Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT

BalajiShankar · 12th October 2012, 00:46

Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT

Dear Bhpians,
I would like to share my experience of turbocharging my Maruti SX4 VVT with Red Rooster Performance, which is based out of Bangalore.
RRP initially partnered with Haute Car Zone in Chennai, and that is when I got a chance to experience the thrill of being driven in a turbocharged car. Feroz Khan, fitment partner for RRP, and a modern day star in racing, took me out for a quick spin in his turbocharged Swift, and what an experience it turned out to be! A small 1.3 Liter car was as quick as a Laura TSI, with a 0 – 100 achieved in a blisteringly quick 8 seconds. It was this experience that encouraged me to go for this upgrade for my SX4.

So before we begin, here are some quick facts on the car:

Model - Maruti SX4 VVT, ZXI MT (2010 model)
Power – 104 BHP, and 145 NM of Torque
Acceleration & Top Speed – 0 to 100 in 11.8 secs: top speed – 180 KPH, as recorded by Overdrive India.
Tyres - 205/60 R16 Bridgestone Potenza GIII
Interiors – Seat covers fitted in Jeewajee Car Décor, Anna Nagar, Chennai.

I subsequently got in touch with Feroz in Chennai and Mr. Sudhir of RRP in Bangalore, who gave me the details of the package. The components involved in the upgrade have been listed below:
· Turbocharger – Garrett
· Intercooler – Garrett
· ECU – Race Dynamics
· Fuel Pressure Regulator- Turbosmart
· Clutch- Exedy
· Blow off valve - Turbosmart
· Cold Air Intake System – BMC
· Free flow exhaust - RRP
· Plumbing for the turbo - RRP

Upgrade and Initial Tests

At that time of this upgrade, Feroz was still setting up his garage to support RRP in Chennai, and hence the car had to be taken to Bangalore. It took a month for RRP to complete the upgrade. The delay was due to the Race Dynamics ECU not working correctly with the SX4 VVT model. RRP tried to obtain a Haltech ECU initially, but could not do so as they did not have one for the VVT version, hence the decision to go with Race Dynamics.

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, and 186 NM of torque as compared to 115 in the stock setup. During our road test, the car did the 0 – 100 sprint in 9.5 seconds.
So clearly, it was quite quick compared to the stock SX4, but not as quick as I expected it to be. I also noticed a considerable amount of turbo lag, and as a result, the in gear acceleration suffered a lot. I expressed my concern to RRP but did not get a favorable response immediately. Feroz however promised me that he would take this up with RRP at a later point in time.
Issues post upgrade

After about 2 months of usage the car started developing problems. There was excessive smoke from the exhaust, misfire sounds from the exhaust, and choking near 5000 RPM in all gears. This was very disheartening, and I immediately contacted Feroz and explained the situation. He was very helpful in testing the car and promised to fix all these issues free of cost. He also agreed that the tuning was done very conservatively and the car was definitely not performing as well as it should.

Retuning at RRP

Feroz spent a lot of time in identifying all the issues while in Chennai, and then took the car back to Bangalore for a complete re-tuning exercise. The main problem was identified with the RD Piggy Back ECU used on the car. Apparently it was not working well along with the stock VVT ECU. RRP then procured a standalone ECU from RD and fitted it on the car. In this context I would like to thank Mr. Kayan for his help in trying out multiple maps along with Feroz before finalizing the map that suited the car best. The boost was increased from 7 to 8.6 PSI, the car now producing a whopping 142 BHP, and 216 NM of torque at the wheel. I guess the figures at crank could be around 160 BHP and 240 NM of torque, not sure though.

Tests post retuning

The car is a complete beast now! 100 comes up in the low 8 second range, with the 205 section Tyres spinning a lot during full throttle in first and second gears. With better Tyres and springs, the car should post much better times. The best part is that the drivability has phenomenally improved. For example, 20 – 80 in 3rd gear comes up in 10 seconds flat and 40 – 100 in 4th gear comes up in 12 seconds. Compared to the stock car, this is faster by 5 and 8 seconds respectively. The car was able to get to 200 KPH very easily at 5200 RPM in 5th gear, still a good 1300 RPM left!
Possible Upgrades in the future
· 225/55 R16 Tyres to improve grip and stability
· Tein Suspension or better springs / dampers
· Mintex performance brake pads

That sort of concludes this article. I have shared the Dyno graphs taken at 7 and 8.6 PSI, and engine bay photos. I have also uploaded photos of the seats, fitted by Jeewajee Car Décor, who have done an excellent job in fitting the same.
Please post your comments and do let me know if you want any further details regarding this upgrade.

