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EBBdude`s : Micro Micra project

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As a new member to MSC i thought that i would share with you a process that i did with a 1.0 K11 here in Norway.

Please excuse my lack of perfect written english as i go along :)

This little cutie was bought as a car for my daughter so she could have something to practice on while training for a drivers license.

Never did I know what that would lead to as I got quite involved in the car in the time before she got the license...

Here are some snapshots of the car when I bought it :
tn_div%20732.jpg

tn_div%20734.jpg


Bought it locally for a good price and gave it into the hands of a mate and he spent an hour with the rubb & dubb machine :
tn_div%20730.jpg

tn_div%20729.jpg

Good man i must say !

Ok , so far so good.
Now to the stuff that I was interested in and that’s what resides inside here:
tn_div%20740.jpg


As an avid and happy enthusiast , specially when it comes to engines , I was longing to do something with this little poor engine in here. Small engine = small gains they say , but could we get some serious numbers out of it , at least as percentage gain compared to a stock ontouched engine ?

What are the actual numbers , even from small modifications , that a enthusiast could acheive by simple means ?
Questions like this are to be answered i think so off i went with this project :)

Having done my fair share of work with all kinds of engines i thought it could be an excellent opportunity to experiment and play with on my DYNAPACK :
tn_div%201094.jpg

The Dynapack is a brilliant tool to find even the smallest gain in Hp / Nm and its all measured directly on the hubs and its repeatability is excellent.

So here in this thread I will show some of the results that I have lured out of this K11 and some of the tricks that you can use on your car.

Some of the first things I did was to check and test the condition of the engine before any work was started :

First I took a compression test to find out what kind of pressure this little mini-monster cranked out :
tn_div%20763.jpg

This simple little tool gives me the readings of each cylinder and its condition relating to cranking pressure.

First , out goes the spark plugs :
tn_div%20748.jpg


And here you can see one of the readings :
tn_div%20755.jpg


After all is done you will get some numbers :
tn_div%20756.jpg

The engine has run 130 000 km so the result is ok.

Time for cylinder leakage test. Here you pressurize each cylinder to compare numbers and to find out exactly where eventually any leakage exists :

tn_div%20757.jpg


This test tells you if you have leaking valves , headgasket , blown piston rings etc etc.

If You iex. open the throttle valve completely and listen as the pressure is entering the cylinder and hear a whistling noise in the inlet manifold , well then there could be a chance of a leaking inlet valve.

Same if you put you ear into the exit of the exhaust pipe , and hear a clear swooshing air sound in the pipe , then your exhaust valve could have seen better days in that cylinder and so on…

Here is the result of the cylinder-leakage test :
img]http://www.raceinfo.no/temp/tn_syllekk.jpg[/img]
Quite normal for a fully operational and in good working order engine with that mileage.

Ok , now I have established and found a baseline for the engine and it condition so now to something that is quite important to get some correct baseline numbers on the dynapack :

I check the spark plugs to see that they are of the right heat range and type to be in this engine :
tn_div%20748_1.jpg


There are many issues with spark plugs that makes or brakes a successful engine.
tn_div%20758.jpg

This little fellow here is by far probably not the right stuff to produce absolute maximum figures but I will get back to that later and show you the magic…

Measuring the ignition cables is also of value when you want to develop any engine set up so i dug out the ohm-meter and did all cables :
tn_div%20768.jpg


Here is the measured values for all cables :
tn_div%20769_1.jpg

Note how different lenght give different reading.
Will get back to this later.

So , there you are. A baseline for the project and now its time for some real numbers to pop up from the screen on the Dynapack.

TODAYS QUIZZ :
Anyone care to guess what the power and Nm for this little car is in dead stock trim ?

More to come….
 
OP
OP
E
I forgot to tell you guys that all my measurements are at the hubs so i only use Hp@hub which of course is lower than at the flywheel numbers.
( even if you can estimate them back to the flywheel if you like , but i only am interested in the wheel power as they refer to my real hp available going out to the wheels and down to the tarmac ).

Why ? Because , as you will see in the thread later , even minute changes in oils etc will give you difference ( friction losses etc ) in power so when i measure at the wheel hub i get the exact numbers as relative to any changes beiing in engine or drivetrain...

So bear that in mind when you give som feedback in the QUIZ :)
 

martinb

Ex. Club Member
Sounds interesting, be good if could try different plugs, fuel filters, air filter positions etc, show what really works, big thanks for taking the time to show us all
 

r-reg-sr

-------
Site Supporter
hi welcome
seems like you are dealing in exelence?thats fine some good company here
cars gleeming away!
 
i am glued to this thread! this is the sort of mechanics i would love to learn alot more about (Y)
 
OP
OP
E
Then i have finished the first Dynapack sessions and just for reference some info regarding the projects dynapack sessions :

All levels of change will go through at least 3 runs and I will use the highest measurements as final results.

