tuning an xe

[nutsaboutnovas]

hi people.. what are some decent power mods for the 20XE? nothing to mad just want a bit more power.. any ideas.. completely standard at the mo.. cheers guys and gals 8)

[mad-driver]

i assume the XE is in a nova? if so theres always these:

powercap (if u still have the old sfi box)
courtenay modded airbox
stainless exahust? Scorpion, magnex etc are all good on this engine ( you can pick up special manifolds fabricated to fit a 2 litre engine in a nova on ebay sometimes)

then of course you can go for head work, cams and throttle bodies etc but thats bigger monies aint it

[Stuart]

the "power cap" does fack all.

real engine work such as head work and cams are the best way to get decent power, and ofcourse ditch the std intake manifold for ITB's or Carbs.

[novaboyopr]

ive got an xe in my nova, ive got strait though exhaust, power elbow from cossvaux not the power cap, ram air induction kit, and im pushin out 168bhp everthing else is standard on the engine

[Philsutton]

go for twin carbs or tb's as stu said, none of this gay power cap stuff

[Aragorn]

im pushin out 168bhp

no, quite simply, your not!

[peester]

go for twin carbs or tb's as stu said, none of this gay power cap stuff

of course thats over ?1000's...

you need NOS... two. the power of the above for less... - however - youre bottom end may go bang - speak to a specialist and they'll advise you on that one.

[novaboyopr]

Aragorn
ive got the read outs from power enginering, its just a quick engine wots yours push if you have one

[mad-driver]

my dads has 210bhp

[Stuart]

Aragorn
ive got the read outs from power enginering, its just a quick engine wots yours push if you have one


lmao "its a goodun" thats a classic.

N2O is the best bet for "cheap" straightline speed at 1/4's etc but for long term use its not the best. But im gonna play with it later in the year/next year

[Aragorn]

its very easy to make a rolling road read what ever the hell the operator wants it to read mate

even a perfectly calibrated rolling road can be made to read wrongly deliberately by the operator
the other main issue is that the way they calculate transmission losses is a complete pile of crap, the closed system being measured with the engine engaged is completely different to the closed system being measured with the clutch in and box free wheeling (ie the resistance offered when power is being applied is NOT the same as the resistance offered when the box is freewheeling at the same RPM)

all of these factors account for wildly varying results at different rolling roads and some are much better than others, i was at dastek last month for a RR day with migweb and there was a completely stock astra with x20xev, in the end he made around 145bhp, thats about 7 over stock, was the car "a goodun" nope, it was just the rollers overreading

my bros 1.2i got 65bhp, with 50 at the wheels, i recon its actually closer to 60 at the flywheel judging by the amount the rollers overread on that astra

[NickWalliams]

So what are you sayin Aragorn??? Instead of going to a rolling road everyone should just pay you to guess their bhp???

Face it the only way to find bhp is to go to a rolling road, yeah some are better than others but just cos you think that you know best, doesnt mean you do.

xe 156bhp out the factory, they werent all exactly 156 now were they! there was probably at least a 5bhp tolerance on that.

164 is quite reasonable for a xe with a good exhaust filter and powercap.

You can gain a lot of power from just a decent exhaust system.

8)

[peester]

So what are you sayin Aragorn??? Instead of going to a rolling road everyone should just pay you to guess their bhp???

Face it the only way to find bhp is to go to a rolling road, yeah some are better than others but just cos you think that you know best, doesnt mean you do.

xe 156bhp out the factory, they werent all exactly 156 now were they! there was probably at least a 5bhp tolerance on that.

164 is quite reasonable for a xe with a good exhaust filter and powercap.

You can gain a lot of power from just a decent exhaust system.

8)

here, here. lol.

[Stuart]

a powercrap does feck all bar give you an extra on the spec sheet lol.

Rollers are inherantly inaccurate esp some of the ones that are water cooled, as the day wears on they get hotter and even more inaccurate!! lol

the only thing that can be said about RR's is that you should go there to get a base reading, do some engine work then go back to the same place in similar weather conditions etc and see what gains you had. Then just add the increase to a "guessed" base vaule lol.

the only accurate way to do it is to pay a total mint and go to MIRA or somewhere like that where they actually measure everything.

weigh the car and run it up the 1/4, that will give you the best indication of the power at the wheels.

[NickWalliams]

a powercrap does feck all bar give you an extra on the spec sheet lol.

Rollers are inherantly inaccurate esp some of the ones that are water cooled, as the day wears on they get hotter and even more inaccurate!! lol

the only thing that can be said about RR's is that you should go there to get a base reading, do some engine work then go back to the same place in similar weather conditions etc and see what gains you had. Then just add the increase to a "guessed" base vaule lol.

the only accurate way to do it is to pay a total mint and go to MIRA or somewhere like that where they actually measure everything.

weigh the car and run it up the 1/4, that will give you the best indication of the power at the wheels.

Ill agree with that :D

[Ste L]

i wouldn't personally be arsed about power figure, but more arsed how the car drives etc

[Dar]

It all depends on what you have to spend on mods. If your going to abuse the engine i.e. reving it hard etc. A good saftey option would be to fit ARP rod bolts.

Also a good mod to make the car go faster is to make it lighter, and its cheap (nothing :wink: ).

However if you have a few K to spend I can reccommend TB's.

