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MORE POWER!! This is one area where nearly everyone wants to improve on - the endless search for more power !! More HP in your Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky / Daihatsu Sportrak is pretty easy to do - especially if you can turn a spanner a bit yourself - The secret to getting more performance out of the engine is to improve the efficiency of the air getting in & the air getting out. ( ie: helping the engine to ' breathe ' better. )
The Daihatsu Feroza / Daihatsu Rocky / Daihatsu Sportrak 1.6L EFI 16 valve motor is a good little motor - the 16 Valve Head & Multi Port EFI are a good design & flow really well but are let down by long & restrictive Air Intake & Filter system - & also by a poorly designed & very restrictive exhaust system which leaks & rattles as well. Here are a few basic Mods to get started with - they are the most cost effective & reliable ways to get a mild increase in performance from our 4wd's without getting to radical. One key word here is reliable, I know my goal was to get more power - but not at the expense of reliability or drivability. My 4wding takes me to some pretty remote areas so my mods had to be reliable - & as I wanted a 4wd capable engine the mods could not affect the total drivability of the engine accross the whole RPM range - ie: good Low Down grunt for 4wding & still have good High Rev power for highway cruising. The Engine Mods I would recommend for the Feroza are as follows ( & these are in order ): 1: Air Intake Upgrades
2: Exhaust Upgrades
3: Camshaft I have specified this order as the EFI Upgrade will not really have any effect until the other changes have taken place etc. - Cost is also a factor - these mods get more expensive as you go down the list. Air Intake Upgrades The first & easist mod you can make is to upgrade your Air Filter system. There are 3 main ways to go here - just replace the standard Air Filter with a High Flow one, replace the whole Standard Intake with a Ram Pod type unit & finally to install a Snorkel Intake. As the Snorkel is a fairly major Modification I will deal with this in a seperate area. High Flow Filters: This is the easist mod there is - all you are doing is replacing the standard restrictive paper Air Filter with a High Flow Oiled Foam Filter. These not only flow air better but are also completely re-usable. You save money as you only buy the filter itself once & then when it is dirty you simply clean it & refit it. This has another advantage - you can clean it a lot more regularly so you can always have a clean filter - a clean filter flows a LOT better than a clogged one !! ( so you always have Maximum performance from your air filter. These filters also filter better - improved engine life. They also have the advantage of being easily serviced in long, dusty trips. These filters have 2 layers, the outer oiled foam band is the main dirt collector & is easily removed & swapped for a clean one on long trips. And as the outer band is made of foam it is light & compact & easily stored unlike carrying a spare standard air filter around. There are 2 brands that I recommend - 
Finer Filter Air Filters - Part No. FF4185 www.finerfilter.com.au
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UniFilter Air Filter ( sold thru MRT ) MRT Part No. FE040
www.MRTrally.com.au
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Note: When ordering it is a good idea to order a 2nd outer band ( for above reasons ) & also a bottle of the Foam Oil for re-oiling the filter after you clean it. Ram Pod & K&N Filters: If you want more Performance then a better way is to change the standard filter & filter box to a High Flow Filter like the MRT Ram Pod or the K&N Filter. The idea behind the MRT Ram Pod & the K&N Filters is to get rid of the restrictive original Air Filter Box - The original Air Box is only drawing air through a fairly small opening & the length & twists & turns of the intake tubing ( it's a plumbers nightmare really !! ) make it pretty hard to get air from the outside to the engine quickly. The MRT Ram Pod & K&N are both high flow air filters that are designed to be connected directly to the intake tubing with no Air Box - this way they draw air from the whole engine bay - & by design have a much greater surface area to draw air through. There performance is second to none. The difference between the MRT Ram Pod & K&N is personal preference - The MRT Ram Pod is a more complete kit specifically designed for the Feroza - it is totally bolt on & looks better than factory & the Air Induction noise under full throttle is totally addictive !! - but it is a bit more expensive than the K&N ( in the US anyway ). The K&N is more of a universal filter - it flows just as well - but just requires you to do a bit more work in the locating & bracket making - & it is cheaper !! Both the Ram Pod & the K&N Filter are re-usable so the advatages are the same as for the Replacement Filters above - the MRT Ram Pod has a seperate outer band but the K&N doesn't. Black Induction Chamber Ever wondered what that Black Box does that sits on top of your engine smack in the middle of the engine bay? Well click on the pic to the right to find out - you'll also find a Dyno chart for the Ram Pod upgrades.  