matty
Active Member
Ok so to avoid having to post and re-post information I'll start a list feel free to add to it, and slowly add information on parts when I've got time to edit. I'll start out with the basic, cheap mods to carry out.
Handling mods
Anti lift kit - So, the anti-lift kit changes the location and geometry of the control arm pick-up point to remove the "lift" resulting from the original geometry. The new mount also relocates the arm in another plane to add 0.5 deg. static positive castor. The new mount also features a performance polyurethane bush which replaces the original high compliance rubber type.
Camber bolts - Camber angle alters the handling qualities of a particular suspension design; in particular, negative camber improves grip when cornering. This is because it places the tire at a better angle to the road, transmitting the forces through the vertical plane of the tire, rather than through a shear force across it. Another reason for negative camber is that a rubber tire tends to roll on itself while cornering. If the tire had zero camber, the inside edge of the contact patch would begin to lift off of the ground, thereby reducing the area of the contact patch. By applying negative camber, this effect is reduced, thereby maximizing the contact patch area. Note that this is only true for the outside tire during the turn; the inside tire would benefit most from positive camber.
Rear sway bar - Sway bars (sometimes called anti-roll bars or stabiliser bars) reduce body roll. They do this by linking the two sides of the car – either at the front or at the rear. In the case of a rear sway bar, the roll of the car is resisted by the torsional (twisting) action of the sway bar that attempts to lift the inside rear wheel. In other words, a sway bar is effectively an extra spring that connects the left and right wheels together at one end of the car.
Front strut brace - A strut bar is designed to reduce this strut tower flex by tying two parallel strut towers together. This transmits the load of each strut tower during cornering which ties the two towers together and reduces chassis flex. To accomplish this effectively (especially on Macpherson strut suspensions), the bar must be rigid throughout its length, and also attached to the firewall.
Rear strut brace - As above.
Brake upgrade - Just for that extra bit of safety, whether you upgrade the front brakes or the rear drums to discs it's a major upgrade over the tiny brakes attached already. Good options are single pot proton wira or GTI items, they will be cheaper than gsr or fto but are pretty much exactly the same caliper. You can pick up proton calipers for around $50 a pair usually where as the Mitsu option may be more expensive one quote I got was $250 (few years ago now), also upgrading the rear discs off of a proton wira or GTI can be done to and it all bolts up. So for around $500 you can have a much better braking system than the standard tiny brakes.
Larger/wider wheels - Enough said, performance wise a 15x6 or 15x7 is enough, it's all upto what you want from the car performance or looks.
Shocks/Springs or coil overs? - This is where you'll have to decide how far you want to go, a good low spring and shock to match can be a good budget option for your needs. But if you want to go all out coil overs are definitely the way, adjustable height and a nice firm ride.
Power mods
Cold air intake (CAI) - A cold air intake is a device used to bring lower temperature air into a car's internal-combustion engine, to increase engine power and efficiency. Standard air intake systems tend to be very restrictive sacrificing engine power or efficiency in order to eliminate engine noise. Aftermarket cold air intake systems come in many different colors and sizes, and are easy to install when compared with other performance-increasing modifications.
Underdrive pulley - Underdrive pulleys usually are marketed as a performance enhancing item that increases the torque and horsepower output of an engine by reducing parasitic drag caused by belt-driven accessories, but more importantly by reducing the moment of inertia. Horsepower gains from underdrive pulleys alone are possible.
Throttle body upgrade - A larger throttle body will allow more air into the engine, thereby improving the performance - both throttle response and horsepower. For you to benefit the most from this the intake manifold should be bored to match the throttle body being used.
Extractors and exhaust - A header (sometimes called extractor in Australia) is a manifold specifically designed for performance. During design, engineers create a manifold without regard to weight or cost but instead for optimal flow of the exhaust gases. This design results in a header that is more efficient at scavenging the exhaust from the cylinders. Headers are generally circular steel tubing with bends and folds calculated to make the paths from each cylinder's exhaust port to the common outlet all equal length, and joined at narrow angles to encourage pressure waves to flow through the outlet, and not back towards other cylinders. In a set of tuned headers the pipe lengths are carefully calculated to enhance exhaust flow in a particular engine revolutions per minute range.
HD clutch - The Heavy Duty clutch kits are perfectly suited for use in lightly modified vehicles or vehicles carrying loads used for daily driving or in amateur motor sports activities. A high performance clutch cover with increased clamp load will transmit an increase in engine torque creating a performance clutch with smooth take off drivability.
Lightened flywheel - Installing a lightened flywheel lowers the moment of inertia characteristics of the engine. Put in simple terms, it reduces the amount of horsepower needed to turn the flywheel, so that horsepower can be used to turn the wheels. The flywheel is designed to make a car drive smoothly, reduce stress on the differential in the transmission and to balance things. From the factory, flywheels have a certain mass to them, designed to prevent the RPMs from dropping too quickly, to dampen the power pulses from the engine and make life easier for the differential, and to make driving the car smoother. When the flywheel is lightened, the engine has less mass on the crankshaft, and therefore the RPMs can climb quicker and also drop quicker. What this results in is quicker acceleration, as well as fast RPM drops during gear shifts. If the flywheel is lightened too much, driving the car can become difficult, because there just isn't enough mass in the flywheel to allow for smooth operation. On a street car, there is a limit to how much a flywheel should be lightened, but I do not know what this limit is. Lastly, after the lightening is done, the flywheel has to be balanced.
