Future Tuning Options for the 'R' ??

[stagger321]

Hiya,

I am still in the early honeymoon period for my 'R', so with 2.5yrs of Warranty left I'm not in any hurry to mess around with anything.
Love the car at this point and not necessarily wanting to change anything.

Nevertheless, at some point - when warranty a thing of the past and assuming I still own the 'R' I may want to change things.
So what if anything is likely to be available - especially performance & Ride/handling

Seeing the post here http://www.peugeotrczforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8599 its looking like there is limited life in the range. So I assume the odd cosmetic tweak here and there, plus maybe the release of future 'Special edition' models - like the Red Carbon and Asphalt, but eventually, as far as Peugeot are concerned, it will have run its course.

With the limited numbers of 'R' models out there, is anyone (and yes I am looking at you RCZ-Performance for answers :wave: ) going to be able to stock anything for the 'R' ?

I know that at 270bhp'ish and FWD there is a limit to what the RCZ can lay down on the road, but the various Focus RS models have used a similar beefy LSD (Quaife in Fords case) and can put 30+ more horses out there. So will similar tweaks for air filter/exhaust etc be offered for the 'R' ?? I am assuming that Peugeot will have engineered sufficient safety factors into the current 'R' design to limit warranty claims - so there is scope for some tweaks here and there.

 

[frankvdb]

Just be aware that the R is already tuned by Peugeot Sport and you will have a hard time squeezing any more power out of that block.
BTW the German tuner JP (who also presents some car shows on German TV) bought himself an R and made various attempts to increase its power. However, any change actually reduced the power, but he did get some torque improvements.
If you understand German you can have a look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNoYTa2Cq0.
He's got more videos with other attempts.

 

[stagger321]

Just be aware that the R is already tuned by Peugeot Sport and you will have a hard time squeezing any more power out of that block.
BTW the German tuner JP (who also presents some car shows on German TV) bought himself an R and made various attempts to increase its power. However, any change actually reduced the power, but he did get some torque improvements.
If you understand German you can have a look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNoYTa2Cq0.
He's got more videos with other attempts.

Thanks - well had to ask.

Had a quick look at vid you linked to.
Don't understand German so can't tell exactly what he did. Although he looks to have just removed all the Pug Air intake gubbins and strapped on a K&N.
I assume he has added nothing extra like a dump valve or the like :eusa-think:
'R' sounds like it has run over a squirrel every time he lifts off to change gear.
Sure the Peugeot Sport guys have fitted all that extra stuff he removed for a good reason - like to prevent pressure build up and damage to the turbo.
Anyway will have a look at the other vids for a laugh.
Cheers

 

[renegade79]

Those alloys!!!!!!! :roll:

What was he thinking?????

 

[stagger321]

Those alloys!!!!!!! :roll:

What was he thinking?????

Yeah. Ditto. lol
Would you trust a guy who chose alloys like that to tune your car?
Talk about gilding a lily. He gone turned it into a Chav-mobile.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh dear god!!!

 

[tianorth]

The jist of the video (as I don't understand German) seems to be the length the incoming air has to go to get to the engine. Basically he has just bypassed this length and gone straight to the engine.
The peugeot air intake has to be able to recirculate engine gasses and oil vapours to be burnt off in the engine, which he has done away with, but where do they go now?
He seems happy that he knows better than the engineers that took the time to develop this engine and car (and apparently has more taste then them as well).
Things are put in for a reason if they could get away without putting it in they would (as it would keep costs down).

 

[stagger321]

The jist of the video (as I don't understand German) seems to be the length the incoming air has to go to get to the engine. Basically he has just bypassed this length and gone straight to the engine.
The peugeot air intake has to be able to recirculate engine gasses and oil vapours to be burnt off in the engine, which he has done away with, but where do they go now?
He seems happy that he knows better than the engineers that took the time to develop this engine and car (and apparently has more taste then them as well).
Things are put in for a reason if they could get away without putting it in they would (as it would keep costs down).

