If you will believe a long-time engine engineer, I will tell you that Ethanol does not degrade the 3-way catalyst any more than gasoline or any other hydrocarbon fuel. Ethanol blends have caused some troubles with certain rubber/plastic components in the fuel systems of cars not designed to be ethanol tolerant.
Nanny State performance
21 - 39 of 39 Posts
Joined
·
738 Posts
My cat has 150k+ miles on it. 20 yrs later too, although I’m not sure how much longer until we’re past the “premature failure” stage.
Although there seems to be low/no risk ánd thre is low/no risk over here for robbery of the platinum, still saving mine from both with the lower underhood temp as goal. Win-win-win.
Moral virtual horse riding apart, the bottom line remains; decats and freeflow muffler = lower engine room temp and some more horses to drift the delightful spyder.
The annual inspection is still 6 months away but ´Bubbly´ gf has already put it on the ´fun to do´ -list for when we are no lober confined. She was all giggly about a romantic trip for the technical inspection
She immediately asked if we could continue the nude photograpy ´project´ with the Osborne Bulls; there are two we could visit underway to that station. Ah, the lighness of life
Have a nice week guys
Moral virtual horse riding apart, the bottom line remains; decats and freeflow muffler = lower engine room temp and some more horses to drift the delightful spyder.
The annual inspection is still 6 months away but ´Bubbly´ gf has already put it on the ´fun to do´ -list for when we are no lober confined. She was all giggly about a romantic trip for the technical inspection
She immediately asked if we could continue the nude photograpy ´project´ with the Osborne Bulls; there are two we could visit underway to that station. Ah, the lighness of life
Have a nice week guys
Joined
·
5,282 Posts
Hum, I don't have a horse, except under the hood. I am as immoral as the next person, but I do limit myself. I don't concern myself with others fancy about girl friends or bulls or poop.
I do consider ethanol not a friend of certain rubbers and see that as a potential issue. I have used alcohol with nitro for radio control airplane engines, it has very different characteristics from gas, some good some bad.
I do consider ethanol not a friend of certain rubbers and see that as a potential issue. I have used alcohol with nitro for radio control airplane engines, it has very different characteristics from gas, some good some bad.
Joined
·
52 Posts
Swapping the gearbox, while maybe not quite legal, could be an option.
The EUDM Spyder has a few differences to the USDM and JDM Spyder, one of wich is the gearbox.
EUDM has a less aggressive final drive ratio and taller 3rd and 4th gear, wich makes our Spyders a little slower under accelleration.
If you swap the transmission for one with shorter gears, the guy at the inspection wouldn't notice.
The most extreme example would be the C60 from the 2ZZ Celica wich has a more aggressive final drive and closer grouped gears.
The EUDM Spyder has a few differences to the USDM and JDM Spyder, one of wich is the gearbox.
EUDM has a less aggressive final drive ratio and taller 3rd and 4th gear, wich makes our Spyders a little slower under accelleration.
If you swap the transmission for one with shorter gears, the guy at the inspection wouldn't notice.
The most extreme example would be the C60 from the 2ZZ Celica wich has a more aggressive final drive and closer grouped gears.
Joined
·
1,670 Posts
Um, what about internal engine mods? Plug in a piggyback ECU or Apexi PFC and remove it for inspections? High compression forged pistons + high octane fuel = easy power gain. A reground intake cam will extend the high rpm power a little.
Joined
·
738 Posts
I also suggested internal mods in the very first reply but then again this thread never seemed to be intended for actual solutions. I would guess the most likely barrier to this is SES (or one of the other 2 I previously mentioned), but who knows
To avoid enthusiast taking a mistaken route:
Internal mods are a proven dead end. Higher compression pistons are not a sound idea at all and porting + Stage 1 cam is both disapointing ánd NEEDS a sports exhaust.
On the 1ZZ-FE reground cams will almost certainly lead to problems with bucket thickness.
The gains from tuning the 1ZZ-FE in n.a. guise are limited, marginal; ´internal mods´ are not worth the cost.
Freeing up the exhaust and Cap Weir´s MAF mod are basically it.
A different program cán result well but is far from economical and also illegal here.
Whether wíse is a matter open to discussion, but lightweight/underdrive pulleys do give some gains as does deleting the airco.
Gearbox is a good and possible modification. Technically not allowed but will stay undetected.
Mine though has a C52 with LSD; with all the weight reduction and marginals adding up is not at all bad, would not want it shorter and it is nicely spaced too.
Fun with the marginal power gains it is
![]()
Internal mods are a proven dead end. Higher compression pistons are not a sound idea at all and porting + Stage 1 cam is both disapointing ánd NEEDS a sports exhaust.
On the 1ZZ-FE reground cams will almost certainly lead to problems with bucket thickness.
The gains from tuning the 1ZZ-FE in n.a. guise are limited, marginal; ´internal mods´ are not worth the cost.
Freeing up the exhaust and Cap Weir´s MAF mod are basically it.
A different program cán result well but is far from economical and also illegal here.
Whether wíse is a matter open to discussion, but lightweight/underdrive pulleys do give some gains as does deleting the airco.
Gearbox is a good and possible modification. Technically not allowed but will stay undetected.
Mine though has a C52 with LSD; with all the weight reduction and marginals adding up is not at all bad, would not want it shorter and it is nicely spaced too.
Fun with the marginal power gains it is
Joined
·
1,670 Posts
"Higher compression pistons are not a sound idea at all and porting + Stage 1 cam is both disapointing ánd NEEDS a sports exhaust.
On the 1ZZ-FE reground cams will almost certainly lead to problems with bucket thickness. "
Uh, more power is more power...do you want it or not? What exactly is wrong with high compression pistons? Reground cams would have additional material welded to the lobe in this case.
On the 1ZZ-FE reground cams will almost certainly lead to problems with bucket thickness. "
Uh, more power is more power...do you want it or not? What exactly is wrong with high compression pistons? Reground cams would have additional material welded to the lobe in this case.
The recent tests I made for fun :
Drag Race against BMW E92 330D tuned to 300hp > until ~160km/h, the 330D is at least 2 cars behing.
Roll race in 2nd against Audi RS3 367hp (2 peoples) > until 140 km/h, my Spyder is less than one car behind.
The secret? PPE CAI + PPE 4-1 header + Ragazzon sport cat + MWR flywheel + Pre-FL weighted at 985kg with full tank.
Of course, the main improvement is the C64 trans swap. "C60" print is moulded on all Corolla/Celica/MR2 transmission case. Sleeper swap.
If this level of acceleration is not enough, think about buying another car is the question.
Like I said to friends : buy a car for YOU. Not for the other or for having they approvement.
Drag Race against BMW E92 330D tuned to 300hp > until ~160km/h, the 330D is at least 2 cars behing.
Roll race in 2nd against Audi RS3 367hp (2 peoples) > until 140 km/h, my Spyder is less than one car behind.
The secret? PPE CAI + PPE 4-1 header + Ragazzon sport cat + MWR flywheel + Pre-FL weighted at 985kg with full tank.
Of course, the main improvement is the C64 trans swap. "C60" print is moulded on all Corolla/Celica/MR2 transmission case. Sleeper swap.
If this level of acceleration is not enough, think about buying another car is the question.
Like I said to friends : buy a car for YOU. Not for the other or for having they approvement.
Thanks for sharing.
That lower end gear sure would make for more acceleration. The obvious draw back for some would be revs on the highway but I shun those anyway. For me basically all travel in the Spyder is a reward itself and I enjoy driving over secondary roads more than the time ´gained´ on the highway,
The lighter flyweel is a funny one, It would give more power on an acceleration bank and in acceleration though it does not makes more power. Cuts two ways too; both on the crank accelleration ánd it makes the car lighter. It is on my list for when the clutch needs attention.
Nice light car weight btw
Mine should be some 65-70 kilo less with a full tank. Should put it on the scales again. Did several things since it put 900 kilos on the display with 15 liter or so in the tank.
It is a personal challenge to get 8xx on the display.
There is a neat youtube by a French bloke who adapted his to E85
Point being that it h.c. pistons are not possible in the 1ZZ-FE
and that cams do not result more than the MAF mod; there ís no power there this way as sports cams do not play well with the MAF mod.
There are several who had problems with valve clearance with reground cams.
Joined
·
1,670 Posts
Uh...wtf? Monkeywrenchracing and DDPR have built 1ZZs with high compression Wiseco pistons and cams before.
The 1ZZ-FE is long stroke and the c,r. is not low as it is. The MAF mod is a good illustration.
Horses for courses and porting/hotting up 1ZZ pistons/cams is a waste of money.
Hotting up the interior will mean high octane rating only, a loss of lower end for very little gains as the head simply is not designed for high flow. The 2ZZ is.
The 1ZZ is on the other have véry good for supercharging.
By all means disagree.
Tuning VVT might add a few hp, but it seems like 160 NA is the top for a 1ZZ, at least within a budget that makes sense. There are tons of threads discussing this, and it seems like your only option. If a 2ZZ or turbo are off the table, I don't really see the point of any of this. And given that a lot of these parts are far cheaper in the USA than in Europe, it makes even less sense.
Like others have said, I don't really understand the intent of this thread. Your only option is to build the 1ZZ but that makes no sense financially. Why not find a car with a better engine platform to modify to your standard? Don't let sunk costs weigh you down.
Joined
·
1,101 Posts
He is not actually looking for solutions, just looking to get into arguments so he can act like a pompous know-it-all. FYI.
The OEM 1zz cams are cast-iron done in a special process that involves placing "chills" in the mold to form the cam lobes. These chills form nearly pure carbide a few mm deep from the surface. Carbide is a perfect material for cam lobes for sliding cam interface (like bucket tappets) because it is extremely hard and will not micro-weld to the steel tappets. You do not use chilled iron for roller valvetrains, and you can't use steel cams for sliding tappet valvetrains. When most aftermarket cam companies regrind a cam lobe, they remove only a little bit of material from the lobe tip so as not to remove the chilled layer, and they get the larger lift profile by reducing the base-circle of the cam. The consequence of this is much greater lash that has to be fixed with shims or resized tappets. Some cam companies weld new iron onto the cam lobe before grinding, to avoid this problem. If they really know what they are doing, they can end up with a good layer of carbide for the tappet to run on.
Dave
You could also see as an illustration of different priorities imposed by other realities created by different local rules and regulations.
The open mind is like a parachute; works best when open
Thanks Dblotii and Gbravi.
The n.a. 1ZZ-FE is a casebook example of marginal improvements and deminishing returns. It is indeed made more so by European price level. Same goes ofcourse for go-lighter parts like cf hood or lexan windows.
It, the Nanny-rules x taxed prices, also has an upside. Well, sort of and for the optimist
The most effective ánd most cost effective way to get a better power/weight ratio is to unbolt bits and the priorities of having those parts have shifted too.
´Found´ another 403 gramms today. Yes marginal but the lighter the car gets the less marginally it counts.
21 - 39 of 39 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!