Vauxhall Corsa Turbo

[NathanD]

So, hope you all like the title, it is what it is, and no doubt you will all slate me as most s/ chavs and the like rip round in them with big exhausts giving everyone a bad name...

Is started like this, a humble 1.8 SRi


The had some Irmscher goodies fitted:


Colourcoded it, fitted some Speedline Turinis


Fettled with the engine, a 4-2-1 custom exhaust manifold and system, Schrick cams, Pipercross Viper etc.. made a realistic 152bhp and I was delighted!


I then decided I needed more power, so got a deal in a dBilas turbo conversion.. ran 9psi and through various states of tune made about 240bhp.


Invested in a set of Corsa VXR Recaros - love these so much!


Faffed around and fitted a larger intercooler (originally it had an Audi S3 sidemount - you'll note the oil cooler too


Invested in some special brakes:




Had it featured in Total Vauxhall










But ultimately, it never ran than well, as the turbo setup was all running off a mapped standard ecu with no MAP sensor... so..
On a work visit to California, I decided to bring back a Garrett GT2860RS (with pimp polished compressor housing)

Anyway, along with a DTA S40 Pro, new exhaust, custom rods, Honda Wossner pistons, VR6 Throttle body, Custom Supertech valves, a Calibra F28 gearbox, ground crank, crown coolers, 650cc injectors, camshafts, 4 paddle clutch, custom flywheel, new driveshafts, gauges, pro alloy intercooler, aquamist - oh, and 22 months off the road, its ready for mapping this weekend!

[NathanD]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys, I've had the car for over seven years and yes, there's a fair bit of passion there, very few people modify the Z18XE most people tend to just throw a Z20LET (2.0 turbo) in them!

The Spruce goose said:

so around a tonne and 240 bhp plus, this is fast . Looks good to me, but i have a 200 bhp seat ibiza which is small and fun too..

have you got a lsd?

Yes both gearboxes, the previous five speed, and the new six speed have qualify ATB diffs. With the compression ratio, the engine can take 35 psi of boost, the GT2860RS maxes out at around 28psi, so will be interesting to see what it makes

[NathanD]

Thanks again Guys, it's good to get some feedback!

I understand the point about the Irmscher stuff, the lower splitter has been smoothed in to the bumper so it looks less 'stuck om' and the sideskirts aren't higely different to the standard ones, then its been colourcoded. I just wanted it to look a little more agressive... You could say its still a sleeper.

As for weight saving, not really my thing, I have a small sub and amp in the boot, and back seats, which are the same half leather as the VXR Recaros, so its nice and practical. Power to weight will be pretty good though as its around 1100kgs.

Grip is good, it has Yoko AD08 tyres, Quaife ATB diff, eibach camber bolts on the front and shims on the back, Eibach springs, Bilstein shocks, and a rear ARB and strut brace, with a fast road geo setup. In time I would like to invest in H&R Coilovers and make new turrets to run more castor

[NathanD]

djgritt said:

Top work. Love it.

I was considering going down the Smallblock Turbo route with my old 1.8 converted Corsa B, but bought a Vectra VXR instead.
Would consider doing this sort of thing myself if I ever downsize to another hands-on project again.

Thanks ever so much!
In all honesty, you will do better with a C16XE or X16XE from a Corsa B, as the Z18XE is still small block and nothing fits, plus nothing is available off the shelf. I chose this as its the standard engine the car came with, but unsure if i'd do it again - lots and lots of headaches!

[NathanD]

ScottJB said:

Interesting build.

Is that intercooler pipework going to become a restriction? ID looks quite small.

Thanks Scott, nope, intercooler pipework is plenty, turbo>intrercooler is 2" and intercooler>throttle body is 2.5".

If you have seen this - good, if not, watch! This has 2.5" pipework
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UPRjsl-QOI

[NathanD]

So, there has been a bit of a lack of updates, but progress has been happening...

Here are some more shots of what we've done:

Ceramic coated exhaust manifold





Gauges to replace the heater vents - yes the EGT is farenheit, it was over £100 more for celsius!


This is where the gauges will live:

[NathanD]

Following this, I went to have the car mapped on Monday, with Steve at Track n Road in Rainham, Essex.

On the trailer:


On the dyno:


We had a few issues with fuelling, so changes the plugs, but it turned out the injectors werent matched. so we swapped them out for some smaller VXR injectors, which are either 440cc or 470cc and ran it with them.... in the end in made a healthy 236bhp.

I have another session booked for the 29th September, and will be fitting a FPR and getting my 650cc injectors sorted. this should get me to the figures we need

[NathanD]

Hi Guys,

Cant believe the last time I posted was September,

Tanks for the above comments too, yes, its a corsa, but believe it or not, after nine years of ownership I still think it looks good.. What can I say, ive had it since it was eight months old...

There have been some upgrades

modified the upper grille to make space for the oil cooler:




Following the reasons mentioned my my last post, we made some changes to the fuel system..

Bosch Cossie rising rate FPR and Jenvey bracket:


Some fancy new ASNU 600cc injectors - it was these or injector dynamics, these seem a lot better at low pressure, and some very good reviews!


new lines throughout, along with serviceable fuel filter:


All fitted up with a new billet rail, very happy with how this turned out!




Also bought some Ripspeed grilles from Halfrauds - the quality is actually good, being Aluminium and anodized...






this then happened while out driving...


new Nissens one ordered:


and back for Mapping!


We made some very good progress, but still not quite there...