Here is the first result of whats inside this little 1.0 fellow :
tn_div%20876.jpg


39.6 Ps / 5547 rpm
62,2 Nm / 4098 rpm

AFR "as is " :
tn_div_3.jpg


(Flywheel Nm = hub Nm divided to final drivetrain ratio )
Hub Nm is of course many times flywheel Nm as a result of ratio differences from flywheel to actual hub.
If you have , lets say 400 nm at the hubs with a final ratio of 4.00 you have a Flywheel Nm =
400 : 4.00 = 100 Nm flywheel.

So this cars engine has almost 40 hp at the wheels available and that isn’t exactly much but gets the car from a to b.

So can we dos ome stuff to make this better ?
You bet , and I promise it gets better and better….

Oki , here is some of the first “ myths “ to be investigated :

New air filter:
tn_div%20835.jpg


The sound & resonance tube that Nissan so kindly supplied these cars with:
tn_div%20849.jpg


So these two will define a new result:
tn_div%20856.jpg

I am also going to experiment a little around this intake aerea here :

tn_div%20851.jpg


So what is it going to be now then ?

It keeps coming…..
 

frank

Club Member
it goes very lean at 4k eh EBBdude :eek:
4 more hp and less torque without the filter and pipes/resonator
 

Low Rider

Poindexter
Founding Member
Moderator
Club Member
it goes very lean at 4k eh EBBdude :eek:
4 more hp and less torque without the filter and pipes/resonator

And you wonder why Ed and I mention ECU remapping so much Frank ;) Even the standard ECU does a lousy job of running the standard engine on WOT.

Great thread EBB :D
 
Yeah, this thread really is awesome in the fact that everything will be broken down an explained/shown, i'd imagine my engine is running quite closely to yours :) so i'm definately glued to this thread atm :D.

I'd say another 2 or 3 hp, wonder how warm (If at all) the air will be entering the engine from that point instead of from the stock piping,
 

martinb

Ex. Club Member
Why were the cars mapped from stock to run lean in mid range? Can't see why Nissan would go that? Or..... Is it only a consequence of fitting performance parts which alter thedstock design ?
 

frank

Club Member
Why were the cars mapped from stock to run lean in mid range? Can't see why Nissan would go that? Or..... Is it only a consequence of fitting performance parts which alter thedstock design ?

i would guess its just an anomaly in the way the air flows into the engine (further tests with the resonator removed may explain maybe ?), but it has,nt caused a dip in the powercurve tho eh
 
OP
OP
E
Thank You for all feedback :)

What i havent told you about is that as a consequence of my passion for Micras i have more of them:
tn_div%201013.jpg


In fact we have no less then 4 Micras in the family which i have data available from at any time for comparing.

In this way i have gained some knowledge of what the totally OEM facts of power numbers and Nm are of a selection of quite normal driven cars straight from the street.

You might call it quality control regarding speculations of whether one car is off in a milage from any other car.

The " Micro Micra " is right in the middle of the more than 12 totally stock Micras i have put on the Dynapack and they range from poorly 34 hp to nearly 40 hp untouched.

Regarding AFR numbers then its wery simple ;
Nissan AFR control system is as good as any others but as time and milage is rolled by then things starts to alter the case.
I think that there hasnt been even one Micra that i have had on the dynepack that has been identical to another regarding AFR values ,,,at lest as stock car.

It all depends on several issues :
-Lambda condition
- spark plugs condition
-spark wire edition
- fuel quality
- MAF sensor condition and function
- fuel pressure
- +++more
So this issue of AFR is giving the most headache when one wants to squirl some more action out of the shoeboxes with wheels :)

Will show you more of this later on as the project expands.

More to be relased soon and a short video to show how a car with RPM limit removed actually works compared to a dead stock one......did we hear parkinglot dragrace..lol
 
OP
OP
E
Well then , several runs later on the Dynapack and more numbers to wiew.

Let`s have a look at some of the details found :

These three items were the first one to look at and find out if they made ant difference
tn_div%20907.jpg

The air inlet pipe, air filter and spark plugs.

First out ; the air filter.
In with new one and out with the old one :

RESULT ; consistent increase of 1,5 Hp after multiple runs of testing the filter comparing old versus new.

Almost as anticipated since the old one was dirty and grimy.
Took the time to test with and without the filter in the air-box with nearly zero difference in ieither HP or Nm.

