How to improve your horsepower on the cheap | Fifth Gear
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- In this classic clip, taken from series 22, which was first broadcast in 2013, Jason sees if it's possible to increase horsepower on an old car. For access to exclusive Fifth Gear content and all FULL episodes, join our channel / @fifthgearuk
#FifthGear #HorsePower
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A loss of 1 horsepower per year? Wel that's bad news for my '73 Fiat 126 with 24hp from the factory....
So your fiat owes the universe about 24 horses. I think my '79 beetle is probably in debt too. Probably why it's not running
24 year old 5hp mopeds
It goes backwards whenever you put it on drive and forwards when you put it in reverse
Because negative hp
It's probably in the minuses by now :(
The horses convert to donkey power.
That Corrado is still a good looker to this day.
There's a great documentary on the VR6 and the Corrado/Sirocco
They are getting very desirable nowadays for a good vr6 corrado
It certainly is
It is, its from that transition time in the 1990s where cars were starting to become curvy, but still has a lot of "blockiness" to them. It's like they tried to ease the design team into the concept of curves.
I'd love to own one someday.
The implication at the end is that you can skip an oil and filter change if you're on a budget. This is what is done in any basic service though, so if you can't afford this then you can't afford to run a car.
I agree 👍🏼 💯
I think they mean in terms of restoring power gains. But yes for general maintainence of the engine oil and filter are most important
That would be suicide in the long run. If you don't want your engine to seize and stop working (which I am assuming is the case, given how expensive that would be to put right, especially with the cost of living crisis) you *MUST* change your oil and indeed your oil filter regularly. I do it once a year with my 16 year old MX-5, which takes 5W/30 engine oil. My current mileage is 108,500, and there's no way I'd be getting that much longevity out of it if I didn't maintain it so diligently.
When considering the fuel system, particularly fuel pressure and delivery, don't forget the fuel filter! Changing the filter and then running the cleaner would probably have gotten you another couple horsepower, especially if you can find a new filter that has a higher fuel pressure regulator rating. For example if your old filter has a 6.4bar regulator look for one rated at 6.6bar.
reminds me from gran turismo when the oil light came on, you could restore few horsepower doing oil change.
With the proper stickers on the car, you can get at least 10% more.
Put in a bottle of fuel additive, do an oil change and ride it like you stole it, job done :)
A good ol’ Italian tune up
This is such an excellent video, I remember watching this years back. Now I can actually do this on my car!!
"Volkswagen claim" yeah Volkswagen claim alot of things that turn out to not be true 😂
:))))
🤣🤣🤣
Probly made 205
Very
Ordinary
Looking
Krautwagons
Saddled
With
Apathetic
German
Engineering
Now
My gti makes 290 exactly vw claims its 290 so i believe them
Except for the fuel additive the rest of what he did was standard procedure.
I’m getting the good old days top gear vibe, keep it up❤️
This was very interesting, and more scientifically rigorous than I expected but there's one thing I would change. Instead of taking the best result from the 8 tests of each improvement, I would get the average value and the range from the best to the worst. One thing I rememebr from science class is that a measurement without an error estimate isn't worth much.
I would also like all the data, but even for just the highest values, it does at least show an overall uptrend.
A 2 hp loss, given that the computer has estimated the drive train loss correctly.
I'd change the fuel filter while I'm at it. No amount of fuel system cleaner will restore an old fuel filter.
Corrado is an absolute classic. Very nearly bought a VR6 about 25 years ago. Unfortunately it had no Service History and had a few issues. Sounded mint mind and drove well tbf. Ended up buying an E30 BMW 325i 2 Door with a Breyton Design Body kit and OZ alloys in Zinnabar Red. Now I wish I had kept it. Looked mint and would over steer for fun especially as it had Monroe adjustable suspension fitted at the rear.😂😂
Lesson is: service your cars! 😅
I did a similar experiment on my mx5 many years ago, before turbo converting it. Actually gained a lot by simply servicing it and advance the ignition a little. All these tests seems to focus on peak power, but that's not where it gained the most. It gained the most on low and mid range rpm levels, where you spend most of the time driving. It's that overall performance you are looking for, and should be considered.
