Story starts sometime in january this year(2009)
I had been running the Pete's box for 25k kilometers.
Peter calls me one saturday evening asking me if I want to try a catback exhaust from Supersprint Italy. Custombuilt for the Swift Diesel. Needless to say, i jumped at the chance, but had to wait an agonizing 24hrs(sunday)
The CatBack
I handed the car in at Pete's bright and early on monday morning on my way to work, and rushed back during lunch break to see the work being done. I was disappointed. they had finshed the work, done testing and even cleaned the car's exterior in a few hours time.
The Car sounded nice. Not loud, almost stock in volume,except for a new bassy note that was more pronounced when the car was accelerating in gear.
car revved beautifully and i was redlining it in 4th to around 160kmph.
The driveability which was brilliant anyway with the pete's box got even better.
The Turbo
The stock turbo from KKK in the swift failed. the oil seals gave and performance dropped.
Peter to the rescue again.
A hybrid turbo from Turbodynamics UK was dropped in. Again, a bolt on fit.Again, the work done in a 2-3 hrs.
I ran in the turbo with a friend sitting in the co driver's seat slapping my wrists everytime i showed any tendency to go over the limit.
I had to run it in for 50kilometers. upto 5 psi boost for the 1st 25kms and 10 psi for the 2nd 25kms, and then I'd be free. i exploited my long lunch break to the max and got the running in done that afternoon itself. The boost gauge was showing a nice, steady 18psi by the time I got back to work
The turbo is brilliant.
spools earlier. Gives 10psi at 1500rpm in 5th even if you skip shift from 3rd gear directly to 5th. it also seems to give a higher volume of air, because the mild smoke that used to be present with all diesels due to unburnt fuel went away after the turbo upgrade
The turbo is now running in my car giving a boost of 23psi
One of these days, i'll blow the engine. but what fun!
The Fuelling
Now that the intake and exhaust were upgraded, Fuelling had to be sorted out. I had to temporarily run on the tuning box at higher setting while I waited for the new software maps to arrive.
The Remap
Still testing these. Its easy- plug in Peter's laptop- chose the appropriate file and voila-5 minutes later, "Here's your extra BHPEEEEE!"
Started with a remap from custom code that claimed a 100bhp. Sure felt like it. Was smooth, driveable and powerful, even for me, who's used to driving around with the tuning box at the 90bhp setting.
Currently trialling Remaps from Diesel inside
The max that can be squeezed out of this car is around 125bhp. Beyond that, we'll wreck the engine. at the moment, we're around that number somewhere. No numbers available for torque yet.
Remaps are a completely different game when compared to the tuning boxes. if you think the tuning boxes are magic, you'll have no words for the remaps. the engine becomes silent, more free revving and eager. the driveability goes up by leaps and bounds.
To give you an idea of how much torque is available low down- I now upshift at 1400rpm in most gears and am still faster than commuter traffic. It is now purely a point and shoot game.
downside- My clutch had been abused for 35000kms. It waved the white flag and surrendered as soon as it got hints of the massively increased torque from the remap.
The Bilsteins
This was a long standing dream for me. I had been waiting for the 1st set to arrive in india for the last 1 year. got them 2 weeks ago. Bilstein B6 with 1 lakh kilometer warranty.
It comes as a full set of Dampers and springs. Bolt on fit.
It is probably the best ride/handling balance I have ever experienced.
It is not an out and out performance suspension like the H&R coilovers that I have trialled before. and I am thankful for that.
A fully performance oriented suspension like that would take you to the dentist and chiropractor frequently. The bilsteins are perfect.
No inside wheel lift and spin while cornering hard, no darting from side to side while accelerating on rough roads. No long drwan out wheelspins on launching hard. I'm able to put down a substantial bit of that torque now.
It rides like stock below 40kmph. maybe slightly worse, but not enough to be noticeable to my wife who sits in the back seat.
The Custom Downpipe/Turboback/catalytic converter removal
In our quest to improve the flow through the engine, the section containing the catcon was replaced with a custom built down pipe. The imported option from street toys was waaay too expensive for just a foot long curved pipe.
It does make a difference.The low end got better, the turbo spooled up better
car revs easily.
The Tarox G88 rotors
A must have mod for people who like to live longer. if the car cant stop, it wont go. Feel is better. braking distances come down by a huge amount.
Suicidal not to have these even after the most basic remap.
Tyres
I'm using 205/55/R15 Yoko S drives.
The jury is still out on whether these tyes are safe above 120kmph. but below, that speed, these tyres are brilliant. and they are amazing in the wet.
i'm also undecided on whether these tyres are overkill for my car. i have a feeling 195/60/R15 would do just as good on braking and cornering without sapping my straightline acceleration.
The airfilter.
After a lot of trying, we managed to shoe horn a Green "Storm" and its CAI pipe into the engine bay. This mod is crucial. Without it, the car just wastes the richer fuelling due to shortage of air.
Engine oil
OWS turboracing
Fuel line cleaner- OWS360
It has been a long and mostly pleasant journey. And I really cant imagine driving anything else, even though there are cars that are faster.
There's been blood sweat and tears(ok-maybe not the blood).
That just makes it all the more precious.
PS- As I type this, I've been informed that the next swift has gone in to Pete's performance for a similar package. Damn! Competition!