Fiat Bravo Tuning

"Thanks for reading this Mazda CX5 tuning tips."

The Bravo is a good project car to execute. The key to Bravo tuning is getting your choice of modification right - a lot of money can be wasted if you do it wrong.

The Bravo had a long production run and we even saw an Abarth tuned version so there are plenty of performance parts and options around for all Bravo models.

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

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Power mods.

Typically these performance upgrades are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to go before you start.

First generation models 1995-2001

• 1.4 S/SX -1999 I4 1,370 cc 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp) at 6000 rpm 112Nm(83 lbft) at 2750 rpm
• 80 SX/HSX From 1999 I4 1,242 cc 82 PS (60 kW; 81 hp) at 5500 rpm 113 Nm (83 lbft) at 4250 rpm
• 100 SX/HSX/ELX I4 1,581 cc 103 PS (76 kW; 102 hp) at 5750 rpm 144 Nm (106 lbft) at 4000 rpm
• 115 ELX/HLX/GT I4 1,747 cc 113 PS (83 kW; 111 hp) at 6100 rpm 154 Nm (114 lbft) at 4400 rpm
• HGT -1999 I5 1,998 cc 147 PS (108 kW; 145 hp) at 6100 rpm 186 Nm (137 lbft) at 4500 rpm
• 155 HGT -1999 I5 1,998 cc 155 PS (114 kW; 153 hp) at 6500 rpm 186 Nm (137 lbft) at 3750 rpm

Diesel engines

• 1.9 D SX – I4 1,929 cc 65 PS (48 kW; 64 hp) at 4600 rpm 119 Nm (88 lbft) at 2000 rpm
• TD 75 SX – I4 1,910 cc 75 PS (55 kW; 74 hp) at 4200 rpm 147 Nm (108 lbft) at 2750 rpm
• TD 100 SX/ELX – I4 1,910 cc 100 PS (74 kW; 99 hp) at 4200 rpm 200 Nm (150 lbft) at 2250 rpm
• JTD 105 SX/ELX/GT From 1999 I4 1,910 cc 105 PS (77 kW; 104 hp) at 4000 rpm 200 Nm (150 lbft) at 1500 rpm

Second generation engine options.

• JTD 100 SX/ELX/GT 2001 – 2003 I4 1,910 cc 100 PS (74 kW; 99 hp) at 4000 rpm 200Nm(150 lbft) at 1500rpm
• 1.4 Fire 16V90 2007–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 128Nm(94 lbft) @4,500 rpm
• 1.4 Fire 16V90 GPL 2009–2014 I4, Petrol-LPG 1,368 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 128Nm(94 lbft) @4,500 rpm
• 1.4 T-Jet 16V120 2007–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 206Nm(152 lbft) @2,000 rpm
• 1.4 T-Jet 16V120 Dualogic 2008–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 206Nm(152 lbft) @2,000 rpm
• 1.4 Multiair Turbo 16V140 2010–2014 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 103 kW (140 PS) 230Nm(170 lbft) @1,750 rpm
• 1.4 T-Jet 16V150 2007–2010 I4, Petrol 1,368 cc 110 kW (152 PS) 230Nm(170 lbft) @3,000 rpm
• 1.8 E.Torq 1.8 16V 2010–2014 I4, Petrol/Ethanol 1,747 cc 95 kW (130 PS) (petrol)
• 97 kW (132 PS) (ethanol) 18.4 kg⋅m (180 Nm; 133 lbft) @4,500 rpm (petrol) 18.9 kg⋅m (185 Nm; 137 lbft) @4,500 rpm (ethanol)
• 1.6 Multijet 16V 90 2009–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 290Nm(214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
• 1.6 Multijet 16V105 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 77 kW (105 PS) 290 Nm (214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
• 1.6 Multijet 16VPurO2 105 2009–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 77 kW (105 PS) 290 Nm (214 lbft) @1,500 rpm
• 1.6 Multijet 16V120 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 300 Nm (221 lbft) @1,500 rpm
• 1.6 Multijet 16V120 Dualogic 2008–2014 I4, Diesel 1,598 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 300 Nm (221 lbft) @1,500 rpm
• 1.9 Multijet 8V 90 – I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 66 kW (90 PS) 225 Nm (166 lbft) @2,000 rpm
• 1.9 Multijet 8V 120 2007–2008 I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 88 kW (120 PS) 255 Nm (188 lbft) @2,000 rpm
• 1.9 Multijet 16V150 2007–2008 I4, Diesel 1,910 cc 110 kW (150 PS) 305 Nm (225 lbft) @2,000 rpm
• 2.0 Multijet 16V165 2008–2012 I4, Diesel 1,956 cc 121 kW (165 PS) 360 Nm (266 lbft) @2,000 rpm

Getting the best modified parts for your planned usage of the car is essential. Stage 3 (competition) mods just won't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

Please watch TorqueCars Video tutorial on car tuning. And be sure to subscribe and support our new channel.

Stages of Tune

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

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

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

Your aim when modding the engine should be a nice flat torque curve. 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 hints is to give a brief overview of car tuning performance parts and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your modified car project, the best motorsport upgrades and all aspects of modding cars.

A fast road cam typically is one of the best NASP power mods you can do mechanically to your engine.

The exhaust & intake durations 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 camshaft upgrade with other mods and finish with a remap to fully release the power gain.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling.

Frequently power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after performance kits are done can usually be traced to timing or fuelling issues.Increasing the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If have increased your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Contrary to popular belief there is often very little if any power gain got by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you raise the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit with a cold air feed on heavily tuned engines, this can be sited within an air box but a performance panel filter should suffice for most applications. TorqueCars suggest you use a panel air filter as these are easy to clean and maintain and generally perform better than paper ones.

Do not go with the largest exhaust you can buy this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Getting a professionally polished and ported head with larger valves can fully release the engines power. A good triple plate fast road sports clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never make false economies or expect your standard OEM clutch to cope. The best mods in our opinion for your Bravo are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A remapped turbo will give large power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine.

We've also come across some owners playing with twin charging applications and making some seriously high power hikes.

The most phenomenal power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Turbos are often harder to add than a supercharger. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

It is easier to map a supercharger because the boost is directly proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engine compression ratio .

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are often a priority for the Bravo.

Good suspension tweaks that greatly benefit handling for the Bravo include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe out on the front wheels.

We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 21mm - 39 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels can help the brake cooling and are generally less heavy than the steel ones. Further improvements can be made to your cars handling with the addition of directional tread pattern tire. Large Bravo alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

For this reason endeavour to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the recommended OEM sizes. In all cases avoid going above 16 inches.

There is a more updated version of this Fiat Bravo Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

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

We need your help improving this article, so please send us your feedback in the comments box below and pass on any tips, points or facts we have wrong or have not covered.

We really do love seeing our visitors car projects and which mods work best for them, this site is very much a community effort, and we remind our visitors of our non profit non commercial approach to running this site.

All of your comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually revised, tweaked and updated.

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 Fiat. 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.