Suzuki Kizashi Tuning

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The Kizashi is a good project car to carry out. If you do your homework then you can create an awesome Kizashi but don't be fooled there are lots of motorsport inspired modifications out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

We examine Kizashi tuning and point out the optimum modifications for your car. Suzuki Kizashis make awesome project cars and with the optimum tuning modifications you can maximise your driving experience.

Tuning tips and articles

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

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

Spending a little bit of money on the right engine and handling mods could transform your car into a high performance car.

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.

Engine Tuning.

These mods modified kits are usually fitted by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get started.

Getting the best performance upgrades for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 (competition) 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: Panel air filter, Lighter flywheel, Sports exhaust, Remap, Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Alloy wheels.

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

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

You should keep as much low end power as you can and aim to get a long power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power spike.

The whole aim of our advice is to give a brief overview of car tuning upgrades and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your modified car project, the best modified kits and all aspects of modding cars.One of the best mechanical motorsport parts you can do to your NASP engine is to fit a fast road cam .

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a competition cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to ramp up the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Frequently power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after uprated kits are done can usually be traced to fuelling or timing issues.To get sufficient fuel you may need to uprate the injectors on your engine.

If you are increasing 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 usually very little if any power gain reached by fitting an induction kit, they only help and are recommended after you increase the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for Kizashi engines you should go with a high performance panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Do not go with the widest 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.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional head porting and polishing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. In nearly all cases of Kizashi tuning your clutch will start to fail and this needs an upgrade - read our article on clutches for more information. The best mods we recommend for your Kizashi are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Remaps offer significant power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a flashed ecu on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods. Adding forced induction will see big power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. It is usually simpler to bolt on a supercharger than it is to get a turbo working. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it harder to map.

Superchargers however will give a boost which is correlating to engine speed so is easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engine compression ratio .

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for DIY mechanics first priority in your Kizashi tuning project.

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

Drop the car by as much as 22mm - 39 mm and fit modified stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. Get a good directional tread pattern tyre to improve your handling and help improve traction on your Kizashi. The downside to large rims on your Kizashi is that you're changing your final drive ratio and this will have a negative effect on performance.

Although some people have with bigger wheels without issues we would stick to a 16 inch rim size as the maximum.

There is a more updated version of this Suzuki Kizashi Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

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

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