Easy mods to get a bit more out of it include -
Performance air filter (no need to get an expensive induction kit on a TF)
Good stainless exhaust (TT, Daytona, Blueflame, Miltek etc)
Stainless manifold & downpipe - wouldnt bother with a de cat.
Re map
Iridium spark plugs

It should already have a 52mm throttle body I think.

After that it gets a bit more expensive.

Before you aim for more speed I would make sure the tyres are of a recommended brand for a TF as they are VERY fussy about their tyres & matching all round.
Also the brakes are good & working as they should?

 

£200 for remap on the 14th Jan

food for thourght

Ta-tar for now

 

The engine has already been tuned at the factory, from 115 BHP to 133.

 

I suspect there are no really sensible ways of squeezing significantly more umph out of a TF engine. The factory did quite a good job. If you want to go a little faster, at the expense of using a lot of revs, trade the 135 in for a VVC! (I think that underlines that the 135 is tuned pretty well up to the sensible maximum. i.e. The only way forward for the factory was VVC).

The 135 is certainly not spectacularly quick, but the engine revs very freely, and yet it's also very flexible. And economical.

If you've got good'un, hang on to it and enjoy! I would agree, though, that a slightly sportier exhaust makes the car sound more like a sports car should.

I hope you have many quick and trouble free miles in your TF, and that you don't get too lined a face (caused by constant grinning).

 

After carrying our what is on Mr Slippy's list you could start to get the low % effects such as using sanding and grinding techniques to smooth your inlet manifold and match it to your cylinder head inlet ports.

This is satisfying work usually and may yield a few lbft and bhp.

 

CHEAP: Air Filter, decent plugs and a service.

 

Thanks so much for the replies guys. Much appreciated.
I think i'll start off simple with a Tune Up and decent plugs and maybe a decent filter. Then we'll take if from there. I was just niggled when I posted the question as some Volvo diesel had quite effortlessly blown me away. I'm over it now. I mean, he still has a Volvo Diesel after all.

I bought the car because i'm getting a company car when I get back to work on Tuesday so out went the Laguna and in came the MG for a bit of weekend fun. I even managed to get the roof down today and I was pleasantly surprised at just how cosy it stayed even without the Wind Deflector up.

It appears to be fairly water tight- after jiggling the roof into place a little!
Anyway, I look forward to chatting a little in the future.
Thanks again.

 

don't be too annoyed at the volvo blowing you away - some of them are damned quick!! even the D5 models - (i should know being a ovlov owner myself) :broon:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_kw3TLoQgw lol

Volvo with a RB25 skyline engine

but i did see one at Trax i think it was that had a RB26, 2.6l stright6 twin turbo engine in it

500+ bhp and 4wd in a standard looking volvo estate

 

hey bud, welcome to the fantastic world of TF ownership

sadly the words "cheap, effective and tuneing" dont tend to meld together well

everything cheap and easy was done at the factory

but yes there are easy ways to gain some power and drivability without spending the world

When looking at tuning a car/engine I always ask myself 2 questions.

1. What can be done to make it as good as the day it left the factory

2. What restrictions did the manufacturer put on the car to make it legal/user friendly which could be removed to release potential.

Number 1 question almost always has the same answer. First of all a very good service on the engine, this is essential if you dont know when the car was last done.

if they are close to due do the belts and water pump

new filters (oil, air and fuel)
new oil (good stuff)
new spark plugs (good ones, NGK platinum are always good in a K series)

your car left the factory with something like 134bhp. you can get as much as 20bhp back from an engine with a truly good service.

now have a check of all your suspension bushes and TREs (see my guide if your not mechanically minded, it explains things in a simple way)

any play in bushes etc should indicate replacement asap. If your TF doesnt handle like a sports car then dont be chucking £500 at a set of shocks/springs, she might just need some worn bushes replacing

If you do all this then you know you've got a really good starting point. Also you have an opportunity to replace things that need doing anyway with something better. A classic example is the air filter. itg panel filter will make the induction noise sound better and also gain your a pony or two and is only maybe £25 more than a paper one (which wares out remember. itgs dont, they will last a life time) you can also replace bushes with poly bushes - good times! you are giving yourself them at a reduced price remember because youd have to keep replacing rubber ones