Black Box Info & Dyno Exhaust Upgrades: The 2nd Modification to make & the one that probably makes the biggest difference is to install MRT's Extractors ( Headers ) & Exhaust System - the standard exhaust is really restrictive & leaks are common - It is quite common for the standard Exhaust Manifold to crack as well - never replace the manifold with a standard - it is cheap cast iron rubbish - go with a set of Extractors & do yourself a favour !! The MRT Extractors & Exhaust look & sound great & give you about 10% increase in power. They can be mail ordered through MRT direct & are fully bolt on ( easy to do it yourself ) The quality of the parts is excellent - The extractors & exhaust can be bought seperately & installed bit by bit if you can't afford to do it all up front. The Exhaust system retains the standard Catalytic Convertor, but as an option you get a High Performance Cat as well - just make sure you ask for it in when you order. The Extractors are a 4-2-1 interference type - they allow the exhaust to escape much more quickly from the cylinders resulting in more power & better fuel economy. The MRT Extractors also include a Flexible Joint before the Cat as standard to prevent the exhaust from cracking. They also have provision for the O2 sensor so they won't effect your computer at all. The exhaust system is also legally quiet - it sounds a lot better than stock but is not too loud. The Pics below are from MRT's web site - The Extractors in the pic have thermo tape wrapped on them to reduce heat a bit - this is a nice to have but not essential. MRT Complete Exhaust System including Extractors ( the LOT ) Part No. FE030
MRT Extractors only - Part No. FE110
MRT Centre Exhaust Assembly ( From Original Cat including muffler ) - Part No - FE031
MRT Rear Tail Pipe ( from rear muffler on ) - Part No - FE032 | | 
MRT Extractors | 
MRT Rear Sports Muffler |
Camshaft Upgrades: The next change you make for more power is to install a Modified Camshaft. The standard camshaft is a conservative grind that is fine for your stock engine. But once you have modified the Air Intake & Exhaust so that it flows a lot better you are ready to help the engine take advantage of all that extra air by fitting a performance Cam. MRT Performance has 2 Performance Camshafts to choose from depending on your needs & your budget. Reground Camshaft The first & cheapest option is the Re-Ground Camshaft. Here MRT takes a stock camshaft, re-grinds it slightly for more performance & polish & re-heat treat it so it is as good as new. The Re-Ground Camshaft has all the same lobe characteristics as the Stock Cam but has a bit of the bottom of the lobe ground off. So when the Cam is fitted & the Valves adjusted to suit, the new Cam will have a little more duration & a little more Lift - so as it still has the same basic lobe profile the improvements are mainly in the Low to Middle Rev range - this is because the valve is opening a little early & opening a little more. Overall Power is improved but not as much as the Billet Cam ( below ). The advantage is cost - the Reground Cam is less than half the price of a New Billet Cam. MRT Reground Camshaft - Part No- FE090 ( 1065C ) - Note: the reground cam is an exchange item. Billet Camshaft The Billet Camshaft is a brand new Camshaft ground to MRT's spec's from scratch. Because it is a new cam they weren't restricted by the old lobe profiles when designing the spec's - so Max Power can be achieved. If Maximum power from your Feroza is your goal then this is the cam for you - but you may loose a little bit of torque at low revs. ( you can't have it all !! ). The only disadvantage is that the Billet Cam is more than double the cost of the Reground Cam - but then you are getting a Brand new camshaft against a reground old one. The choice is yours - MRT Billet Camshaft - Part No - FE091 Timing Belt: This is a good place to include a note on the Timing Belt - If you are your changing the Timing Belt then this is the perfect time to upgrade your Camshaft as you are halfway there - it will save you a heap on installation costs & the Timing Belt & Valve clearances all need to be adjusted anyway. About your timing belt - it should be done every 100000km ( 60000 Miles ? ) & is a MUST DO - severe engine damage can occur if you snap a timing belt under load & it is nearly impossible to tell if it is about to snap by looking at it. EFI UPGRADES : Once all the above is done then some EFI upgrades can be made - MRT has an EFI unit that is spliced into the Factory ECU & allows the EFI settings to be modified. This unit is programmable via a computer & is programed on the Dyno so maximum settings for your own individual Feroza can be done - as every car is slightly different. There are other similar units out there that do a similar job. Again - this is a mod best left to last as the Factory EFI settings are the ideal ones unless the above mods are done. |
