(Tu) 80SX Tuning

What little mods can I do to give it that extra bit of power? maybe a K&N, performance HT leads and performance exhaust?

Then again, I prefer handling.. loweing my 80SX has always seemed attractive, but the ride in the Bravo's are face rippingly hard as it is.

Advice and suggestions please, cheaper the better really

I've got an 80sx too. I once got a really full service (£500 w/ cam belt, I think it was) and the car felt amazing, way more lively than before. I've no idea what did it, maybe it was the new cam belt that made it feel so fresh.

That said, pumping the tyres higher than the book suggests made a fair difference. The recommended pressures look half flat to me.

The cheapest part to improve in your power-to-weight ratio is weight. You might consider removing the spare tyre (and getting a can of that foam sealant stuff and joining the RAC) and clearing out any other stuff in the boot. If you don't have many passengers, maybe remove the rear seat bench, even just the bench bit of it, or the passenger seat (you could have a cool table in there!). Don't fill the petrol tank past halfway, that's a good one. Finally, losing some driver weight is worth looking at too!

"pumping the tyres higher than the book suggests made a fair difference."

MMMmmmmmmmm, over inflate your tyres! excellent advice................

Why do manufactures set a tyre presure I wonder?

stay away from K&N

Why stay away from K&N Dave? I've herd nothing but good about their air filters. The weight thing is alright, but removing the seats and spare wheel.. one day I'll be caught high and dry, I'd only do this if I was using it as a track car. And over inflating the tyres can be dangerous. I'm a student earning pretty much **** all so I want cheaper mods, nothing to make the car super fast, in all fairness the car handles quite nicely, it's much wider and lower than all my mates cars.

oh i thought you meant an k&n induction kit, the replacement panel filters are fine. the K&N induction kits are designed all wrong

Yeah sorry fella, shoulda been more specific.. my mates told me countless times that putting tuning up that engine would be pointless due to its size.

oh mates not right, there are some induction kits that do add bhp an torque, just k&n isn't one of them
right induction, exhaust and a remap should give you about an extra 20 bhp and a lot more torque

or you could bolt in a 1.4 16v engine like what is in a stilo and do same mods to that and have about 120bhp thats 50% more power

The new engine has always seemed attractive, but my insurance is just under 2k for this car as it is.. don't really want to make it heavier. the remap and new exhaust sounds better to me.

Any recommendations for the best exhausts and remaps? I'm burried under college work, don't really have much time to research, and I'd rather use the best places when it comes to my car.

supersprint exhaust, red dot remap

Cheers Dave, much appreciated. It all sounds quite costly, Supersprint don't have any prices on their OS, how much for the engine re-map?

remap from £199

I used to have a full 4 branch manifold and decat mated to a custom straight through exhaust. That made the car VERY quick but however it was an illegal mod and the correct exhaust system has been reinstalled. Well, most of it....
Also worth considering is gearing. Try to get a 5 speed sporting gearbox as the 6 speed needs work to fit in correctly to obtain full lock. I used to run my car on 185/60s and it was very rapid. Now ive got 17s, they sapped alot of power!!!

And as for the K&N, the actual induction kit from k&n is a joke.... I have one from a punto 85 customised to fit in and work properly. When its done right theres no problem!! Its given me at least an extra 6bhp... Also look into a bigger throttle body or itbs. Im still trying to develop an itb system that will work with my current setup

It's a guide pressure. I suppose Fiat considered the original pressures were best for the original tyres or maybe best suited the ride comfort tastes of buyers and/or reviewers circa 1998. I prefer a less squidgy ride than Fiat guessed and so I run 36psi all round. That's well within spec. My tyres wear more evenly now. They're probably safer at higher speeds too, though that's not relevant to me as I rarely trouble 70..