Your car modding history.

[Level 7 Boss]

So, from intakes to exhausts air filters to remaps, side skirts, tints and the crown jewel of forced induction. How have you modded your current or past car?

Me, I've got a stubby aerial on my 350z...have to start somewhere lol

[calibrax]

I am not car modding history!

EDIT: damn, title has since been edited from "you're" to "your".

Edited by calibrax on Thursday 6th June 21:49

[Jimmy No Hands]

I've never bothered at all. Almost took the jump on a custom stainless system for my Corrado VR6 but then spent the money on beer & petrol instead.

[750turbo]

Upgraded inlet manifold and carb on mark 2 cortina from standard to twin choke webber from a 1600E.

Shocking waste of time and fuel!

[Wetwipe]

My first car was a 2600 SDi Rover. Top end had seized so out came the engine and in went a V8

Car was manual so only needed V8 bell housing, clutch, pivot post and electronic ignition.

100mph in third gear was great as an 18 year old

[300bhp/ton]

Level 7 Boss said:

So, from intakes to exhausts air filters to remaps, side skirts, tints and the crown jewel of forced induction. How have you modded your current or past car?

Me, I've got a stubby aerial on my 350z...have to start somewhere lol

Most of my keepers have been modded to a greater or lesser degree.

Current cars:
TR7 - gone from a 4 speed 2.0 to a 5 speed V8. Including modded exhaust, rally manifolds, lights, bumpers, paint, bonnet, interior, seats, harnesses, wheels, tyres, brakes, styling, cammed motor, heads, carb, gearstick, starter button and a heap of other things I've probably missed.

Camaro just has SLP loudmouth, FRA, TB by-pass mod, throttle stop mod, ported TB, LS6 manifold, some cosmetic bits inside and EBC brakes.

Roadster is lowered, mapped, ITG filter and has bonnet stripes.

Impreza only has catback and dump valve.

Series 3 88 has parabolics and 7.50's

Series 3 88 pick up is still being built. Huge mod list including turbo, coil conversion, exhaust stack, extended shocks, lifted, 33" tyres, FMIC, upped boost and tweaked injector pump, roll cage, bucket seats and harnesses.

T-Bird is still waiting. But I've got a 4.0 litre Lexus V8 to shoehorn into it

[KTF]

I have never understood why manufacturers spend millions of pounds working out a good all round ECU map, suspension setting, whatever and then someone reads Max Power and feels that they can do it better and turn their Saxo into some sort of rolling train wreck.

Sure, for stuff like TVR that is 'work in progress' with the various specialists that can finish off what the factory couldn't, I get that.

But putting on a cold air intake, cutting the springs, putting a big fart cannon on the back and all that. Why?

Maybe I am just getting 'old'...

[DKS]

Sometimes modding can be taking all the best bits from other cars and fitting them to yours. I have Cavalier Turbo wheels on my 1.3 Astra, just for the looks. Also means I can fit 308mm front and 280mm rear brake discs. Lowering is normally without question going to improve most handling characteristics, but at a compromise the manufacturer didn't want to make for the mainstream!
Also the pre/ post facelift stuff.

[TheVole]

I put a center armrest and some headlight protectors on my old Rover 214.


And I tied a Lego man to the sun visor stalk in my MX-5.


Slow start to this modifying stuff.

[Chevy305]

I have a Halfords sucky-on rear view mirror after mine fell off

[mikebradford]

Astra GTE
KN filter
upgraded hoses
new alloys
differnt brake calipers from the 16v, including new upgrated groved discs and performance pads
decent stereo, + speakers and sub
resprayed
upgraded exhaust

this was in my late teens, and shortly afterwards my brother stuffed it in a morrisons car park
claiming it just understeered

was a right mess, wheel hanging off, and god knows what else was broke
so i left it at my mates garage and never went back
happy days

[Mymk5zs123]

Jimmy No Hands said:

I've never bothered at all. Almost took the jump on a custom stainless system for my Corrado VR6 but then spent the money on beer & petrol instead.

Wise move indeed.

[Mastodon2]

KTF said:

I have never understood why manufacturers spend millions of pounds working out a good all round ECU map, suspension setting, whatever and then someone reads Max Power and feels that they can do it better and turn their Saxo into some sort of rolling train wreck.

Sure, for stuff like TVR that is 'work in progress' with the various specialists that can finish off what the factory couldn't, I get that.

But putting on a cold air intake, cutting the springs, putting a big fart cannon on the back and all that. Why?

Maybe I am just getting 'old'...

Because you don't always end up with a "rolling train wreck", quite the opposite, but you have to know what you are getting into.

Take for example, my last car, a 2003 Seat Leon Cupra R. 225bhp as standard, smooth, quiet and typically VAG-refined. Mine was modified in various ways, and most of the mods came with both pros and cons.

Coilover suspension - made the car lower, harder to get over speedbumps, multistories off limits, the ride was painful over bumpy roads, but the car did stick to the road well under full boost and cornered better than it did on standard suspension. Obviously, there are comfort trade offs, and using the increased cornering ability means faster tyre wear as you are pushing the same mass of car through faster corners.

Induction kit and cold air feed - increased air charge for the turbo on the move. Loud induction noise may be a pro or a con. Potential issues with decreased power on hot day in slow moving traffic, clears quickly once you are moving - air has quite a cooling effect at speed and quickly drops the under-bonnet temps you might see climb if you are stuck in traffic and have a fked radiator fan. Also potential issues if you ever think you might need 100% of your engines available power in the middle of a traffic jam.

