My first hot hatch!
Discussion
Bit of an update.
I finally started work on the transformation to a track toy, albeit will still be used daily. Before I add any power upgrades I wanted to make sure that the car was made safe first which means stripping it out, caging it, suspension, brakes, tyres and wheels.
First up is stripping it out. Over the past two days I've removed most of the interior plastics, rear seats, carpet and most of the sound deadening - the horrible black stuff. I'll be leaving the front door cards and dashboard on at the moment until I can find the time and resources to remove the electric windows etc and replace them with standard manual winders and door pull tags. Not decided yet whether to remove the roof lining or not.
Next step will be to remove all the glass except the windscreen, obviously, to a lightweight lexan polycarbonate material which is shatter proof, and a little bit stronger than perspex.
Unfortunately as I'm saving for a house right now, I don't have a lot of cash to buy physical modifications to my car, but first stop will be some coilovers, dropped 50mm front and back. After that, 16" Pro Race 1.2 wheels in black or silver matched with some Federal 595 RSRs. Power mods so far will include a new exhuast manifold, a remap and maybe an inlet manifold and throttle bodies which should make the power output to around, or just over 200 horsepower. I know that doesn't sound like much, but the car recently weighed in at just 1,049 KG making BHP/tonne at around 190 which isn't too shabby.
I'll update when I can, but this will probably be a slow project for when I have time.
I finally started work on the transformation to a track toy, albeit will still be used daily. Before I add any power upgrades I wanted to make sure that the car was made safe first which means stripping it out, caging it, suspension, brakes, tyres and wheels.
First up is stripping it out. Over the past two days I've removed most of the interior plastics, rear seats, carpet and most of the sound deadening - the horrible black stuff. I'll be leaving the front door cards and dashboard on at the moment until I can find the time and resources to remove the electric windows etc and replace them with standard manual winders and door pull tags. Not decided yet whether to remove the roof lining or not.
Next step will be to remove all the glass except the windscreen, obviously, to a lightweight lexan polycarbonate material which is shatter proof, and a little bit stronger than perspex.
Unfortunately as I'm saving for a house right now, I don't have a lot of cash to buy physical modifications to my car, but first stop will be some coilovers, dropped 50mm front and back. After that, 16" Pro Race 1.2 wheels in black or silver matched with some Federal 595 RSRs. Power mods so far will include a new exhuast manifold, a remap and maybe an inlet manifold and throttle bodies which should make the power output to around, or just over 200 horsepower. I know that doesn't sound like much, but the car recently weighed in at just 1,049 KG making BHP/tonne at around 190 which isn't too shabby.
I'll update when I can, but this will probably be a slow project for when I have time.
neilbauer said:
Thanks yes thought they looked lower that what I planned! Any scraping?
No scraping yet, just have to go slower over bumps and avoid big potholes. Only issue is that if you hit a bump too hard it bottoms out on the damper. I'd advise you to get some 20mm axle spacers as the wheels sit too far back in the arch. I'll be fitting some ASAP.Petrolhead95 said:
neilbauer said:
Thanks yes thought they looked lower that what I planned! Any scraping?
No scraping yet, just have to go slower over bumps and avoid big potholes. Only issue is that if you hit a bump too hard it bottoms out on the damper. I'd advise you to get some 20mm axle spacers as the wheels sit too far back in the arch. I'll be fitting some ASAP.Bit of an update.
Unfortunately I was hit head on by a red light jumper a couple of months back which has caused all sorts of damage and has written my car off. Damaged parts was as long as my arm including needing a new bumper, passenger wing, headlight, air filter, wheel, tyre, wing mirror, washer fluid system, fog light, fog surrounds and various bent bits inside the engine bay.
Kinda getting back to normal but a few days later I had a heart attack which has slowed down getting her back on the road for obvious reasons.
Now I'm slowly getting better I've ordered front and rear strut braces, bigger 300mm discs, Green Stuff pads, uprated fluid, braided brake lines and calipers for both front and back. 12.5mm spacers for the rear and new dampers. All in all, including repair costs and mods, I've spent a fortune. Getting quoted on a roll cage next week while trying to find what tyres would suit best.
Unfortunately I was hit head on by a red light jumper a couple of months back which has caused all sorts of damage and has written my car off. Damaged parts was as long as my arm including needing a new bumper, passenger wing, headlight, air filter, wheel, tyre, wing mirror, washer fluid system, fog light, fog surrounds and various bent bits inside the engine bay.
Kinda getting back to normal but a few days later I had a heart attack which has slowed down getting her back on the road for obvious reasons.
Now I'm slowly getting better I've ordered front and rear strut braces, bigger 300mm discs, Green Stuff pads, uprated fluid, braided brake lines and calipers for both front and back. 12.5mm spacers for the rear and new dampers. All in all, including repair costs and mods, I've spent a fortune. Getting quoted on a roll cage next week while trying to find what tyres would suit best.
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