MENUTuning the GM Family 0
"All you need to know about performance parts and tuning the GM Family 0 engine!"
Carref prides itself on providing the latest tips and guides to your modification project.
The GM Family 0 are awesome to work on and with the best tuning upgrades like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will positively enhance your driving pleasure.
Created by Opel the Family 0 was the first 3 cylinder engine, although they also made a 4 cylinder version as well. It launched in 1996 and became quite popular being fitted in a wide selection of GM/Opel/Vauxhall branded cars around the world.
We shall provide a guide to Family 0 tuning and provide tips on the optimum upgrades.
We rely on our visitors to pass on tips and tell us about their projects and what worked on their car, and this article is the culmination of the feedback we have received. First let us look at the history and specs of this engine and then consider which tuning modifications work best on it.
History of the Engine
Generation I
- 1.0 L (973 cc)
X10XE 40.5 kW (55 PS) 82 N⋅m (60 lb⋅ft) @2800rpm
Z10XE 42.7 kW (58 PS) 85 N⋅m (63 lbft - 1.2 L (1,199 cc)
X12XE 48 kW (65 PS) @5600rpm 110 N⋅m (81 lbft @4000rpm
Z12XE 55 kW (75 PS) @5600rpm 110 N⋅m (81 lbft @4000rpm
Generation II
This second generation saw a twin port design, allowing better torque and fuel economy and the crank and oilways were revised.
- 1.0 L (998 cc)
- Z10XEP 44 kW (59 hp) @5600rpm 88 N⋅m (65 lbft @3800rpm
- 1.2 L (1,229 cc)
- Z12XEP 59 kW (79 hp) @5600rpm 110 N⋅m (81 lbft @4000rpm
- 1.4 L (1,364 cc)
- Z14XEP 66 kW (89 hp) @5600rpm 125 N⋅m (92 lbft @4000rpm
Generation III
This third generation EcoFlex engine takes the twin port concept and improves upon it. They added double cam phasing as well and we also saw a turbocharged version added and stop start technology.
1.0 L (998 cc)
- A10XEP (LDB) 48 kW (64 hp) @5300rpm 90 N⋅m (66 lbft @4000rpm
1.2 L (1,229 cc) - A12XEL (LWD) 51 kW (68 hp) @5600rpm 115 N⋅m (85 lbft @4000rpm
- A12XER (LDC) 62 kW (83 hp) @5600rpm 115 N⋅m (85 lbft @4000rpm
1.4 L (1,398 cc)
- A14XFL (LUU) 63 kW (84 hp) @4800rpm 126 N⋅m (93 lbft @4800rpm
- A14XEL (L2Z) 64 kW (86 hp) @6000rpm 130 N⋅m (96 lbft @4000rpm
- A14XER (LDD) 74 kW (99 hp) @6000rpm 130 N⋅m (96 lbft @4000rpm
- A14XFR (L2N) 74 kW (99 hp) @6000rpm 130 N⋅m (96 lbft @4000rpm
1.4 L (1,364 cc)
- A14NEL (LUH) 88 kW (118 hp) @4800–6000rpm 200 Nm 148 lbft @1850–4200rpm 220 N⋅m 162 lbft (Overboost)
- A14NET (LUJ) 103 kW (138 hp) @4900–6000rpm 200 Nm 148 lbft @1850–4900rpm 220 N⋅m 162 lbft (Overboost)
- U14NFT (LUJ) 103 kW (138 hp) @4900–6000rpm 200 Nm (148 lbft @1850–4900rpm 220 N⋅m 162 lbft (Overboost)
- U14NFT (LUV) 103 kW (138 hp) @4900rpm 200 Nm 148 lbft @1850 or 2500rpm
U14NFT (LUV - Vanderhall) 134 kW (180 hp) @4950rpm 250Nm 184 lbft @2450rpm
Tuning the GM Family 0 and best Family 0 performance parts.
What are the most effective Family 0 upgrades
The best Family 0 parts on an engine are sensibly the ones that give the biggest return for your cash.
We won't be swayed by popular Family 0 parts, they need to be cost effective.
