Car Mods: 1st Gen Perodua Myvi Tuning Part V - Lightweight Crankshaft Pulley and some Iridium

Okay, let's return to some 1st Generation Perodua Myvi tuning. The 2010 car is now slightly over 35,000km old and still running as it should. It just undergoes regular oil changes and if you note from the earlier posts, the car has had some suspension, brakes and an air filter / cold air intake mod.

The Myvi technically stops faster, corners better and is a little more refined due to the strut bar / rear beam axle anti-roll bar which allows the suspension to be less susceptible to flex. And with those mods, a little more performance from the engine would be nice. So I've basically got a lightweight aluminium crankshaft pulley installed (the polished thingy to the right of the brakes).


As mentioned in my earlier post where I fixed such a crankshaft pulley to the Proton Wira which I own, it basically releases the power that was lost from the heavy standard crankshaft pulley. The lightweight aluminium pulley decreases rotational mass making the engine rev faster than before. It basically shifts the power band a little lower and is actually very good to have in an automatic car (albeit one that weighs slightly under 1000kg). This is because the 4 speed automatic's gearing has only 4 speeds it is spaced out a little and there could be a gap in the powerband that is (slightly) corrected by the pulley. As the revs come in quicker, the powerband feels smoother.

The lightweight pulley is about a kilogram lighter. Testing on a dyno has basically shown that with such a pully the 1.3liter Myvi would only gain 1.5 or so bhp. Good enough as what is more important is the shift in powerband as the power if now coming in lower in the rev range. You feel more engine response and urge at least 500rpm lower than before. This means that the car accelerates faster. No, not Lancer Evolution fast...just faster than before okay. Don't be chasing down Honda Type-Rs after this upgrade.

And then you need better spark plugs. Iridium spark plugs are a good replacement for the stock plugs. Firstly, whilst they are more expensive, around RM180-200 per set, they last longer than regular spark plugs. But do not believe the story that these plugs last over 60,000km. They actually lose power quite rapidly after 35,000km. I would suggest using them for about 30,000km before throwing them away for another set.

Secondly, the iridium plugs have a stronger spark, hence you would benefit from better combustion which gives you better performance (acceleration) and fuel economy (from the better conbustion). The 2010 Perodua Myvi (facelifted 1st gen variant and above uses a smaller Iridium plug compared to the pre-facelifted versions) is fitted with Denso Iridium plugs IXU22 if you are curious. You could use NGKs too but from experience, the Denso plugs are slightly punchier. That's just a personal feeling (what the butt-dyno says so don't take my word for it). 

And so the little Myvi gets to accelerate even faster than before. From the mid-12seconds it is now at least in the mid-10secs from 0-100km/h. And it has a better mid-range too which helps overtaking slightly. Trips to Muar and Kuantan ( pictured there with someone else's Myvi) feel slightly better in a Perodua Myvi that stops, acclerates and cruises better than what was offered by Perodua in the first place. Again, this was not over-done, just enough to make the car drive better. Remember, it isn't a sports car. IT REALLY ISN'T A SPORTS CAR no matter how large the tyres are, how low you lower it and how noisy the exhaust is. No, changing the seats to Recaros are just wasting money. A Myvi is a small super mini. 

So this was done to make an econo-box slightly better to drive. After all, the car is still crashy over bumps and humps, runs on tiny tyres but is a great classless car. By classless in the Malaysian sense this means that a heck of a lot of people own Myvis. From multi-millionaires to regular Janes and Joes. And these mods make it a little better for petrolheads to drive. Probably putting a smile to some faces. Not a large one, just a little smirk. In car expensive Malaysia, petrolheads should be allowed to get their kicks in any way possible. 

Hope this article helps.