TurboClub

Engines: some are good, some are crap

I personally think the mk1 Uno engine is fantastic and one of the best for its time easily.

The following guide to modifying engines is based on my own knowledge and bits I've nicked from elsewhere, so make your own mind up about whether its any good! It's mainly aimed at the mk1 engine but most of the theories apply to the mk2.

Consider this to be a 'stage 1' level of modification, which is what most uno owners will be happy with.

I'll start with airflow into the engine: Engines like nice cold, dense air, so anything you do to achieve this is beneficial. Most people will go for a decent induction kit like the K&N 57i, or Pipercross one, which bolt onto the end of the airflow meter. They will also come with a length of tubing to run to the bottom of the bumper which will duct cool air up to the filter. You can get some very posh and expensive filters made from carbon or aluminium but unless you want to be really flash and show off there's no need really.
The air will then flow through the turbo where it gets compressed before entering the engine. The wastegate controls the level of boost and is non adjustable on the Uno. So, the way to increase the boost is to fit a bleed valve which fits in place of the little tube from the compressor housing to the wastegate. You can get 2 or 3 way ones, the 2 way ones are a bit crude and just restrict the flow whereas the 3 way ones bleed off air making them a bit better.

The Intercooler is the next step, and on the Uno it won't tend to blow apart like on Renault 5's, but it is a bit small and doesn't get very efficient airflow through it. You could leave it, but the best bet would be to source a Sierra Cossie one and squeeze it in, you can pick a second hand one up for about £60.

Dump valves; bin the standard one its boring and doesn't go woosh, admit it thats why you want one! Yes yes they're supposed to prevent pressure build up hence turbine stalling but this isn't a race car its a hot hatch, so buy a Bailey twin piston dump valve; it goes tish and doesn't have the idling problems associated with the standard 'Le Mans' ones or other types.

Then into the Plenum Chamber which has a pressure cutout switch, as you will be running more boost, unplug it but be careful with the bleed valve! The standard cutout operates at 0.86bar, and if your engine and clutch are in reasonable condition you can turn the boost up to 0.9-1.0 bar.

On the end of the fuel rail is the standard fuel pressure regulator, now many people like to fit the FSE Power Boost Valve, but I've heard stories about them, some say they work really well, increasing the fuel rate from 1:1 to 1:7, but a rolling road told me that they fitted one to an Uno and it wouldn't idle and ran like a bag of spanners. If anyone has had really good results then let me know!

Fuel wise, it makes sense to fill up with Super Unleaded and use an octane booster/oct boost+ lead replacement depending on whether your car takes unleaded petrol or not. Castrol make a good one.

To get the power to the ground your clutch needs to be working well enough to cope with the increase in performance. At this level of tune the normal fast road efforts like Max-torq or Black Diamond ones are sufficient. Expect to pay about £100 for one.

Next in the combustion chamber this is where all the fun happens. People rave on about all different types of spark plugs but I personally use Champion Double Copper Core jobs cos they're cheap but have a good level of performance. Same for plug leads, the Magnecor ones may be so good God uses them on his Skyline but unless your engine is so highly tuned that you'd notice the difference over Halford's Hotleads ones, then why fork out too much?

As far as head gaskets go the fiat one will be fine for up to a bar of boost, if your changing the gasket then make sure you use new stretch bolts etc.

And finally out of the engine, in general turbo'd cars like completely free flowing exhausts, so anything of a reasonable diamter will be ok, i.e. Scorpion, or you could get your own design made up by Powerflow or Longlife, they have outlets all over the country. OMP do one which is road legal but has no silencer! Very cheap too, has anyone ever tried it?

Have fun

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