I need to do some testing, to see where the restriction lies... possible causes are:
Exhaust system - it has a 3" downpipe into 2.5" system - maybe a 3" system is needed..
Cam timing, could have been a little more aggressive with this.
Cams - theyre kent cams which they specced based on my figures, but my guess is theyre too mild!

So, results: 311.3bhp (268WHP) at 7511 rpm (in fifth gear it hit 147mph.. unsure if im willing to see what it'll do in 6th...)
242.5 lbft torque at 6,211rpm,

Thats with just 17psi of boost.. not even enough to warrant using the water injection...



Extremely happy with how it drives, as you can see the torque curve is really smooth, and the power delivery is very linear - it feels like it can handle a lot more power!

Edited by NathanD on Friday 28th November 13:56

[NathanD]

Thanks guys!

They came to just under £500 delivered... eek!

[NathanD]

Thanks for all the comments guys

dai1983 said:

Nice one!

Back in the day I was a member of corsa sport and fondly remember the white B with Merit black bumpers, subtle alloys and a touring car spec c20xe. IIRC I'd did 0-60 in 3.98 or something on the drag strip. I had a 5 door 1.4 16v with 16 inch wheels, Irmsher Airfam, a strut brace which made a massive difference and a PVD BFO (big fk off) induction cone that was actually an Escort Cosworth part.

I occasionally flick through Performance Vauxhall and thought a LET engined c would be a hoot!

I acutally had mine features back in November 2011 (I think). I remember the PVD stuff, people lvoed it! the LET engines just dont rev, even with a larger turbo, good engines of course, but i just wanted something different

[NathanD]

griffin dai said:

Bet this goes well!

Didn't fancy the b204 route?

The saab engines are very good I must admit, but as much as you wouldnt expect, i'm not chasing huge numbers and an happy that my engine is the same engine the car came with... Plus the car is a lot more balanced with the Z18XE engine being a small block, over the B204 or Z20 engines...

Thanks!

[NathanD]

superkarl said:

the 60mm compressor actually maxes out at about 36lb/min at a pressure of about 1.7bar.
good luck getting that sort of power out of one though. Chemical cooling/octane needed

Thanks for the reply, yes, very true, looking at it my current flow rate is about 31 lb/min but we want to be making about 20psi of boost in the mid range to give more torque, and can also then utilise the water/ aquamist then too

Still need to figure out what is causing the bottleneck..

Any other advice is always welcome, thanks

[NathanD]

Thanks Guys!

I'm sad enough to still be on CCUK, however its died a bit of a death now, no one is willing to invest good money in one!

It'll be a classic like the nova soon enough!

[NathanD]

Hi Guys, nothing much to report, just been enjoying the car...

Made a cheeky video with my new GoPro

http://youtu.be/381GHZYrd-M

Also, Did a bit of general maintenance over the weekend. one of my sidelight bulbs have up the ghost along with a bulb on my dash... So bought and fitted new ones

Also, I took up on the task of cleaning my brake calipers. As don't have dust seals they need to be checked and the exposed part of the piston cleaned ever so often... We'll it's been over three years! It also seems that my driveshafts have been leaking cv grease so had the pleasure of cleaning that off the inside of my wheels....

Just a couple of pictures:


[URL=http://s106.photobucket.com/user/Nathan_D_sri/media/my%20car/DSC_0008_zpsrjxxbwhu.jpg.html]
[/URL]

And back together

[NathanD]

Wow, surprised i've let this thread get so far behind...

So here's a brief summary from where I left off...

The corsa is still going strong!

It managed to bend a torque mount, so adjusted, beefed it up, and re-fitted:






Made some better brackets for the oil cooler:






Took it round castle combe!


Snapped the throttle cable - and did a high quality bodge repair to get home:


Made new engine loom for the DTA, and Vauxhall ECU - I was having starting problems, so we made new looms, and shortened the cable route from the battery to the starter motor.. turned out the ecu had developed some condensation inside - so had to send it off to DTA for a new motherboard..




random engine shot:


fancy new coilpack bracket made:


fitted some new rubber:


Went to brands hatch for an evening open pit session:


killed the brake pads


so upgraded from Ferodo DS2500 to Ferodo DS1.11's


Had the mapping adjusted again - makes 321bhp now


And some photos from Brands:

[NathanD]

Thanoj said:

Would it have been easier/better to have done a Z20LET swap? Not bashing, just wondering as they would put out the same amount of power

It would have been easier, but not better, personally I dont rate the Z20LET engine, and they're not particularly high revving engines. Also hate the F23 box... When we started the build we didnt realise it would be this intense, and in hindsight it would have been better to go with the smaller Z16LEx from the corsa VXR and fit a stroker kit to make it 1800cc...

[NathanD]

chrismc1977 said:

Nice- mapped by Steve Greenald??

Steve Pitcher in fact, and Jim

[NathanD]

Thanks for the other nice comments guys

[NathanD]

Mr Tidy said:

Great thread OP - thanks for writing it.

I've always thought this generation of Corsa was a good-looking car, and given how long you have owned it fully understand why you wanted to start your journey with that as a base!

And it has certainly come a long way! 321 bhp sounds about right - didn't the 1.8 start life at 123 bhp?!

It's certainly been done well, and thoughtfully - it must be a blast on a track. Enjoy!

Thanks for the kind words! Yes personally I agree and like the shape even now which has got to mean something!

The car has progressed as i have really - next plans will be to extend the steering column and do some custom work on the seats to get them to sit lower, as currently I can't heel/ toe in it..

You're correct yes, 123bhp standard - so its gained the best part of 200bhp - which certainly helps!