39 replies to this topic

[Joe-Turbo]

Im picking up my VXT next weekend and have been reading about all these performance mods. What whould be best to start off with and how do you stand with warrenty/insurance. cheers

[Gedi]

Not sure about the warranty issue, but here is the order I will be modding my VXT geo setup at scared stiff Full exhaust system dry air filter remap Gonna try and stop there and put my wage to a more constructive use........but i'm not very good at stopping, so next will probably be...... shocks and springs ( nitrons) brakes (wanna persure availability AP 4pots) Charge cooler remap again

Edited by Gedi, 21 February 2004 - 09:52 AM.

[The Knobs]

Why not enjoy the car as it is and get used to it, then when you mod it, it will seem like a new car all over again.

[wickywire]

Thats what i've thought of doing but the lure of all that speed and torque will overpower me.

[streetboy]

1) Nitrons 2) Drive it for a year 3) Go mental! I'm a such a fcuking hypocrite.

[Gedi]

After my test drive today......I say heavy engine mods are essential

Edited by Gedi, 22 February 2004 - 06:07 PM.

[barrybethel]

Only do nitrons if you do track work as imo they are too hard for the road - although you could spec. slightly softer springs. Standard turbo handles fantastic.

[JasonS]

Im picking up my VXT next weekend and have been reading about all these performance mods. What whould be best to start off with and how do you stand with warrenty/insurance.

I'd recommend that you get used to the car before making any modifications to it. That way, you'll then know the difference between the mod'ed car merely feeling 'different', and feeling 'better'.

ECU remapping and uprated suspension are probably going to make the most noticeable differences to the car's performance and handling. A replacement exhaust, like the Milltek system, will make the car sound like a sports car, and is IMHO well worth having.

The Nitron suspension is harder than the standard VXT suspension, and there are some (poorly surfaced) country roads that I don't enjoy going down any more. The upside is that it's adjustable, so you can make your own tradeoffs. I initially found the default AmD settings too hard, but after trying it softer for a few weeks, ended up reverting back to the 9/12 settings, and then went a bit harder. To get the most out of Nitrons, you really ought to spend several hours driving with the standard suspension paying close attention to how it behaves on corners and under acceleration/braking. The standard suspension is pretty good.

In some ways I regret having gone straight to AmD's stage 3 because I think I'd rather have had some experience of the intermediate power mappings... Too late now

Warranty-wise, I haven't had any problems with my dealer so far, and they know about the mods. Whoever installs your mods will presumably offer some kind of warranty of their own for them. Insurance-wise, most insurer's will increase your premium and/or excess when you get the modifications. Mine went up by a few hundred each. If you don't tell the insurer about the modifications, then you have no insurance.

I hope you enjoy the car when you get it!

[NB: Although I mentioned AmD above, they are not the only people doing modifications for the VXT.]

[Thorney]

Only do nitrons if you do track work as imo they are too hard for the road - although you could spec. slightly softer springs. Standard turbo handles fantastic.

I have to say I completely disagree with that.....they're adjustable enough to be even softer that road settings if desired.

[stevevx220]

I agree with Thorney, The ride is beter than a standard vx (na) IMHO

[Thorney]

I'm in the process of writing a report on the Nitrons including a full guide on how to set them up.....I hope to have it done soon. In the meantime I'm happy to help (either on the forum, email or phone) if anyone is having problems. Basically the level of adjustability means you can certainly get the right level for you.

[calbee]

One vital "addition" for any Turbo car is a turbo timer. You need to keep the engine oil circulating through the turbo thrust bearings so that it will cool down before you cut off the engine. For the sake of your car, keep your car healthy

[Gedi]

Turbo timers certainly aren't vital. They actually invalidate your alarm if it is Cat1. Even the built in turbo timers on the £1000 Cliford alarms can't be issued with a Cat1, hense the top thatcham alarm in Clifords range is hte concept 600. However as you point out, a cool down for the turbo deffinietly is. Check out your turbo casing after a hard drive, you should be able to see it glowing. I normally keep under 3K for the last 5 mins of my journey, and leave the car ticking over for 2 mins before turning off.

[The Knobs]

Tick over for 2 minutes is just as good, time to turn off stereo and push seat back before exiting. I have never had a timer on any turbo car, and never shagged a turbo ( not off boost anyway). Why not try a dead chicken in the boot , about as much use!

[barrybethel]

Thorney I think you're wrong mate. Only the damping (and ride height of course) is adjustable. The spring rates are not. If you put a much harder spring on a car it will adversely affect the ride no matter how soft the dampers. I think it's the case that the standard springs on the turbo are much stiffer than the n/a. If so, it would explain why I may notice more difference with the nitron kit than turbo owners.

[Thorney]

The springs are stiffer thats true but it's not the spring on its own which affects the ride it's the damping. Harder springs means you can run softer damping and therefore better ride without the body roll. Have you experimented with different settings?

[barrybethel]

Thorney I'm no suspension expert ( would welcome some input on this thread from someone who is ) but I'm sure you're at least partially wrong. Think about it. Dampers are called dampers because their job is to damp out bumps - so the body doesn't bounce repeatedly after the car has hit a bump. Dampers do a different job to springs. It's the springs that hold up the car. It's the springs that primarily dictate how hard it is for the suspension to compress. It's the springs therefore that have most influence over how much a car shakes your teeth out on the road. My car with nitrons is rock fcuking hard. Even the bird noticed it and she doesn't give a sh*t about cars. Don't get me wrong - I'm not dissing it but for road use only it is imo too much. If I didn't track mine I would definetly look at softer spring rates. If I had a turbo I wouldn't change the standard set-up which imo is exceptionally good. Kershaw and his mates no doubt spent ages finding what they thought was the optimum spring and damper rates for road use and I'm quite prepared to accept they know far more than me. Dampers do have an influence on how hard a car rides, but if the spring rates are high it's gonna feel hard no matter how soft your dampers

[Gedi]

Barry, Thorney is correct. I know what you are saying, and I understand your point of view. The springs do control the ride quality to an extent, but they control the amount of travel subject to the road level, take the impact of the large bumps away from the chassis and the amount of body roll. The dampers control the how hard your ride is. they take the impact of all the very small bumps in the road which is what you determine as the ride quality. This is fully controlable by adjusting the force required to depress the damper. Yes the springs are hard, but they are no where near hard enough to give the kind of bumpy ride when you can feel every change in road surface. You take the dampers away and your hard springs will feel bus like, swaying about. If you could buy springs hard enough then what you are saying would be true, the springs would override the dampers and the dampers would soak up none of the road imperfections. A hard set of springs will no doubt make the car feel much harder without altering the dampers, but the trick is the get the dampers set up for the conditions. You lose your body roll, but control the ride quality whilst lowering the centre of gravity. Hope that makes sense. Ged.

[stevevx220]

Why is the ride on mine better than standard?

[r1chard748]

Why is the ride on mine better than standard?

Thats what I'm wondering Steve because the front end of mine bounces up and down like a tennis ball continously hitting the ground on standard settings. I do love the precise feel of the steering, lightening direction changes etc etc. Hopefully get mine soughted and the hard ride won't bother me in the slightest.

The elise I went in with Nitrons seemed to ride alot better with the absense of noises that were present before nitrons. May have had softer springs due to the elise being a lighter car, have no idea.

Does any get problems with theirs losing clicks? I once had to set the car up on guesswork due to not hearing the clicks on the rears and it seemed to suck up the bumps like a rolls. Have'nt been able to match this even on the lowest setting.