Downsized my motor 210ps to 63ps - Suzuki Alto Works
Discussion
Hey all thought i'd introduce myself and figured I'd interest 1 other person with my posts.
I'm Sub, 30, M, size 11.
Dull stuff out of the way, lets talk cars!
I've never yearned for speed and power like i'm sure many of you choose to do. I grew up playing GT2 and pretty much stayed playing the Sunday Cup challenges. The thrill for me never came from driving fast but appreciating quirky stuff that we'd often only ever see in video games.
Here's my Altezza that I owned for 2 years up until January this year.
Great car, just not my thing.
Anyway in December, I saw this lovely little gem going through the USS auctions in Japan.
I had to have it, it was slightly higher miles and a grade 3.5 so I figured it would go around my budget, a couple days went by and I got the confirmation that I won the car! I was super stoked, finally own the car I've wanted ever since they came out in 2016! Now I had to work a ton of overtime to make sure I could afford all the fees once the cars closer, I realised it would be around 3 months that i'd actually be able to see the car in real life which was a bummer but it was worth the wait. I was teased with photos at different stages of its journey from Japan to the UK.
A local to me trusted importer helped me bring it over and I got sent these pictures in January after making the winning bid! Apologies for the awful camera quality, I think the guy over in Japan used his potato.
Finally I got sent a notification for invoices regarding customs etc so I knew the car was a mere 2 weeks away from home! Very exciting moment, I sent my money and again got a rush of excitement because I have so many plans for this car, my phone filled to the brim with photos of cool Altos in Japan.
Boom!
I was on my way to work and got sent the picture of the car on the back of a truck and you can imagine how my day went, smiles and great customer service all day. The following day I went to see the car up close before my shift at work and I was so chuffed, the car is in great condition, the spec I wanted and it is also incredibly small!
More to come soon! Let me know what you think!
I'm Sub, 30, M, size 11.
Dull stuff out of the way, lets talk cars!
I've never yearned for speed and power like i'm sure many of you choose to do. I grew up playing GT2 and pretty much stayed playing the Sunday Cup challenges. The thrill for me never came from driving fast but appreciating quirky stuff that we'd often only ever see in video games.
Here's my Altezza that I owned for 2 years up until January this year.
Great car, just not my thing.
Anyway in December, I saw this lovely little gem going through the USS auctions in Japan.
I had to have it, it was slightly higher miles and a grade 3.5 so I figured it would go around my budget, a couple days went by and I got the confirmation that I won the car! I was super stoked, finally own the car I've wanted ever since they came out in 2016! Now I had to work a ton of overtime to make sure I could afford all the fees once the cars closer, I realised it would be around 3 months that i'd actually be able to see the car in real life which was a bummer but it was worth the wait. I was teased with photos at different stages of its journey from Japan to the UK.
A local to me trusted importer helped me bring it over and I got sent these pictures in January after making the winning bid! Apologies for the awful camera quality, I think the guy over in Japan used his potato.
Finally I got sent a notification for invoices regarding customs etc so I knew the car was a mere 2 weeks away from home! Very exciting moment, I sent my money and again got a rush of excitement because I have so many plans for this car, my phone filled to the brim with photos of cool Altos in Japan.
Boom!
I was on my way to work and got sent the picture of the car on the back of a truck and you can imagine how my day went, smiles and great customer service all day. The following day I went to see the car up close before my shift at work and I was so chuffed, the car is in great condition, the spec I wanted and it is also incredibly small!
More to come soon! Let me know what you think!
Cambs_Stuart said:
Out of interest, how were RASP cars? I almost bought a car from them a few years ago. I didn't in the end, but they were very good at supplying details, communicating etc.
Yes it was, funnily enough the Altezza I had was imported by them but I bought it off the first owner, it was giving me anxiety because it was so nice I was afraid to drive it and my new bradford to harrogate commute was not ideal for such a low car - it ended up going to Ireland!
Because the Alto is a 2016 model, I need to get it IVA'd so in the mean time, I'll source parts.
I used to import parts a lot from Japan but my friend became awfully lazy so I decided to use a guy nearby and he's become a real help getting me stuff.
Of course I needed to do the compulsory, suspension and wheels.
My dream wheels for this car were TE37s and luckily found a set in Japan for not a huge amount so bought them up! As for suspension I went for HKS Hipermax GT IV. I think these are built by Ohlins and then tweaked by HKS for the Alto Works.
First to arrive! Suspension.
Also got the wheels!
Very excited to see them on the car. One of the wheels sadly has a flat spot so I might have to show it to a wheel repair person but I'll try get tyres on it!
I used to import parts a lot from Japan but my friend became awfully lazy so I decided to use a guy nearby and he's become a real help getting me stuff.
Of course I needed to do the compulsory, suspension and wheels.
My dream wheels for this car were TE37s and luckily found a set in Japan for not a huge amount so bought them up! As for suspension I went for HKS Hipermax GT IV. I think these are built by Ohlins and then tweaked by HKS for the Alto Works.
First to arrive! Suspension.
Also got the wheels!
Very excited to see them on the car. One of the wheels sadly has a flat spot so I might have to show it to a wheel repair person but I'll try get tyres on it!
Finally got the suspension and wheels on! Pretty please how it looks, since this photo was taken I lowered it even more.
Next up change the foglights for optional extra ones which have a blue and yellow hue to them, made a huge difference over the ones on the car currently as they were cracked and quite severely pitted.
Next up change the foglights for optional extra ones which have a blue and yellow hue to them, made a huge difference over the ones on the car currently as they were cracked and quite severely pitted.
yellowstreak said:
I think that looks great. The wheels are a real improvement. You must be very happy with it. What does it ride and turn like?
Cheers matey yep they look ace, i'm pretty chuffed with how it looks. Had to get smaller tyres 165/50 rather than the stock 165/55 because I needed E marked tyres for the IVA, I ended up sticking with the 50 profile tyre because it had a slight stretch on the TE37 which ended up being a good choice. When I lowered the car even further I tried driving the car off the ramp but the tyre was touching the collars of the coilovers! Luckily my Altezza had slip on spacers which I removed for hubcentrics so I slipped a 5mm spacer on and the wheels now clear! Rides awesome albeit on the stiffer side due to having to remove the rear locking collars, handles so damn good, no rubbing whatsoever!gregs656 said:
Nice buy.
I would highly recommend the Kevinator thread on here. He did a bunch of work and upgrades to his.
I saw his thread, it's ace, i was gonna do a whole youtube series on this car but it'd be pretty mundane haha!I would highly recommend the Kevinator thread on here. He did a bunch of work and upgrades to his.
trails said:
Cool lttle thing, great choice of wheels too
Do you mind sharing the shipping cost and origin of the wheels...Jaunce and Zen Market are filthy expensive in terms of wheel shipping, even if you find a bargain!
Hey man, I sourced the wheels myself on Yahoo and sent the link to @mwprestigeimports who then bid on them for me! He's over in Leeds near me so its convenient! No customs to pay either, he imports most of my parts now.Do you mind sharing the shipping cost and origin of the wheels...Jaunce and Zen Market are filthy expensive in terms of wheel shipping, even if you find a bargain!
Jamison Engineering at York
https://www.alloywheelrepairs.com/
I've not personally used them but believe that they have a good reputation. If you ask in the Yorkshire section you may get more responses and recommendations,
https://www.alloywheelrepairs.com/
I've not personally used them but believe that they have a good reputation. If you ask in the Yorkshire section you may get more responses and recommendations,
Edited by PH5121 on Tuesday 19th August 11:39
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff