Maruti Zen Steel Modified Into A 170HP Track-ripping Machine

Small cars with a tighter suspension and a potent steering rack are far more fun than a big, expensive, and powerful sportscar. To let us Indians believe this statement, Maruti Zen Steel and Zen Carbon played an important role. However, they surely missed out on a powerful engine. But, folks at Race Concepts, who are known for transforming 1st-gen Honda City into some of the wildest cars in the country, got their hands on a Zen Steel. And, like always, they transformed this tiny 2-door hatch into a fast-fun car. They fitted in a G13 1.3L 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated engine in the Zen Steel, but with a slew of modifications up its sleeves.

Starting in the order of engine operation, it gets a Carbon air intake box from BMC with a single throttle body to feed the engine with a precisely metered mixture of air and fuel. To ensure that the process is done with utmost accuracy, it uses an R200 ECU from Race Dynamics. To exhale the burnt charge out, a free flow exhaust is used. With all of this equipment in place, this motor redlines at 7,800 rpm to develop a peak power output of 170 BHP.

This powerhouse of an engine is coupled to a close-ratio gearbox with the help of an Exedy race clutch. Also, to ensure that the power is not wasted at any point, it gets a limited-slip differential. An aluminium flywheel is also used to keep the weight of the engine in check. To shed the speeds attained with the fire-breathing engine, the brakes on this modified Zen Steel are upgraded as well. An in-house developed split-bias brake system is used to perform the exercise.

Since this car has been tuned to perform in motorsport events; the chassis has been reinforced, a roll-cage has been put in place, while the subframe has been revised. This way, it can withstand the higher values of centrifugal and lateral forces. It is now suspended on a custom motorsport-grade suspension and sits on a set of 14-inch aftermarket rims that are wrapped in MRF competition-spec rubber. And, to house the wider tyres, custom body panels with wider wheel arches has been used. Interestingly, they are made out of composite materials to make this Zen Steel as light as possible.