Then I worked with the Air-tube or what Nissan has called “air-resonate dampener." :

RESULT :
2 Hp increase but AFR was considerably weaker in the upper rpm region.

Noticeable lift of NM from 2500-3300 rpm
Removal of this tube is the same as instantly lowering the peak point of the Nm to 32-3300 rpm area against the normal peak of Nm at around 4000 rpm



Air-filter in or out ; result as above with minute changes.

Did try several solutions on the inlet hole of the air-box , like this one and other cone remedias :
tn_div%20875.jpg

None of which gave any positive result in either Hp or Nm.


One thing that became very noticable was the noise of the air rushing into the inlet after removal of the ”resonate-tube ”.
One could describe it as quite aggressive and the sound waves hitting the underneath of the bonnet makes this a Baby Ferrari wannabee…

Ok , that’s these details.

Now I wanted to test something that I have seen has been one of the most misunderstood “quick tune tricks “ on the Micras:
tn_div%20901.jpg


This wire-mesh in the throttle body has a function of smoothening out the air-flow as it passes on its way down the throttle body and past the heated wire in the MAF sensor that measures the drop of temperature through the wires as a function of how much air that goes by and into the cylinders at any given moment.

More than one time I have seen enthusiasts proclaim a higher output og the engine afterwards when the have removed the wire-mesh.
Oki , lets try this then and off it goes :
tn_div%20902.jpg


Oki , then it looks like this in here:
tn_div%20904.jpg


After many repeted runs with it in and out the result is :

RESULT ; 1,5 Hp LOST t as a average number of 4 runs tested with / without wire-mesh.
So in it goes and it stays sthere…

Next step was something I knew would give a positive result after som juggeling around with spark plugs.

Several types , with the same heat range , was to be put to the test. Ran the same numbers of test with each set of spark plugs.

When the car was bought it ran NGK , with std heatrange , and all test up until now has been done on them.

A sponsor gave me a bundle of plugs to test so that made it easy for me to do several tests.
First set out was BERU , and the factory specified 1.1 mm gap at the electrode in the center.
tn_div%20878.jpg


After several runs :
RESULT ; Minus 3 HP

Actually , the more runs i gave them , the lower the numbers came out,,,strange.

Well , out they went and a set of NGK , same as the car came with was then tested :
tn_div%20883.jpg

NGK at left here.
These spark plugs had a cool V-groove in the centre-electrode that the producer of the sprak-plugs claimed would give more efficient and bigger “ bang “ as the spark traveled across the gap,,,lets find out if that’s the case .

After the same amount of runs as the BERU ones they tested out almost exactly the same as the NGK`s that was in there when the car was bought.
Maybe a bit towards 1 + Hp ,,,but that’s just maybe near that increase , nothing more.

At least the gave me consistent numbers that did not decrease the power as the test runs increased.
tn_div%20890.jpg

Out they went too.

Then I got hold of a type I have successfully installed with positive result in many other cars I had been working on.

BOSCH SUPER 4
tn_div%20889.jpg

These little friends have no less then 4 side electrodes for the spark action to occur from.

Oki , lets put them in and crank up the Dynapack:
tn_div%20895.jpg

Wheyyy , that’s the right stuff and a very positive result compare to the other

Blue = NGK
Light GREEN : BOSCH SUPER 4
After several runs , the BOSCH SUPER 4 gave a little bit more then 1,5 Hp at the tops and even a gain all the way from 3500 rpms.
Later tests showed actually more when I opened up the gap to almost twice the normal gap recomended on these SUPER 4 plugs.

Very interesting I must say.

Ok a little conclusion of these latest tests then:

RESULT :
Air filter = 1,5 Hp pluss
Air-pipe = 1,8-2 Hp
Spark plugs = 1,5 Hp

Highest measured HP uptil now :
tn_div%20897.jpg

44.3 HP

Highest measured Nm uptil now :
tn_div%20898.jpg

69,3 NM

RESULT = + 4,7 HP and + 7,1 Nm from original.

Over 10 % increase in Hp and Nm.
NOT BAD AT ALL !

Comment :
The car has now been driven quite a bit on the street and its not the big sceary numbers we are talking about , but definitely noticeable , specially in the mid-range area of the 2500-3500 rpms.
Especially when there are more than one person in the car.
It also works itself easier towards the higher region of the rpm range.

Next level of this process is on its way so stay tuned…more 2 come.
 
OP
OP
E
Thought i just post the first and the last numbers on the project:

Here we can se the first dyno test and what i started with :
tn_div%20876.jpg


39,6 Hp and 62,2 Nm


Then here are the numbers so far:

tn_div%20897.jpg

44.3 HP

Highest measured Nm uptil now :
tn_div%20898.jpg

69,3 NM

RESULT = + 4,7 HP and + 7,1 Nm from original.

