Making A 1.6 Faster

[CTI STU 0]

Ive been given a 1.6 engine out of a '89 car

 

How can I make it quicker? I want to make it a quick engine and put it in my Cti rather than

putting in a 1.9

[sonofsam 5]

[CTI STU 0]

how easy would that be???

[skeggyrik 3]

It wouldn't be any kind of easy.

Think more along the lines of how difficult / expensive

[CTI STU 0]

It wouldn't be any kind of easy.

Think more along the lines of how difficult / expensive

 

Give that a miss then

 

So how can I make a quick 1.6 engine?

[tri_longer 25]

There is a wealth of advise available from users on the forum but I would imagine you may need to give people an idea of what your budget is and roughly how much faster do you want it to go.

 

Don't forget that making it quicker should be preceeded by making it stop and handle better.

[CTI STU 0]

There is a wealth of advise available from users on the forum but I would imagine you may need to give people an idea of what your budget is and roughly how much faster do you want it to go.

 

Don't forget that making it quicker should be preceeded by making it stop and handle better.

 

Good point, Ive been a bit vague!

 

Im going to mess about with it over time, and im in no rush to get it fitted, Dont want to spend

thousands!! just £200/£300?

I want to do a few track days and dont want any saxo's coming past me!! so as long as its quicker

than a Vtr/Vts I will be happy!!

[gti-si 0]

A K & N induction kit and a 4inch bore exhaust...

 

...is what some would want you to believe, but not on thsi forum

 

It all depends on how much money you have to spend. Its directly relational, more power = more money. Really to make noticable difference you need to be looking at a new cam, i'd say 275? Cam's with greater lift will ruin your idle. Getting some headwork done will do wonders too. But, there's not really a cheap way of doing it.

[CTI STU 0]

A K & N induction kit and a 4inch bore exhaust...

 

...is what some would want you to believe, but not on thsi forum

 

It all depends on how much money you have to spend. Its directly relational, more power = more money. Really to make noticable difference you need to be looking at a new cam, i'd say 275? Cam's with greater lift will ruin your idle. Getting some headwork done will do wonders too. But, there's not really a cheap way of doing it.

 

Im not really too worried about how much its going to cost because I will be doing over time as a bit of a project in my shed! so if it costs me £250/£300 for the cam it just means other bits will have to wait

untill the next pay day!!

I want to do a 1.6 because it was free!! and its not the Mi16 or 1.9 swap!

quite like the idea of a quick 1.6?

 

what sort of money is 'headwork'??

[GLPoomobile 958]

Good point, Ive been a bit vague!

 

Im going to mess about with it over time, and im in no rush to get it fitted, Dont want to spend

thousands!! just £200/£300?

I want to do a few track days and dont want any saxo's coming past me!! so as long as its quicker

than a Vtr/Vts I will be happy!!

 

My opinion, and I'm running the risk of being torn to shreds here, is that it will be a complete waste of time and money trying to do anything with a 1.6 8V. If you want to do it for fun and the learning experience then fine, and if you have to fit it in to some sort of race class then fine (in which case you'd be spending mega bucks to squeeze every last ounce of performance from it). But for the average guy who wants to punt his 205 along with a noticeably greater haste without spending massive amounts of money then the 1.6 8v is just not worth spending out on. I'd rebuild it to standard spec and enjoy the car as it is, and it'll be as fast as a 1.9 in most everyday circumstances.

 

And as for your reason for wanting it to be quicker, well I might as well recycle the typical argument that it's all about the driver

[VisaGTi16v 1]

You can get a good 1.9 engine off ebay for £100 or less which is less than your £2-300 budget and gives you 10-15bhp more plus you could flog the 1.6 engine

[welshpug 1,649]

stick a 16v head on it no really!!

 

do a search on XU5J4 IIRC theres been quite a few topics about this mod.

Edited July 27, 2007 by welshpug

[CTI STU 0]

I did think about rebuilding it to std spec because I am only doing it for a bit of fun and learning experience and my 1.6 seems slow compared to my last 1.6 that ive just sold??

 

My last 1.6 could keep up with my mates 1.9 down the lanes no problems but my latest one has trouble keeping up??