Upgraded air filter and exhaust systems helps too of course, but they usually don't gain as much power as advertised. On a stock car, that is.. But what you do get is more sound, and that gives you the placebo effect. Oh, and don't forget stickers! That's where the biggest gains are to be found 😁
I used to have a 1992 Corrado 2.9 VR6. Flash rot color. Fantastic car
Nice work guys!!
This summer changed oil plus filter, air filter, MAF sensor, cleaned out EGR and entire exhaust system, including DPF...... Car feels alive!!
Would highly recommend to all diesel car owners
This is more or less bogus what you just said there m8 unless its a turbo car and remapped you wont see spit of a gains.
@@kirilakmadjov8307 That is false...
@@patrikskoric5387 It is mate get over it..
Nothing there - other than the DPF - is specific to a diesel car. Any combustion-engined car will benefit from that treatment.
Plot twist it was just repeated italian tuneups on the dyno that brought the enumbers up
I was going to say this.
I get it's at least partly responsible.
The fuel system additive cleaned the intake valves and part of the ports on the head, that can cause it to increase the power a bit. But the actual fuel system and injectors being clogged up, I don't think so. Unless they are really clogged up at which point the car will be misfiring, the actual spray pattern and +/- 2-3 % fuel quantity won't cause a big difference. Naturally aspirated engines with fuel injection such as this one, actually benefit from a little bit leaner A/F ratio under load, since the WOT enrichment from factory is quite large.
My absolute favorite car ever the Corrado, just love them
Coraddo
Saw a lovely one today. Lowered onto some clean alloys. Nice to see these things still on the road, any older cool car really.
I was offered a tidy one from an owner I knew for 600 quid about 9 years ago. Wish I'd bought it.
Coil on plug conversion would add more.
Jason is such a natural presenter
Well a cost effective video.
But could have used a more effective air filter...but really we can all but pick , no matter what you do.
Like changing wires with out cap and rotor is very British Cheap ...but a good show.
I had a Scirroco I sold it and bought a one owner Datsun 280Z Black Pearl in the early 90's. That VW the S model was a nice car!
And then a 100 Quid for the engine re-map, and you are good to go.
Yeah you are until your engine can't handle the additional power due to it being poorly maintained, with old sparks, old engine oil, plastic factory engine parts etc
@@rg6982 Maybe your cars are maintained like shit...
Can't wait to tell my dad that redex isn't a waste of money and that I am not a marketing wet dream. 😆
Maybe with clean injectors and a new fuel filter you could get those 190hp
Great video
should have taken the airbox out completely and blew it with compressed air.
Vacum is fine
I'd say a service of the gearbox would benefit itself. Probably getting it back to its 190bhp original self.
Nice Levin!
190 PS when new = 187bhp + no Dyno is going to be 100% accurate and change depending on which way the wind blows.
Those n a remap on an old vw tsi would be a treat for any mid 2000s vag petrols
Would have been interesting to see a carbon clean thrown into the mix.
*plans to go out and buy some Redex the next chance he gets*
Particularly a throttle body clean
I generally use a bottle every 5k miles. Not exactly bank busting even if it doesn’t work. I change spark plugs and full oils every 5k on my weekend car and plugs every 2years on the mrs diesel with an annual service. Now then, my daily is an EV, none of that stuff there. Interesting to see motor degradation over time as the technology advances
Sparks and leads (or coils) will make a bigger difference if the old ones are shot. it depends on the service history of the car. same will definitely be true for the air filter too
I had decent results from fresh services too. My e46 325i made 208bhp and my Clio 172 cup made 179bhp. Both on a Dyno dynamics RR
It's already on youtube
Gorgeous car.
i would recommend as well cleaning of throttle body but if you like to remove it for proper cleaning then you have to buy a gasket for it :) enjoy :)
That's exactly what I was saying to myself towards the end of the video that they forgot to do dude.
Do you have to tell your insurance that you have added Redex to your petrol ? haha
You've forgot about the fuel filter
Where do you plug in the defibberater?
