What gets me the most is this car was supposed to be branded as a Scion, and their main push was how much you can fix those cars up. I had 4 of them, so I know. Knowing that, the fact that screwed us with this transmission upsets me. But also, knowing that, I didn't by this one to fix up too much. As I posted above, I got me an intake I like, and I'm gonna get me an exhaust that I like, and that'll be about all I do to it. I traded in a Honda Type R for this, so I wasn't expecting a speed demon when I went in to purchase it.

 

I got this car as it was the only one that fit my budget at the time and the purpose; which is to be a daily beater. Had the Cross been available, I would have opted for the Cross. I wanted to get the Corolla Hatchback. But the trunk is miserably small which was a no go for me. Didn't want to spend the money for a Rav 4.

 

I do like the hr. It definitely fun and nice looking

 

and BTW, we bought a Cross too, and it's just as sluggish since the heavier weight of the vehicle vs the regular corolla makes it slower

 

Two different types of vehicles: Cross vs Corolla. Compare the Cross with the C-HR and the Cross would be a speed demon in comparison.

 

but I hear where you're coming from...I'm done with speed, a long time ago actually, the days of the turbo T-bird, the Mustang GTs are LONG gone for the reign of Jeeps I had...so the speed is irrelevant to me. I needed something that gave me more than 15mpg, and I fell in love with the style of the C-HR...

I'm just concentrating on the visuals of the car and leaving the drivetrain stock for best longevity.

 

It's a total shame that Toyota's management royally screwed up the C-HR. The C-HR is a good setup chassis wise and suspension wise. The handling is really good for what it is. My opinion is based on having done actual track time in both cars and motorcycles. The independent rear suspension contributes a lot to this along with the factory standard Sachs dampers. This car could have been so much more. It requires Toyota minimal effort to include the better engine in the UX, Corolla HB, and Cross into this car. The combination of the better power and the suspension would have made this car unique in the segment. I would wager sales would be even better than it is now. This car will always be a half done car.

 

35HP? I don't think Remark makes any claims like that...
I just like the look and sound.

/for sho and not go
//Like my old 3rd gen Escort
///slashies in threes - LoL

 

Haha. I just joined this sub to ask this exact question. 144hp just isn’t going to cut it.

 

Good luck. No matter what you do, your CVT transmission won't let you get much. As far as I can find, only mods they make for us is an intake and exhaust, and even then, you MIGHT get an extra 2-5 horsepower.

 

I can't have my ecm re programmed to any new modifications?

 

I've been looking but haven't found a tuner compatible with the 2.0L yet, only the 1.5L from overseas. If you found something, it would have to be something that can take a custom tune and then have a reputable shop put it on the dyno and tweak it from there. But either way, the CVT transmissions they use in our cars can not handle a whole lot of horsepower. Probably be lucky to get another 50hp before it started to fail. Not even saying 50hp is possible. Like I stated before, you might see around 2-5 extra hp from an intake and exhaust, and if you could find a custom tune, maybe another 10-20 hp. Just not worth it. Get you a nice intake and exhaust for sound and be happy. I sold a 2019 Civic Type R to get my 2021 C-HR Nightshade, so I definitely miss the power going from 364 (had a bunch of stuff done to it) to 144, but I know I didn't buy a supercar either, so I'm just going to get it looking and sounding like I want and be done with it.

 

Thanks. I traded down from lexus 430. The v8.

 

I know this has been up for a while, but I would look into lightweight wheels, and such instead of adding horsepower, take some weight off, your tires will spin up faster and will feel like an add of horsepower. Maybe fiberglass hood, I'm sure that's out there somewhere.

 

Changing the wheels to reduce weight will minimally impact the acceleration performance of the car. We're not talking about putting in a lightened flywheel here. The only real advantage with lighter wheels is with unsprung weight in how it affects handling of the car.

The 2.0L engine was never made to be a performance engine. And any attempts to change that will impact the reliability of the engine for little to no gains. If you wanted a faster car, you should have purchased something with a better engine. It's too bad Toyota chose to give us North American customers the shaft with no options that are available to the European market. They at least have a hybrid engine option that gives the car some decent get up and go. Frankly the engine used in the new Corolla Hatchback and the Lexus UX should have been in this car from the beginning. Well, Toyota fixed that problem recently. But they did it by introducing a new model called the Corolla Cross. If I were in the market today, I'd get the Cross over the C-HR hands down.

 

I only mentioned the wheels because there isn't anything else to do to this to add HP except lower weight somehow and since you can't really remove the seats because you need them you'd have to look elsewhere

 

making the car lighter will make you feel that the car is faster but isn't more powerful

 

Direct Shift- CVT (K120)

Toyota K CVT transmission - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

.

 

I looked at the Wikipedia entry and they're wrong on the C-HR. Just going by Toyota's own website, the C-HR is only referenced to having a CVT. The Corolla is listed as having a dynamic shift CVT and the UX is listed as having the direct shift CVT. As to why Toyota chose to change the naming of the trans used in the Corolla versus the UX is beyond me. Same as how Toyota lists the cargo capacity of the Corolla Hatchback as being close the C-HR...which is wrong. Just putting the cars side by side you can tell the cargo capacity of the C-HR is much more than the hatchback.

One thing I seem to be in error of is the trans in the Cross. It appears it uses a full CVT versus the direct shift CVT as indicated by Toyota's website.

 

well, there are conflicting reports. According to "The Car Care Nut" on youtube (master Toyota mechanic) they put the K114 in the USA car, and not the K120, but in other reports and other reviewers say the tranny HAS the gear, so I would love to see your source to confirm.

