Tuning C20XE?

[fleming]

Alright people.

Have taken my 2.0 16v off the road now for the winter and am about to drop the engine out for a rebuild (measure/inspect/bolts/bearings/seals etc etc.) While im at it i've decided to modify it a bit. Dont wanna spend a fortune tuning it but didnt know what would be worthwhile doing while it was all stripped? (maybe cams and pistons or maybe head work?) Have heard conflicting reports about cam performance in these motors.

What would you people recommend from experience? I see there is a few people with modified XE's on here.

Many thanks for reading this.

[Aragorn]

i think the reason for conflict is that u dont have much room to fit decent long duration/high lift cams before the valves start contacting the pistons

if u fit cams to std pistons they are not gonna do much as the only cams that fit with std pistons are very mild

if u get some proper high lift long duration cams and get the pistons pocketed to suit then you'll be fine and will infact get good gains

[david dixon]

Try some carbs 45's or 48's, I had some on when I had a valver and the power and torque hike is mint!

[Philsutton]

i have a set of QED Q42h cams they are the only ones they do that you use with your standard pistons, all the others you will need deep pocket pistons. I also have a lightened flywheel and i have some twin 45s to go on after the MOT. I shall be hoping for about 200ish bhp when all set up right.

[david dixon]

I think carbs or boddies are the way forward for valvers when I had mine I had about 3 years of fun until it went bang but by that time I had modded it to death, 48's, piper 285 cams, 2.1 pistons, flowed head ashley competiton 4 branch, mbe manegment system, 8000rpm limit. etc etc, rolling road report for 240 bhp! get modding mate! :lol:

[Philsutton]

stop teasing me :lol: i have my carbs but i cant fit them yet or drive the car damn it :lol:

[fleming]

Did those QED Q42H cams make much difference Phil or not really? Have seen them on their web site but didnt know if they produced much gain?

[Philsutton]

i'd say they gave a noticable gain over the standard cams. Over the 1/4 mile they averaged about 4/5mph quicker end speed than standard the overall time wasnt that much quicker though but that was becuase i getting crap starts.

[fleming]

I have also read about and seen people using the Courtney Group N chip. Does anyone know what kind of gains this gives and is it a worthwhile upgrade for the standard ecu?