MENUTuning the Proton Inspira
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The Inspira is a great car modification project to execute. Plan ahead and research Inspira tuning to spare yourself making the usual common slip ups we typically see.
Handling/Suspension upgrades
Handling modifications are the thing most do first for the Inspira.
We found that most Inspira factory suspension setups need tweaking, a few degrees of toe out for cornering or toe in for stability, around 1.5, and some negative camber will usually improve your cornering and handling.
We would go to a maximum drop of 23mm - 36 mm. on most models. You risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this.
Top end power should be your overall aim on the Inspira with a nice fat peak torque band.
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.
Engine Tuning.
Typically these tuning upgrades are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you get going.
- 1.8L 4B10
- 2.0L 4B11
Getting the right motorsport parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.
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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:
Panel air filter, Sports exhaust, Remap, Alloy wheels, Suspension upgrade (drop 23mm - 36 mm.), Lighter flywheel.
Modifying to Stage 2:
Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector.
Modifying to Stage 3:
Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves).
Your aim when modding your car should be a flat and wide torque output. You want to avoid sending all the torque to be at the top end of the rev range unless you are creating a competition car.
The aim of our guides is to give a brief overview of customizing mods and point you in the right direction, our forum is where you can ask for more detailed advice and tips on your modified car project, the best sport modifications and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road camshaft will be one of the best NASP power mods you can do with a single part fitted to your engine.
It maximises the intake and exhaust flow and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sport cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.
When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.
Using higher octane petrol is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your Proton project after fitting other motorsport kits. Improving 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.
The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Please note that WE DO NOT RECOMMEND INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car extensively and are finding that the standard air intake has become the bottleneck.
Derestricting the flow of air into the engine is the primary part of car tuners so get a freer flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound sporty but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and more often than not rob you of power.
Do not go with the widest 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.
Getting the cylinder head ported and polished will assist in flowing more air into each cylinder. This is definitely a job for a professional with a flow bench. When you start tuning your Inspira you will often find that the standard clutch starts to fail so get an uprated clutch. The best mods we would do for your Inspira are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.
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 impressive power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine. The most impressive power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are often easier to add than a turbo. It is more challenging to map a turbo as the boost increases exponentially with rpm.
The nice correlating boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them more straightforward to map. Adding forced induction will generally require a lower compression ratio or water injection.
Alloy wheel upgrades.
The benefits of alloys include lowering your unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling via the extra air flow they allow. Further improvements can be made to your cars handling with the addition of soft compound tire. Large Inspira alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio.
With this in mind we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have installed larger rims with no problems.
For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Inspira options in more detail with our Inspira owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Proton 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 mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.
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