[CTI STU 0]

You can get a good 1.9 engine off ebay for £100 or less which is less than your £2-300 budget and gives you 10-15bhp more plus you could flog the 1.6 engine

 

But wont I have to buy all the other bits like afm, ecu Alt, etc?

[Baz 421]

It will run on all the 1.6 ecu, afm etc, but will obviously be better and at it's optimum on the correct 1.9 bits.

 

retain a 1.6 flywheel and gearbox and it should be pretty keen.

[GLPoomobile 958]

My last 1.6 could keep up with my mates 1.9 down the lanes no problems

 

Exactly as it should be

 

They drive differently, and the torque of the 1.9 might make you think it is quicker, but point to point they are both in pretty much the same league.

[steve@cornwall 100]

I did think about rebuilding it to std spec because I am only doing it for a bit of fun and learning experience and my 1.6 seems slow compared to my last 1.6 that ive just sold??

 

My last 1.6 could keep up with my mates 1.9 down the lanes no problems but my latest one has trouble keeping up??

 

CTIs are heeeaaaavvvvyyyy and, much as I luv 'em, will probably always be looking at the wrong end of a VTS when in 1.6 trim

[CTI STU 0]

CTIs are heeeaaaavvvvyyyy and, much as I luv 'em, will probably always be looking at the wrong end of a VTS when in 1.6 trim

 

[bales 1]

Good point, Ive been a bit vague!

 

Im going to mess about with it over time, and im in no rush to get it fitted, Dont want to spend

thousands!! just £200/£300?

I want to do a few track days and dont want any saxo's coming past me!! so as long as its quicker

than a Vtr/Vts I will be happy!!

 

For that sort of money the only real option is to strip your car and get some decent suspension because there isn't going to be anything that you can do to your engine that will make as big as a perfomance difference than removing weight. Plus your braking and cornering will be improved free of charge!

 

Also a saxo VTR would still come past you even if you had lots more bhp if he can drive and you can't (not saying that you can't drive but you get the idea)

[28CRAIG 2]

To make a 1.6 faster for that money spend it on brakes and suspension or get a cheap 1.8 16v engine from 406 or xsara ect and some hard work you can pick one of these up for under £100.

[danpug 1]

I'd also go for brake/suspension/tyre upgrades. My old 1.6 had 266mm brakes, leda coilovers, bilstein grp n rears, 309 shafts/wishbones, grp n top mounts and solid rear beam mounts. It handled superbly, wasn't mega fast in a straight line but was so quick and fun on twisty roads. I had the same suspension on my mi16 on bodies and i'd say the 1.6 edged it down the same lanes, it was very balanced power-handling wise compared to the mi. Failing that bolt some twin 40's on!

[brianthemagical 1]

arn't cti's base model suspended? a vts could probably keep up with a 1.9 in standard trim, with no heavy roof.

[gti-si 0]

I'd say it all depends now, on what you want from the car. If it's to keep up with Saxo VTS, without spending ALOT of money, it's not going to happen in a CTI with a 1.6 engine. There much heavier as they need to compensate for the major stregthening in the roof, as said. If it is for a mere learning curve, i'd save your bucks and buy a better engine, or even, sorry to say it, a GTI.

 

There are a few CTI's about that are very fast, but it's much harder to achieve. The 16v is the way forward these days I think, for say £600 you could get a decent cam and have some headwork done, maybe even gain 130bhp at the flywheel. For that you'd snap up a GTi6 conversion I think, dont quote me though, probably way out. So, if you want some perfromance, i'd spend your money on a GTI or 16v engine. Brakes and suspension are also money well spent.

 

In my opinion, a CTI is the wrong car to start squeezing out the horses from a 1.6 as you wont make noticiable difference without spending lots and lots. Take a look at some threads on the baord about modding the 1.6 and the cost's/work involved. Carbs/throttle boddies are good for power, but again, its not cheap and as i've stated, i think its the wrong car

 

 

Now ill quit my half pissed rant and bend over for the CTi lovers

[DaveW 6]

VTS/106 gti is much quicker than a 1.9 8v.

[Baz 421]

VTS/106 gti is much quicker than a 1.9 8v.

 

Uh oh, controversy here we come!!