Next items to be worked at to finds some more ompa ompa from the engine are these :
tn_div%20069_1.jpg


Anyone want to guess what happens ?
:)
 

pollyp

Club Member
this is prob the most fascinating and really useful thread ever and valuable database to help ppl decide which upgrade gives the best bang/buck. Thx m8
 
OP
OP
E
Thank You very much for positive feedback.

I hope that all the details that will be covered can both de-mystify and confirm the different aspects of the micra engine bays internal :)
 
OP
OP
E
This little item was donated to the project and promises heavenly increase in power :
tn_div_4.jpg

Ohhh , yes , it will be tested and the results will be shown here.

Having worked on many competition cars earlier I know the difference between a powerful spark and a weak spark that does not support a peak power producing engine`s need.

So a new , home made set of low resistance cables will emerge to the project

The work on a new set of copper core spark plug cables has started :

A sponsor donated these items to the project:
tn_div%20921.jpg


Now we are going to build and test the new cable kit to prove once for all if that will give any increase in power as a result of lower impedance through the cables that will bring more juice to the spark plugs and then again give us a bigger “ bang “ = more power.

tn_div%20920.jpg

Here you can see :
Old cables ( OEM ) had almost 3 K-ohms resistance
The whole coil here with the new copper core cables has : 0 Ohms resistance

Will this have a positive effect on the hunt for power you think ?
 

pollyp

Club Member
this'll be interesting to know. i once read somewhere that solid core cables produce more electromagnetic interference than stock fibre cored type cable? dunno what the facts were, hence watching this blog closely(Y)
 

martinb

Ex. Club Member
id hope so, i was told to add the ht leads to a list of useless mods, hope there proved wrong! i thought they come pre made or is there universal kits that you cut to length mate?

whats the black box, does it trick the ecu into thinking theres more cold air coming in?

cant wait for the figures afterwards :)
 
OP
OP
E
Try to answer here some questiones:

-Little Black box is a so called " manipulator " that a guy donated me to test on the project.
He sells them on internet and wanted to see what the result was on the Micro Micra.

-The ht leads that i am making are a amateur diy type that you cut too length yourself.

-The idea is to let people se for themselves if it is worth any gain in power and what they will represent in future levels of power output , specially with a certain modification to be shown in the future of the project.

i will even show what a new set of fibre core cables does or do not do for you...

EMI ; electro magnetic inteference is one of the myhts that people says makes this swop impossible,,,,wanna bet ?
:grinning:
 
OP
OP
E
@meteora
thank you for comment :)

i belive that i have already answered your question regarding " side gapping " plugs , have a look at my picture from earlier in my posts results :
tn_div%20889.jpg


These BOSCH SUPER 4 are already a : quadruple side-gapped monster power plug " :)

just as a perculiar sidebar info :
In my project i have also put the side gapped Bosch plugs up to over more than double the gap they are recomende to run with and that brings out even more ponnies....

As you could se earlier in my thread these Bosch super 4 ones are real killers and give what they promise , thats for sure.

As a even more peculiar info :
the super duper NIPPODENSO super irridium bla bla bla wonderplugs beiing sold out there is rubbish from first to last rpm compared to the cheap Bosch ones .

More 2 come later...
 
OP
OP
E
thought i showed you how to make a new cable kit with copper core centre:

So this is basically what im building a resistance-free cable kit from :

tn_div%20921.jpg


Here you can see the process of making a kit that will cost you about 12 pounds.

First you cut you desired length of cables to all cylinders.

Then You assemble the one ends cable connector and rubber thingy.
tn_div%20922.jpg

The little connector just being pushed into the cables centre and you pinch the sidepieces into the cable for it to stick.

Yes you can solder it if you want to be a superhero.

On the other side of the cable you want to connect to the spark plugs and you use a little “ adaptor “ to be clamped against the cable.

You first take of some of the outer material of the cable like this :
tn_div%20061.jpg


Next step is to put the cable into the adaptor and crimp it onto the cables outer
tn_div%20062.jpg


I am using a special thingy for this but you can easily do it with a regular crimper plier.
Here is how it looks when the connector is attached to a spark plug
tn_div%20065_1.jpg


You want to isolate your end of the cable so that high voltage current doesn’t leak out pass the cable and grounds itself in the cavity where the plugs go into in the head so I just found a cilicone hose thing to cut and use
tn_div%20066_1.jpg


Cut a appropriate length to fit and then pushes it over the cables adaptor and rubber thingy follows after : ( I glue the little hose onto the rubber thingy )
tn_div%20068.jpg


Then you end up with something like this
tn_div%20923.jpg

I have later on used crimp-plastic on the end to make it easier to push the cable into the plug.