Handling mods
Anti lift kit - So, the anti-lift kit changes the location and geometry of the control arm pick-up point to remove the "lift" resulting from the original geometry. The new mount also relocates the arm in another plane to add 0.5 deg. static positive castor. The new mount also features a performance polyurethane bush which replaces the original high compliance rubber type.
Camber bolts - Camber angle alters the handling qualities of a particular suspension design; in particular, negative camber improves grip when cornering. This is because it places the tire at a better angle to the road, transmitting the forces through the vertical plane of the tire, rather than through a shear force across it. Another reason for negative camber is that a rubber tire tends to roll on itself while cornering. If the tire had zero camber, the inside edge of the contact patch would begin to lift off of the ground, thereby reducing the area of the contact patch. By applying negative camber, this effect is reduced, thereby maximizing the contact patch area. Note that this is only true for the outside tire during the turn; the inside tire would benefit most from positive camber.
Rear sway bar - Sway bars (sometimes called anti-roll bars or stabiliser bars) reduce body roll. They do this by linking the two sides of the car – either at the front or at the rear. In the case of a rear sway bar, the roll of the car is resisted by the torsional (twisting) action of the sway bar that attempts to lift the inside rear wheel. In other words, a sway bar is effectively an extra spring that connects the left and right wheels together at one end of the car.
Front strut brace - A strut bar is designed to reduce this strut tower flex by tying two parallel strut towers together. This transmits the load of each strut tower during cornering which ties the two towers together and reduces chassis flex. To accomplish this effectively (especially on Macpherson strut suspensions), the bar must be rigid throughout its length, and also attached to the firewall.
Rear strut brace - As above.
Brake upgrade - Just for that extra bit of safety, whether you upgrade the front brakes or the rear drums to discs it's a major upgrade over the tiny brakes attached already. Good options are single pot proton wira or GTI items, they will be cheaper than gsr or fto but are pretty much exactly the same caliper. You can pick up proton calipers for around $50 a pair usually where as the Mitsu option may be more expensive one quote I got was $250 (few years ago now), also upgrading the rear discs off of a proton wira or GTI can be done to and it all bolts up. So for around $500 you can have a much better braking system than the standard tiny brakes.
Larger/wider wheels - Enough said, performance wise a 15x6 or 15x7 is enough, it's all upto what you want from the car performance or looks.
Shocks/Springs or coil overs? - This is where you'll have to decide how far you want to go, a good low spring and shock to match can be a good budget option for your needs. But if you want to go all out coil overs are definitely the way, adjustable height and a nice firm ride.
Power mods
Cold air intake (CAI) - A cold air intake is a device used to bring lower temperature air into a car's internal-combustion engine, to increase engine power and efficiency. Standard air intake systems tend to be very restrictive sacrificing engine power or efficiency in order to eliminate engine noise. Aftermarket cold air intake systems come in many different colors and sizes, and are easy to install when compared with other performance-increasing modifications.
Underdrive pulley - Underdrive pulleys usually are marketed as a performance enhancing item that increases the torque and horsepower output of an engine by reducing parasitic drag caused by belt-driven accessories, but more importantly by reducing the moment of inertia. Horsepower gains from underdrive pulleys alone are possible.
Throttle body upgrade - A larger throttle body will allow more air into the engine, thereby improving the performance - both throttle response and horsepower. For you to benefit the most from this the intake manifold should be bored to match the throttle body being used.
Extractors and exhaust - A header (sometimes called extractor in Australia) is a manifold specifically designed for performance. During design, engineers create a manifold without regard to weight or cost but instead for optimal flow of the exhaust gases. This design results in a header that is more efficient at scavenging the exhaust from the cylinders. Headers are generally circular steel tubing with bends and folds calculated to make the paths from each cylinder's exhaust port to the common outlet all equal length, and joined at narrow angles to encourage pressure waves to flow through the outlet, and not back towards other cylinders. In a set of tuned headers the pipe lengths are carefully calculated to enhance exhaust flow in a particular engine revolutions per minute range.
HD clutch - The Heavy Duty clutch kits are perfectly suited for use in lightly modified vehicles or vehicles carrying loads used for daily driving or in amateur motor sports activities. A high performance clutch cover with increased clamp load will transmit an increase in engine torque creating a performance clutch with smooth take off drivability.
Lightened flywheel - Installing a lightened flywheel lowers the moment of inertia characteristics of the engine. Put in simple terms, it reduces the amount of horsepower needed to turn the flywheel, so that horsepower can be used to turn the wheels. The flywheel is designed to make a car drive smoothly, reduce stress on the differential in the transmission and to balance things. From the factory, flywheels have a certain mass to them, designed to prevent the RPMs from dropping too quickly, to dampen the power pulses from the engine and make life easier for the differential, and to make driving the car smoother. When the flywheel is lightened, the engine has less mass on the crankshaft, and therefore the RPMs can climb quicker and also drop quicker. What this results in is quicker acceleration, as well as fast RPM drops during gear shifts. If the flywheel is lightened too much, driving the car can become difficult, because there just isn't enough mass in the flywheel to allow for smooth operation. On a street car, there is a limit to how much a flywheel should be lightened, but I do not know what this limit is. Lastly, after the lightening is done, the flywheel has to be balanced.
