Technical I was wondering....

[CyberMunky]

A better solution is to use a K&N replacement panel filter, as this keeps the hot and cold air intakes plus gives you the advantages of a less restrictive filter. But for those who want the 'looks' of a performance air filter they're not that popular.

Shot dude, will keep that in mind.

 

[jjhepburn]

Hmmm we've fired up an interesting debate

This is one thing I like about Uno owners we don’t simply whack on a K&N because that’s what all the others do, we actually think about it and weigh up the pros and cons

SO a serious look at what we get (from what I can see):

Pros: Less clutter, slightly better high end performance (with some other adjustments), better sound, and looks nicer (apparently).

Cons: Expensive (for what you get), doesn’t really make that much difference, doesn’t work well in the cold, without other work can make the car harder to drive and more unreliable, can accelerate engine wear.

Personally I rather like the style of the original filter box, nice and clean with a big FIAT badge on the top of it. I recently replaced the filter cartridge in mine and it does make a noticeable difference to performance and economy.

I was talking to Alex on the phone last night and we were in agreement that this kind of mod is probably more suited to the Turbo ie along with free flow exhaust etc.

 

[distortionrockets]

well im only speaking from my own experiences and this is what ive found so far:-

car starts as normal
better acceleration
higher top speed
great sound
easier to keep engine bay clean
no problems in cold
no engine wear YET

only downside so far is the buying cost and by the summer mine will need cleaning.

il obviously keep you posted when/if engine parts do wear out!

k&n panel filter is obviously the sensible option. just a shame im not sensible

 

[Chas Uno]

well im only speaking from my own experiences and this is what ive found so far:-

car starts as normal
better acceleration
higher top speed
great sound
easier to keep engine bay clean
no problems in cold
no engine wear YET

only downside so far is the buying cost and by the summer mine will need cleaning.

il obviously keep you posted when/if engine parts do wear out!

k&n panel filter is obviously the sensible option. just a shame im not sensible

Hmm, better acceleration just from fitting a K&N? I must admit that when mine is fitted, it sounds as if it accelerates better, but without testing with accurate timing lights both with the K&N and without it, it can be hard to tell just how much (if any) extra power/ acceleration has been gained.

I used to read many of the older car tuning magazines (Street Machine, Custom Car, Car & Car Conversions etc.), and it was often interesting to read the articles when they did a group test of the same car. They would get a whole load of the same car together, ranging from bog standard to highly modified. Then they would test them for performance and power.

It was very interesting to see that some of the cars with a whole host of performance goodies, and which the owners swore had made the car much quicker than standard, were actually LESS POWERFUL than the standard car when tested on the dyno and against the timing lights! However, because the free flow exhausts/ manifolds/ air filters/ wild camshafts/ big valve heads etc. etc. made a raucous noise when going for it, the owner was convinced it was producing big power...

The above mentioned magazines also used to test things like air filters and exhausts from different manufactures, and they would use the same standard car for each test to get an accurate comparison. Suffice to say, most airfilters made very little (if any) difference on their own, but when fitted in conjunction with a gas flowed head, different camshaft, tubular exhaust manifold/ less restrictive back box AND set up properly on a rolling road (attention paid to ignition settings, dwell angles, fuel ratios etc.) only THEN was extra power was released.

So armed with this knowledge, you'll have to forgive me for being cynical about alledged power claims! Until I see the before and after 1/4 mile timing slips from Santa Pod, and the before and after prints from the dynometer I will assume that any engine modification(s) have made bugger all difference

The problem with the FIRE engine is that the 999cc head, and especially the camshaft, is restrictive. Unless the head can flow more air, the free'est flowing air filter in the world won't make much difference other than making the air/ fuel mixture weak. And of course, then you have to take into account how good the exhaust system is - how well does the exhaust manifold 'extract' gases, how much does the back box restrict air flow? etc.