Altering your Family 0 cam will make a dramatic difference to the engine bhp. Choosing a higher performance cam profile raises the bhp accordingly.
Fast road cams usually bump the torque over the rpm band, you may lose a little bottom end bhp but the higher rpm power will be higher.
Motorsport cams, bump the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.
On a car driven daily must carefully try to optimize your torque band to your driving style.
I'd be shocked have ever thought a Family 0 Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.
Each engine responds better to extreme camshaft durations than others.
The ecu map and fuelling also have a large bearing on the bhp gains you'll make.
Altering valve durations can alter the bhp 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.
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How to tune your car
- Improve the handling
Focus on Suspension improvements, such as coilovers and make sure the bushings are in good order and that the alignment is correct. Then focus on improving the brakes, with a big disk brake conversion kit and fast road brake pads.
- Remove restrictions
Focus on the intake and exhaust with filters being the common point of restriction in a tuned car. Intercoolers may also become restrictive on turbo engines so this may also need to be uprated.
- Burn more fuel & air
Increase the fuelling so it matches the air coming into the engine. The ratio is important so you need to improve the fuel pump and injectors, so the head mods, big valve conversions, fast road camshafts and forced induction upgrades extra supply of air is adequately met.
- Test and replace any weak parts
Weak areas are commonly the clutch, the turbocharger and pistons and crankshaft in a highly tuned engine. Makes sure these components will cope with your power aspirations.
- The Tune or Remap
A cars ECU controls the fuel, timing, spark and even the turbo in some cases, so to fully extract your gains you should remap the car last and this will fully release the power. Some cars are easy to map, and others require piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's but this is the most vital step of your tuning project.
Modifying to Stage 1:
Intake headers, Sports exhaust manifold, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Panel air filters.
Modifying to Stage 2:
high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam, induction kit, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head.
Modifying to Stage 3:
Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).
ECU flashing will help to establish the full potential of all the mods you've done to your Family 0.
It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the end result may rely on the mods you've applied and the condition of your engine.
Pulling more air into each cylinder is the aim to any car tuning job.
Intake headers take the air during the suck phase from the air filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.
Design and flow rate of the Intake manifold can make a large effect on to fuel atomisation on the Family 0.
Commonly we find the intake are improved through aftermarket parts, although some manufacturers provide fairly well optimized intake.
Fitting big valve kits, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also raise torque, and significantly will afford you raising the torque increase on other parts.
Which turbo upgrades are best?
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 Family 0
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 your car is fitted with a turbocharger parts are more reliable and turbocharged engines are made with strengthened components.
There are weak spots for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power
Research these limitations and fit more solid crank and pistons to handle the power.
We see many car owners spending a lot of money on turbocharger upgrades on the Family 0 only to experience the engine block explode on it's first outing after it's finished.
Bigger upgraded turbos often suffer a bottom end lag, and little turbos spool up much more quickly but don't have the top end engines power gains.
In the last 10 years the range of turbochargers is always evolving and we commonly find variable vane turbochargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.
Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust flow into two channels and push these at differently profiled vanes in the turbo charger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.
It is not unusual that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the Family 0 when loads more air is being fed into the engine.
Going up you'll find 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting power at a much lower level.
Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more complex to setup. We have this in depth look at twinchargers if you want to read more.
Fuelling
You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will have to look at the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a performance increase.
We would recommend you to be generous with your injectors flow rate.
The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when buying an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and affords some spare capacity should the engine require 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.
Choosing the right performance exhaust
One of the most common mistakes and problems we see in tuning projects is usually down to the exhaust, or rather a poorly chosen exhaust for your engine.
You should look to improve your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a flow problem.
On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still good 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 get this will slow the exhaust 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.
Usual exhaust restrictions are in the filters installed, so adding a freer flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.
Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the Family 0
The Family 0 engines are generally reliable and solid as long as they are regularly serviced and maintained.
Regular oil changes are vital on the Family 0, especially when tuned and will help extend the life and reliability of the engine.
For more information on Tuning your Family 0 engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our Family 0 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.
Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.
We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which modifications work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these Family 0 articles which are continually updated.
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