Thanks
Balaji

MutantX · 12th October 2012, 09:53

Total gain is around 60 wheel bhp which is great. What is the total cost of the mod!! I am sure it would have costed atleast 50% of the OTR of the Sx4 but well worth it.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 12th October 2012, 10:02

What was the total cost of the modifications? And how rev-happy is the setup? Stock SX4 is not that rev-happy IIRC (I havent tried the VVT version though).

EDIT: Your car is one ultimate sleeper (in the indian context of course). From the exterior looks - with stock alloys and that light blue paint job - no one would expect that SX4 to pack so much of muscle under the hood. Some might even think its a stock SX4 that smoked them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by F150

The total gain is 30 HP.

How would that be?

The stock car produces 104 hp, but dyno showed it put 74hp at the wheels. After the mod - the car now has 142 hp at the wheel!

F150 · 12th October 2012, 10:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

How would that be?

The stock car produces 104 hp, but dyno showed it put 74hp at the wheels. After the mod - the car now has 142 hp at the wheel!

Ooh. OK.

First graph showed 131 HP. I subtracted 104HP from it and arrived at 30HP.

So its 142HP - 74HP. Gotcha. Thanks for correcting me

brraj · 12th October 2012, 10:26

Your car is a sleeper dude.

Last i remember somebody turbocharging SX4 is memo45_m who is a member here.

How many kms does your car gives for a full tank?

Which tyres are you planning for the beast in size 225/55 R16?

arvind71181 · 12th October 2012, 10:30

Great!!! Only one question, how much did it cost?

Also, are you planning on changing the suspension, brakes etc to match the increased power?

aravind.anand · 12th October 2012, 10:58

Looks very interesting and tempting. Now the car just begs for bigger alloys (16 inches are good, but 142 horses deserve more!) RRP, though they don't get things right in the first attempt, they do free of cost repairs and really impress the customers. I would definitely consider RRP when they set up shop in Chennai.
Kudos to your mods, I would be watching this space for further upgrades

mayankjha1806 · 12th October 2012, 12:17

With Disc/Drum combination in braking is the car's braking confidence inspiring?

With so much power under the hood, i feel the braking is insufficient as far as SX4 is concerned. Would love to hear the impression after few runs.

BalajiShankar · 12th October 2012, 13:21

Friends,

First of all, thanks for all the feedback. I will try and asnwer all your questions now:

1. Cost:

Turbocharger & Intercooler - 65000
ECU - 47000
Fuel Pressure Regulator- 11000
Performance Clutch - 35000
Blow off valve - 10000
BMC CAI - 13000
Free flow exhaust - 23000
Plumbing for the turbo - RRP 20000

2. FE - I tested the FE when I drove it back from Bangalore to Chennai. The car was running 7 PSI boost at that time. I got an overall 13.5 KMS / Litre, with rips to 180 KPH a few times! Within the city, I got 8.5 KMS, max 9. I have not done a FE test with the current 8.6 PSI boost. Will do the same and let you know. With this state of tune, I am expecting 7 or 8 KMS max in the city. Anything more would be expecting too much I guess.

3. Brakes, Tyres and Suspension - As I have mentioned earlier, I need to upgrade Tyres, Brakes and suspension to support the increase in power. I think Mintex brake pads cost around 8K. That is the first thing I want to change, as the stock pads are not good enough. Will change tyres and springs later.

I want to continue this thread so that I can get some good tips from you all.

To start, which brand of tyres do you recommend? I want to stick to 16 inch, as 17 inch rims might affect ride quality a lot.

Thanks

sudhiryr · 12th October 2012, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MutantX

Total gain is around 60 wheel bhp which is great. What is the total cost of the mod!! I am sure it would have costed atleast 50% of the OTR of the Sx4 but well worth it.

The gain is 67 BHP at wheels after the retune, which is very good....

mempheS.D · 12th October 2012, 14:14

That engine bay now looks KILLER. What's that red pipe across the engine?

The best part about the upgrade is that the car still looks sedate from the outside. So, one couldn't really tell from the looks that there's a performer under the hood. I like that.

Blue Thunder · 12th October 2012, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

... What's that red pipe across the engine? ...

If I have understood the connections correctly, I think that red pipe is connecting the intercooler to the intake manifold.

karan561 · 12th October 2012, 14:37

Congratulations BALAJI , this truly is a great example of a SLEEPER CAR, Also upload a video soon of the BOV sound.

Keep the streets safe

brraj · 12th October 2012, 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by BalajiShankar

1. Cost:

Turbocharger & Intercooler - 65000

ECU - 47000
Fuel Pressure Regulator- 11000
Performance Clutch - 35000
Blow off valve - 10000
BMC CAI - 13000

Free flow exhaust - 23000
Plumbing for the turbo - RRP 20000

So totally 224000 for 8.xx boost.

- Since when did Rd standalone ECU cost 47k? last i heard it was around 35k.
- I have installed FreeFlow and Headers for Swift 1.3zxi costing 10k from Raj hingorani.

