Honda Concerto Tuning
"Concerto - Music to my ears."
We quite like the Concerto, it is frequently overlooked by people looking for a tuning project because it is aimed at the family market.
Some criticise the concerto's "soggy ride" which they claim impairs driver enjoyment. This is a little unfair but things can be done to address this potential problem. The chassis is actually very capable so TorqueCars would say you should improve the handling with some suspension upgrades.
We would go to a maximum drop of 35-40mm on most models. You risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this. Our aim in Concerto engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end as generally they are not too bad low down (depending on your engine of course).
Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size. Look to the later VTEC and Type R engines for suitable engine swap candidates.
Honda Concerto Tuning modifications.
One of the best mechanical mods you can do in a Concerto engine is to fit a fast road cam. In terms of your power gain to expense this dramatically increases power but don't go with an aggressive profile without altering the timing and getting the head ported and flowed. When pushing power up by 30% or more you will generally need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will also need to uprate the fuelling.
Uprated injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine. A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this to cope, a good tuner can point you in the right direction and feel free to ask our friendly forum members for pointers.
Honda Concerto Intake and Exhaust.
Breathing mods are usually next up. Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit. On small engines you will actually lose low down power so we suggest you use a panel air fitler instead. Sports exhausts balance the flow of air throughout the engine. But if your exhaust is too larger (over 2.5 inches bore) you will lose back pressure on most engines.
In nearly all cases of Concerto tuning your OEM clutch will start to slip and this needs to be uprated - read our article on clutches for more information. NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them.
Adding forced induction will see big power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. Turbos are harder to add than supercharger. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult. Superchargers however will give a boost which is proporttional to engine speed so is easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the compression ratio of the engine.
Honda Concerto Wheel modifications.
The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the Concerto Big alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower you top speed will be due to the change in your effective final drive ratio. Although some people have gone larger we would stick to a 16 inch rim size as the maximum.
Please join us in our forum to discuss the Concerto options in more detail with our Concerto owners. It would also be worth reading our Honda tuning articles to get a full grasp of the pros and cons of each type of modification.
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