Totally agree (including the sacasm :dance: )

Similar lack of taste outside Harrods leads to arrest from the fashion police:

 

[Abzynthe]

That looks the same colour as those tuned volvos.

 

[Anonymous]

It's easy enough tuning any car to provide more power than stock and do it differently to how the original designers went about things. However, by doing so you are likely to seriously decrease the mean time between failures and destroy any hope of passing emissions tests.

The r engine already has trick parts fitted to extend life with the higher rated output. It's a tiny engine with the wick turned right up already. Anything you do to extend that output will merely reduce usable life. Id wager a fair bit that the r drive train is on the limit of fatigue and maybe even static strength and can imagine even pushing 300 ponies out of it would see something go bang fairly quickly. Trouble is, without the specs you'll be doing things blind and whist it may run great for a month, it may cost you 5k for a new engine the next.

 

[Anonymous]

The one I test drove did feel the the engine had every last bit of grunt squeezed out of it any more be asking for big explosion

 

[stagger321]

It's easy enough tuning any car to provide more power than stock and do it differently to how the original designers went about things. However, by doing so you are likely to seriously decrease the mean time between failures and destroy any hope of passing emissions tests.

The r engine already has trick parts fitted to extend life with the higher rated output. It's a tiny engine with the wick turned right up already. Anything you do to extend that output will merely reduce usable life. Id wager a fair bit that the r drive train is on the limit of fatigue and maybe even static strength and can imagine even pushing 300 ponies out of it would see something go bang fairly quickly. Trouble is, without the specs you'll be doing things blind and whist it may run great for a month, it may cost you 5k for a new engine the next.

Yeah, man I know what you, and others are saying, but I have to disagree with the bold bit you put.
I work for a motor manufacturer (R&D) and in no way will a mainstream car manufacturer including the one I work for throw any car out there for public purchase with everything tightened up to the max.
There will absolutely be some safety margin for every item on that 270bhp engine - and it won't be a tiny margin either. Otherwise they will be inundated with warranty calls by now, as cars like this are bound to be thrashed - more so than the rest of the range.
They have to test all their cars to the max, and beyond to ensure they don't have massive warranty claims, maybe leading to recalls, and negative publicity. Its just not worth the risk to them.
So there will be some scope with this engine.
I threw this thread out there to see what if anything is likely to come to the 'R' even if its just air filter and/or exhaust changes giving subtle gains, not chipped ECU's. I don't expect much as its from a relatively smallish production run compared with the main RCZ range.
BTW, It will be interesting to see just what the reliability figures are with these RCZ-R' powertrains at the end of the warranty period. That will be a good yardstick of how much scope there is likely to be.

 

[RCZ-R]

BTW, It will be interesting to see just what the reliability figures are with these RCZ-R' powertrains at the end of the warranty period. That will be a good yardstick of how much scope there is likely to be.

You can count on me on that. I'm putting miles on mine R like crazy. Currently close to 10.000 miles after some 3 months of driving. And I push her to the limit all the time.
Oil consumption is nearly zero. Something like 2mm on the dipstick are gone since I got the car spanking new. So basically no oil consumption. I'm pushing the car really hard on the autobahns. And not only there.

Front brakes wear-off is a little bit to high, IMHO. These days I'm going to measure discs and pad wear-off and will post some figures here (I intend to do that at exactly 10.000 miles which is just around the corner).

In case a well experienced tuning garage (like ours RCZ performance, RS tuning from Leeds or Pug1Off) is going to offer a reasonable ECU remap (something like +10bhp and +15% on torque) I'd be willing to put it on my R. For the rest of the car, be it downpipe, intake, etc. I'm happy with the car as it is.

 

[stagger321]

BTW, It will be interesting to see just what the reliability figures are with these RCZ-R' powertrains at the end of the warranty period. That will be a good yardstick of how much scope there is likely to be.