 

where did you see the Cross uses a regular CVT? because that is one of the big selling points

 

according to the specs on the website for the cross, you are correct that it does not have the launch gear...but I have watched MANY MANY videos that said it does have the gear...funny that the info is so wrong in so many places. maybe it was supposed to have the transmission, then was changed at the last second. either way, both cars accelerate fine, they're not Lamborghinis or even Mustangs, they are what they are and they need to be driven accordingly, just like every other car out there...

I appreciate your knowledge and thank you for making me look a little harder into the facts.

 

whodathunk Wikipedia had wrong info, lol.....well misleading info at best!

 

I've been reading up on aftermarket laws in North America. I'd caution these types of mods if you're still under warranty. In many cases if these mods that change the way the car was designed to operate should by misfortune cause mechanical issues, they will void your warranty full stop.

 

🤣 that's any "mod" dude. If it didn't come from the factory, it's a mod. You put a sticker on your car the 1st day you buy it and spot some rust somewheres on the same day, they can blame it on your sticker cuz you modded the cat. That's why you have to get to know your dealership well.

 

That's partially correct, and then other parts like the sticker are obviously overexaggerated. Why? Because of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act it's not as clear cut as you describe. And I think the correct information is important to delineate.

Certain aftermarket parts are prohibited and protected by law, meaning the manufacturer cannot void a warranty based of the customer using aftermarket parts with some exceptions, say like custom taillights. Obviously if those fail it's not the responsibility of the manufacture to cover a part that isn't there's, that responsibility goes to the manufacture/warranty of the company that produce the aftermarket part. Here's the catch, if those taillights cause broader electrical damage to the vehicle, that damage will void the warranty for the particular areas affected, it WILL NOT (again, by law) totally void the warranty for the rest of the vehicle that's covered. This is an important distinction for people to understand.

HOWEVER, modifications to the engine of any kind, including even just a custom intake like you have here will in fact void the entire powertrain warranty should the specialist at dealership decide your part led to greater engine failure, BECAUSE Toyota will not cover any repair that caused the vehicle to operate (and fail) outside of it's designated operation set at the factory in terms of powertrain.

You're only saving grace at that point is that maybe the specialist at your dealership either won't catch it, or they won't report it to Toyota as such cause. You have to remember, dealerships are NOT Toyota, they're independent franchises that invoice Toyota for the repair bill, so it's also in their monied best-interest to accumulate that billable work. That being said, the reporting for repairs the dealerships are responsible for is pretty rigorous and scrutinized by Toyota. So it's Russian roulette.

 

Oh, and it's not a full stop on warranty. It's a partial. Say you put an intake on your car, and your door handle breaks, they won't not claim it because of an intake. You only void engine warranty. Also, it takes about 30 mins to swap it back to stock, so no warranty voided.

 

I've been modifying my vehicles and having warranty work done since 98. I'll take my chances with what and who I know. Never had a problem yet.

 

All well and good, and I'm glad it's working well for you. But since this forum wasn't designed specifically around you and your unique circumstance, I really wrote my comprehensive reply for others who might come across this and not have the facts and are curious about it. I pulled my entire information from actually reading the law and weighing that against actual employed and well experienced Toyota tech specialist, so by all standards it should be good, reliable information for mass consumption.

 

Would a simple 2.0 l turbo swap from another toyota add more power

 

No. It's not so simple as just bolting on a turbo. There are a ton of things which need to be done to accommodate a turbo on an engine that wasn't designed for it in the first place. For one, I don't think there is any turbo variant of the 3ZR-FAE engine that is in our cars. This means the internals of the engine are not up to par to deal with the additional cylinder pressures the come with forced induction. The pistons, connecting rods, and crank have to be built to deal with the duties of handling a turbo....possibly the bottom end of the engine block with the main caps too. Oiling has to be updated as the turbo requires engine oil to keep the bearings lubricated. Some systems will also run engine coolant through the turbo to keep the turbo bearings cool. And last but certainly not least, the engine computer has to be updated to support a turbo. This requires tuning on a dyno if the stock computer is able to be programmed with different fuel mappings. This is not even considering the made of glass power handling of the CVT trans we have in the car.

Swapping another engine that has more power isn't a viable option either....even if it has a turbo already from another Toyota. You have to ensure the engine mounts line up. The electronics can be transferred over such as the wiring harnesses and engine computer. You'll most likely need to transfer the transmission. The trans mounts would need to line up with the mounting points in the C-HR engine bay. And all of this has to be able to line up with how the suspension is setup where the axles are going to connect into the transmission.

The only viable engine swap I can see that will add power is the M20A-FKS used in the Lexus UX200 which is essentially a C-HR. This engine should physically just drop in along with the direct shift transmission as that also needs to be moved over. The engine computer and harnesses will have to be moved over. And after all of that is done, you don't know if the engine will run right as there is a tight integration between the engine computer and the rest of the computer modules in the car such as the BCM. All of these systems communicate over the CAN BUS. Even if all of this worked as planned, you're looking at what? Probably near $10k for all the work to get what? An additional 20HP?

As I keep saying and it seems to hurt people's feelings, the C-HR is NOT a performance car. Never was designed that way and never will. Despite the exterior styling alluding to more. If you wanted a performance car, you should have bought one from the beginning. I say this as an old fart that has been through what many of you are looking to do. Had I known what I know now back then, I would have saved myself a ton of money and ended up with a car that would have performed better with the money I had spent.

 

i have to test drive the 4runner, I've test driver the pickup tocoma and the rav4 and didn't like the feel of either.