Few questions

  • Right, I have a few questions for you all:

    1: where are people in uk getting their KL-ZE's from? and roughly how much are they costing?

    2: does an air intake mod make much difference to the 1.8 V6 mx?

    3: does an increased fuel pressure valve make much difference (fordprobestore)?

    any info would be great!

  • Air intake mod is probably worth 5BHP at the flywheel. You're probably better off leaving the spare wheel at home for a better power to weight ratio. Water injection would be a better way of adding cheap horsepower, but I don't know of any kits so that's best left to the kind of technical enthusiast people refer to as nutters behind their backs. You could also remove the cat if you have a pre October '92 car.

    Don't really understand why an increased fuel pressure valve is going to benefit anything but a very highly tuned, as in race spec, engine. They're mostly to improve throttle response on engines that breathe a lot better than their maker intended, and so the standard fuel system can't cope with the extra demand. Might be worth a go if your standard valve is knackered and needs replacing anyway.

  • Thanks for the info. Luckily, my mx is a June '92 so I guess that would make it legal to take out the cat??
    Would this mean buying a "test pipe" style thing or have I completely missed the mark?
    (I'm not exactly what you would call an expert on cars you see, but am definately keen to learn!)

  • Yeah, as the law stands right now, you can quite legally run around without the cat in a car registered before october 92. MX3s don't have an O2 sensor downstream of the cat so you won't have any issues with removing the cat.

    You need a cat replacement pipe, I'm not sure if you can buy one off the shelf but there are plenty of custom exhaust fabricators who can make you one for well under £100. Unfortunately, the MX3 exhaust system uses oval flanges as connections, so you can't just use a straight piece of pipe and a pair of u-bolts. That's all it is by the way, a piece of pipe, nothing fancy.

    Don't throw the cat away. You might find, as I did with my Xedos, that you fail the emissions test for MOT by a gnat's cock, and bolting the cat back on gets you through. New cats are expensive, and it's bloody annoying to have to buy one just to get through the MOT. Don't ask me how I know this…

    You might want to check out cold air induction too. Google for it, there's lots of information out there and it's good, cheap, bolt on horsepower.

  • admin

    As for the KL-ZE, there is a company in Barking, Essex called Nippon Spares (yellow pages for the number) - they are Jap import specialists and will order direct for you!

    Your lookin at a 5+ Week wait!

    Current price is around £800 Inc Vat which will get you 2.5 KL-ZE, KL31 ECU, KL38 TB, Xedus 9 IM (prices do depend on who you speak to and when you call!)


  • your vaf will control the mixture of air/fuel so increasing fuel pressure will do nothing!.
    A fuel pressure regualtor and larger fuel pump is only needed in turbo applications to stop a lean fuel mixture. Where a standalone ecu will also be needed.
    The mx-3 does have a pretty good air intake already feeding in cold air from right by the bonnet release catch. But there are cold air kits out there which divert down to the floor by the battery. But ive always been worried about water and rubbish getting in this area. They sound great but like said are only good for a few hp
    Oh on the ze front another supplier is JAS in norfolk, there was a 80k engine on ebay for £350 a while ago. Visit www.mx6.com for more details on this.
    Unfortuntely there is not alot of stuff out there to increase bhp on the K8 engine, so a DE or ZE is a good way forward. For those that dare !! :D

  • Right,
    I called my insurance company and it seems they won't even give me a quote for either an engine swap or a custom turbo so it would seem that I'm only looking at minor mods at the moment. (in all fairness i am only 21 so a KL-ZE would probably be a bit kamikazi!)

    What would all your recommendations be to squeeze a bit more HP out?
    I think removing the CAT is definately on the cards once I can get hold of a replacement pipe. but I'm not sure really where to go from there.

  • the exhaust is a definate good place to start, the manifolds are rubbish, but im not 100% certain the mx6 stainless manifolds fit the k8 engine, although i think they do .
    There is a test pipe on ebay right now about £40 :D act fast !!
    You could upgrade the rest of the system and squeeze out some more hp.
    All the money spent on the exhaust is not wasted, if you drop in the ze you can use the manifolds and exhaust so theres less work and cash to spend later.
    I try and find a decent tried and tested induction kit and post up the details.

  • Bugger, out bid on that test pipe :(
    I'll have to look into getting one elsewhere.

  • Excellent, The chap selling the last test pipe has offered me one for £45 collected. Since I'm going in the right direction this weekend, do you think this is a good price?


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