Stage 1 (250-290bhp)This level of tune is fairly easy to get to without spending massive money on new turbo kits or anything fancy for your 200SX S14. You will see healthy power gains and an increase in fuel economy as the 200SX engine will be less stressed.
Please see my 200SX parts section for the best deals on the 200SX parts below.
Intake Kit The
first thing you want to change is the standard S14 intake system for a well
designed aftermarket intake kit capable of flowing more air efficiently into the SR20DET engine.
This will help the SR20DET engine breathe higher volumes of air which will
increase engine power by 5-7bhp. Another nice way to introduce cold air
into the engine is to buy a bit of small diameter flexible piping and
making your own cold air intake pipe that can be installed from the
front bumper to the intake chamber of your 200SX engine bay.
Exhaust System Now
that we’ve got sufficient air coming into the engine, it’s time to
increase exhaust flow by fitting a free flowing exhaust system. There
are a lot of well designed 200SX exhausts out there capable of
increasing exhaust flow rate by a large amount. Choosing an exhaust
system is a personal preference as some are very loud while some are
quiet and refined but the results are mostly the same.
You
will also need to replace the 2 S14 CAT replacement pipes too with straight
through pipes. These are known as the downpipe which is the pipe that
connects between the CAT converter and the turbo elbow and the CAT
converter itself which is connected between the exhaust system and the
downpipe. Fitting a fully decatted S14 exhaust system should free up around
6-15bhp.
S14 Intercooler
The standard SR20DET
intercooler is tiny and before a boost increase, I recommend installing
a better one. If you don’t, you risk detonation on warm days.
Aftermarket S14 intercooler kits perform much better but they can be
expensive so please shop around. It’s the ability to run more boost that
makes this mod a good one.
Boost Increase There are different methods of increasing the boost level from electronic controllers to mechanical bleed valves. The T28 turbo used with the SR20DET engine is great and can be boosted to levels up to 15.5psi, above this level the turbo becomes inefficient and the standard injectors will be at 100% duty.
Manual controllers are
very basic in operation, basically they bleed off air causing the
waste-gate actuator to open later. The amount of boost run depends on
the amount of air bled from the system. Manual boost controllers are
cheap & easy to install but they do have their disadvantages. Some can
cause boost spikes and boost creep, I have also found boost tends to
tail off high in the rev range which is going to affect power output of your SR20DET engine in
a negative way.
Electronic boost
controllers on the other hand use stepper motors and monitor boost about
every 10th of a second. Because of this, boost spikes and boost creep are
kept to a minimum and the desired boost level is held to the redline.
Electronic boost controllers are expensive though and require to be
fitted by a professional who has done the job before & is familiar with working on the 200SX S14.
A 3rd option is to install a different
waste-gate actuator. HKS make aftermarket adjustable ones for the S14
which eliminates a lot of unnecessary boost piping within the engine bay
and helps increase turbo spool up. This eliminates boost creep & boost
spiking as well and holds boost very well. This is what I am running in
my own S14 to control boost and have never had any problems.
It is safe to set your boost level to 14psi at this stage which, in conjunction to the above mods already done, should increase power output to around 20bhp.
ECU Upgrade
An aftermarket ECU has
the potential to give good power gains and improve drivability. One
popular option is the Apexi Power FC stand alone engine management
system. Tuning should be done be a professional ideally on a dyno. This
modification will trim your air fuel ratios at different RPM points &
adjust the ignition timing which will result in a smoother power
delivery and improved power throughout the rev range along with
dramatically improved fuel economy.
All parameters of your car can be tuned with a Power
FC but once again it should be dyno tuned by a professional. Other
options are available but the Power FC is familiar to many S14 aftermarket tuners & is
easy to install as it plugs directly into your 200SX wiring loom, and has successfully
proven itself many times over.
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