Performance Tuning
Toyota Land Cruisers certainly aren't sports cars, however a lot can be done to them to improve the way they run improving the driving experience.
Depending on the model, we usually start by making an initial assessment of the way the vehicle runs in standard form and then can advise on the various improvements that can be made.
When you start to make improvements you need to bear in mind that whilst each change should provide an improvement on it's own, the most benefit will come from combining improvements - a better exhaust may provide a 3% improvement, but when combined with a fuel pump tweak may improve things by 8% and then throw in an intercooler you may end up with an overall improvement of 30%, e.t.c.
Power V's Economy
People are always asking if X or Y performance enhancement will improve economy, which is a tricky question to answer. In order to get more power from an engine we need to improve the efficiency of it In theory this will lead to improved fuel economy, however with more power under your right foot drivers tend to use it more, attempting more overtaking, powering up hills rather than pottering, e.t.c.
In most cases if you don't drive like a loony you should notice an improvement in economy, particularly with the big diesel engines. If you sit down and do the sums you will never save enough to cover your costs, but at least the car will be a lot more fun to drive
Pump Tweaks
At a very basic level on the old 80 series, with the manual fuel pumps, a lot can be done to tweak the fuelling across the rev range providing more grunt lower down and across thee rev range. The 24 valve 80 series was particularly prone to a dip in power low down in the rev range which we can easily dial out transforming the way it drives.
Pusher Pumps
As the fuel pumps get worn they can struggle to suck the fuel out of the tank fast enough at higher revs, particularly when going up hills. We fit an electric pusher pump down by the fuel tank that can make a big difference on some models and it is something we would recommend to be added when fitting an intercooler.
Intercoolers
One of the easiest ways to get more power out of the 80 series diesel engines is to fit an intercooler. We have worked with all the leading brands of Intercooler available in Europe and Australia, but always come back to the Allisport kits that constantly provide excellent value and performance.
On average you can expect a 20-25% increase in power and torque by fitting an Intercooler and tweaking the pump with more being achieved through additional work to the exhaust and turbo.
In addition to fitting intercoolers to the 80 series, Allisport also provide a range of larger replacement intercoolers to go onto other models like the 100 series, combined with a tuning chip these can provides a reasonable boost in output.
Performance Chips
For the Land Cruisers with electronically controlled fuel pumps the simplest way to improve the performance is to fit a performance chip that will remap the fuelling through the injection pump. We generally provide the well proven Stienbauer chips, but have worked with most other models in the past including some rather interesting fake chips!
Turbos
We work with a firm that will recondition your turbo for you and fit bigger impellers at the same time feeding more air into the engine. We can also supply bigger turbos for most models and even complete turbo kits for some of the non turbo models.
Exhausts
One of the main restrictions on the big diesel Land Cruisers is the exhaust systems that in most cases have been over silenced. We are able to provide a number of changes from cutting out one of the main exhaust boxes in order to reduce back pressure helping low down power and torque through to providing complete replacement exhaust systems.
For the petrols we can also supply performance tuned headers that provide improved air flow.
Drivetrain Mods
Once you have tweaked the power output from your engine it is well worth giving a thought too your drive train. For manuals we are able to provide competition and heavy duty clutches to handle the increased power and then for the Autos we provide upgraded torque convertors and valve bodies as well as oil coolers to keep the heat down.
It is also worth making sure that the suspension and braking system are in a good condition and if you can afford it upgrade these as well.
Disclaimer
It is worth noting that one of the key things before doing extensive tuning is to ensure the engine is in good health before we start - if we have any doubt we will recommend that remedial work is carried out in order to resolve the issues.
Many people ask how the tweaks will effect emissions - as long as we are doing our job properly the car should remain within the recommended emissions levels.
Finally, if you are considering tweaking up the performance on your Land Cruiser, don't forget that talk to your insurance company - they may not be happy with the changes!