Engine Modifications To Pugs ! Unlike a lot of Fords, Pugs are not exactly the easiest when it comes to tuning and getting more power out of the engines. The following contains some helpful hints on what sort of modifications to do to your engine and some price guides.

The Carburetor is now back in fashion. For years injection was the way forward, but now people with injection motors need to junk it and slap a lovely pair of 45’s on etc. Most standard injection systems are going to be limited to how much fuel they can pump fuel through.

Price: £1000 (fitted including all parts and rolling road tune)

Power: 20-25Bhp more (if head/cam/exhaust modified)

Power: 10-15Bhp more (if your engine is standard)

The above picture shows a set of twin Weber 45mm Carbs. It’s the easiest and most reliable way of improving the performance of your Pug, whilst still maintaining reliability. The kit consists of:-

Standard Kit consists of:- Two 45mm Carbs, Linkage, Cables and Facet Fuel Pump.

The price of the above will be in the region of £500, but it is recommended that you set the car up on a rolling road. Thus the price with fitting and setting up would be about £800. Speak to Colin at Pug Performance and he’ll do it a lot cheaper (probably). When fitted, the tick over can be abit dodgy in cold weather but they give good smooth power right the way through. Although the carbs measure 45mm internally, you have to run 36 or 38mm chokes to make the engine run correctly. They also have to be mounted on a purpose built inlet manifold using anti-vibration rubber seals and nuts, to stop any fuel being frothed up into the float chambers. They are fairly easy to fit if you are mechanically minded, but I personally would leave it to an expert… don’t forget, you also need the rolling road tune afterwards.

Don’t forget, you will also need an inlet manifold (£150) and some sort of air filter (RAMAIR £85) on top of the kit price, thus making a total of £1000. Sounds a lot? Well, in my opinion, they look the business and sound awesome as they start sucking in big glops of air. On a 1.9 GTi, with a fast road cam, free-flow exhaust/polished ported head with a set of Carbs, you’ll be looking at the sharp end of 170-180Bhp @6200 with 150+lbft of torque @ 5200rpm. The only other choice is whether to go for Weber or Dellorto. Colin at Pug Performance reckons the Dellorto are more tuneable and will give slightly more power. The downside? Well, they need tuning more frequently than the Weber’s. The choice is yours.

Price: £2500 (fitted including all parts and rolling road tune)

Power: 25-30Bhp more (if head/cam/exhaust modified)

Power: 15-20Bhp more (if your engine is standard):

So what’s the difference between carbs and throttle bodies. Well, the carbs have fuel sucked into them by the pistons going up and down. The amount of suck (ohh err missus) and the angle of the throttle butterfly control the flow. A complicated set of jets and tubes control the fuel/air ratios. The weber alpha throttle bodies looks a damn site more plain as it’s process of feeding in the fuel and air controlled by an ECU similar to what fuel injection is.

Standard Kit consists of:- Two Throttle Bodies, injectors, ECU, Sensors and Wiring loom.

As opposed to the carbs solution, the throttle bodies has perfect startup from cold and will tick over nicely. Although there will only be a small increase in power over the carbs, the car will usually pull much harder low down in the rev range. As the throttle bodies have 45mm internal bores with no restrictive carb-style chokes, they allow more air to flow. The ba%£$d comes in the price. £2500 fitted! Well for the cash you should get on the pug with the above upgrades, 180-190Bhp @6400 with 165+lbft of torque @ 5030rpm. Throttle bodies are the ones to go for if you want to squeeze every last ounce of power, but for me, the power increase doesn’t justify the price tag. Go for carbs!