Citroen DS3 Tuning

"Thanks for reading this Citroen DS3 tuning guide."

Originally lauched in 2010 the DS3 received much praise from the motoring press. The DS3 racing version shows the immense potential of this great little chassis from Citroen.

Thankfully there are many engines in the DS3 range, 1.2 L 12v which feels a little under powered if we are honest. The willing to rev 1.4 L 16v, and it's bigger brother the 1.6 L  16v and a little after launch we saw a range topping 1.6 L I4 THP 16v turbo.

If you like torquey diesels then you should look to the, 1.6 L I4 HDI turbo-diesel. (HDI 90 FAP, HDI 110 FAP, Blue HDI 120 and the airdream versions from 2010)

All are quite peppy units but for modifications we would go for the 1.4 or 1.6 petrol (especially the turbo).

The DS3 is a good car tuning project to execute. The key to DS3 tuning is balancing power and reliability - a lot of money can be wasted if you do it wrong.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

Our aim in DS3 engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

In 2016 Citroen released the 210hp turbo engine, which makes a great transplant project into the earlier cars.

Here are the engines on offer as we write, with more being proposed offering more power and better economy.

  • 1.2 L I3 12v 82 PS (60 kW; 81 hp) at 5,750 rpm
  • 1.2 L I3 12v  (from 2015) 110 PS (81 kW; 110 hp) at 5,500 rpm
  • 1.4 L I4 16v 95 PS (70 kW; 94 hp) at 6,000 rpm
  • 1.6 L I4 16v 120 PS (88 kW; 120 hp) at 6,000 rpm
  • 1.6 L I4 THP 150/155 16v turbo 157 PS (115 kW; 155 hp) at 6,000 rpm
  • 1.6 L I4 THP 207 16v turbo 207 PS (152 kW; 204 hp) at 6,000 rpm
  • 1.6 L I4 THP 16v turbo (from 2016) 210 PS (150 kW; 210 hp) at 6,000 rpm
  • 1.4 L I4 HDI turbo-diesel
  • 1.6 L I4 HDI turbo-diesel 90-120ps (later years make more power, with hikes in 2010 2011 and 2014.
Following our guidance for modding your DS3 you will make a practical but scorching car that will potentially embarrass bigger cars.

Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.

Power mods.

The following uprated upgrades are usually installed by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you get going.

Getting the best sports modifications for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 motor sport mods just don't work well on the road hard to control in slow traffic.

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Guide to the Best Tuning Mods & Upgrades

  1. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    If the intake or exhaust are restricted in any way this will have an impact on your cars performance, so use an induction kit/filter upgrade and better flowing exhaust whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction.

  2. Mods that Improve Handling

    Braking, Suspension and general alignment of the suspension components is vital for any tuning project even before you start increasing power.

  3. Fit Stronger Parts

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  4. ECU Tunes & Remapping

    While some cars can be easily remapped, others may require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project as it fully releases the power from all of your mods and upgrades. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  5. More Power Needs More Fuel & Air

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise. Fuel to Air ratio is vital so upgrade the fuel pump & injectors. Also you can look to perform head mods (flowing and porting), bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades to improve fuel.

Stages of Tune

Stage 1 mods: Alloy wheels, Lighter flywheel, Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Remap, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm).

Stage 2 mods: Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch, high flow fuel injector.

Stage 3 mods: Engine balancing, Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Your goal when tuning the engine should be a wide torque output. You want to avoid sending all the power to be at the top end of the rev range unless you are creating a competition car.

The whole aim of our articles is to give a little insight into the world of car tuning mods and point you in the right direction, our forum is where you can ask for more detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best modified parts and all aspects of modding cars.Fast road cams offer one of the biggest performance gains for your money as far as a single sports upgrades goes on a NASP engine.

The exhaust and intake flow play a large part in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car hard to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a cam upgrade with other mods and finish with a reflashed ECU for the best performance gains.

When pushing up the power you will need to increase to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

Frequently power losses, and erratic idling after performance parts are done can usually be traced to fuel delivery or timing issues.Higher capacity injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned DS3s uprated injectors.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Air induction kits only help to add performance if the cars air intake is restricted! Adding an induction kit to most standard engines will see NO LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Derestricting the air flow into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound fun but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not really increase power and usually rob you of power.

Sports exhausts generally help improve air flow through the engine but do not go too big or you may end up will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Getting a professionally ported and polished head with larger valves can fully maximise your power gains. When you start tuning your DS3 you will discover that the standard clutch starts to slip so get an uprated clutch. The best mods we would do for your DS3 are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Turbo engines are just asking to be Reprogrammed. You will see significant power gains on most modern turbocharged cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and significant modifications for your money.The most significant power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. It is generally cheaper to bolt on a supercharger than it is to bolt on a turbo. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it more challenging to map.

The nice correlating boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Alternatively you could fit water injection to cut down knock.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for people often first priority in your DS3 tuning project.

Adding some negative camber on the wheels and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe out, will greatly enhance your DS3 in handling and cornering.

We would go to a maximum drop of 27mm - 35 mm on most models. You risk handling compromises if you go lower than this.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Because alloy wheels are less heavy they improve performance and they will help to cool the brake disks. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tyres) for your car, a good directional tread pattern tyre can really enhance your cars handling. Large DS3 alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Because of this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have installed larger 17 rims with no problems. We prefer the handling you get running with 16's.

There is a more updated version of this Citroen DS3 Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss DS3 options in more detail with our DS3 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Citroen tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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