Trying out the Dark Side

Is this what it’s like to enter the Dark Side? For years I’ve only drive bone-stock production cars. A few of my friends took the extra step of customizing their rides with things like body kits and the occasional engine mod, while I preferred to just take whatever my car was as is. I don’t race, and like most of you, 90 percent of my driving is spent commuting to and from work.

And then it started with an innocuous message from my good friend, Ferman Lao, of Speedlab. “Would you like to try out our Speedlab Power Package for the Elantra?”, he asked. The car (a 1.6 M/T) was less than 5,000 kilometers old and was our family car. Along with earning the Philippine Car of the Year Award for its 1.8-liter GLS variant, the 1.6 also won an award as the “Speedlab Tuner Car of the Year.” 

Now Speedlab wanted to see what they could do with it. I had my misgivings: would it make the car undrivable on a daily basis? Would it lower the fuel efficiency? Then I thought about the plus side of the equation: the stock engine was already pretty good (the highest output, in fact, among all PH-market 1.6-liters), but what if it could be made even better? It already had a set of grippy Nittos on 18-inch Concept Ones, so a little extra bite to add to its bark would be welcome. With Ferman’s assurance that he would treat the car like his own (actually, that was what made me even a little more nervous…!), I surrendered my car to him and awaited the results.

One week passed, then two, then three. Every time I followed up, Ferman replied that they needed a little more time to tweak the car. A few of his posts on Facebook revealed that the car was still in one piece, and acing a couple of tests on their dynamometer. Stock output at the wheels was a healthy 100 whp and and 99 pound-feet of torque; pretty efficient for a car rated at 128 bhp and 116 lb-ft of torque. 

Finally, the car was ready, and the results were out: 117 whp and 113 lb-ft of torque, with a peak gain of 21 whp and 23 lb-ft in the midrange. 17 to 21 percent improvement? I definitely had to see it for myself. Opening the hood reveals just a few changes: there’s a Speedlab K&N cold air intake, and a Unichip mounted over the factory ECU. Down below was a set of Hot Pipes 4-2-1 headers replacing the factory exhaust manifold. Except for the Unichip, which is a universal module that can be tuned specific to each vehicle, the headers and intake were fabricated especially for the Elantra.

With the enhanced breathing capabilities of the engine, the car definitely feels “burlier” past the 2,000 rpm mark all the way to 6,000 rpm. But true to how most owners would actually drive their cars, Speedlab tuned optimal performance to happen between 2,000-4,000 rpm. Overtaking and accelerating off the line even in a relatively tall gear are quicker and more urgent thanks to the extra power and torque. The Hot Pipes also do a nice job of adding some “rumble” to the exhaust note, although it’s not intrusive. Just a little more “vroom-vroom” that’s a pleasure to hear when the road opens up. Overall, I’m reminded not so much of the Honda Civic SiR (which was a little soft on torque) but of the previous generation FD Civic 2.0’s driving character; sporty and fun, except it still has the fuel efficiency of a 1.6-liter engine.

Addressing my concerns about fuel economy, I was happy to note that initial tests didn’t seem to have made it drink more fuel than before when driven in “Economy” mode (short-shifting and light throttle all the time). I average 10-11.5 km/l in city/highway driving, with more than a few bursts of speed to stretch the car’s legs.

About the only issue that’s come up is the engine’s tendency to “choke” if given a little too much gas below 1,800 rpm. Ferman thinks “it’s part of the factory tuning that limits the torque and power at low rpm that’s designed to promote better fuel consumption. The change to an aftermarket intake makes it a bit more evident. It’s just a theory, though. We are still looking for a way around it.”

For now the solution is to be a little more mindful of the throttle and gearing so I don’t get caught in a tall gear at a low engine speed. Just to head off all the Elantra owners who may be reading this (and I know you’re a lot, considering the activity on the Elantra Club Facebook page), Ferman assures that all their modifications come with a limited warranty. As for how they will affect the engine (which will void the factory warranty),” The modifications are definitely safe. Every modification is tested during development, and the tuning is always within the limits of the engines. We don’t bypass the built-in safety protocols of the factory tuning either,” he says. Given that Hyundai has a solid reputation for near-bulletproof engines, I was willing to take a risk here.

Finally, Ferman says that the Unichip will also be useful in managing a nitrous system for more adventurous owners. A nitrous-boosted family car is probably not in my immediate plans.

But you never know. The Dark Side is just a lot more fun.