Tuning a Fiat Palio NV


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
200
Likes
12
Location
London/Mumbai
What do I want to do this for? Sorry, but I have a soft spot for the Palio. And for the people who do not know, they even did a Super 1600, which was raced in Brazil.

The NV has got a 1242cc 8v FIRE engine in a chassis that could be a little lighter. Nevermind, weight is something that always can be reduced.

No, I did not mean to strip it down to the core. It can be done in a subtle way by just removing bits that are not needed at all. And of those things are more than one would think.

Anyway, first things first. To start with the car was put back to what it would be coming from the factory. It was modyfied in so far that it was running a cng kit. Removing the CNG reduced the weight by nearly 10%, which was one reason less for the owner to complain about the performance of the car.

The car was treated a bit like a step child in more recent times. But this was not bad for one reason. It shows how much of a difference makes a good condition to a not so good condition.

To make statements it is necessary to see that the test conditions are constant. It is a long and expensive way to Bangalore, Coimbatore or Mumbai for dyno runs when the car enjoys life in Ahmedabad. So, a test strip was needed. Well, the roads around Ahmedabad make a good testing ground when no traffic is about. Of course it always have to be the same strip.

All done.

Testing starts.

The initial run after the cng kit came of was:

0~60: 7.5 sec
0~100: 21.54 sec
1/4 mile: 22.5 @ 103.31 kmph

This was the best run out of several runs

After an engine oil flush and oil change the following figures came about:

0~60: 6.4 sec
0~100: 21.5 sec
1/4 mile: 20.5 @ 99.3 kmph

The 1/4 time and the 0 to 60 time suggest a good improvement. Why it took the driver 1 second from 99.3 to 100kph I am not sure. However something is not right as the car still needs too much time from 60 to 100kph.

Next step was to fit an Air Intake Revision:

0~60: 5.4 sec
0~100: 19.49 sec
1/4mile: 20.488 @102 kmph

This slashed off 2 seconds from the 0 to 100 time. However, the 1/4 mile time suggest that there is still something not quite right.

To reach the target to have a sub 13 second time from 0 to 100kph we are a long way off, but we will get there. First we have to eliminate the causes of the poor times. These will be all accompanied by acceleration figures to give a good idea what impact changes do have on the performance of the engine and how performance can be gained with the least financial input.

Next step is changing the overdue ignition leads.

To be continued.
 
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
14
Likes
0
Location
Rohtak
Hey drifter. palio is great car for modifying. How do you measure timings and reducing load will also help.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
321
Likes
8
Location
Pune
Nice start drifter,
Fiat Palio is (should I mention was?) one of the best hatchback with all the love and hate relationship from owner perspective.
Times ago I was desperately looking for S10 but no luck. I couldn’t find the loved car. All I have came across were badly abused.

Keep it up buddy I am very much impressed as you have tuned Palio
0~60: 7.5 sec to 0~60: 5.4 sec[clap]
That’s to without much investment.
 
Thread Starter #7
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
200
Likes
12
Location
London/Mumbai
@drifter ... please continue!
I will continue the tuning story of the Palio soon. At the moment we have a hold up because of weather conditions not allowing us to do the testing properly. Give me a little more time.

I have lined up cam, light weight valve train, exhaust modification, head work, crank work and some more things.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2010
Messages
1,408
Likes
297
Location
Margao, Goa
I am already in – booked Palio MJD and waiting for Black color to be delivered.
Didn't know they were still available.

I will continue the tuning story of the Palio soon. At the moment we have a hold up because of weather conditions not allowing us to do the testing properly. Give me a little more time.

I have lined up cam, light weight valve train, exhaust modification, head work, crank work and some more things.
Why don't you just try the 1.6 engine. My mechanic told me that someone in Mumbai has 3 brand new 1.6 engines. These were the leftovers when they stopped producing the 1.6.
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
321
Likes
8
Location
Pune
@ P3T3R.
Yes Palio is still available.
I still wonder many of the members didn’t know that Palio is on sell by FIAT(2011 make BSIII).We have discussed this before on forum too . Link
As far as I know there are many more parts (brand new) available as a result of shut down and shift of Mumbai plant.
 
Thread Starter #10
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
200
Likes
12
Location
London/Mumbai
Why don't you just try the 1.6 engine. My mechanic told me that someone in Mumbai has 3 brand new 1.6 engines. These were the leftovers when they stopped producing the 1.6.
I will provide tuning packages for all Palio engines. Unfortunately, the 1.6 engine is not easy to work on in the Palio engine bay. I am not happy with the solutions so far knowing the capability of the engine. The culprit is the air intake. But it is not all bad news. A proper solution seems to be on the horizon.
 
Thread Starter #12
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
200
Likes
12
Location
London/Mumbai
good on you mate :)

are you going to turbo charge/super charge as well?
We have done such projects. However I think the petrol engines in the Palio deserve a proper n/a treatment.

Getting the Palio 1.6 turboed is a tricky one as the engine bay layout is not very good for it.

The 1.6 is good for 240bhp normally aspirated. This should be enough.
 
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
411
Likes
29
Location
Bokaro/Angul
We have done such projects. However I think the petrol engines in the Palio deserve a proper n/a treatment.

Getting the Palio 1.6 turboed is a tricky one as the engine bay layout is not very good for it.

The 1.6 is good for 240bhp normally aspirated. This should be enough.
Well 240 bhp from a 1.6 means 150bhp/litre. From a NA engine, dont you think its a bit more than you can actually do? Unless you are running a race setup with bumped up comp and race fuel, its almost impossible. And for street tune with regular fuel, its impossible.
 
Top Bottom