I’m getting redex next time I’m filling up
That’s incredible. And I thought every time I serviced the car with all these things nothing happened to it except my wallet being drained of money.
I had a mk3 Golf VR6 that was a claimed 175bhp by VW, standard engine when I put it on a dyno it made 185! And had 100k miles on the clock!
Completely standard?
Isn’t that 188hp at the wheels? You’ve got a healthy engine there if that’s the number at the wheels.
The machine they're using said Flywheel Power so it's not wheels I'm guessing
Although this may have restored some power, there no guarantee that it made 190 horsepower from brand new so may have still lost some that you get back.
Redex always worked well for me
If it’s 190hp at the crank, 177hp at the wheels is pretty good 🤔
Best engine vw ever made
Could clean the throttle body too, it’s free and an old car’s TB is usually filthy. Might not help the BHP output, but should help performance overall.
I would have cleaned the MAF sensor and throttle body.
You could even put a sport air filter, which would actually get your 190hp back. But the result is still impressive, given that Redex. It's important to somehow clean your tank from time to time, since there are a lot of impurities at the end of it.
Fuel filter is a good thing to change before running fuel system cleaner otherwise you clean out the dirt in the filter and it goes down stream.
Oil filter and oil regular redex yep but no need to change the spark plugs and leads every time. I change my spark plugs every year along with my oil and filter. Everyone has different ways.
Said the man 15 years ago
Well, they won't be doing this kind of thing in the new All-Electric series!!
4 thousand pounds for a new battery it will be
@@georgeoliver8300 4k??? Hopeful there, it's half the value of an EV
if the owner of that car ad done the proper maintenance along the way this would have been of no need at all.
Changing your tyres would also help.
My diesel injectors are pretty gunked up snd is causing bad hesitations and power loss. Just added injector cleaner into the tank so hopefully she’ll be right as rain
Did it work?
@@eriksson888 insanely well
Can you please send that VR6 Corado to USA sad they stop them here in the states 94 or late 93
The real test is to see how long this lasts until it goes back down.
I miss mine. 1993 Karman version.
As many have asked, you talk about BHP (power at flywheel) and measure WHP (power at tires), now, the method you use is measuring WHP that has been corrected to approx. BHP?
Yeah no way it's 189whp lol 220bhp is unrealistic
Yep, a rolling road always measures WHP. This whole video is basically entertainment only. There's no real substance, other than that it's good practice to service your car and use fuel system cleaners periodically.
@@droge192 they use math to calculate whp to bhp. The formula is pretty simple and standard practice
Should have done a decarbonization too. That would bridge the power gap no doubt.
Need engine flush and throttle cleaning as well
Big Leaves under the air filter ? Or did I miss see that.
Did you put them there for the program?
My old MK4 before this one i have now used to suck up some leaves here and there.
Was wondering - will you get more power recovery from a Toyota, BMW or Audi compared to VW if you dis the same work to all of them ? would be interesting to see.
Zzz
I agree. Stuff like regular service stuff, fuel additives and even some preventative mantainence items could effect cars differently. Sure this specific VR6 shows that it can improve power. But what about a luxury sedan or SUV? Sports car? Off-roaders? Or even a little econobox like a Dacia or Fiesta 1.0L?
@@police428 a sports car would probably benefit more
@@police428 It must depend more on the state of each engine and less on brands or model.
If this VW had worn piston rings or anything wear related that was making it lose compression, it would never get its full power back again without an engine rebuild.
Even this video should be seen as a display of proper maintenance, and not absolute results.
I don't know about this engine in particular, but many VW group engines were known to get more HP on the dyno than stated even after 120.000 miles (mainly the 1.9 Tdi engines).
Many say that's the result of a particular dyno being optimistic (which is certainly true on some cases), although it doesn't explain why other cars on those same dynos don't get those "optimistic" results.
In other words, this video shows only one unit being on the dyno, and not several similar cars, so there's no way to tell if it _really_ is _only_ 2hp low on power when compared to its former glory. 😉
He still mentions something on the response around 4.000 rpm as being better, but not solved, which is an indication that all's not perfect with the engine response.
