Starting Quest for Power

[Leigh]

Hi

I bought my 1997 factory built 1800 Zetec Westie a few months ago. At first I was happy with the performance (other car is a Passat Tdi! :-), but I've quickly got used to it and now want more . . . . The engine is the underslung exhaust, Cat equipped 115bhp spec. I had it superchipped, this gave a slight improvement, but more in terms of driveability and power delivery than a noticeable performance increase. I don't want to spend a fortune right now, I have been advised to upgrade the air filter and remove the cat. This actually appeals, since I think the Cat is on the way out (had some flat spots the other day and lost power, exhaust was popping a little - after the engine had been turned off and left a while, it was ok on the restart, but the problem has been intermittent since.)

So the question is, can I legally remove the Cat? A local motorsport dealer reckons they can remove it and build a new box, upgrade the filter, release another 15-20bhp for a shade under £200. What do you all think?

Or is there some other custom exhaust system I should consider?

Later on, I plan to have the car upgraded more extensively, but at the moment am looking for a reasonable power increase whilst hopefully solving the dodgy Cat problem.

I would really appreciate any feedback from all you experienced Westie owners.

P.S. The best £10k I ever spent, even if it will take me three years to pay it off! I'm permanently smiling while I'm blasting down the country roads . . . . . .

[Mark Stanton]

Where's Steve D          He'll say take it out and burn it - then fit a Vx unit.

You could try having a talk with Dunnell and Raceline both companies have been used by many Zetec owning members and there's Rob Morley at Protune.

All contacts can be found on the club links page

Good Luck    

[neo]

Leigh it depends on what year your westy is registered on as if its on a J reg or newer you will have to have a CAT fitted for MOT reasons,if your on a Q there's no problems,i assume your engine is using the original ford cast exhaust manifold, if it is this is a restrictor in its self and a side exit system will be far better flow wise,air filter, and power boost vavles,chipping is about as far as you can go with the standard management and injection, the next step is to go throttle bodies which are expensive but will take your engine to circular of 165bhp without the chip, but its  a few quid step up,that would pave the way for head and cam work and see you bourdering on the spec off 200bhp depending on spec of parts.

hope this helps a bit im sure the true Zetec kings will pop in soon, you no who they are.

[Matt Seabrook]

Leigh you would be better saving your money and putting it to throttle bodies as Neo said but a convirtion like that tis going to cost about £1500-2000. You could get a set of 130 cams (2000cc Zetec) this would help. But you would need the ems remaped to get the best from these although they are quite mild and could get away with out a mapping setion. Throttle bodies with 130 cams will make 155bhp on an 1800cc Zetec. You would still be able to run a cat if yo need to as well. 200bhp is doable with the 1800cc motor with out going mad.

Where's Steve D          He'll say take it out and burn it - then fit a Vx unit.

 

[neo]

matt he's insecure about zetecs i reckon there getting that much closer to vauxhalls XE motor,chomping at the heals so to speak  

[Blatman]

I'd be cautious of anyone who says that removing the cat and renewing the airfilter with no other mods, will release 15-20 horses, unless he's talking about losing the standard Zetec exhaust manifold too, and that'd cost waaaaay more than 200 quid, IMO.

Also, does a failing cat cause misfires? I can't see how, unless the now untreated exhaust gasses are interfering with the Lambda processes, which is in turn sending the wrong signals to the ECU (I'm assuming it's a closed loop system........).

Please also remember, there is no such thing as cheap horsepower.................

[Matt Seabrook]

I'd be cautious of anyone who says that removing the cat and renewing the airfilter with no other mods, will release 15-20 horses, unless he's talking about losing the standard Zetec exhaust manifold too, and that'd cost waaaaay more than 200 quid, IMO.

correct

Cats sap about 5 to 8 bhp aprox.

I can't see how, unless the now untreated exhaust gasses are interfering with the Lambda processes, which is in turn sending the wrong signals to the ECU

I have never had a car in the workshop that caused these problems with a duff cat. Poor performance if the cat brakes up yes.

there is no such thing as cheap horsepower

Could not agree more BHP cost money and normaly lots of it.

[neo]

Blatman ive known cats calapse and partually block the gas flow causing strangulation and lack of power, but still can cause a misfire due to incorrect reading on the lamda side,but this was on a tin top.

[Pete Collins]

Leigh,

Like you, I have an 1800 Zetec with an underslung exhaust. It was put on a rolling road a month ago (for a laugh) and reported 120bhp. They suggested "Superchipping" it as the next logical move. What did it cost and where did you get it done?

Pete

[Nick M]

Superchipping is a spectacular waste of time and money for a normally aspirated car IM(not so)HO.  A Uni-chip is a better compromise in that you can at least map it to suit your engine set up to some degree, but if you've already got a mappable ECU then that's a waste of time too.

You're almost better off doing nothing and putting the money towards some proper go faster goodies when you can afford a more comprehensive upgrade.  Superchipping and all the other little mods won't release enough for you to really notice so the Upgraditis bug will still be nibbling away at your wallet in 6 months time !!

Of course the best option would be to sell the Zetec and get a Vauxhall engine in there PDQ      

[westy]

Of course the best option would be to sell the Zetec and get a Vauxhall engine in there PDQ      

us in the VX camp could'nt possibly comment on such a statement

[Blatman]

Oh.............well...........in that case

No comment............      

[Pete Collins]

Superchipping is a spectacular waste of time and money for a normally aspirated car IM(not so)HO.

Nick,

It's been a long time since I had much to do with cars (engines). In my day, "normally aspirated" meant a carburetter but this thing of mine has injection. It's a completely standard Ford set-up so the ECU is not programmable - but the chip could be swapped.

I was told that I would get ~9bhp more but, more importantly, it would get rid of "that" flat spot in the torque curve.

I wasn't looking to do much, if anything, at the moment but the thread caught my attention for the longer term.

Would changing the cams to 130bhp (2L Xetec) be an easy job and worth doing?

Thanks

Pete

[Nick M]

9bhp from swapping a chip is a lot for a car running standard fuel injection.   They may have seen such an increase once, on a dyno, with one particular engine, but to expect it every time is a bit fanciful IMHO.

If there's a flat spot in the torque curve then a Unichip would be better as it can be mapped, to some extent, to dial out this sort of thing.  A Superchip is just one static map that may or may not work, particularly if it's been designed around a standard exhaust set up too.

Cam swapping is, on the face of it, quite straightfoward with Zetecs, etc.  Not sure exactly what would be involved with your particular engine but I'm sure others here could advise you.  Or failing that speak to Dunnel or Raceline who have lots of Zetec experience.

BTW, fuel injection still counts as normally aspirated, i.e. engine is sucking the air in rather than it being force fed by a turbo or super charger.

[Pete Collins]

Nick,

Thanks for your replies. At the moment I'll probably stick with what I have. I know it's not the fatest Westie around but at least it's reliable. (and not costing any money at the moment)

Turbo!, Supercharger! It was all side valve stuff in my day. No - not really. And yes, I know Turbo's and Supercharger's have been around a long time.    

Pete