Tuning the Suzuki M15A M16A engine

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Suzuki M15A M16A engine engine!"

We are frequently getting posts requesting information on the best tips for M15A M16A engine power upgrades. So let us look into Suzuki M15A M16A engine parts and outline the best mods that work on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Therefore we consider M15A M16A engine tuning and report on the premier modifications. Suzuki M15A M16A engine provide a fun base for your project and with the best sports parts like remapping, turbo kits and camshafts you will maximise your driving fun.

The greatest M15A M16A engine parts on an engine are usually the ones that give the best value for money.

We won't be swayed by popular M15A M16A engine parts, they need to be cost effective.

The camshaft profile plays a big part in the engines power output so camshaft upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large power band gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road camshafts tend to push up the power over the rpm range, you may sacrifice a little low down power but the higher rpm power will be better.

Motorsport and race camshafts, push up the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a typical daily driver must carefully try to optimize your torque band to your driving style.

You will never find a M15A M16A engine Race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Different M15A M16A engine engines respond better to mild camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and fuel pump and injectors also will say much on the bhp gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the bhp band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

M15A M16A engine Tuning Stages

Stage 1 M15A M16A engine modifications: Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU.

Stage 2 M15A M16A engine modifications: Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, induction kit, high flow fuel injectors, fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust.

Stage 3 M15A M16A engine modifications: Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Twin charging conversions, Competition cam.

ECU flashing allows a tuner to release the full potential of all the tuning mods you've done to your M15A M16A engine.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but power output will rely on the tuning mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine tuning project to force more air and fuel into the M15A M16A engine engine

The intake plenum transmit the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders.

Structure and rate of flow of the Intake headers can make a big difference to to fuel engine efficiency on the M15A M16A engine.

On popular production engines intake headers are begging for an upgrade, although some OEM provide decently flowing intake headers.

Big valve conversions on the M15A M16A engine, getting port work and head flowing will also boost performance, this will afford you an improved performance increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the M15A M16A engine

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your M15A M16A engine

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes massive power gains.

If an engine has a turbo already fitted parts are simpler to install and we find turbo charged engines are built with strengthened components.

However most engines have weakspots

We recommend you find these limitations and upgrade to better pistons and crank to cope with the power.

It's not unheard of people spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the M15A M16A engine only to suffer the indignity of watching the M15A M16A engine explode soon after it's used on the roads.

Bigger turbochargers will usually experience low end lag, and small turbochargers spool up really quickly but won't have the high rpm torque gains.

We are pleased that the choice of turbochargers is always increasing and we now see variable vane turbochargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a limitation in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the M15A M16A engine when a lot more air is being sucked into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large bhp and torque gains, although harder to get working. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating M15A M16A engine fuel injectors

Don't omit to uprate the fuel system when you are increasing the bhp and torque - it makes the car more thirsty. It is important to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and gives you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best M15A M16A engine performance exhausts

Only look to upgrade your exhaust if the existing exhaust is creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you should find that the flow rate is ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Note that with the widest exhaust you can get you'll reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Common exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst installed, so adding a faster flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the M15A M16A engine

The M15A M16A engine engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the M15A M16A engine, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your M15A M16A engine engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our M15A M16A engine owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

We need your help to complete and improve this page, so do give us your feedback in the comments box below.

We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which tuning parts were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our M15A M16A engine guides and tips are kept up to date.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

Click to accept YouTube Cookies & Play.

This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Suzuki. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.