Zafira VXR Performance
By Thorney Motorsport
Thorney Motorsport Zafira VXR Power Upgrades
The standard Zafira VXR already has an excellent power level but as with all manufacturer supplied cars it is a design of compromise, what we do is develop the power with more of an eye on absolute performance without sacrificing longevity or reliability. All of our performance upgrades are covered by our three year/60,000 mile warranty which matches that of your standard Vauxhall warranty, whatever goes wrong with your car will be covered (conditions apply obviously).
We recommend the use of Shell V Power fuel in the running of your Zafira VXR, the engine is quite susceptible to the quality of fuel used as it both increases power, protects the engine and increases fuel economy.
All of our Re-Maps are upgradeable for free, once you have bought one upgrade from us then all subsequent re-maps are available from us free of charge.
Thorney Motorsport Zafira VXR - Stage 1 Power Upgrade
ECU Re-Map (+30BHP +35ft/lb) £399 (£499 with Bluefin)
Stage 1 at the Wheels
Stage 1 at the Flywheel
Zafira VXR Bluefin
The standard power delivery of the Zafira VXR is a little severe, its not the level of power that causes torque steer but how the power is delivered. Being a racing team we specialise in creating power delivery which is smooth and controllable as well as a lot higher! With a Power Pack 1 ECU upgrade we create a power delivery which pulls from idle all the way to the red line, the delivery is smooth but punchy at the same time and really is a revelation over the standard car. As well as this the fuel economy is typically improved by 10% so you really can have your cake and eat it.
Your car is expertly inspected and thoroughly checked to make sure all is perfect utilising the full Vauxhall approved diagnostic equipment (what would you expect form a full Vauxhall authorised Masterfit operation as we are) and the car thoroughly checked and run on our state of the art dyno equipment. We then read and check your cars standard ECU, copy it and install the new upgraded ECU software directly into the cars ECU via the diagnostic port (this can also be done using the Bluefin unit). We then run your car again on the dyno making any necessary adjustment to the ECU and software to optimise the power delivery. Full dyno charts are provided showing before and after power and torque both measured at the wheels and the flywheel.
Power delivery is controlled by the usage of the sport button, in standard mode we smooth out the power delivery and add a little more power but give maximum fuel economy, think of it as a ‘pottering about’ mode, but when you press the Sport button then the full fury of the map is let loose, still controllable, still smooth and silky to drive but with an extra 30bhp and 35lb of torque the car is literally transformed. If you’re not happy we refund you, simple as that (subject to conditions of course). After a while you’ll notice an improvement in fuel economy as well – bargain.
Thorney Motorsport Zafira VXR - Stage 2 Power Upgrade
S1 + Turbo Back Exhaust System (+45BHP & +55ft/lb) from £1,849 (£1,949 with Bluefin)
Stage 2 at the Wheels
Stage 2 at the Flywheel
Zafira VXR with Thorney Motorsport System
Turbo charged cars are all about airflow and heat, you want to move the air through the engine as quickly as possible and keep the temperature of the air used in combustion as low as possible, sadly turbo chargers are prone to heating up the air (exhaust gases are used which are hot) so whilst power gains are good the resulting increase in air temperature is bad. By adding a free-er breathing exhaust onto the Zafira VXR the air is moved through the process faster which also has the effect of sucking heat from the engine as well. The standard exhaust is pretty good but with a 400 cell catalytic converter and a 200 cell precat exhaust gases are relatively restricted and power is capped as a result.
By adding an exhaust system with a genuine race catalytic converter, replacing the precat with a straight through pipe and adding a performance rear silencer the gains in performance are immediately noticeable. Only a genuine motorsport cat should be used, there are plenty of 100 cell cats available but these will eventually cause the engine management system to see a degradation in emissions and fail an MOT, true motorsport cats are fully MOT compliant and are responsible for most of the power gains. The addition of a proper race exhaust allows us to increase the boost on the ECU map without compromising reliability so we get a lot more power as a result.
Thorney Motorsport Zafira VXR - Stage 3 Power Upgrade
S2 + Front Mount Intercooler £2,999 fitted with/without Bluefin
Stage 3 at the Wheels
Stage 3 at the Flywheel
Zafira VXR with TMS Intercooler
You’ll notice a common theme throughout the Zafira VXR tuning and that is one of heat, the car is very susceptable to it so its always a limiting factor on how to upgrade it. For this reason the fitting of a larger, more efficient intercooler is a crucial step towards obtaining larger amounts of power. Basically speaking an engine is a controlled explosion; mix air with fuel and ignite it – bang, the cooler the air is the more oxygen it can hold and the greater the explosion = more power. With turbo charged engines the intake air gets hot very quickly which subsequently reduces the power, you feel this effect every day, in the cold air in the morning the car actually has more power compared to a drive home in the afternoon where the air temperature is hotter.
To combat this problem we worked directly with Pace Products in developing a pair of larger front mounted intercoolers. These intercoolers are unique in that the actual cores have been custom designed for the Zafira VXR to maximise air volume and flow through the system, note we don’t say how many litres they hold – that measure is pointless, what is crucial is how fast the air moves through the system along with the volume of air. By fitting one of our larger intercoolers it allows us to advance the map to the next stage by running more boost and resulting in a lot more power and even more torque. We now directly recommend the use of the new 3” bore race exhaust with stage 3 upgrades and above, such are the extra gains offered by the system, however any other system such as the Remus system offers less in terms of BHP than our own race systems Race Systems. Self fitting is quite simple but does require the front of the car to be removed and replaced. The kits come complete with all the extra pipe work, silicone hoses nothing else is required.
Thorney Motorsport Zafira VXR - Stage 4 Power Upgrade
S3 + Garrett GT28 Roller Bearing Turbo, TMS Charge Cooler Kit, & more... (330+ BHP)
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Our stage 4 pack is a very advanced pack for the Zafira VXR aiming to get the best perfomrance out of it as possible within its limit. TMS Bluefin is installed to make improve BHP and talk, adding our improved TMS panel filter this wont give you an extra 10 BHP however, by fitting the upgraded filter you will at least maximise airflow. The car can then utilise as much air as it can. By increasing the size of the injectors (whilst keeping the impedence within the ECU tolerances) we are able to run more fuel and hence more power without affecting reliability. Running this amount of power larger fuel injectors are advised. Developed for our race program and now the essential part of our stage 5 conversions. The VXR's standard manifold is integral with the turbo charger and its a cast restrictive affair. Our tubular manifold is a true equal length - this is crucial, if you don't get the branch length equal then you will lose power but it does mean that construction is time consuming, each one takes many hours to make. |
Price List: TMS Bluefin Unit: £550 TMS Panel Filter: £45.00 TMS 4 Branch Manifold: £1,432.77 |
