The comprehensive CE Info and Modding Thread

donki

donki

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Lately I have been seeing a tonne of posts, particularly on the Auslancer Facebook page, asking for mod information and advice and what not, and a bunch of people replying without any idea on what theyre on about, just relaying what they've seen. Gladly welcoming others to post up sections too, though i'll have to vet it beforehand

Thought id try to clarify it. I'll try to have this indexed, and grouped to the best i can. Click on the below for the different topics:

A - Air - Intakes, etc
B - Fuel - Injectors, etc
C - Engine - head, block, etc
D - Gearbox - gearing, lsd, etc
E - Exhaust - systems, mufflers, etc
F - Wheels - tyres, etc
G - Brakes - rotors, calipers, etc
H - ECU - tuning, etc
I - Body - kits, panels, paint, etc
J - Interior - dash, audio, etc
K -
L -
M -
N -
 
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AIR

The air intake system varies depending on the engine.
The 1.5L 4G15 only reads the incoming air by using a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure or Manifold Air Pressure) sensor, and therefore has a lesser amound of intake restriction compared to the 1.8L 4G93's intake which uses a karmen vortex MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor. This works by reading the frequency of the air "vibrating" past a sensor.
Some cars have a modified version of this type that has a fixed current running through the sensor wire, and the amount of air going past cools the sensor. The change in the temperature of the sensor wire is how the ECU gauges the amount of air. The 4G15 has a air temp sensor in the intake manifold, where as the 4G93 has this sensor built in to the MAF.


The MAP is located on the rear of the intake manifld, and reads the air pressure in the manifold. This gives an accurate reading with minimal air restriction, and a MAP is often the choice of air measurement for high performance cars. You never need to upgrade the MAP, unless you are providing forced induction to the engine, in which case a replacement MAP of 2 or 3BAR (28-44psi) is more than enough.
The 4G15 has the intake manifold fed by the throttle body. This connects to an S-bend of rubber tubing, to the airbox, and then through to the lower wheel arch where there is a resonator. There is also a resonator on the S-bend. The purpose of these resonators in the air intake is to help smooth out the flow of the air intake system, and to cancel out some engine harmonics, which leads to quieter, stable air intake readings, thus allowing for accurate fueling. They can be removed with neither any benefit or otherwise, except some very very minor intake sound enhancement.

The MAF sensor is located immediately before the air filter on the 4G93. It also has a built in Air Temp sensor, and a Barometric Sensor (atmosphere pressure). The air is fed from the air filter, through a thin wire mesh which straightens out the air, and this lets the air flow over the vortex generator and over the air sensor. This design allows for very accurate reading even at very slow air speeds. The MAF doesnt need to be upgraded, unless the car is being boosted by supercharger or turbo, but in that case the standard MAF will still manage up over 250hp before needing to be corrected. Conversion to a MAP after this point is common, but requires more hardware.

Q: Can i put a pod filter on my 4g15/4g93?
A: Sure. To get the most benefit, make sure that the air filter is close to the same spot as the original filter. Warm air is less dense compared to cool air, which means less power per kg of air injected. The best location though is to have it drawing its air from in front of the wheel, behind the front bumper to shield from water/puddles

Q: Can i remove my MAP?
A: theres not really any point, the sensor is about half the size of a pinky finger, and has zero inpact the the air flow. Plus, it is a critical part needed for the feedback of the tuning of the engine

Q: Can i remove my MAF?
A: Only if you convert to Speed Density (this is where the car will use the Throttle Position, and RPM (and sometimes Coolant Temp). This hasn't been fully tested on the H8 ECU - See section H. You can swap to an Evo or Magna MAF, but you will require a retune. Magna MAF's are not really documented, so Evo is the only feasible way to go.
 
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Fuel

The 4G15 and 4G93 are both electronic fuel injectored engines, fed by a returning fuel system regulated by a Fuel Pressure Regulator, and with a fuel pump located in-tank.

The 4g15 uses 175cc? injectors, and the 4g93 uses 220cc injectors.

Neither the 4g15 or the 4g93 can change in other injectors without requiring a retune. This on the standard ECU needs specialised equipment - see section H.

Q: Can i change injectors to X?
A; You can, but the car will barely run until it gets the injector size updated in the ECU. The largest it could support is less than 12% increase or decrease, if the car is in perfect working condition, but you will not get any benefits as the car is tuned from factory to use certain injector size. Its not like the car magically gains power from more injector flow only.

Q: Can i upgrade my Fuel Pressure Regulator?
A: You can upgrade the Fuel Pressure Regulator, but minimal benefit. The commonly described "flat spot" when accelerating, is actually the engine being flooded with fuel. The cars are tuned rich, and suddenly opening the throttle causes the ECU to dump fuel. The standard system can be balanced out and give more power by allowing more air to flow (air intake), but see section H for more information.

