Tractor

Hey all

I would love some advice here. I may be acquiring the above car, which currently has a full Scoobysport exhaust, Bailey DV26 Dump Valve, ITG filter and a Dawes. I'm not sure what power its putting out at present, andy ideas?

However, I'd likely spend some money on suspension and brakes, but was wondering how far I can go with the engine without spending silly money.

What mods would you suggest for the following sums, and what gains would I expect? :

£500
£1000
£1500

Is 300 Bhp possible?

Many thanks

Mike

scrappydog

Mike,

I know you want to know about engine stuff, but if it's a UK with standard suspension and brakes I'd get them changed ASAP!
Standard 2 pots are rubbish and you should be able to pick up a set of 2nd hand 4 pots for a few hundred quid. Likewise, the UK suspension is too soft, especially in roll. Pick up an uprated rear anti-roll bar and a set of eibach springs for a couple of hundred quid. Budget £500 for these mods and you will have a vastly different handling car.

Standard power with full decat exhaust is around around 235bhp. Since you've got a Dawes your boost may be set higher - stick a boost gauge on it and then you can start playing. IIRC you can go up to 245-250bhp without having to play around with the fueling simply by changing the boost setting on the Dawes. BUT it is recommended to run on Optimax and get a knocklink for safety so you can spot any dangerous detonation before it wrecks your engine! Knocklink is ~£130 and playing with Dawes is for free!

You can easily get 250-260bhp by upping the boost a bit more and modifying the fueling. Safest way would be to get a remap - look in ScoobyShops for the Pre MY97 ECU remap kit. This will only cost under £150 for the adaptor, EPROMS, etc. You can get them to provide you with a map good for 260bhp.

...and that's the limit of my knowledge. i.e. that's what I've done and what I'm gonna do in the near future! Going up to 300bhp is possible - but more money will have to be spent and IMHO you would be better off buying an STI 2 and going large than starting with UK spec and trying the same. Not to say it's not possible, but in my eyes spending £1500 on engine mods for a UK 95 is a little excessive because it won't leave you much money for sorting the other things, like brakes, suspension, etc.

Anyway, good luck and enjoy!

Cheers,

Andy

Tractor

Thanks Andy

No worries, a suspension and brake upgrade has always been on the list. Thanks.

Any other input?

IainCam

I've a MY94 and with a full decat exhaust (Magnex not SS), Dawes and K&N panel filter it got 287bhp on the rollers at Star. Been running it like that for a while and haven't had any problems with it.

In fact it's going in for it's 90k service this weekend too

2 pot brakes will be crap. They're not too bad for town driving but pretty bad if you are pushing on a bit, 4 pots are better on the later cars but TBH, even with the same mods the later cars don't have the rush of the earlier ones (lag )

Suspension will probably be best changed as it will be getting a bit worn by now unless it's already been changed (I know mine could do with being upgraded).

Worst part about the earlier UK ones is the interior, it's horrible. You can get seats from a later car from a breakers and swap it over (planned mod for me).

Good cars though and in the 40-50k that I've had mine I've had very few things that have been needed, just routine tyres, brakes, etc. Still adds up to a lot of cash in the long run though, 200 miles out of a tank of fuel isn't a lot, push on a bit and it can be even less (smaller 50l tank on the Pre96's I think).

Buy it, drive it, enjoy it