MENUTuning the Suzuki / Maruti Wagon R
"Tuning guide to the best Suzuki Wagon R modifications."
The Wagon R is a great tuning project to fill your spare time.
If you do your research then you can create an awesome Wagon R but don't be fooled there are lots of uprated upgrades out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.We consider Wagon R tuning and outline the best upgrades.
Suzuki Wagon Rs are fantastic to work on and with a few sensible motorsport modifications you can dramatically maximize your driving fun.
Handling/Suspension upgrades
Many Wagon R owners uprate the handling of their cars with uprated suspension modifications as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car.
Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you Wagon R greatly improving your drive.
Drop the car by as much as 28mm - 43 mm. and fit uprated stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.
Top end power should be your overall aim on the Wagon R with a nice fat peak torque band.
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.
Tuning modifications.
Typically these modified parts are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get started.
Here is the complete history of Wagon R engines fitted from 1993 to now
Mk1 (CT21S/CT51S/CV21S/CV51S 1993–1998)
- 657 cc F6A SOHC I3 (petrol)
- 657 cc F6A SOHC I3-T (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Mk2 (MC21S/MC11S/MC22S/MC12S 1998–2003)
- 657 cc F6A SOHC I3 (petrol)
- 657 cc F6A SOHC I3-T (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Mk3 (MH21S/MH22S 2003–2008)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Mk4 (MH23S 2008–2012)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc K6A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Mk5 (MH34S/MH44S 2012–2017)
- 658 cc R06A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc R06A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Mk6 (MH35S/MH55S 2017–present)
- 658 cc R06A DOHC I3 (petrol)
- 658 cc R06A DOHC I3-T (petrol)
Getting the correct grade of modified upgrade kits for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 competition upgrades just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.
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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:
Remap, Sports exhaust, Lighter flywheel, Panel air filter, Suspension upgrade (drop 28mm - 43 mm.), Alloy wheels.
Modifying to Stage 2:
high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch.
Modifying to Stage 3:
Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing.
Peak power is all well and good but for a daily driven car you need a wide torque band and perhaps extending the rev range.
The point of our pointers is to give a starting base of modding modifications and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your car tuning project, the best performance modifications and all aspects of modding cars.One of the best mechanical uprated parts you can do on your NASP engine is to fit a fast road cam .
The exhaust & intake valve durations play a huge factor 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 realise your gains.
You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to increase the fuelling.
If you find you suffer from flat spots and surges after your uprated upgrades you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Increasing the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.
Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned Wagon R's uprated injectors.
Intake and Exhaust Tuning.
Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Please note that WE DO NOT SEE IMPROVEMENTS WITH INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car extensively and are finding that the standard air intake has become a limitation.
For most Wagon R engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of needing cold air.
Sports exhausts can usually air flow out of the engine but do not go too wide or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.
Head porting and polishing the head will allow you to maximise your air/fuel charge. Leave this to a professional though with a proper flow bench and machine tools In nearly all cases of Wagon R tuning your clutch will start to slip and this needs an upgrade - read our guide on clutches for more information. The best mods we recommend for your Wagon R are a remap especially on a turbo, a fast road camshaft and sports exhaust, with a good air intake.
Turbo engines are just pleading to be flashed. You will see big power gains on most modern turbo engined cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and big modifications for your money.The most significant power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Turbos are generally harder to add than a supercharger. Turbos provide boost in increasing proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.
Superchargers, however will give a boost which is directly proportional to engine speed so is simpler. Alternatively you could perhaps add water injection to control knock.
Alloy wheel upgrades.
The benefits of alloy wheels include reducing your unsprung weight and better brake cooling. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tires) for your car, a good directional tread pattern tire can really enhance your cars handling. The downside to large alloys on your Wagon R is that you're changing your final drive ratio and this will have a negative effect on performance.
Although some people have installed larger rims without problems we would stick to a 16 inch rim size as the maximum.
For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Wagon R options in more detail with our Wagon R 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.
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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