So here they are , your new DIY cables with NO resistance at all
tn_div%20924.jpg


Then its off to the Dynapack and do some work to test the cables and the little black box i got donated :)
 

martinb

Ex. Club Member
Looks like pro job :) got a linky to the kit please? I'll wait to see if any gains first, also I understand gapping the normal spark plugs but isn't it a little difficult on the Bosch super 4 fours? Cheers
 
OP
OP
E
its a simple job doing the cables.
Everyone can do it.
Gapping the SUPER 4 BOSCH plugs is easy as well and they can take amazingly large gaps before the start to suffer :)
 
OP
OP
E
martboy21 :
Here you can se how the SUPER 4 BOSCH can take quite large gaps , easily :
tn_div%20950.jpg

These in particular has had more than 30 runs on the Dynapack with lots of experimenting :)

shaun:
Thank you for kind words.
Hope to be able to show even more stuff as we go along...
 

martinb

Ex. Club Member
So you just pulling them out, what was factory specs ( 1.1mm?) what did you have it set at for best performance? Cheers
 
OP
OP
E
You can safely open it as much as this if you want to :
tn_DSCF6032.JPG

More than 3 mm and its starts to be interesting...
You will actually be able to notice a rahter cool sound from the engine if you get them to their
"sweet spot " :)

Will post some more results later on today...
 
Hey EBB you should sell the HTs to people that aren't quite up for making them and brand them your own too :D

Also on the image where you were playing with the nissan air filter resonator? how did you make the extended cone? maybe its worth running a pipe from the underside of the car to the top left hand corner of the engine bay? you coud also try drill some circles in the last cylander on that lovely big one.

Cheers ebb!
 
OP
OP
E
I have now played a little bit more around the ” black box ” and the cables.

The little black box is a small ebay gismo that proclaims wonderful improvement in power bla bla bla.
tn_div%20042_2.jpg


We installed it in the prescribed way for the producer of the thingy.

RESULT : 0

No matter how it was installed , pluss some creative alternative installation of it , it did NOT give anything positive at all.
In fact it just gave us a grunchy ECU that refused to cooperate when it was “in line “ in the system.
The ECU simply wouldn’t accept it and the conclusion is ; BMW = Big money wasted.( for anyone spending money buying it.)

Then for something else , our home made HT leads:
tn_div%20927.jpg

they are ready to go in the car.

And off we go again on the Dynapack
tn_div%20931.jpg


RESULT = + 1,9 Hp
From 43.5 to 45.4 Hp

NOTE :
( 46,2 Hp with even more gap )
We actually managed to open up the spark plug electrode even more and passed 46 + HP but we will not include that number as we only wanted to see what the cables themselves represented.

We changed from the old and the new homemade ones several times and it is a consistent increase using the new ones.


It actually feels as if the car even starts easier but it makes the AFR goes a little bit more lean toward high rpm aerea.

No misfire or problems whatsoever concerning EMP ( electro magnetic puls ) or anything else.

We put the ghettoblaster on in the same room , a tv about 20 meters away and none of them showed any sign of “disturbance “,,puuh.

So off and away with these:
tn_div%20939.jpg


As a side note we did take time to do another test :

Since the OEM Nissan cables might not have been fair to compare against , old cables with fibercore , age etc we got a fresh set of cables from a sponsor to do some head to head comparison against the copper core ones.

tn_div%20942.jpg

These have fiber core as the OEM ones.

We brought out the OHM reader and looked at the new cables values
tn_div%20943.jpg


Then straight into the car for testing
tn_div%20944.jpg


Here is what happended :

tn_div%20953.jpg

The 2 graghs with the lowest numbers are the new fiber ones:
2 with highest numbers our home made copper core cables

The difference in no less then 2,6 Hp and 4 Nm in disfavour of the brand new fiber core cables with higher resistance and less "big bang " for the spark plugs.

CONCLUSION ON THE MATTER OF HT CABLES:

-Copper core cables DO give more power
-Used in Nissan Micra they DO NOT create ant el.interference when using the car
-New fibre cables DO NOT perform better than OEM or copper cables

So , then our new results are :
tn_div%20937.jpg

Nm :
tn_div%20938.jpg


A quick look at numbers :

After last test = 45,4 – original 39,6 = 5,8 HP
------#--------------Nm = 71,5 – original 62,2 = 9,3 Nm

Not to shabby , or what guys ?
 
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