TOPIC: 1998 Nissan Lucino 1.6L Japan (New Zealand imported)

OK folks here we have a Groove done for a '98 Nissan Lucino. This car was made in Japan domestic market, and imported to New Zealand. It's owned by a great guy, Mike, who will introduce himself shortly here as Kiwi Mike. It's a 1.6L 4 cyl OHC engine, and considered a hi-performance engine. I think the Lucino was known here in USA as the 200SX in the late 90's.

A bit of info on the Owner, Mike. I've been emailing back and forth w/ him for awhile now, and he's a cool guy who found out about the Famous Groove, contacted the Website, and had me Groove it for him. Mike has a very interesting job- he's a crewmate on a passenger Ferry that runs between the north and south Islands in New Zealand. He's sent a video of one of the sister ferries to his own, in a storm, crossing the dreaded Cook Straights...folks, this looks like something from the North Atlantic in WW2, minus the u-boats! It reminded me of reading The Cruel Sea or HMS Ulysses, holy jeepers...!! There were semi-trucks next to cars on the vehicle deck, going crunch despite tie-downs, passengers being asked to sit on the deck as the ship rolls... Now he says the seas are fine most of the time, but when they get a southerly storm, Katie Bar the Door!
Mike, you are a brave dude, sir! And I look forward to seeing you here sharing the results of this Groove job, and other associated mods..

This was a straightforward Groove job, Large bit. I debated on Med/Large bit since it's only 1.6 L displacement, decided on Large due to throttle bore size. I put thin card stock between throttle blade/wall to move Groove slightly downstream, 'cause there is a temp-based throttle positioner on this TB, I didn't want the butterfly in Groove at fast idle, so butterfly will hit Groove slightly off-idle.

Here's to our new mate, Kiwi Mike, smooth sailing, Mate!

Tracy G

The North American 200sx 1.6L engine is the GA16DE (economy engine). The Lucino appears to have the SR16VE, A Variable Valve Lift engine in the SR family. It's a a great engine. The N1 version of the SR16VE has a HUGE bore throttle body.

Nice groove!

Hi Everyone !

Firstly a big thanks to Tracy for Grooving my car Throttle Body ! I heard about the Gadget Man Groove about three years ago while trying out HHO in my car and finally got around to it ! I have an open mind on trying new things and with most people moaning about fuel prices on the rise here in NZ me instead of moaning i do researching and experimenting.

Just stepped foot onto dry land this afternoon in Wellington went to check mail and the TB still hasn't arrived but thats okay as good things do take time haha ! I am hoping before returning to work on the ship in two weeks time that i can give the TB a test run while driving up north to Hamilton.

I have been keeping a record of fuel usage for quite sometime so I am hoping to see a noticeable improvement.

NateM your right about the engine it is a SR16(VE) type and for a 1.6 litre engine it sure has some power ! But simply I take it easy while driving and not to gobble fuel and here in NZ we don't have many big expressways - mostly around the main cities (Auckland, Wellington etc) so speeding and overtaking everyone is a waste of time ! lol

Hi Mike, now I see your engine again, and I'm glad as I see the trademark blue valve cover of the hi-po version of that engine...cool!

Welcome Mike to the Gadgetman Groove forum!

We exchanged so many emails I forgot your car is a wagon, I have a fetish for wagons, have owned one or another for 40 yrs now. Comes from hauling my drums around...

I look forward to seeing your posts here in future, Mate! and thanks for the Groove job!

I have a few more tricks for you to use on that beautiful 'lil wagon!

Tracy G

The small lobes (low side) on the SR16VE camshafts have a nice duration,lift and 0 overlap for better fuel economy, idle, etc.

Advancing the timing from 15 degrees to 19 degrees is a popular trick for SR owners (if running the stock ecu). This is done by loosening the two bolts on the distributor and adjusting (towards the firewall i think) and then verifying 19 degrees with a timing light. This may require premium fuel and is usually done for performance.

That's interesting info ! On the other hand I already use the higher octane fuel (BP ultimate 98) the guy who I bought the car off said the car had problems running on 91 Fuel.