OK

Question 2

The TF is an older car, this is great as it didn't have to meet truly strangling laws on emissions and stuff* but lots of potential is being lost in the cars mapping and emissions

1st I dont entirely agree with someone who posted above, a De-Cat (as long as your happy knowing it's not really legal lol) is a great item to stick on your car for 3 reasons

1. You going power and throttle response, the car just "feels" much nicer to rev

2. They offer a great sound track no matter what back box you have on (though avoid a TT with one, it will be so loud your teeth will rattle)

3. Not only are they cheap as chips (£25 is a good second hand price) BUT you can keep your cat just for MoTs and instead of your cat lasting a couple of years it will last decades if used 1 day in 365 lol and they are not cheap to replace as well!

ok so thats the restrictions on the emissions sorted

now the back box is a great place to spend some cash, £300 will get you a good back box. you wont gain more than a few bhp BUT the noise will make the car feel a ton faster.

lastly and this is so important and few people do it

get ZnF to re-map the car

the cars standard map has a ton of restrictions in it. Some are for emissions regs, some are to make sure the car can be driven in extreme conditions, mostly they are there to make the car easier to drive for people who dont have a refined tecnique

anyway the map will see again the car more rev happy, will stop any "stutters" in the rev range, it will give you a good few BHP and just as great you gain anything upto 7mpg!

so it will pay for itself

you would struggle to see 145 bhp from all that but it wont cost the eart (apart from a backbox) and your car will transform


oh and if you want big power then this is how expensive tuneing is

my TF will be circa 240bhp next month

it will have a £2500 engine. £1000 gear box £1000 ECU and some engine mounts that cost allot

and i will "only" gain 80 bhp over a TF 160

cheap? no. but worth it


*(the Civic Type R was killed off because of emissions laws and the cats and mapping it had when it was around robbed a stonking 25bhp and 8 miles to the gallon off the cars performance. so you have to ask if all that extra oil used in petrol was worth the laws that caused the loss!)

 

Can you recommend anybody to do the re-map? I'm in Wiltshire.
I've googled ZNF and can't find anything.

 

ah Z and F- found it!
Thanks again buddy. I'm going to look into this.
You're a star!

 

very happy to help... remember there are more 'effective' ways of tuneing, but i've been there and done it VERY cheap (i was 20 and the insurance on my TF cost so much i couldn't afford to spend allot when i started lol)

I dont know everything, infact my tiny amount of knowlage pales in comparison to some of the great gurus on here. But i think my thoughts are more or less correct

The only down side is that the £200 offer will probebly be too soon for you...

the reason being that re-maps should allways be done last and if you do any more power mods they should be done again

the reason is the re-map makes the mods you have done much more effective and is tailored to them

get in touch with them via PM on here and they will talk you through what they do and how they do it cracking people

when Andycolm says that the best way to tune a 135 is to get a 160 he is both right and wrong.

to get more power without any effort it is easier

BUT

you will pay higher insurance (mind you modifying the car will increase your premium but not by much if you go to specialist insurers)

also "Tuneing" doesnt mean "getting more bhp"

it means getting the most out of what you have

and if you want to go after power your in the wrong car really (to hit big bhp figures your looking at an engine swap or spending HUGE amounts of cash on a K series engine)

if you want buig power buy a skyline, if you want a great and pure driveing experience then tune your TF to maximum enjoyment not max figures on a dyno chart

tidying up the manifols is something I want to do and its a chep easy job

indeed, allot of work though but elbow grease is free after all!

 

The cheapest and easiest way to tune get more power from a 135 is to buy a 160.
As has been said without spending thousands you will gain very little.
The ZandF remap is the most cost effective, followed by a good quality exhaust back box and a decat.
Gas flowing the manifold and downpipes will gain you a lot of flow and for pretty much free..

On the left is standard, on the right is flowed.

All that will only gain you maybe 10 bhp at the very top end though.

The best thing to spend you money on is decent tyres, a good service, make sure your brakes are spot on and lots of petrol to come out on some runs.

