128bhp blown 2013 Aygo

November 18, 2019

I accidentally came across this on YouTube....

November 21, 2019

It seems this buccanneer of the road is now planning stage 2 of this preparation. This will involve a programmable ecu such as the Emerald, produced by Dave Walker near Norwich. Fitting a blower or a turbo is more than simply bolting a compressor onto the engine, it's simpler with a turbo, as it doesn't need to be powered by the engine...it uses 'waste energy' from the exhaust to spin it up.

The trick is to then cool the hot intake mix, so it usually involves an intercooler, an air to air radiator. Then the real trickery is you need to have an ecu which has been mapped to deal with the curve of increased admission pressure. Pointless simply increasing the air pressure before it hits the injectors, the injectors need to know exactly what's required at any given point on the curve.....I know less than nothing about how re-mappable the stock ecu is, but I suspect 'not very'.

Hence something like a K4 Emerald unit. That's £600 ish. With the injection duration re-mapped, ditto the ignition advance/!Removed!, he estimates he should get 135bhp without losing much economy.

Personally, I'd rather use a turbocharger as it's not engine driven, so 'should' theoretically give the best economy. Look at the power and economy improvements with the turbo diesel 1500 as used in the Kangoo, compared to the non turbo 1900 diesel in the earlier cars. The 1900 was a sluggish drive and would drink 7 to 8 litres per 100km, the 1500 turbo is much more lively and gives as little as low 4 per hundred km.

I noticed that back in 2006 or 7 when this blower conversion for the Aygo was first aired, some folk were saying "Pointless...if you want more power get a different car." or, "Pointless fooling with the 998cc unit. Fit a honking great V8 in the back instead"

Apparently the latter has been done....now THAT is what I'd call totally pointless!

Good thing John Cooper thought it was a good idea, or the legendary Cooper 'S' would never have won the Monte Carlo, and The Italian Job would have never been made.

Not a lot of people know that!