Tuning the Citroen DV

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Citroen DV engine!"

We are frequently getting emails requesting info on the best tips on DV mods that work. So let us look into Citroen DV tuning mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

The Citroen DV make a good tuning project and with the right uprated upgrades like ECU maps, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively improve your driving opportunities.

Here we detail the best approach to DV tuning and report on the premier modifications for your car.

The top DV tuning parts on an engine are usually the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.

We won't be swayed by popular DV tuning parts, they need to be cost effective.

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

NB: Fast road cams usually push up the performance over the rpm range, you may sacrifice a little low down torque but top end will improve.

Race cams, push up the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Competition camshaft will just annoy you whilst driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your bhp range to your usage of the car so for a typical daily driver stick with a shorter duration DV camshaft

Some DV engines respond better to extreme cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and injectors and fuel pump also have an effect on the power gains you'll achieve.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the power 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.

DV Tuning Stages

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

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

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

ECU flashing will help to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your DV.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage often vary depending on the mods you've done and the condition of your engine.

Feeding air and fuel into each cylinder is the whole point to any engine modification task.

Headers take the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Structure and flow rate of the Air Intake manifolds can make a large effect on to fuel atomisation and engine efficiency on the DV.

Most intake manifold are in dire need of aftermarket parts, although some OEM provide well optimised intake manifold.

Larger DV valves, getting port matching and head flowing will also lift power, and importantly will afford you a greater power increase on other parts.

Turbo upgrades for the DV

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 DV

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

When the engine is turbocharged, upgrades are going to net you a larger power gain and most turbo engines will have better components.

There are weak spots for every engine, with some being very over engineered and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

It is important to find these limitations and fit better quality crank and pistons to cope with the power.

There are many guys spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the DV only to suffer the indignity of watching the whole thing go up in smoke on it's first outing after it's been completed.

Bigger turbos will usually experience no power at low rpm, and little turbos spool up much more quickly but won't have the peak rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to new tech the range of turbo units is always developing and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also boost the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there is a restriction in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the DV when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more challenging to get working. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Uprating DV fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to ramp up the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a torque increase.It makes sense to over specify your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add another 20% when fitting an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and allows you some spare capacity should the engine need 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 DV performance exhausts

You only need to to increase your exhaust if the current exhaust is creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Please dont run with the biggest exhaust you can buy this will 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 can be located the filters installed, so adding a faster flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the DV

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

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

For more information on Tuning your DV engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our DV 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 DV guides and tips are kept up to date.

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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 Citroen. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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