Q: Can I put in E10/95/98?
A: Yes and no. The car's ECU is designed to run 91 octane fuel. Its been engineering to the miliseconds to use 91 octane, as the fuel has particular burn characteristics, such as the flame front speed, to have peak cylinder pressure between 15 and 18 degrees after top dead centre, so you get the optimal power and economy from the engine. If you think you can do better than Mitsubishi's $2m AUD in engine engineering, go right ahead. 95 and 98 octane are more resistant to preignition, tend to burn slower, and have more detergents in the fuel, meaning it keeps flowing and keeps the system clean.
 
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Engine

In Australia, the CE came with only two options for engines. The 4g15 and the 4g93.

The 1.5L 4G15 was rated as 69kw @5500rpm and 126nm @3000rpm, and was by far an economic engine, with ratings close to 6.5L/100km. It is a Single Overhead Camshaft engine, with a 75.5mm x 82mm bore and stroke, giving the engine a 9.0:1 compression ratio. This same engine design was revised in the later model Colt Ralliarts, and come with a turbocharger and MIVEC, putting out around 113kw/210nm. It has electronically controlled fuel injection, but uses a distributor for spark events.

The 1.8L 4G93 was rated as 86kw @5500rpm and 161nm @4500rpm, and was rated a little worse for economy nearing 7.5L/100km. It is a Single Overhead Camshaft engine, with a 81mm x 89mm bore and stroke, giving the engine a higher 9.5:1 compression ratio. This same engine design was offered in overseas markets with direct port fuel injection models (as opposed to the aus model injecting into the bottom of the intake manifold and then the valve opening and sucking the air and fuel in), turbo models, and dual camshaft models. The best spec version was the DOHC Turbocharged engine, commonly called the CM5A (after the chassis code of the JDM model), or less frequently called the GSR. The GSR/CM5A outputted around 158kw/284nm, and was a fairly uncommon model.


Q: Can i swap a 4g93 into my 4g15 CE?
A: Yes! This is a common swap, and relatively straight forward. The easiest way is to purchased a wrecked MR Lancer, usually found for $200-600 at the auctions. Swap in the entire engine with loom, ECU, Immobiliser, and the key, and it should be a turn-key solution. Note the key must match the immobiliser for the engine to work.

Q: Can i swap in a CM5A into my CE?
A: Yes! Another good swap, however the rarity of the CM5A can make this a bit of a difficult swap. As for a 4G93, getting a halfcut of a car is the best option, otherwise careful work of a standard later model 4G93 loom should do the job, with a couple of additional wires added/changed (fuel pump, air con fans, ?).

Q: What Evo parts fit my engine?
A: Not many, infact less than a handful. The designed of the engines, infact for most of these engines despite being from Mitsubishi's 4G (inline 4) series, are separate and unique to each other. Only the below listed parts will fit.
  • The Evo 7-9 throttle body will fit up, however this can have its own issues - Evo's are a larger capacity engine, thus needing more air to run. This means the throttle body flows more air compared to the standard 4g15/4g93. Adjusting the idle is not an easy task on the 4g93, requiring retuning of the ECU.
Q: What are some performance mods to do to my engine?
  • As mentioned in the ECU section, these car's are tuned rich from factory when under wide open throttle. Balancing out this with some air intake upgrades will net a kW or two, and help the car run better, and may improve fuel economy. K&N drop in Air filter or pod filter, and routing air from the bumper under the battery is the best way to do so. Est Price: $50-300
  • On the same train of modding as the air intake, the exhaust. The stock exhaust system has at least 3 different varients, with the Mirage (only available as a 4G15) having a different pipe system than the coupe and sedans. Upgrading either system to a 2" system for basic mods, or a 2.25" for more serious stuff will help. Make sure to choose a quality brand muffler to get a nice note, and a resonator/hotdog will remove the rasp from the car. See the "choosing your exhaust thread" for more info on this. Est price: $200-1000
  • A reground camshaft has been shown to net above of 12kW, at the wheels. This can be a daunting task for some, but is somewhat straight forward to do. Provide a camshaft shop with an OEM camshaft (around $50 from a wreckers), and ask for their cam specs. Some shops offer custom intake and exhaust durations as well as lift, and these specs will depending very much on your style of driving and what you want. A overly simplified way to describe it is the longer the duration is, the higher up the RPM range the new powerband will be, and the more the lift is the more power could be produced. Keep in mind the engine is limited to around 10.4mm of lift before running into severe issues of valve contacting the piston top.

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Gearbox

In Australia, the CE came with only two (and a half) options for gearboxes. A 5 speed manual, and a four speed automatic. The "and a half" was a triptronic option for the automatic gearbox, which was essentially just a manual mode of the auto.

The manual gearbox came in at least two variants, with differing gear ratios depending on the engine it was mated to. The 4g15 has a couple of shorter ratios, for first and fourth gear, when compared to the first and fourth gear of the 4g93 gear box.


Q: Can i swap a 4g15 gearbox into my 4g93 CE?