Engine tuning for power is far, far more than just changing one part. EVERYTHING has to be taken into consideration, and all modifications have to compliment each other. A big valve head and a too large bore 'free flow' exhaust will actually conflict with each other for instance. Every modification has to be carefully tested and thought out, and really unless a before and after test is done on a dynometer it's impossible to say whether power has increased or not.

Anyway, I digress! Back to a couple of points on the K&N.

Cold running problems are more likely to occur on carburetor models (of which I have), rather than SPI fuel injection. I ran my K&N up until November, when it got cold and I started getting all the classic icing symptoms, so I swapped it back for the original airbox. I've been meaning to put the K&N back on now that the weather has warmed up, but have been so busy I haven't got round to it. Plus it needs a clean first

Engine wear should NOT be a problem with a K&N, as long as it is cleaned and oiled as specified. Only if it is allowed to dry out will it be a problem as then microscopic particles will get through the filtration and into the engine.

Ironically, though a lot of people don't like the look of the standard air filter, its overall design is way, way better than any stand alone performace airfilter! That's why the replacement panel K&N would give the owner the best of both worlds, but then again the engine bay wouldn't look as cool

Other than that, well, I think every thing else has been covered! I'll report back when I finally get my K&N fitted again and say whether it really does seem to make the engine more powerful or not. I didn't notice it last year, so I might try and swap the air filters back and forth a few times and really try and see if there is a difference.

Chas

 

[M@nticore]

That's true,when people do fit filters or an exhaust, the sound actualy makes it feel quicker, but it's not or the improvement is minimal.
Like my brother, he goes and gets a tailpipe fitted and then comes and tels me that his car feels quicker, bulls#it, so I just laughed

 

[jjhepburn]

Ha,

This reminds me of when I was a little kid, we had a 250cc Quad bike and I was convinced it went faster in 2nd gear simply because it made a huge noise! I quickly figured that one out

 

[jjhepburn]

One other thing.

Dont get me wrong I am not totally against making an uno go faster, in fact I think its great people are trying. Those of you who have pulled a FIRE engine apart will know that it is a well engineered engine which has been tuned very conservatively (particularly the 999cc, putting a better cam shaft in that sucker I think will make a noticeable difference). The engine is very tuff and could easily handle alot more power.

The reason I dont do it is because it seems like alot of money. The cost of doing the engine hot up is probably way more than just going out and buying a UT.

I was looking at giving a 998cc mini engine a complete rebuild, so I phoned the mini guy and asked for some prices and he just said "Why not just get a 1275cc engine, the cost of all this will be the same on that engine and you will get a much better engine out of it". So I decided to stick with the original 848cc engine

So the moral of the story is, before starting work on hotting up a car, start off with a hot car like a UT...

 

[F R O S T Y]

You cant expect any significant power gain by adding a single performance part, everything sold has been cleverly marketed so keep that in mind, what it says on the box isnt always what you get. lol
what i mean is that any mod such as an air filter for example, although it may claim to give you an extra 20bhp increase in performance or whatever on the box that 20bhp is more likely to be gained inconjunction with other modifications in the engine such as a gas flowed head, exhaust system etc. Keep that in mind, the perfomance gain you will acheive will be very minimal by just changing your standard air filter to a k&n induction kit on your uno. It will sound nice and look cool though

F R O $ T Y

 

[CyberMunky]

So the moral of the story is, before starting work on hotting up a car, start off with a hot car like a UT...

I wanted one at first but my dad heard from someone who hread from someone that they are no good ones left, all half broken and stuff. So that just went down the drain .

One more thing, those disposable air filters, they are not suposed to be cleaned are they?

 

[distortionrockets]

no. just buy a new one. their very cheap.

and another thing, my K&N is massive, with an air pipe running from the front grill to the kit.
my kit my have made more of a difference than your carb one did

 

[thepottleflump]

I wanted one at first but my dad heard from someone who hread from someone that they are no good ones left, all half broken and stuff. So that just went down the drain .

I would suspect tgat there are only a few good ones left, most will have past through many owners and likley neglected. That shouldn't stop you, a restoration project in the making.