Also like to mention the TB arrived yesterday ! Tracy you have done an awesome job and looks very clean too ! I will be putting it back in the car this Sat night with my mate and I will come back with another report !

Cheers

Mike

Very cool Mike! Glad it's safe and sound w/ you.
Yours is a very interesting ride, we will watch for your updates. And thanks for your kind words

Tracy G

Hi guys

Just an update - the TB is back in the car ! Car runs quite smooth and at times you can hear the air passing through it but have to be really listening for it. I will be resetting the ECU and following Tracy's instructions that he sent me by email. Hoping to do a long trip this weekend so I will have another update by early next week.

Cheers !

Just curious Mike, the sound of air in the Groove, is it exactly right off the idle position, or deeper in the throttle? Some cars we will hear a whistle that annoys some folks...I take a whistle as a sign the Groove is working! Apparantly the Lucino is drawing a crowd, nearly 1000 views so far...

Tracy G

Here is the latest update

Last night I disconnected the battery and grounded the positive wire to the car body for 8-9 hours over night to reset ECU. This morning I did the relearning of the ECU as per Tracy's instructions starting off at idle then starting off slow and driving at most of the common speed limits in NZ finally getting up to 100 km an hour - it took about 1 hour 15min I'm sure some people wondered what I was doing start/ stopping everywhere haha ! For those in NZ I did the drive around Porirua and on the expressway between Mana and Wellington City on State Highway One.

So far I haven't seen much fuel saving and Tracy your question about hearing the air passing through the groove is more deeper in the throttle. I am going to cap of the PCV line and go for a drive around the block shortly to see if more air going through the groove will make a change in noise !

My opinion is that it's still early days and good things do take time

I will keep you all up to date

Cheers

Mike

Here is the latest update

Last night I disconnected the battery and grounded the positive wire to the car body for 8-9 hours over night to reset ECU. This morning I did the relearning of the ECU as per Tracy's instructions starting off at idle then starting off slow and driving at most of the common speed limits in NZ finally getting up to 100 km an hour - it took about 1 hour 15min I'm sure some people wondered what I was doing start/ stopping everywhere haha ! For those in NZ I did the drive around Porirua and on the expressway between Mana and Wellington City on State Highway One.

So far I haven't seen much fuel saving and Tracy your question about hearing the air passing through the groove is more deeper in the throttle. I am going to cap of the PCV line and go for a drive around the block shortly to see if more air going through the groove will make a change in noise !

My opinion is that it's still early days and good things do take time

I will keep you all up to date

Cheers

Mike

Hi guys i'm back with some awesome news !

Okay so on friday I drove from Wellington to Hamilton which is New Zealand's largest inland city located south of Auckland in the north island and I still just had over half a tank. I ended up filling up in Tokoroa located North of Taupo on State Highway One. So entered the litres and distance cost of fuel etc into my app on smart phone and I had used my current average fuel consumption - 7.6 litres/100km (30.95 mpg). So after leaving Tokoroa with a tank full of fuel I continued to Hamilton and arrived there 100km later. I did so some driving around Hamilton (about 60km) but I made my way back to Wellington and got back without stopping for fuel. Late this afternoon i filled up and had driven 672Km (417.6 miles) on a tank of fuel and my fuel consumption was at its lowest at 6.6 litres/100km !! (35.64 mpg) . My previous lowest was in March 6.7 litres/100km .

I will admit I did change the toilet roll in the frantz oil filter on Saturday in Hamilton (lost quite a bit of oil lol) but the oil in the engine has not been changed for nearly 18 months so I am hoping an oil change next month will see a much better improvement and the trip up and back was also with out re routing the PCV line and must also mention there was hardly any oily gunk in the PCV enhancer when i got back home after the trip ( I also emptied it in Hamilton) as normally after a long trip there would be quite a bit of gunk in it !

So i have to say I am very impressed with the groove I believe it has made an improvement !!!

Thanks again Tracy for all your help and advice !

I won't be doing much driving the next two weeks as I will be back at work but I will keep everyone updated