What about labour?

sindabad.sailor · 12th October 2012, 15:09

SX4 comes with quite decent braking system. Have found it work charm even when at 140 kmph.
If one is not in a racing mode always, does one need the higher performance braking.

I picked up a 2011 SX4 ZXi recently which i think was killer price. I was looking for similar mods.

Would keep closely watching this thread to get long term reliability feedback before I plunge in.

The earlier thread on SX4 turbocharging, the cost of modwas coming close to 5 Lac. This one with performance clutch etc at 2.2 Lac seems quite reasonable.

All the best for a long term reliable ownership.

Rgds.

12th October 2012, 00:46	#1
BalajiShankar Newbie Join Date: May 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 21 Thanked: 48 Times	Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Dear Bhpians, I would like to share my experience of turbocharging my Maruti SX4 VVT with Red Rooster Performance, which is based out of Bangalore. RRP initially partnered with Haute Car Zone in Chennai, and that is when I got a chance to experience the thrill of being driven in a turbocharged car. Feroz Khan, fitment partner for RRP, and a modern day star in racing, took me out for a quick spin in his turbocharged Swift, and what an experience it turned out to be! A small 1.3 Liter car was as quick as a Laura TSI, with a 0 – 100 achieved in a blisteringly quick 8 seconds. It was this experience that encouraged me to go for this upgrade for my SX4. So before we begin, here are some quick facts on the car: Model - Maruti SX4 VVT, ZXI MT (2010 model) Power – 104 BHP, and 145 NM of Torque Acceleration & Top Speed – 0 to 100 in 11.8 secs: top speed – 180 KPH, as recorded by Overdrive India. Tyres - 205/60 R16 Bridgestone Potenza GIII Interiors – Seat covers fitted in Jeewajee Car Décor, Anna Nagar, Chennai. I subsequently got in touch with Feroz in Chennai and Mr. Sudhir of RRP in Bangalore, who gave me the details of the package. The components involved in the upgrade have been listed below: · Turbocharger – Garrett · Intercooler – Garrett · ECU – Race Dynamics · Fuel Pressure Regulator- Turbosmart · Clutch- Exedy · Blow off valve - Turbosmart · Cold Air Intake System – BMC · Free flow exhaust - RRP · Plumbing for the turbo - RRP Upgrade and Initial Tests At that time of this upgrade, Feroz was still setting up his garage to support RRP in Chennai, and hence the car had to be taken to Bangalore. It took a month for RRP to complete the upgrade. The delay was due to the Race Dynamics ECU not working correctly with the SX4 VVT model. RRP tried to obtain a Haltech ECU initially, but could not do so as they did not have one for the VVT version, hence the decision to go with Race Dynamics. 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, and 186 NM of torque as compared to 115 in the stock setup. During our road test, the car did the 0 – 100 sprint in 9.5 seconds. So clearly, it was quite quick compared to the stock SX4, but not as quick as I expected it to be. I also noticed a considerable amount of turbo lag, and as a result, the in gear acceleration suffered a lot. I expressed my concern to RRP but did not get a favorable response immediately. Feroz however promised me that he would take this up with RRP at a later point in time. Issues post upgrade After about 2 months of usage the car started developing problems. There was excessive smoke from the exhaust, misfire sounds from the exhaust, and choking near 5000 RPM in all gears. This was very disheartening, and I immediately contacted Feroz and explained the situation. He was very helpful in testing the car and promised to fix all these issues free of cost. He also agreed that the tuning was done very conservatively and the car was definitely not performing as well as it should. Retuning at RRP Feroz spent a lot of time in identifying all the issues while in Chennai, and then took the car back to Bangalore for a complete re-tuning exercise. The main problem was identified with the RD Piggy Back ECU used on the car. Apparently it was not working well along with the stock VVT ECU. RRP then procured a standalone ECU from RD and fitted it on the car. In this context I would like to thank Mr. Kayan for his help in trying out multiple maps along with Feroz before finalizing the map that suited the car best. The boost was increased from 7 to 8.6 PSI, the car now producing a whopping 142 BHP, and 216 NM of torque at the wheel. I guess the figures at crank could be around 160 BHP and 240 NM of torque, not sure though. Tests post retuning The car is a complete beast now! 100 comes up in the low 8 second range, with the 205 section Tyres spinning a lot during full throttle in first and second gears. With better Tyres and springs, the car should post much better times. The best part is that the drivability has phenomenally improved. For example, 20 – 80 in 3rd gear comes up in 10 seconds flat and 40 – 100 in 4th gear comes up in 12 seconds. Compared to the stock car, this is faster by 5 and 8 seconds respectively. The car was able to get to 200 KPH very easily at 5200 RPM in 5th gear, still a good 1300 RPM left! Possible Upgrades in the future · 225/55 R16 Tyres to improve grip and stability · Tein Suspension or better springs / dampers · Mintex performance brake pads That sort of concludes this article. I have shared the Dyno graphs taken at 7 and 8.6 PSI, and engine bay photos. I have also uploaded photos of the seats, fitted by Jeewajee Car Décor, who have done an excellent job in fitting the same. Please post your comments and do let me know if you want any further details regarding this upgrade. Thanks Balaji Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Technocrat : 12th October 2012 at 02:28. Reason: Added Formatting for better readability, thanks
	(35) Thanks

