more bhp

[pugmiester]

this has probably already been asked but how can i get more bhp out of my car and make it sound a lot more throaty aswell

[eoin27]

What car do you have?

[pugmiester]

yea sorry i have a 1.8 d9

[eoin27]

A remap wont do much.

A good service would be the best thing for it if its needed.
You can buy performance Air Filters and a few other gimminky things for a few extra bhp. but i hear they're not that good.

I'm sure someone else will be along with a few more tips

[mjb]

Sell it and buy something with a bigger engine.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who are willing to pay crazy amounts to squeeze 5bhp more out of a weak car (never mind invalidating their insurance as most won't bother notifying the company), when it would be cheaper to just buy+insure a V6

[highlander]

I would agree (though I have asked similar questions on here regarding my own 1.8 D9) - I'd pay small amounts to get reasonable upgrades (like ECU remaps, as I've heard these can reap good rewards, or possibly replacement of manifolds from the higher-spec 2.0 engine), but paying crazy amounts for small upgrades makes for not a lot of sense.

Pugmiester - look at all the chavs in their 1.2 Vauxhaull Novas that have had all the body kits and exhaust thingies on them, and still (almost exclusively) look and perform like utter crap. You don't wanna be one of those! 406s are much nicer cars than the Vauxhaull Chavwagon, but if you want a kick-ass sporty 406, go for a V6 model (the Coupe is very nice, a true Italian sports car with a 3 litre V6 engine that will produce 210 BHP, and if you want a 5-door, the saloon is available in V6 flavour too).

I find the 1.8 to be reasonably gutsy, myself (though my last car was a Mk. 1 Renault Clio, with a 1.2 engine), so I'm happy enough with what I've got - but I'm still occasionally looking on AutoTrader (etc) for a V6 saloon D9 within 150 miles of Aberdeen.

If you want to give your 1.8 a throatier sound, you may want to look at replacing the exhaust with an after-market stainless steel setup. Someone mentioned Cherry Bomb as being a good noise-maker, but I have no experience of this whatsoever.

[Welly]

If you mess about with it you'll ruin it and struggle to move it on later.

These Saloon cars were not made to be sports cars - they were made to eat up the miles in comfort for Reps and Families etc.

I see a Vectra around sometimes with a loud exhaust and stickerage galore but it's just a 1.8lx underneath and it makes me think.."dude, it's not a sports car, it never was and it never will be"

I've been driving for 20 years and feel confident in saying that if you want something swift/sporty then buy one that was made that way at the factory and then leave it the hell alone

On a similar note the HDi 110 is quicker in real terms than the 1.8 on the road and these can be chipped easily to 140 BHP

[406Iain]

Ive said this to countless people with nice cars..Dont f*ck about with it.
Youll make it worth 11p when you come to resell it (even if you take all the bits off chances are someone local will look at it and will have seen you tear arsing about in it)
If you want a "faster" car for some silly reason,go buy one.A 406 is meant to be a quiet comfy saloon car that you drive sensibly.

[Dan224]

like has been said before, dont mess with the engine. For a start its too small for any mods to make a real difference, unless you go the NOS route which is totally pointles IMO, extra 50bhp for 10 seconds and cost about £30 to refill it!
As for a a better sound, go for a S/S cat back system. I had mine done a few months ago, got a nice oval tail pipe that fits perfect in the bumper cut out, and they tuned the boxes so I get a nice grumble on tick over, but on the move it's nice a quite.

Dan

[swiss]

There's a metre-wide turbo sitting in our workshop doing nothing...

[mjb]

There's a metre-wide turbo sitting in our workshop doing nothing...

How many minutes at the red line would it take a 1.8 to make the vanes do one revolution?

[Doggy]

There's a metre-wide turbo sitting in our workshop doing nothing...

How many minutes at the red line would it take a 1.8 to make the vanes do one revolution?

Impossible to say without any spec on said turbo, but it will be a function of swept volume x engine speed.
It therefore follows that a 1.8 @ 6000 RPM would be pretty similar to a 1.9 @ 5000, so if you talk nicely to swiss.....

[eoin27]

Sorry Pugmeister. You got served! (as they say in the states!)