1.9 n/a powerhouse

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:34 pm

Well, perhaps not, but (because I don't want to bother Kermit with my ignorance while he's so tied up getting his glorious workshop up and running) I wondered what can be done (within the realms of affordability and practicality) with the XUD9. Stuck with it in the Red Baron, we have discussed some options: reducing the weight of the car overall, losing the air cleaner assembly and replacing it with a lightweight cone filter set up, removing the centre box from the exhaust and having a plain pipe in its place (or a flexible one Phil mentioned?), making sure the oil, filter, coolant, glow plugs and battery were all A1 - as well as ensuring all belts and pumps were OK...

But (bearing in mind this is a Lucas pump car) is there something a little 'more' that could be considered?

anaconda · Post by **anaconda** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:07 pm

Cant really respond in terms of tech help but am interested to know what you perceive as the issue. Mine is quite nippy, decent acceleration, enough for town and motorway where I generally cruise at 75-80, overtaking is no problem. Im not the most patient driver so would probably notice if it was too laboured. My understanding is that this model was designed to cruise all day at the french motorway speed limit.

Individual perceptions of performance/comfort I suppose, but I much prefer it to my wifes Honda Civic.......obviously!

Mothman · Post by **Mothman** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:32 pm

How about fitting a turbo, go faster then!

Andy

Post by **Tim Leech** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:24 pm

Grenman wrote:How about fitting a turbo, go faster then!

Andy

I was going to say the same but resisted....

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:25 am

whip the head off and have it gas flowed/portted,

i had my 1.9 N/A D gas flowed which made it respond smoother, and she would drive round town very happy at 30mph in 4th gear,

she was economical before and this made her even more so,

regards malcolm

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:04 am

There are no issues as such, it's just that with the Challenge livery giving the car what will be a 'sporty' look, I wondered what might be possible. I like your suggestion Malcolm

.......

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:41 am

Why not drop in the engine from the Green Hornet? Or my old one, if Kermit still has it? The only reason I can see not to might be insurance, but might be worth asking for a few quotes before dismissing the idea.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:39 am

We did discuss this and felt that because there's no real problem with the existing engine, that would be making a rod for our own back (and I checked with my insurers - they said they would not be entirely happy - in fact my current underwriter wouldn't cover it with a TD engine installed)... I would say that the TXD I had went well enough and you could really hustle it around the lanes at a respectable rate, so don't get me wrong; I am only curious. Although, as I said, there will be induction/exhaust changes (which are OK with the insurers).

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 1:03 pm

Nitrous Oxide can be your friend

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 1:08 pm

the only thing with gas/flowing is if the person doing it knows what they are doing,

my last workshop landlord does cylinder head work for a liveing,

he does a lot of work for rsceing boys, cars and bikes,

regards malcolm

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 3:36 pm

MULLEY wrote:Nitrous Oxide can be your friend

Not sure about that on a diesel engine.

Might be an enemy.

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 4:16 pm

Way2go wrote:
MULLEY wrote:Nitrous Oxide can be your friend
Not sure about that on a diesel engine. Might be an enemy.

Seem to remember Fifth Gear equipping a VW Golf Tdi with nitrous, and then very nearly beating a Honda NSX in a race. Would put more strain on everything, but then diesels have to contend with quite a lot anyway, so probably makes more sense than petrol. Possibly.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 4:22 pm

Fit a 1.9TD unit and get Doc to fiddle with it?

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 11:53 pm

Even a 25bhp jet would be ample, that would give more performance than a standard TD

I did make an enquiry a while back, & i was informed that an extra 50bhp would be fine for the 1.9 n/a block. Quite whether that is actually correct or not i couldn't tell you? But i must admit i like the idea of a nos kit on the n/a, it would transform the acceleration when pressing the push to pass button

& lets face it the n/a needs every little help

Post by **docchevron** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:42 am

gas flowing is an option, an induction kit will make a tiny bit of difference, removing the centre box, hmm, might free up 1HP maybe.. turning the fuelling up a bit will give slight gains.. in essence though, yeah, nitrous would be the easiest "big" gain solution, or, fit a TD, at the end of the day, it's an old NA engine. It's never going to be a Veyron, or even a Lupo.. It is what it is, and it does it very well..