[nutsaboutnovas]

ok so what exhaust and filters do you guys recommend.. for my nova gsi with the standard 1.6 couldn't beat the pipercross filter.. so much difference.. so there must be good and bad systems for the 20xe. i was thinking best filter best exhaust including manifold if there is a good one and then chip it or remap the ecu... any ideas??

[novaboyopr]

Aragorn
wot ever you think at least its quicker then a 1.2 saloon so it doesn't matter

[Stoo]

dunno how accurate this is but my XE put out 138 at the wheels and 165.6 at the fly! Thats with just an exhaust and a filter!

[Philsutton]

mine made 140 at the wheels with cams and twin 45s

[Stoo]

Guys said it was a strong engine, recently rebuilt so i dunno!

[Philsutton]

like said before rolling roads give different readings, best thing to do is get it on a track an see how it performs. that way you know for sure what your car is like compared to others

[Stoo]

Sounds like a plan Batman!

Although i need a Clutch/Gearbox first lol!!

[novaboyopr]

down at stratford raceway were the track has got no grip, i was wheel spinin in third and got a 14.7

[novaboyopr]

noveoclawsk16v
im with u.
Aragorn u can easly make 156bhp to 168 a power cap makes 10 bhp plus the airfilter and the exhaust easly gets it to that.
u dont no what your chattin about

[srs1]

noveoclawsk16v
im with u.
Aragorn u can easly make 156bhp to 168 a power cap makes 10 bhp plus the airfilter and the exhaust easly gets it to that.
u dont no what your chattin about

with 34 posts under your belt i think you haven't had much chance to see what aragon knows.

i'll disagree with you there i'm afraid.

i have said this to him before. he comes across all cocky but trust me. he does know quiet alot.

[Aragorn]

yer i do realise that occasionaly i come over a bit cocky or arrogrant etc and sometimes its justified and some times it isnt

what you'll find mate is that a lot of cheap mods claim huge power gains and are nothing more than advertising gimmicks, ive seen rolling road printouts where fitting a powercap LOST 5bhp from the standard engine, and ive also seen back to back tests of cone filters vs standard airbox with brand new paper filter and the results were all within experimental errors (1 or 2bhp up or down for them all including the standard filter)

and your performance exhaust is prolly very similar in flow rates etc to the standard system on a 2.0 car, remember a performance system for a 1.6 will normally only be 1.75" or 2" if your lucky, XE's had 2" systems on them from the factory

if the manufacturer spend millions designing an engine for motorsport dont u thing an item like the SFI box would be designed and sized in a way that makes the most power? if a smaller box made an extra 10hp then they'd have fitted that at the factory

your not gonna see 165 real bhp from an XE unless its been fully rebuilt and running some cams or carbs or other real mods

expecting a 100k engine with a cone filter and exhaust is gonna make more than standard power is really nonsensicle and u gotta realise that most rolling roads are terribly inaccurate

this is why i simply resort to "guessing" the bhp of the motor

my c16xe has 4 branch, no cat and full 2" system on it and i quote it as having 110bhp - thats 1 more than standard, and i know the engines in alright condition as i fitted new bearings and rings 15k ago when i baught it along with a full cylinder head rebuild, if u went by the tuners reccomendations the 4branch wouldve given me about 8bhp and the exhaust another 5bhp and a further 5bhp from the decat however i know for a fact a standard 16xe with a manifold and zorst aint gonna be anywhere near 127bhp from using novaload and migweb for the past 2 years and noting other peoples experiances etc

[mad-driver]

yer i do realise that occasionaly i come over a bit cocky or arrogrant etc and sometimes its justified and some times it isnt

what you'll find mate is that a lot of cheap mods claim huge power gains and are nothing more than advertising gimmicks, ive seen rolling road printouts where fitting a powercap LOST 5bhp from the standard engine, and ive also seen back to back tests of cone filters vs standard airbox with brand new paper filter and the results were all within experimental errors (1 or 2bhp up or down for them all including the standard filter)

and your performance exhaust is prolly very similar in flow rates etc to the standard system on a 2.0 car, remember a performance system for a 1.6 will normally only be 1.75" or 2" if your lucky, XE's had 2" systems on them from the factory

if the manufacturer spend millions designing an engine for motorsport dont u thing an item like the SFI box would be designed and sized in a way that makes the most power? if a smaller box made an extra 10hp then they'd have fitted that at the factory

your not gonna see 165 real bhp from an XE unless its been fully rebuilt and running some cams or carbs or other real mods

expecting a 100k engine with a cone filter and exhaust is gonna make more than standard power is really nonsensicle and u gotta realise that most rolling roads are terribly inaccurate

this is why i simply resort to "guessing" the bhp of the motor

my c16xe has 4 branch, no cat and full 2" system on it and i quote it as having 110bhp - thats 1 more than standard, and i know the engines in alright condition as i fitted new bearings and rings 15k ago when i baught it along with a full cylinder head rebuild, if u went by the tuners reccomendations the 4branch wouldve given me about 8bhp and the exhaust another 5bhp and a further 5bhp from the decat however i know for a fact a standard 16xe with a manifold and zorst aint gonna be anywhere near 127bhp from using novaload and migweb for the past 2 years and noting other peoples experiances etc

Its all about how the car feels under your right foot isnt it my friend

[Lee H]

Aragorn
wot ever you think at least its quicker then a 1.2 saloon so it doesn't matter

Should hope it is quicker than a 1.2 saloon but if thats all that matters to you..............

10bhp from a powercap, thats the best one i've heard in ages!! :lol: