Removal of throttle body mesh

[CMF_1275]

I removed the mesh from the throttle body on my K11 1275 the other week, wow I'm staggered by how much of an improvement it made, from the feel of it, it feels like about 5hp. I'm 10 mph faster everywhere now for the same throttle position, it pulls better too, overall it just feels like a different car.

I did post this mod on the UK Micra forum and got nothing but grief (please don't repost here if you're one of them) their concern was that something could potentially now get into the engine and damage it. I run the standard airbox and paper filter and am more than happy it will be fine.

Without doubt the best mod I've done on my car, extra power doesn't usually come so cheaply

 

[CMF_asdame]

i did this to all my micras too, no probs. to be honest if the filter was doing its job, no debris would enter the tb in the first place

 

[CMF_Lunchbox]

the mesh isn't there to stop debris going into the engine since it would easily let dust pass anyways. it's there to smooth the airflow going through the maf sensor so it can accurately measure the amount of airflow.

Cheers, Lunchbox.

 

[CMF_DeepFraught]

Sounds interesting 1275, but also sounds exaggerated with your excitement.
- How are you measuring the throttle position, do you have an ECUTalk display?
- Have you done some back to back tests eliminating variables? e.g. Frank uses idle in 1st gear, start timer as he goes to full throttle.

Feeling 5hp is a lot different to measuring 5hp. Cars with loud exhausts at a speed are witnessed to be moving faster than the same cars with quiet exhausts at the same speed. Human observation alone is very flawed.

 

[CMF_1275]

It's just a seat of the pants feeling, it is what I imagine a 5hp increase would feel like, it is no exaggeration that the car really does feel much more powerful and quicker.

I'm still waiting for someone else to try it and confirm the improvement, reassurance that it isn't all in my imagination would be great.

Vizard lost 3hp on an SU with the same type gauze fitted.

 

[CMF_fred]

i did it when I had standard throttle body, was an improvement in throttle response but don't remember it being a "u gotta do this!" mod... Please save up for a light flywheel and you'll see a huge differnce... like 1-2 seconds to 100kph quicker.... from memory going from cg to ga15 tb was .6 second improvement using the idle 1st gear to 100k thing... throttle response with a light flywheel is very good...you can actually blip the throttle and the engine would react..which it wouldn't REALLY with a standard one.

 

[CMF_1275]

A flywheel is on my wish list, a bolt on, but not an easy one.

What started out as a cheap runabout is starting get under my skin a little bit now.

Last night I got to compare the accleration with a BMW mini cooper, a car I used to own when they first came out, it kept up very well considering the mini has a fair bit more bhp per ton than the Micra, one thing a Micra will never do though is go round corners like those Minis, the handling on those is outstanding.

The funny thing is that I'm liking the Micra more than I did the Mini, and it cost less than a 1/14 of the price of my Mini!

 

[CMF_asdame]

fitting a janspeed manifold gives a definate increase throughout the revs especially higher up.

front & rear whiteline sway bars and/or bilstein suspension system also transforms the micras handling into more of a go-kart.

yeah a jun ultra-light flywheel gives a real quick engine response like a motorcycle, although it costed me upto half a grand, cost of the car itself.

 

[CMF_1275]

Stuck this trumpet on the other day and amazingly managed to pull 6500 revs in 4th, 118 mph I believe, it certainly feels quicker yet again, not done any other mods

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss253/Artstu2/Picture068.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[CMF_EBBdude]

Well , i am one of those who have tried , in about 25 dyno pulls, different ways to see if the " mesh " does give any power increase whatsoever.

In my thread here :
http://www.micra.org.uk/threads/40020-EBBdude-s-Micro-Micra-project
one can read all about it.

Sad to say i didnt find ANY improvement whatsoever that could be measured in a positive way by removing the "mesh".
By measuring i mean realtime gains in form of power numbers showing up at my Dynapack and not " feelings " in my pants

But it will bi implemented in the process of the Maxi Micra thread :
http://www.micra.org.uk/threads/40439-quot-Maxi-Micra-quot-project....by-EBBdude.
when power level gets in the higher region.....

Will let you know what i find then

 

[CMF_1275]

I look forward to the results when you do some tests on a 1.3 EBB. perhaps you already have?

Of course without the benefit of a dyno I'm restricted to how it feels, and with the mesh removed I felt a big difference, the trumpet has had the same positive effect.

 

[CMF_EBBdude]

The trumpet has absoluetly an effect.
I have use many different trumpets , like the ones you can see in the
" MIcro MIcra and MAXI Micra " project threads and they work SUPERB !

The comination of trumpet and air-filter box works to a certain level of power , after that you will have to find way of getting the air even easier into the throttle-body...and more important , getting the lenght of the trumpet , the radius of it and the plenums volume to correct cooperation together with your used camprofile....thats where the real power is

 

[CMF_1275]

Yes I'd already realised the airbox feed could now be a restriction. As this is my cheap quiet shopping car I'm happy to leave it at this level, totally stock look and sound (slightly louder with the trumpet)

Hopefully if I get around to fitting my spare engine in my kit-car then I can do much more playing around, no need for cats and such like needed on that car.

 

[CMF_1300cc]

fred WROTE:

"i did it when I had standard throttle body, was an improvement in throttle response but don't remember it being a "u gotta do this!" mod... Please save up for a light flywheel and you'll see a huge differnce... like 1-2 seconds to 100kph quicker.... from memory going from cg to ga15 tb was .6 second improvement using the idle 1st gear to 100k thing... throttle response with a light flywheel is very good...you can actually blip the throttle and the engine would react..which it wouldn't REALLY with a standard one.

fred, how about 4-2-1 extractors? do you think this will give you more power than the light flywheel...coz if you're right then ill save first for the flywheel and next for the extractors

 

[CMF_fred]

man, old threads.... I can't compare standard exhaust with a sport exhaust.. I sorta did the turbo thing... I 'noticed' a liitle difference in power.....! I'd still do the flywheel and maybe a hd clutch while you got the box off- cuz everything you do to the car will effect the poor old clutch and the flywheel will amplify any extra power made....

 

[CMF_jonty4]

Just finished reading EBBdude's blog. As the owner of a 1999 1.0L Micra Inspiration in Impulse Yellow with 102500 miles on speedo, I was very interested to see the gains that can be made without fancy cylinder heads or exhausts. I've used the solid core spark plug leads on a previous car back in the 70's. They worked but caused interference on the radio. A thoroughly good read, trying to figure a way to save all of it for future use.

John

 

[CMF_EBBdude]

Feel free to use it any way you like Jonty4

Thats what it is there for...