[swiftboost]

Congrats BALAJI. Great SX4 turbo build.
What turbo is it - GT20?? or bigger. Are you running upgraded injectors.
Is the Electronic throttle control setup behaving well at idle?

Congrats again - Joe

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by devsoftech

Silly question, but is the RD ECU just a piggyback to feed "hacked" MAF values to the default ECU, or is this a complete ECU swap. Airbags, ABS, immobiliser system do they still work if using piggyback mode ?

I have this same question in my mind too. If you are using a standalone ECU, is it capable enough to interact well with the other systems present in the car like ABS, Climate control, Immobiliser etc? AFAIK, the ECU takes inputs from all these sources too, according to the PIN configuration of the DENSO ECU that controls the M16A.

[swiftboost]

RD901 ECU is usually wired to control fuel injection (pulse width) and ignition timing independently. The stock ECU takes care of other parameters like ... ABS etc.

The RD piggyback ECU works a bit differently - it enables us to add or reduce fueling (%) on the original pulsewidth decided by stock ECU. One can also alter ignition timing which again is (+ or -) based on the original ignition timing decided by stock ECU.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by BalajiShankar

After the turbo upgrade, the car was running at 7 PSI boost. When tested on the Dyno, the car was putting out 131 BHP on the wheel compared to 74 in the stock setup

INCREDIBLE. So either cars are really inefficient compared to bikes (where WHP is like 10-15% lesser at max) or Maruti makes bad cars.

[devsoftech]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

INCREDIBLE. So either cars are really inefficient compared to bikes (where WHP is like 10-15% lesser at max) or Maruti makes bad cars.

(104-74)/104 = 28% loss. That's not acceptable. But several factors can be attributed specific to this car (not sure if across all SX4's):
1. Health of OEM clutch
2. Transmission loss in a FWD setup (It is expected to be 10% loss, but Maruti's parts may be doing a bad work here). Time to review wheel bearings, C/V joints.
3. Aging car and not maintained well. (a compression ratio test can also suggest). For turbo setup, a lower CR does not hurt, and I do not see any analysis for measuring CR before/after.
I have read GTO's dyno run on stock CIVIC and it's 10% loss. 28% is very very inefficient.

Nevertheless, it encourages me to go for a dyno test on my N/A car. I'll be shocked to discover if I would have been driving with that inefficiency for all these years. Not expecting from a jap.

Also, thanks for explaining features of RD901 ECU. So the car is running on two ECU's, and RD901 takes care of fuel management.

Please validate my next assumption :
Is RD901 interfaced with the SX4's 02 sensors (both intake and exhaust or just intake) and fuel injectors,and faking inputs to the default ECU ?
Also, would appreciate the emission results post turbo build.

[swiftboost]

Im not sure how RD901 is wired up with this SX4 turbo. On my turbo Baleno, RD601 (older model) was initially wired up to run open loop (no closed loop feedback from O2 sensor). I upgraded to RD901 which again was running open loop. Later Race Dynamics upgraded the software to enable closed loop function at idle (open loop otherwise)

[srinih75]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Now this is a serious modification job done on a car. I like the performance numbers too but boy is this an expensive job.

Are the engine internals totally stock? What life can you expect out of the engine with the car in this state of tune or is this something you don't really care about.

Hi Balaji, I am interested in views about the engine life after this mod has been done. Not sure if the block was designed for this performance. Also did you check with your insurance agent on how they are planning to cover you for this mod? If this is working out well, I am thinking of trying something similar on my i10 in about couple of years from now (if my wife allows me he he)!

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by srinih75

Not sure if the block was designed for this performance.

Though the stock internals are not beefed up for a turbo, it should be no problem at all considering the boost levels the car is running. 7.5 bar should be okay for the engine. The worry starts once you get into double digit numbers and sustained high engine speeds which will cause a blow out of the engine

Originally Posted by srinih75

I am thinking of trying something similar on my i10 in about couple of years from now

Not a good idea. The i10 is a scary car to drive even with its stock power output. The height of this car being a big disadvantage. I would refrain from fiddling with a car like this.

[kutlee]

I guess you meant 7.5 psi. BHP kills the engine not PSI by itself. CFM counts!

[BalajiShankar]

Originally Posted by swiftboost

Congrats BALAJI. Great SX4 turbo build.
What turbo is it - GT20?? or bigger. Are you running upgraded injectors.
Is the Electronic throttle control setup behaving well at idle?

Congrats again - Joe

Thanks Joe. Yes, it is a GT20 turbo running at 8.6 PSI of boost. The idling behaves a little erratically initially for a few minutes and then settles down. This is evident when the AC is switched on.

[VSG12777]

Hi folks

I'm a close friend of Balaji and a car buff too. The tyres and wheels have finally been changed on the SX4! The plan was to change to 225/55/16 tyres on stock alloys, but the tire chap advised us against it, as the tyres might be a tight fit on the 6J stock rims. So the choices were either to go in for 215/60/16 tyres on stock rims, or go for new 16 inch rims and 225/55/16 tyres.

Once we saw some nice designs, we were tempted and Balaji finally decided to go for "Avant Garde" 16 inch multi-spoke rims, with Pirelli P7 225/55/16 tyres.

The car handles much better now, is much more planted and ride quality is very good as well. Braking is much better now too. And as for looks ... the car looks far better than before! I'd say the car now looks more macho with those beefy tyres, and classy with those wheels. Check out the snaps for yourselves ... Let the pictures do the talking! Posting these on behalf of Balaji, as these were taken using my Nokia E7!

---Venkat

(P.S. - That's Balaji there in one of the last few snaps, admiring the new wheels and tyres on his car! A very natural shot ... clicked just like that!)

[gopa99]

Balaji, your beast looks stock from the outside, thats the best ploy to humble many of us riding real beast looking cars with a humble sedate engine in the hood.........

Btw curious of one thing........did Red roosters alter the Catcon too? Will it pass an emission test with so much of HC burning per rev?

[suzuki san]

Hi Balaji,

Love what you have done with the SX4. This thread has been quiet for quite a while now. How is the car performing? Are you using it as a daily driver? Any downside to the turbo charging? Any issues with the engine? I also have an SX4 and would be quite willing to spend a bit on turbo charging it. Any advise would be much appreciated.

Regards,
SS

[BalajiShankar]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi Balaji,

Love what you have done with the SX4. This thread has been quiet for quite a while now. How is the car performing? Are you using it as a daily driver? Any downside to the turbo charging? Any issues with the engine? I also have an SX4 and would be quite willing to spend a bit on turbo charging it. Any advise would be much appreciated.

Regards,
SS

You are right, it has been a long time since I updated the thread. I use it daily to office, which is about 25 kms. The car is performing very well. In gear acceleration is fantastic, it pulls from 20 in 3rd gear effortlessly, which was not good in the stock SX4. Put pedal to metal in a drag and you will leave many D segment cars behind!!

RRP uses RD ECU for SX4, not HALTECH, which is much more capable. This is used for the Swift, where the HALTECH ECU works like a charm. HALTECH may also work with a non-VVT SX4. In case you have one, check with RRP on the same.

One issue I have is with idling, where it keeps hunting between 1000 to 1500RPM sometimes. I have informed RRP about this and they are yet to fix this issue.

Couple of points to consider:

1. Don't go for a piggy back ECU. This blunts the performance.

2. Go easy on the boost for the turbo. This will not wear out the engine in the long run.

3. Do not expect the same FE after the upgrade. You will probably get only 7 or 7.5 in city driving conditions.

4. Turbo cars require frequent oil change / service than normal ones.

These are some of things I can think now. Let me know if you have any other queries.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by BalajiShankar

You are right, it has been a long time since I updated the thread. I use it daily to office, which is about 25 kms. The car is performing very well. In gear acceleration is fantastic, it pulls from 20 in 3rd gear effortlessly, which was not good in the stock SX4. Put pedal to metal in a drag and you will leave many D segment cars behind!!

RRP uses RD ECU for SX4, not HALTECH, which is much more capable. This is used for the Swift, where the HALTECH ECU works like a charm. HALTECH may also work with a non-VVT SX4. In case you have one, check with RRP on the same.

One issue I have is with idling, where it keeps hunting between 1000 to 1500RPM sometimes. I have informed RRP about this and they are yet to fix this issue.

Couple of points to consider:

1. Don't go for a piggy back ECU. This blunts the performance.

2. Go easy on the boost for the turbo. This will not wear out the engine in the long run.

3. Do not expect the same FE after the upgrade. You will probably get only 7 or 7.5 in city driving conditions.

4. Turbo cars require frequent oil change / service than normal ones.

These are some of things I can think now. Let me know if you have any other queries.

Hi Balaji,

I am a bit hesitant about going for this upgrade as there is no RRP in Bombay which means if I have a problem with the car, I am stuck or will have to go to Bangalore.

1. From your post I gather you are not too happy with the RD ECU? I have the VVT SX4 which has run just 17K Kms.
2. Well understood.
3. What about fuel efficiency on the highway? I rarely use the car in the city. It is a true "highway runner"!!
4. I get my cars serviced and oil change done every 5000Kms. Would I have to do it at even more frequent intervals? That could be a bit of a downer.

Regards,
SS