what first cheap modifications

sckeane

Fresh Recruit
hello all

im new, possibly getting a glanza v this week, it has meister coilovers and a decat pipe. apart from that its standard.

wanted to know if any of you lot fancy helping me out and giving me some advice on what to do first to it, this is the first car ive had with boost so its all new to me in experience.

ive heard theres a quick fix you can do for the 1-2 gear... something apparently kills the 0-60? thats all i know ha.

thanks in advance bud
anyway, any tips etc will be much appreciated
 

weeJohn

Lifer
Brakes are a good start, the stock brakes suffer from fade after a little hard use, so an uprated pad, new discs, braided brake lines and a good quality fluid are a great start. The brake fluid has probably been in there from the factory so it is in need of a change, may as well do it at the same time as the lines.

As for where to get them and what to buy, the search function in the technical section will answer more questions than you ever had lol.
 

mark1991

Member +
Weight reduction is free, So removing air con saves weight and light weight wheels and alloys wheel nuts make a fair improvment.

* remove 1st & 2nd gear boost restrictor
* remove air con (get air con belt from n/a 91/82)
* port oem manifold
* port wastegate
* front mounted filter
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
been covered a billion times. do some searches.

as others have said, brakes and service should be the first thing on your list. make sure the car is 100% before you go any further.
 

GTwayne

Member +
Give it a good service, then do nothing else. As it's your first turbo car give yourself some time to get used to it, before doing anything else to it.
 

Benji91

Member +
Yeah defo worth just looking over it learning what's what and do research before buying bits and making silly mistakes ;)
 

sckeane

Fresh Recruit
thanks all, yeah i know the basics about turbos what to look out for etc. ive done well tbh gone from a 02 zetec s swapped for an 04 impreza sti replica and swapping that for a glanza v today, v excited. found out abit more, its got a full japspeed exhaust, decat downpipe and non resonated center. had the boost solenoid thing swapped over already to run hi boost 24/7. anyway, looking forward to it. anyone young (19) and found a decent price for insurance?
 

AdamB

Member +
Sounds like a good base to start from. You will struggle finding a decent quote for a glanza mate, GT isn't so bad.
 

Ally Dawood

Member +
Change your computer chip. Sometime*s, but certainly not always, you can change a car's performance by changing the ROM chip in the engine control unit (ECU). You usually buy these chips from aftermarket performance dealers. It is valuable to read an independent review of the chip you are contemplating, because some chips are all hype and no performance.

Let air come in more easily. As a piston moves down in the intake stroke, air resistance can rob power from the engine. Some newer cars are using polished intake manifolds to eliminate air resistance there. Bigger air filters and reduced intake piping can also improve air flow.

Let exhaust exit more easily. If air resistance or back-pressure makes it hard for exhaust to exit a cylinder, it robs the engine of power. If the exhaust pipe is too small or the muffler has a lot of air resistance then this can cause back-pressure. High-performance exhaust systems use headers, big tail pipes and free-flowing mufflers to eliminate back-pressure in the exhaust system.

Change the heads and cams. Many stock engines have one intake valve and one exhaust valve. Buying a new head that has four valves per cylinder will dramatically improve airflow in and out of the engine and this can improve power. Using performance cams can also make a big difference.*

Make everything lighter - Lightweight parts help the engine perform better. Each time a piston changes direction it uses up energy to stop the travel in one direction and start it in another. The lighter the piston, the less energy it takes. Lighter parts also allow the engine to rev faster, giving it more horsepower.

Increase the compression ratio - Higher compression ratios produce more power, up to a point. The more you compress the air/fuel mixture, however, the more likely it is to spontaneously burst into flame (prior to the spark plug igniting it). Higher octane gasolines prevent this sort of early combustion. That is why high-performance cars generally need high octane gasoline - their engines are using higher compression ratios to get more power.

Increase displacement - More displacement means more power because you can burn more gas during each revolution of the engine. You can increase displacement by making the cylinders bigger.

OUCH MY HANDS ARE PAINING NOW,,LOL..:D have fun with your car
 

dac69er

Super Moderator
none of those are cheap modifications and alot of them arent relevant to the starlet anyway. you cant just replace the rom chip, stock head is 4 valve per cylinder already. you dont want to adjust the compression ratio unless you know what you are doing!!!
 
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tersplat

Member +
was just thinking the same thing, I would say enjoy the car as it is, then maybe replace the stock air cleaner with a less restrictive intake piping and filter, then maybe a front mount intercooler and new BOV, after that, there's not too many really easy mods. maybe an aftermarket exhaust manifold with an external wastegate, or port the original wastegate, but I wouldn't pick the latter.
 
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