A: Yes! This is a common swap, and relatively straight forward. This will allow you to advantage of the short ratio of 1st gear, and thus allow a quicker rev/ launch of the 4g93. Note you need to note the clutch and flywheel and make sure they match in a particular way that i dont recall right now.
Personally i would advise against a gearbox swap on teh 4g93 if you perform any sort of higher power mods such as a turbo, as the turbo will cause the engine to spin up considerably faster and negating the effort of the box swap anyway


Q: Can i swap in an Evo/AWD gearbox into my CE?

A: Technically yes. However, the CE does not have the rear differential for the rear drive, and so the gearbox will free-spinfor the rear wheel connections, potentially overspinning or at least overstressing the FWD diff.


Q: What differentials fit into my CE?
A: KAAZ made several diff variants for the manual gearboxes of the CE (4g93 only?). These cost up of $1200, and require a rebuild of the gearbox like most gearbox modifications.
 
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Tyres

Get the best you can afford. Should be no ifs or buts about this. Imagine if you crash knowing if you spent an extra $10/corner you probably wouldnt have crashed

Stock Mirage: 175/75/13 tyre on a 13x5.5 rim.
 
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BRAKES

The standard brakes on all Aus delivered CEs are 236mm vented rotors at the front, and drum brakes in the rear, and 4x100. Brake physics is that the further the leverage or bite point (caliper) is from the mass (the hub), the more effort is applied. This can be explained through mechanical advantage, but i dont want to blabber on about it. The further the caliper is from the center the better the brakes will work.

A "stage 1" upgrade is upgrading the front set to the 256mm rotors and calipers found on the Proton Satria GTi.
The next size up is the 276mm rotors and calipers, often found on certain FTOs, Magnas and Veradas. Keep in mind that while all calipers from these models will bolt on, the only rotor that is "bolt up" is the Mini Cooper one (also 4x100), because the FTO, Magna and Verada is 5x114.3.

Big benefits alone are found when upgrading to high quality rotors and suitable pads.

The following two threads cover every single aspect known so far about the braking system of the CE, with the exception of information about the ABS system (not available in Aus).

http://auslancer.com/index.php?threads/brake-upgrade-information.2535/
http://auslancer.com/index.php?threads/brake-upgrade-information-v2-0.10117/
 
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ECU

The 1996-1998/1999 model cars run a metal cased ECU, and the 1999-2003 have a black plastic case ECU, all located in the passenger footwell on the door side. The automatic models have their transmission (TCU) combined with the ECU in certain year models. Only the black, plastic case ECU is able to be reflashed and tuned, the metal case ECU can only be read.

The ECU controls fuel injection, spark events, and several other functions based off of many many sensors (air temp, air pressure/flow/mass, atmospheric pressure, throttle positioning sensor, coil spark charge time, exhaust oxygen (o2) sensor, coolant temperature, etc).

The more crucial, is the Throttle Position Sensor, the O2 sensor, and the air flow sensors (MAP or MAF). When idling and cruising, or driving under light loads, the ECU will adjust the amount of fuel to inject. It does this based off the info provided by the O2 sensor located in the exhaust piping. This sensor reads a very narrow range of reading, either rich or lean, and feeds this info to the ECU, which then adds or subtracts miliseconds of fuel injection time.

Q: What upgrades can i do to the ECU/TCU?
A; To date there are no upgrades for the TCU.
The standard ECU is able to be fully tuned by professional tuners to do almost anything. In the UK for example, there are many Evo's tuned on the standard ECU putting out in excess of 600hp.
Upgrades can be from better fuel economy, to changed injectors, air filters, and much more power. You can choose between tuning the standard ECU, installing a piggyback ECU (which intercepts and modifies the sensor signals), or a full standalone replacement ECU.

Q: Can i do a standard ECU reflash myself?
A: yes, but you'll need the $230 Tactrix cable, the $10 Mitsubishi reflash plug, and about 80 hours of reading time to have half an idea on how to tune using ECUFlash
 
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Reserved for section I

Body

The CE came as three body models between 1996-2003, a 2 door hatchback (named Mirage within Aus, or Colt within European market), a 2 door coupe (commonly called just the Coupe in Aus markets, and to add to the confusion, it was called a Mirage in the American market), and a 4 door sedan (also called a Lancer, but commonly referred to as Sedan, worldwide).

Each model came in a small range of trim levels; the Mirage with 2, and Coupe and Sedan with around 3 or 4. The engine was dictated with the trim levels.

Paint codes are standard codes, and there is a 2 digit code on the VIN plate that identified the colouring of the car. These codes also have common naming, so replacement cans can be found easily (e.g the silver paint code which is something like "RF" used a common name of Satellite Silver).

The Mirage as offered with only one engine, and two levels of interior trim, whereas the Coupe and sedan had two engine options and two interior options.
The Mirage and Coupe share the exact same parts for everything from the B-pillar to the tip of the front bar. The sedan has a different make up to the other two, however the front seats and dash, are interchangeable between all three.
 
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