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

Intake headers take the during the engines suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Design and rate of flow of the air intake manifolds can make a big improvement to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the E.torQ.

We often see headers are crying out for performance upgrades, although a few makers provide reasonably well designed headers.

Doing some port work and head flowing will increase torque and, more importantly, allow you to increase torque on other modifications.

E.torQ performance cam tips.

Because some E.torQ engines are more responsive to long camshaft durations, each engine should be treated as a separate entity.

The engine timing, and fuel pump, and injectors also have an effect on the power gains you'll make.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the power 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.

Significant air intake, and exhaust improvements on the E.torQ can be made from cam upgrades. Changing the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the power band and power output.

NB: Fast road camshafts usually bump the power across the rev band, you could sacrifice a little bottom end bhp, but your high end rpm power will be higher.

Motorsport camshafts, bump the high end rpm power band but as a result, the car will not idle smoothly and low-end power nearly always suffers.

A competition cam will just annoy you whilst driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally match your engines power to your typical driving style so for a car driven daily stick with a mild fast road E.torQ cam

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the E.torQ

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- Constantly improve your vehicle's handling
2. Brake Upgrades- Improve the brakes even before adding power.
3. Intake- Ensure that the intake is not obstructed; use filters and intake upgrades to help with this.
4. Exhaust- As with number three, make sure there are no restrictions in the exhaust; cats are the most common bottleneck.
5. TunesRemapping, 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 larger turbo and a better-flowing intercooler will be the most powerful mods (but also one of the most difficult) for the  power gains you'll see.

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

Stage 1 E.torQ parts:

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

Stage 2 E.torQ parts:

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

Stage 3 E.torQ parts:

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

The E.torQ engines respond well to upgrades and we're pleased to see that there is a growing number of upgrades and performance parts about.

ECU flashing should help to to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your E.torQ.

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 outcome usually depend much on the mods you've done and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the E.torQ

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 help avoid 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 E.torQ.

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

When your car is fitted with a turbocharger parts are simpler to install and we find turbocharged engines will have uprated components.

However most engines will need better parts at higher power limits

See where you'll find these limits and upgrade to better quality components to cope with the power.

There are many car owners spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the E.torQ only to watch the E.torQ literally blow up on it's first outing after it's been completed.

Larger turbo units often suffer no power at low rpm, and small turbo units spool up much more quickly but don't have the top end power band gains.

In the last 10 years the market of turbos is always moving on and we are seeing variable vane turbos, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and push these at different angles in the turbo at a faster flow rate. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

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

Tips about fuel supply on the E.torQ

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so need to uprate the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a bhp hike. Experienced mechanics will tell you to over specify your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this allows for injector deterioration and allows some spare capacity should the engine require 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 E.torQ performance exhaust upgrades

You may need to upgrade your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if the current exhaust is actually causing a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the exhaust 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 generally help improve air flow out of the engine, but do not go too large or you may end up reducing the flow rate. Stick to one and a half to two and half inches as a rule of thumb.

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the filters installed, so adding a better performing alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Catalyst removal (catalysts reduce harmfull engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the E.torQ

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

The importance of oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the E.torQ cannot be overstated; failure to do so will exacerbate engine wear. On a tuned E.torQ, this is more important than ever, and your maintenance schedule should be carefully followed.

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

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: engine, fiat
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