The only thing that this video shows is what some basic maintenance and the fuel additive was able to do. 😉
The take
brand has no effect m8
It basically had a service, did it even have 190 from new, maybe it was 185 or 195 ??
If it regularly has V-power fuel and a regular service it should never lose power, if anything once the engine loosens up after about 80,000 it should be at its peak
Are those videos old or its just the way they recorded it?
Those boxes never had their claimed numbers when they rolled out of the factory😂
177hp is more than 190hp at the crank.
Exactly! That's the factory specs you see on the brochure. They never quote whp. Ever. So this is a dumb article.
Fule filter? Why this was not done.
Nice jacket.
Isnt the 190hp from the crank?
No transmission fluid change?
Does anyone know what the dyno is called?
Even better than stupid additives. Hook up your fuel rail to a can of carb cleaner and start the engine while someone pushes on the can. The car will run just fine on the stuff. Pressure from the can will supply enough fuel pressure and the injectors will operate as normal. This is equivalent to using a high pressure injector cleaner and even cheaper than most additives.
The only thing i got out off this, is how importen sevice realy is
Long story short: service your cars people :D
Is the car for sale
Not going to lie this episode summary was quite crap. Not the entire episode as it was nice to see what changes made gains. But just get some redex lol, that probably upped the fuel's octane rating which had the most effect rather than cleaning anything. From what I've seen if your injectors are not spraying efficiently then fuel additives don't help that much, just slightly improve which doesn't aid horsepower that much but can help with fuel economy. But upping the fuel octane will let the car run without pulling as much timing so it has more horsepower and even as much as let the car ECU adjust which is where the power comes from. Also might be worth recommending people get VPower or Momentum fuels in that case as it's only a few more quid per tank and MOWAH POWAH BABY.
but the power on the rolling road is whp which is about a 15% loss
No it says flywheel power
Would of been cheaper to stage 1 the car for £200 and the hp would be closer to 200hp maybe higher
The only way to restore the engine performance is to rebuild the engine, all the stuff he showed here is just regular tune ups and maintenance in his “well maintained” car
Engine rebuild doesn't guarantee engine performance restore. If anything, it can show power decrease.
@@farishanafiah8461 if done correctly it can restore performance if not increase it
@@shahrozalijafri8816 if its a old car most likely it will increase due to modern equipments and improvments in many areas
@@pmrrmm what he is doing is just maintenance not its “original” power
How about a gearbox oil change? Lots to gain there and not expensive.
An engine flush would be nice as well...
Get the feeling redex paid for some advertisement here
Incredible, does it have 177 on wheels. That's good enoguh
He said brake horse power so it's estimated with assume drivetrain losses
It was probably something like 150hp at the wheels.
Tell me how the hell leaves get in underneath the air filter…
Cleaning your fuel system is especially important when driving a Diesel engine. Good injection is almost as important to a Diesel as a spark in a Petrol engine. Diesel is also the dirtier fuel, so it's even more important to clean you fuel system every now and then...
Mom can we have top gear?
No we have top gear at home
Top gear at home: fifth gear
Corrado!
Improve or restore?
Me getting a febrize car ad telling me to upgrade 😂😂
Too bad they’re very sought after over here in the United States. The thing is you have to find a clean one because most of them are rotted out.
What is a Corrado again??!!.??
Wow recommending a tune up
Why is the video so saturated
Just do 1 dyno run in Summer then another 1 in Winter, hey presto!
seems we’ve forgotten about the exhaust what a shame…
Yeah I thought so, and fuel filters..
An exhaust is not a normal service item...
So redex does work
According to "the experts" on pistonheads, no - they reckon it just increases the octane rating of the fuel.
I did check that the version of the fuel injection system _does_ adjust timing so that _could_ be correct.
However, you only use 1/2 a bottle of the Redex (125ml) so actually quite a small amount, would it have such a significant effect ?
Would have been nice to see if the gained bhp remained after a couple of fuel re-fills.
Seems Jason appears to getting younger every year (actually, it's a quite old video!)
Redex, half to the car and half to me and i am 10 again. 😄