 

tidying up the manifols is something I want to do and its a chep easy job

 

Hi mate

:welcome:

The most important thing to remember with the TF 135 is that it is an already well developed engine. However people that are telling you its producing 135 are probably being a bit enthusiastic. The 135 suffers a bit of retardation at around 2,000rpm, you can probably feel that when you give it the beans it feels numb until say 4500rpm. Many TF's left the factory with a map not as effective as others, some engines produce around 126bhp with others like mine hitting 133bhp. Ive never seen a STOCK 135 do more than 133.

My TF135 developed 133BHp two years ago when it was RR'd by a previous owner. Since taking ownership of the car I have fitted a Mike Satur Daytona backbox (proven to be the best system for bhp gain) and a Rover 820 airbox containing a K&N 57i filter, combining the best of both world with a open cone power and a proper closed air intake. I then moved the intake to the LHS airvent with two 60mm hoses into the airbox... Before this I had a pipercross viper.

The pipercross viper did nothing at all for "my bums feels its moving faster" although the throttle was a little sharper at low end, and picked up a little faster at cruise speed in say 4/5th. Waste of money, apart from the lovely sound it made.

The K&N however helped to cure part of the flat spot problem and the car feels alot sharper low end now, as well as making a lovely growl when driving normally, or with a heavy foot.

The latest addition was the backbox which has made a great improvement down the lower end, the car pulls from 30 in 5th quite well, i couldn't do that before. Also sounds amazing too.

Ive noticed that the 135 picks up better, revs better and probably does pull alittle faster than before - but would I have spend the £500 for this performance? No I wouldnt have, id have got a TF160.

Now if you got these parts new they would have cost me around £400-500 depending on source and fittings costs - ive spent £210.

The trick is to decide how your going to begin and create a path of modding for the car, agree a budget on each part and stick to it - this allows you to look for parts popping up on ebay alot cheaper (I paid 170 for a 400 exhaust system!).

Id recommend the following route, based on my experience with a MGF Mpi & TF135, id expect with these mods a TF135 would be pushing around 150Bhp and able to match a 160, if starting from a 133 stand point..

1 - Service the car, new plugs (platinum), oil filter & fuel filter. Check the HT leads condition too

2 - Backbox (Daytona or milltek appear to be the best for bhp gain)

3 - Panel Filter / Enclosed Open Cone (The Taipain from Quickshift appears to be good to at £179.99 on regalmotorsport)
By all means If you see a cheap Viper or k&n apollo then go for it 1st, its what I did.

4 - 4-2-1- Manifold (Toyosport do a OEM style one too at £160 on ebay - looks very good value with improved response.

5 - Remap (ZandF or Vsport) - Go for a 97 / 99 RON map too, this will help bhp and throttle response.

I say 150bhp as Lee121 (IIRC) has a TF135 hitting 147bhp with nothing but a Milltek and a ZandF remap (maybe a toyosports manifold??) Remember that even if a remap is worth say 7bhp, an exhaust 6bhp and induction 1-2(the 135 is very well setup) they are NOT additive gains.

My next mod will be the remap at ZandF on the 14th, id only recommend going for a remap once the other tweaks have been performed. Im hoping the remap will bring the car to life around 2-4000rpm, which will improve acceleration according to those that have had it done, more importantly it will feel like a proper sports car. Ill then go for a toyosports manifold too, I cant see it making a difference really to the map as its not a proper 4-2-1.

HOWEVER

If you really want to get faster in the car, learn how to do it. Ive become alot quicker off the line since ive gotten used to the TF, really experiment with it and work our a shifting strategy thats right, its all about using the power and efficient, quick changes. Once all these mods are complete ill be looking at a short shift gearbox and faster clutch.

Id also suggest that maybe you have a pop down to the session on 14th January at ZandF - if you ARE going to do the other mods like exhauts and induction you could always premap the car.

 

Lots of great advice folks. :broon:


Andycolm will be recieving my head and manifolds in the post lol.

 

Lots of great advice folks. :broon:


Andycolm will be recieving my head lol.

Dirty boy. I am honoured, but I am holding out for Ally.

 

Missed a quite simple one ! Laughing gas direct injected! Just not too much too often lol

 

Now who would want to go and do such a stupid thing like that