You can count on me on that. I'm putting miles on mine R like crazy. Currently close to 10.000 miles after some 3 months of driving. And I push her to the limit all the time.
Oil consumption is nearly zero. Something like 2mm on the dipstick are gone since I got the car spanking new. So basically no oil consumption. I'm pushing the car really hard on the autobahns. And not only there.

Front brakes wear-off is a little bit to high, IMHO. These days I'm going to measure discs and pad wear-off and will post some figures here (I intend to do that at exactly 10.000 miles which is just around the corner).

In case a well experienced tuning garage (like ours RCZ performance, RS tuning from Leeds or Pug1Off) is going to offer a reasonable ECU remap (something like +10bhp and +15% on torque) I'd be willing to put it on my R. For the rest of the car, be it downpipe, intake, etc. I'm happy with the car as it is.

Wowza! At 10K a quarter year you're on target to hit 120K in the 3 yr warranty period.
Will be interesting to see your figures ongoing. In no way am I going to get close to that mileage.
Nice of you to benchtest your R for the rest of us, lol. :beer:

 

[RCZ-Performance]

Great read. Not sure what we can add as there is little development being done on the 'R'. If you are okay with pushing the envelope and facing an engine rebuild, or turbo replacement, or something else that is within your budget (and you do not mind the car being down for days at a time), then go for it. But always know that someone else on the road has more power and performance than you, they will always be there. Reliability and performance is the perfect balance and we think the 'R' does that without any mods. JPP's RCZ 'R' is a sick ride and does well for a 1.6 litre, but as mentioned not all changes were successful.

 

[RCZ-R]

Wowza! At 10K a quarter year you're on target to hit 120K in the 3 yr warranty period.
Will be interesting to see your figures ongoing. In no way am I going to get close to that mileage.
Nice of you to benchtest your R for the rest of us, lol. :beer:

Thanks! Will do
During winter months my mileage drops as I'm off the country, but I'm calculating around 28-30k a year.
Count into few blasts into the Alps each year.
I'm planning to keep the car for about 3-4 years. Modification will be kept to a minimum. For example I don't care about other rims or any optical modifications. I'm happy with what Pug Sport has done to the car.

 

[pete.garratt]

I agree with RCZ-R.

I too have just come back from a 2 week tour down to Italy via the mountains - 2200 miles in 2 weeks. (see http://www.rczc.wordpress.com)

No car issue, no oil or water consumption worth mentioning, 150mph on the autobahn (scary in rush hour!) and I have complete confidence in the car.

I, too, don't feel the need to do many mods. The only thing in my mind, as mentioned by others, is to consider some interior trim upgrades. The rear and below the eyeline could benefit, I think.

 

[stagger321]

I agree with RCZ-R.

I too have just come back from a 2 week tour down to Italy via the mountains - 2200 miles in 2 weeks. (see http://www.rczc.wordpress.com)

No car issue, no oil or water consumption worth mentioning, 150mph on the autobahn (scary in rush hour!) and I have complete confidence in the car.

I, too, don't feel the need to do many mods. The only thing in my mind, as mentioned by others, is to consider some interior trim upgrades. The rear and below the eyeline could benefit, I think.

You sure that's the right link mate?

 

[RCZ-Performance]

We totally agree with you on not needing to do anything with the 'R'. But there will always be those that want more. But 'there is no replacement for displacement' so the 1.6 will fall short when big power is needed to be competitive

 

[stagger321]

We totally agree with you on not needing to do anything with the 'R'. But there will always be those that want more. But 'there is no replacement for displacement' so the 1.6 will fall short when big power is needed to be competitive

Oh, I don't know - those new fangled F1 cars seem to go OK with their teeny-tiny engines (1.6L for 2014!):

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/01/24/f1s-v6-engines-2014-numbers/

All we need now is someone to develop a KERS system for the 'R' :eusa-whistle: