£2,000 Budget for improvements / mods... What would you buy??

[MonkeyKnifeFight]

One option could be cost effective throttle bodies

Kawasaki ZX12-R throttle bodies £80-£120

Bogg brothers manifold £180+vat

Omex 600 £610

Omex loom £70

Mapping £300?

Totals £1270 Leaves £730 to play with

 

[Russ_16v]

If it was my money my list would be:

Sportlines with Koni shocks
Brembo HC with Ds2500 (or equivalent)
Steering wheel (dished so I cant get in a better driving position)
Decent seat (reclining due to not having a cage) with harness

For good, cheap fun I think thats about all you need in a 172 - that should take up around £1200 - the remaining £800 could go on matched inlets with a filter and a map.

Dont forget a bit of driver training mind - being taught how to drive will make you far faster than all the mods listed above.


Or one of my itb'd conversions for under a grand lol

 

[Fletcher]

Just wondered what coilovers you're running?

H&R's (set up properly) fella.

 

[leeds_182]

on the other hand, i bought my mk1 for about £1000,
and ive spent most of my weekends building it up, and god knows how much money.

its by my hobby and i have no regrets on the money that "ill never see again" because ive got so much enjoyment out of driving it, the money ive spent is more than worth it!!

at the end of the day, youll never get any of the money you spend on: concert/festival tickets, nights out, holidays, women, etc, but if its something you enjoy doing, you shouldn't look at it from the money point of view.

thats just my opinion, and im usually pretty skint because of it

Well said!

 

[Chris205]

I'd go for eibach sportlines, btb or yozza exhaust and JMS inlet.

 

[sbridgey]

brakes, yozza, turinis, cup spoiler and eibachs, and if the cambelt hasnt been done or your unsure, get that done. and dont forget the skoda splitter. i have just got mine and they are the only things i can see myself doing to it. i dont think anymore than that has to be done especially on a road car.

 

[yeecup]

be shrewd with ur cash, find parts cheap on here and ebay etc.
eibach sportlines
matched inlets (second hand)
whiteline arb
sabelt steering wheel
cat back stealth exhaust (second hand)
prima racing exhaust mount
itg maxogen (second hand)
rs tuner. (second hand)
and enjoy...............................................

 

[The Boosh!]

1 - Awesome suspension - £1000
2 - Brakes - £240
3 - Whiteline ARB - £150
4 - Decent tyres - £300
5 - Exhaust - £250

6 - Tuition on how to drive - priceless

Wouldn't touch the engine - Utterly pointless in my opinion, would spend it all on chassis.

 

[Fred@BTM]

considering i do what i do i ALWAYS recommend tuition before you do anything, you can have all the toys you want, but getting overtaken by a stock car is embarrasing (but also very satisfying for the driver of the stock car!)

 

[Sir_Dave]

£2,000 - £2,500 to spend on a completely standard 172, what would be on your list to make the 172 an even better fast road car?

Carbon Lorraine Pads
Dot 4 fluid
A good service
4 x new standard dampers
Whileline ARB

Nowt wrong with the clio as it is to be honest, too many people get caught up in the whole 'i must modify car to make it better & faster & an ultimate track weapon'.

Learn to drive it as it is 1st, do a trackday, get some tuition, then change what you think needs changing.

My Trophy cost considerably less to build than most 'track cars' on here, & whilst being specced fairly high, via shrewd use of eBay & the for sale section, it is setup perfectly, for yes, you guessed it.

Me.

 

[Goodj]

Insurance,
tax,
service,
tyres,
brakes

You know, the stuff that really makes a car move

 

[mike1pow]

Throttle bodies!

Ktec were doing a fitted price of about £2200 not so long back.

the standard car performs very well, the only other think i would change is brake line and fluid

 

[Brett]

Personally I'd get fresh set of premium rubber all around and uprated brakes (DS2500, Brembo HC, dot 5.1 & braided lines). I'd get some sportlines too, I thought it made a huge difference to the sharpness of my 172. It gave more turn in confidence, whether it improved cornering speed I don't know, probably by a negligible amount but it increased driver confidence and feedback.

Then some driver tuition and spend the rest on petrol.

 

[GSKingsbury]

As said before mate it all seems to be down to personal preference.

There are many routes you could take but you need to decide what is actually best for you.

It all seems to depend on if you want to go with the crowd and do the normal that every 1 else does or if you wanna go bonkers !!

Your choices are endless !!

 

[Linus27]

I have a standard 172 apart from a K-Tec stealth exhaust. The things I am going to change are,

Brembo HC with Ds2500 - 190.00
Eibach Pro Lowering Springs - 155.00
KTR Panel Filter - 35.00

Total 380.00

However, I am seriously thinking about getting the K-Tec stage 2 tuning which will give me, KTR CNC Matched Inlets, KTR PTFE Manifold Gaskets and KTR Sport Bespoke Remap for 450.00. The main reason for this is to cure the cold starting problem and to smooth out the throttle response. Not sure if it will give me any performance benifit though. The other option is the JMS Tuning engine works which I believe does the same thing but again, I am not sure if one is better than the other.

Either way, all of that is under £1000 and will really improve the car.

 

[Llewellyn]

I have a standard 172 apart from a K-Tec stealth exhaust. The things I am going to change are,

Brembo HC with Ds2500 - 190.00
Eibach Pro Lowering Springs - 155.00
KTR Panel Filter - 35.00

Total 380.00

However, I am seriously thinking about getting the K-Tec stage 2 tuning which will give me, KTR CNC Matched Inlets, KTR PTFE Manifold Gaskets and KTR Sport Bespoke Remap for 450.00. The main reason for this is to cure the cold starting problem and to smooth out the throttle response. Not sure if it will give me any performance benifit though. The other option is the JMS Tuning engine works which I believe does the same thing but again, I am not sure if one is better than the other.

Either way, all of that is under £1000 and will really improve the car.

Sounds good mate, just what I was after really, a nice list(with brands/specs) and reason for mods. These brembo HC discs and Ds2500 pads have been mentioned a fair bit, I'll def' be looking into getting a set of these.
Since getting the car home I totally agree with all the comments about getting a feel for the car first, before spending any money. Thanks for all the comments and advice.

 

[RDH]

2K on a 172 is laughable.

I'd rather go on holiday.

 

[Goodj]

For 2k, just buy another 172, strip it and take it to the track.

 

[Nick172Cup]

For 2k, just buy another 172, strip it and take it to the track.

What? And pay 2 insurances/tax/Mot?

Very clever that!

 

[Fletcher]

2K on a 172 is laughable.

I'd rather go on holiday.

TBH.

 

[Llewellyn]

2K on a 172 is laughable.

I'd rather go on holiday.

Just goes to show the huge difference in opinions... I think spending £2k on a holiday is laughable, a good friend of mine has just spent £10,000 on a 3 week holiday to California and I think he should be sectioned under the mental health act:rasp:.
The idea of holidays, is a total waste to me.. Oh well, 'horses for courses' n all that I suppose.

 

[.Kev.]

2K on a 172 is laughable.

But buying private plates ect for a Mini isn't......

 

[dudes45]

The other way I look at it is this, I want mine to stay mint and stock so that when I sell it on someone else gets a nice unmolested example. Look at how many older Ford Fiestas and Mk2 Golf GTi's are buggered because people couldn't leave alone.

Nice terminology, made me lol Thanks for the laugh!

@Llewellynhttp://www.cliosport.net/forum/member.php?71703-Llewellyn Buy a 182 Trophy, why not? Then you won't have to mod anything lol...

 

[.Kev.]

Nice terminology, made me lol Thanks for the laugh!

@Llewellyn Buy a 182 Trophy, why not? Then you won't have to mod anything lol...

:banghead:

He has a 172 and a 2.5k budget that maybe why...........

 

[Goodj]

What? And pay 2 insurances/tax/Mot?

Very clever that!

No, the second car would be a track car. Last time I looked you didn't need tax or MOT and insurance will be however much you go tracking.

why build a 1/2-baked "fast road" machine when you can't use the benefit if it. Just get a track car and spend as many weekends as possible really pressing on.

 

[Nick172Cup]

No, the second car would be a track car. Last time I looked you didn't need tax or MOT and insurance will be however much you go tracking.

why build a 1/2-baked "fast road" machine when you can't use the benefit if it. Just get a track car and spend as many weekends as possible really pressing on.

So that means you'd need to get a car/trailor with a trailor license, so a more expensive way which is a smart idea!

I'm not sure you read in the first place what the OP has said he wanted to do also, he said he wanted to upgrade his car and maybe use it for fast road. Not once did he say about using it on track so why you'd give that advice that is pretty silly.

Imo if your not going to use it on track i'd stick with the standard shocks and maybe upgrade the springs to some 172/182Cup springs or Eibach Sportline/Prolines as they are slightly stiffer than the standard 172 spring. The standard suspension on my Cup was near enough perfect for fast road driving when it was standard, plus when you want to drive sensibly the suspension will soak up the bumps in comparison to most coilover units and keep your back intact!

With regards to brakes, i'd just fit some braided lines with new fluid and maybe stretch to some Brembo HC's with Ferrodo DS2500 pads on the front. Anything more than this really is overkill unless your a hero on the roads.

With the new MOT laws coming in, it seems a bit pointless putting a aftermarket wheel and seats in as it will fail the MOT. However another way to go would be to fit some trophy recaros and a 197 steering wheel as they both improve over the standard stuff, pass an MOT whilst making the car look a lot better and probably worth more come resale time.

With engine mods wise, dependant on how much you want to stretch your budget really depends on what you can get. For me matched inlets and a Fastchip remap were the best mods for mine, they were the 2 parts that I fitted and felt a noticable difference with. I'd keep the standard exhaust but if you wanted to be a bit flush you could retrofit a 182 Cat and its near enough the same as a 200 cell sports-cat so maybe a little gain to be had there. Oh and just chuck a panel filter in the airbox you have atm, not really any gains worth having there in my opinion.

Other than that, like others have said get the car completely sorted servicingwise and from then on just buy bits to make it look nice! The cars are fantastic as standard really but can be made noticably better with a few changes which wont in turn compromise using it daily and it turning into a pain to drive.

Sorry for the essay and hope thats some use.

Nick

 

[robbygraham]

Its your choice what you do with your money, i can understand a lot of the people on here feel 2k is a lot to spend on a car that is only worth 2-3k, but if your not bothered about seeing no return on your money upgrade the discs/pads, get some coilovers, panel filter, service, tyres and a few tanks of V-power, and go enjoy it.
An extreme example, of buying a 2k car, spending 10k on it and making it worth 1.5k
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-VAUX...omobiles_UK&hash=item2eb675ff68#ht_500wt_1156

 

[robbygraham]

Its your choice what you do with your money, i can understand a lot of the people on here feel 2k is a lot to spend on a car that is only worth 2-3k, but if your not bothered about seeing no return on your money upgrade the discs/pads, get some coilovers, panel filter, service, tyres and a few tanks of V-power, and go enjoy it.
An extreme example, of buying a 2k car, spending 10k on it and making it worth 1.5k
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-VAUX...omobiles_UK&hash=item2eb675ff68#ht_500wt_1156

 

[Goodj]

Yes, but that Corsa was evidently built by a complete sack.

Although if those seats weren't quite so hideous I'd be tempted to buy it, strip the stereo and seats then upload a video of it being cubed.

 

[olliewebbuk]

...too nice to have laying around...

FLOL!

 

[robbygraham]

Yes, but that Corsa was evidently built by a complete sack.

upload a video of it being cubed.

hahaha would love to see that

 

[Craigus]

A new car.

 

[RDH]

But buying private plates ect for a Mini isn't......

Don't see how in any way this comment is related to me. I don't own a private plate.

 

[cheesy]

Another option would be to hand it to Jezza, the hamster, and captain slow and see what they can do for 2 grand. They would probably nail a sheet of ply underneath, paint it in some garish colour and fit it with some sort of methane powered propulsion system:clown:

 

[Llewellyn]

With the new MOT laws coming in, it seems a bit pointless putting a aftermarket wheel and seats in as it will fail the MOT. However another way to go would be to fit some trophy recaros and a 197 steering wheel as they both improve over the standard stuff, pass an MOT whilst making the car look a lot better and probably worth more come resale time.
Nick

Cheers for all the info, just wondered if you could elaborate a bit on the new MOT laws or point me in the right direction(link).
Its a bit concerning if they can dictate small detail such as steering wheels and seats:S
Thanks.

 

[Ricardinho]

from someone who has spent that sort of money plus more on a clio, really dont bother, you will regret it.

 

[pendulumx]

I'd invest in a really good camera system which covers the front, back, and sides, and can be left recording even when the car is stationary. If you are really proud of your car then this can help catch those who damage it (car park scrapes, door dingers) and protects your NCB in accidents where it is not your fault.

I already have a #808 #11 dash cam for this, and it's excellent value for £30, but I'd love to spend a few hundred on a really good system and have it integrated in to the car properly. (Not so well integrated that it couldn't be taken out and put in to another car at a later date though).

I'm not really the type to modify the car mechanically. I don't mind getting my hands dirty doing repairs but I like to keep my cars standard and I will only buy them if they're standard.

 

[.Kev.]

Don't see how in any way this comment is related to me. I don't own a private plate.

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?564176-Private-Plates...&highlight=

My bad.

 

[RDH]

True I was on the verge of buying one, but didn't, ergo the comment is still pretty meaningless.

 

[RDH]

But if we want to be keyboard warriors and troll people on the internet, he could afford to buy your car and still go on holiday. Good day