Good modifications for a 4.2 cerbera?

[suprarich]

Just wanting to know some good modifications to make to the 4.2 cerbera, I'm looking to keep it as original as possible but with any tweaks which will help run, handle and stop better?
Thanks
Richard

[Gazzab]

Not much you can do to the engine but a remap will smooth stuff out etc
Suspension upgrade eg nitrons
Brakes are fine. Maybe go for a 4.5 front set up but otherwise you spend a lot of money when arguably they are good enough. There are a few threads on suspension and brakes so do a search. :-)

[Tanguero]

Drive it for a bit on both road and track before deciding what if any modifications to make. Out of the bag they are pretty damn good.

Common suspension upgrades are polyurethane bushes, better shocks, higher rate springs and if you experience bump steer issues (not everyone does) raising the rack a little. But drive it first!!!

[scotty_d]

Start with tyres first upgrade i do to any car as it is the only part of the car that makes contact with the road (hopefully) . I run good year Eagle F1's and find them a great tyre on the cerb on and off the track.

Suspension Standard set up is good if still healthy but if getting on and you are going to upgrade Nitrons are very good, Still to track them but nice and predictive on the road.

Brakes are first class on a cerb ap racing all round and can take some amount of punishment before letting go, So good pads and discs is plenty there and as long as they are serviced as well.

Power department as has been said not to much to do here. Get it on the rollers and make sure it is putting out around factory power and running well. I think it must be one of very few TVR models to make TVR's claimed power guess work chart from out the box

But a few pony's can be had but it is not cheap to go chasing them as i am finding out i have had my inlets ported and gas flowed and a full exhaust system including de-cats. Holding back for a re-map until i finsh all my mods so it may be next year but if the car can make 370bhp i will be happy at that.

[tejr]

Main thing for me was to make it more usable, so cooling was the first thing.. Fitted a cooling chip, accurate spa gauge and eventually de-catted it.. kept temps in check nicely.. Also, i went with mk2 door seals to make it a little more water tight, HIDs so I could see.. if anything else I probably would have liked to put some harder springs on.. other than that, just enjoy

[RUSSELLM]

tejr said:

Also, i went with mk2 door seals to make it a little more water tight

Did they fit straight to the car & allow the door to shut ? Or did the doors need shaving ?

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

I threw away the spiders and bridgestones, and replaced them with SP12s with Toyo T1Rs. that made an immediate difference. then I spent some money on Gaz Golds and a full Geo set up at TopCats which transformed the car.

[Byker28i]

Gazzab said:

Not much you can do to the engine but a remap will smooth stuff out etc

Mine was remapped, bringing the power band down from starting at 3K revs to 2K, which makes it much more driveable. Power is up to 380bhp, so you can make some significant changes but not huge power gains. To be honest I don't believe the extra power is noticable - it's a fast car to start with.

Gazzab said:

Suspension upgrade eg nitrons
Brakes are fine. Maybe go for a 4.5 front set up but otherwise you spend a lot of money when arguably they are good enough. There are a few threads on suspension and brakes so do a search. :-)

I put Nitrons on mine, with the Steve Heath droplinks. Much better than the original work shocks, but then anything was going to be better.
My front brakes are standard but I'm using the Carbon Loraine brake pads, which I think are great. If you're not going to track it lots, I found the Mintex pads good and cheap at under £50.

Most significant thing is probably an advanced driving lesson

[Tafford]

RussellM - I put Mk2 door seals on and the doors close fine although they are noticably tighter. It's a good cheap mod as they seal much better - no more whistling wind at speed!

[RUSSELLM]

Cheers. Can you remember where you bought them from ?

[suprarich]

Thanks everyone, I'll start with the cooling tips whilst I'm getting use to the car then go on to the handling braking and tyres and then see if I can squeeze a little more power out of it and get it running nicely

[Gazzab]

wouldnt bother with cooling chip until you are used to the car.
It might already have it or might haev a remap (which you dont want to overwrite) or might not need it.

[suprarich]

Gazzab said:

wouldnt bother with cooling chip until you are used to the car.
It might already have it or might haev a remap (which you dont want to overwrite) or might not need it.

Is there an easy way of telling if it already has it done? What about heat wrapping the manifolds, Is there need to do this on the cerbera?

[Gazzab]

suprarich said:

Gazzab said:

wouldnt bother with cooling chip until you are used to the car.
It might already have it or might haev a remap (which you dont want to overwrite) or might not need it.

Is there an easy way of telling if it already has it done? What about heat wrapping the manifolds, Is there need to do this on the cerbera?

Yes if 'Joolz' did it then it will be written on the chip.
Dont wrap the mainfolds - if you feel there is a need then get them coated.
Make sure you de-cat or you'll maybe burn them up.

[suprarich]

Gazzab said:

Yes if 'Joolz' did it then it will be written on the chip.
Dont wrap the mainfolds - if you feel there is a need then get them coated.
Make sure you de-cat or you'll maybe burn them up.

Thanks mate, I'll be de-cating straight away and I'll see how temps go before coating then

[ukkid35]

Gazzab said:

Dont wrap the mainfolds - if you feel there is a need then get them coated.

Why?

It makes a massive difference to the engine bay temps, unlike coating which costs a fortune and is much less effective. The only reason not to that I can think of is that it is an absolutely foul job to do, it costs virtually nothing.

Edited by ukkid35 on Friday 6th July 18:31

[Gazzab]

Why - Because IMHO :
- the manifolds crack which can't be easily seen or repaired with wrapping
- wrapping is a fire risk as collects oil
- too much heat moved down the pipes
just my view

[ukkid35]

Gazzab said:

Why - Because IMHO :
- the manifolds crack which can't be easily seen or repaired with wrapping
- wrapping is a fire risk as collects oil
- too much heat moved down the pipes
just my view

They crack because they are rubbish, the wrap may exacerbate the problem, but it's not the cause.

The only place that oil can come from is the crank case breather/airbox join, that needs to be fixed I agree, especially if you do track days as that definitely makes things much worse.

I guess that is true, but I'd rather keep it away from the chassis rails and engine bay generally.

[Tafford]

Russel - I think I got the door seals from Racetech but I imagine they're all much of a muchness.

[robsco]

Tafford said:

Russel - I think I got the door seals from Racetech but I imagine they're all much of a muchness.

Mine still leaks like a bh with the chunky door seals. The bulkhead is another problem area, having that resealed will be pretty labour intensive presumably.