12th October 2012, 09:53	#2
MutantX BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Madras Posts: 868 Thanked: 93 Times View My Garage	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Total gain is around 60 wheel bhp which is great. What is the total cost of the mod!! I am sure it would have costed atleast 50% of the OTR of the Sx4 but well worth it.
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 10:26	#5
brraj BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 913 Thanked: 1,282 Times	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Your car is a sleeper dude. Last i remember somebody turbocharging SX4 is memo45_m who is a member here. How many kms does your car gives for a full tank? Which tyres are you planning for the beast in size 225/55 R16?
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 10:30	#6
arvind71181 Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: TN-14 Posts: 1,095 Thanked: 1,691 Times	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Great!!! Only one question, how much did it cost? Also, are you planning on changing the suspension, brakes etc to match the increased power?
	(1) Thanks

12th October 2012, 10:58	#7
aravind.anand Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Madras <-> Cbe Posts: 2,085 Thanked: 5,687 Times View My Garage	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Looks very interesting and tempting. Now the car just begs for bigger alloys (16 inches are good, but 142 horses deserve more!) RRP, though they don't get things right in the first attempt, they do free of cost repairs and really impress the customers. I would definitely consider RRP when they set up shop in Chennai. Kudos to your mods, I would be watching this space for further upgrades
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 12:17	#8
mayankjha1806 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,160 Thanked: 978 Times View My Garage	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT With Disc/Drum combination in braking is the car's braking confidence inspiring? With so much power under the hood, i feel the braking is insufficient as far as SX4 is concerned. Would love to hear the impression after few runs.
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 13:21	#9
BalajiShankar Newbie Join Date: May 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 21 Thanked: 48 Times	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Friends, First of all, thanks for all the feedback. I will try and asnwer all your questions now: 1. Cost: Turbocharger & Intercooler - 65000 ECU - 47000 Fuel Pressure Regulator- 11000 Performance Clutch - 35000 Blow off valve - 10000 BMC CAI - 13000 Free flow exhaust - 23000 Plumbing for the turbo - RRP 20000 2. FE - I tested the FE when I drove it back from Bangalore to Chennai. The car was running 7 PSI boost at that time. I got an overall 13.5 KMS / Litre, with rips to 180 KPH a few times! Within the city, I got 8.5 KMS, max 9. I have not done a FE test with the current 8.6 PSI boost. Will do the same and let you know. With this state of tune, I am expecting 7 or 8 KMS max in the city. Anything more would be expecting too much I guess. 3. Brakes, Tyres and Suspension - As I have mentioned earlier, I need to upgrade Tyres, Brakes and suspension to support the increase in power. I think Mintex brake pads cost around 8K. That is the first thing I want to change, as the stock pads are not good enough. Will change tyres and springs later. I want to continue this thread so that I can get some good tips from you all. To start, which brand of tyres do you recommend? I want to stick to 16 inch, as 17 inch rims might affect ride quality a lot. Thanks
	(6) Thanks

12th October 2012, 14:14	#11
mempheS.D BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 536 Thanked: 219 Times	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT That engine bay now looks KILLER. What's that red pipe across the engine? The best part about the upgrade is that the car still looks sedate from the outside. So, one couldn't really tell from the looks that there's a performer under the hood. I like that.
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 14:37	#13
karan561 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 5,068 Thanked: 22,246 Times View My Garage	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT Congratulations BALAJI , this truly is a great example of a SLEEPER CAR, Also upload a video soon of the BOV sound. Keep the streets safe Last edited by karan561 : 12th October 2012 at 14:49.
	() Thanks

12th October 2012, 15:09	#15
sindabad.sailor BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Pune Posts: 253 Thanked: 76 Times	Re: Turbocharged Maruti SX4 VVT SX4 comes with quite decent braking system. Have found it work charm even when at 140 kmph. If one is not in a racing mode always, does one need the higher performance braking. I picked up a 2011 SX4 ZXi recently which i think was killer price. I was looking for similar mods. Would keep closely watching this thread to get long term reliability feedback before I plunge in. The earlier thread on SX4 turbocharging, the cost of modwas coming close to 5 Lac. This one with performance clutch etc at 2.2 Lac seems quite reasonable. All the best for a long term reliable ownership. Rgds.
	() Thanks