Forge Turbo intake pipe - this has no cons, as the standard item is a flexible rubber pipe that softens with age and is prone to collapse, which can cause boost cuts. The one I had fitted was a very stiff silicone item which was much more robust than the flimsy standard one. I suppose the downside is they are expensive and a pain in the arse to fit.

Milltek non-resonated exhaust - sounded nice, but not loud enough for my tastes. If your taste is cars is fairly beige, you probably don't want to hear your car working. On the plus side, increased gas flow meant more power could be squeezed from the engine.

Forge dump valve - increased throttle response, according to some. I didn't fit it, and could take or leave it, but it did sound nice. If the car hadn't come with it, not sure I'd have forked out £150 for one.

Boost and oil temp gauges on the A pillar - useful as a diagnostic tool for the turbo, and the oil gauge was useful for letting me know when the car was fully warmed up.

Revo stage 2 remap to 270bhp-odd - a good 45-50bhp over standard a big dollop of extra torque. The car was pretty flat off boost, but would charge for the horizon once full boost came in. Made it a rather frantic drive as the power delivery really was "nothing...nothing...BANG", compared to the smooth, completely non-intrusive boost the car had previously. Did use more fuel after the remap, despite what some people will tell you.

So in summary, the car went from being a fairly quick, refined VAG had to a bloody quick, quite raucous VAG hatch. Some might no see this as an improvement. If you just wanted something sensible and comfy to cruise around in you wouldn't do this to your car. If you wanted to make your car a bit faster and more capable at the expense of refinement, you'd be pleased with the results. Everyone wants something different.

My current car has nothing more than a straight pipe exhaust, which is soon to have a standard OEM backbox mated onto the straight centre pipe. The reason being I'm getting a K&N Typhoon up front to enjoy some silly VTEC induction noise, and I'm concerned it will be inaudible over the deafening roar of the exhaust. At least the OEM box and straight centre had a pleasing rasp which I look forward to hearing again. After that is done and the Typhoon is fitted, it will likely stay like that until the day I sell it.

[Fleckers]

Done lots to lots of cars
From engine swaps to roof chops
And everything in between

[Mr E]

I have thrown inadvisable amounts of money at a Japanese turbo coupe.

The current toy sits on nitrons an breathes through aftermarket bits.

[Daston]

First Supra changed the 16" wheels to 17" OEM wheels and fitted a stainless steel exhaust system.

Second Supra, boost cut defender, de-cat striaght through exhaust system and induction kit, adjustable suspension. Followed by a full body kit (lost the love for it after I did the body work, although was fun doing it myself).

Tuscan Rear cans changed, suspension upgraded and other reliability mods with the engine rebuild.

MG, stainless steel rear box as the old one rusted through.

[steviegunn]

Modded a few cars in the past but usually nothing more than a change of alloys, an induction kit or a stereo upgrade, I did go a bit off the rails with my MK1 MX-5:

[V8Wagon]

I've always been keen on the standard look. I did however change my old Vectra a bit as it did look a bit dowdy when I got it.

This


to this..



'twas just cosmetic though apart from a decent exhaust and a different air filter.

[Big Rod]

The first car I 'modified' was a 1975 Rover P6 V8. I cut out all the rot, welded the chassis back to factory spec' then, (because I had to hack the exhaust out to replace the gearbox!), built my own 'straight through' exhaust. then I painted it whit and dyed the roof black. It was brown over almond before which was ghastly so I figured as I was going to have to paint it all due to the repairs I might as well make it more aestheticaly pleasing.

The sound of the engine out of those pipes, (two straight pipes with flexible hoses over the axle and a couple of rear boxes), was to die for. It used to set car alarms off! However, I don't think it did anything for the performance.

The second car I tried to get a bit more out of was a MKIII Supra N/A. To be fair, I wasn't going to get far with a non-turbo engine and all I ended up with for my efforts was a blown head gasket, closely followed by a lunched bottom end and an empty wallet. I do still like MKIII Supras though.

ETA:- I between the Supra and the next car, I had a few American cars. Trans Ams and a Mercury Cougar. While I did modify them it was more to keep them running on a tight budget rather than extrapolate more power from them...

I then got into big Vauxhalls after a while and bought myself a particularly nice example of a 24v Senator. I wasn't trying hard, but by buying a few bits and bobs, (including a particularly well fettled one that had been written off and transferring the good bits off it!), and having carried out a considerable amount of preventative maintenance I managed to squeeze 240 BHP out of it. It did smoke a bit on the over-run though!

Since then I've tinkered with a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. Basically doing the same as I did with the Senator and got that to about 400 BHP which was entertaining. I actually changed the 18" wheels on that for 17" items as I found the ride far too hard for my ageing frame.

I chopped the Zed in for a Jag' XJR8 but most of my efforts with that were to keep the thing running.

I've now got a Merc' S430L. It's fast enough and it's a great car but it's pig ugly in my opinion so I'm after making it look a little better starting with a set of staggered 18" alloys which I'll hopefully get round to fitting at the weekend. Then it'll be off to the paint shop to get the little dings and blebs sorted and then I'll try a few styling touches. No rush though.

I guess I could have it 'chipped' to about 300(ish) BHP, but I'm not sure it's worth it.

Edited by Big Rod on Thursday 6th June 23:21

[MikeHull]

KTF said:

I have never understood why manufacturers spend millions of pounds working out a good all round ECU map,

Alot of ECU maps straight from the manufacturer are designed to take into account poor maintenance, poor fuel etc.

Edited by MikeHull on Friday 7th June 00:03