I've just finished a set of mods to my Terzo, and I thought I'd share my experience with others who might be thinking of tuning their MY97 or MY98. The ECU in these years is a bit awkward to work with, but there are people who can remap or replace them, and there's not that much info around.

The objectives I set were to achieve a good increase in mid-range torque, keep the car emissions legal and not make it too noisy. I wasn’t setting out to break any power records, but to have a car with a bit more get up and go.

I’d already uprated the clutch to a Helix unit when the original wore out, but apart from that the transmission was standard.

I mailed a number of people about the ECU options and I narrowed down my choice to either a PowerFC from Andy or the Power Engineering remap. Both routes had positive write ups from various people I spoke to (Mark Wild was very helpful, cheers fella). In the end I decided to go down the PE route as they already service my car and if there were problems then I could get the car back to them easily.

I also slowly accumulated a set of exhaust parts that went on prior to the mapping via eBay and SN. A Graham Goode sports cat downpipe, Magex resonated decat centre and an H&S backbox. The final breathing mod was a K&N panel filter.

PE solder a daughterboard into the ECU and it’s this that holds the new map. They explained that they have a range a maps covering a variety of mods (I/C injectors etc) and that these can be modified if the car needs it once it’s on the rolling road. With the map uploaded it was onto the rollers. The mapping is done with a range of diagnostics and det cans and on the initial runs Chris discovered my MAF was on the way out. Diagnostics showed that the fuelling was spot on but there was some detonation at peak torque and power. A quick MAF swap for a second-hand unit they had proved the MAF was the culprit.

The car had been running fine beforehand, with none of the normal MAF symptoms so it’s likely that it had just started to go off and the ECU was coping with the dicky sensor. The ECU reset and new map brought the problem to light. MAF failures are rare on MY97/98 cars, and I had to leave the car with them while a new sensor was ordered. New MAFs are about £250. Chris said that MY99/00 MAF problems are so common they keep about 10 in stock!

The mapping then went well, and the car was logged at 277 lb/ft and 277 bhp@ 6050rpm. The torque band was nice and wide, not too peaky. I’ve heard PE’s rollers are generous on the figures, but I was more interested in the on the road performance than the stats.

On the road the car is transformed. From about 3000rpm it just feels like a giant hand is shoving you down the road. The missus commented that the power delivery was a lot smoother, and I have to agree.

I’m really happy with the result, and would recommend anyone considering a remap to go for it. Plan your performance objectives up front, ask lots of questions and choose your route from there.

Hope that’s useful and if anyone wants to know more drop me a line.

Mike

 

Thanks mate. I too own a MY98 turbo 2000 wagon. Ive had the car a couple of weeks and am toying with the idea of airfilter/exhaust etc... You shed a lot of light, on the subject. Did you try the guys at scoobyclinic?. Having only recently joined SIDC and this site, their name keeps popping up with, not a bad word said. I am an ex-cossie man, and thought PE were mainly Ford people obviously not!.

 

I didn't try scoobyclinic - when I first started looking I'm not sure they did MY97/98 remaps. They are held in high regard on SN, there are lots of positive comments about them.

 

New MAFs are about £250.
how much?

 

The one for your year car is about £75

 

Some people treat the later MAF sensors as consumables, changing them every year, and given the damage a failed one can do I can see why.

The design differences between the earlier and later model MAFs are significant, and I suppose that must contribute to the cost.

 

speedy1,
If you are looking to remap a MY97/8 in the future speak to Scoobyclinic, They may have some different options

For the record I have a MY97 UK turbo. Well it was when I bought it!
Had it upto 274bhp on the old 110,000 mile engine
Now pushing for 350bhp on a 2.5 litre conversion

 

Mike p

Good write up but you missed out the cost of the remap

 

Cheers, Wagon.

As for cost, the PE remap is £625 plus VAT. That breaks down across the cost of the part and fitting (seemed to take about an hour to solder the daughterboard in) and then the rolling road/mapping time.

If you make subsequent changes to your mods then they can change the map, although I'm not how much they charge for the map changes.

Mike

 

Thanks Mike

 

675 plus vat for a map ,(unless a cheap prodrive ecu comes) that will have to wait as i just paid for my motor , uk98 .. 31k miles fssh , full kit , just gone in for a full respray (sonic blue) , added full alpine system in it , with dvd and 2 tvs (still dont know why) not watched em yet , added full blitz exhaust 600 quid ,18 inch gold bk racing 299 split rim lookalikes 950 quid , the list is endless what i have been doing to it its gettin to a point were im fookin skint all the time now

remap will have be a couple of months for me

 

Mike when did you get your PE Phase1 installed? as I approached PE recently to get mine re assesed. They told me that the service wasnt available anymore due to staff leaving. Pat Herbourne was able to help though.

 

Hi Bruce

I had a Phase 2 remap fitted to mine, it was put on just after Easter. I think they stopped doing the Phase 1 upgrade a while back. I assume it's a different board or mapping process that distinguishes them.

Mike

 

Thanks for the info Mike, i'm taking MY98 UK to Xtreme in June. Did you get any additional sensors fitted? (knocklink or anything like that)?

 

Hi

I have oil temp, oil press and boost, but don't have a knocklink or AFR or suchlike. My map runs off a daughterboard soldered into the main ECU, and the car still retains all the standard active knock correction, fine learning control and so on.

From what I understand KnockLinks and stuff are more important if you go for an aftermarket ECU like a PowerFC or a manual boost control setup (Dawes device etc), that don't necessarily have all the safeguards of the standard ECU.

Xtreme should be able to advise you on what's appropriate. I've used them for servicing in the past and they are a really good bunch.

What other mods are you going for?

 

MAF problems from my97-98 car is more than likely just cracked solder joints inside the big black box on the other side of the conector, same as the early skyline maf problem. easy to fix.

 

Nothing too heavy, i've got the afterburner exhaust and JR Filter, i'm scared to do anymore, all these engines blowing up, couldn't really afford a rebuild! What have you done cause I am looking for a similar sort of performance?

 

I've had the following done:

K&N panel filter
GGR sports cat downpipe
Magnex resonated catless centre pipe
H&S backbox

Once all of these were fitted I had the remap done. As for reliability, when I was researching then one guy had run equivalent mods trouble-free for 50-60k, so if it's done properly you should be fine.

I've also upgraded the brakes (calipers, lines discs and pads). Don't start what you can't stop

Mike

 

First thing I did was get a set of 4 pot Brembos!

I spoke to Xtreme yesterday, the guy there basicaly told me not do get my car done :-(

He said due to the age and milage (52k) metal fatigue would mean it couldn't handle another 70php being pumped through it?

Anbody have any thoughts?

 

Useful thread - thanks for the info and experiences...

Mick