Nurburgring in July, mod time!

[Bas]

Hi all,

I have a 2003 1.4 16v, done a few trackdays in it as standard with the philosophy that the greatest speed improvements I can make is in my driving. However... I'm going back out to the ring in july and am looking to make the most of it!

So, I have now fitted eibach pro's, and am considering the white line ARB and a set of Toyo T1R's. The tyres are pretty essential, as the tyres on it are awful budget wanley's!!!

Any one have any better ideas? could I do better than the ARB?

Cheers guys! - Anyone else going? (19th July)

 

[Goodj]

remove back seats
new tyres
full service before you head over
fresh brake fluid and pads.

done.

with those chassis mods yuou'll spend half the day getting used to how the car's changed

 

[Bas]

On removing the back seats, last time i tried to but... I bought a set of Torx heads from halfords, but they are too tall, cant actually get to bolt head, any suggestions? and what purpose does the black bar thing function ( i believe is called an isofix), can this be removed for trackdays?

Has been serviced and MoT'd ready brakes i'm saving to do properly, as this is a very long term project...

Cheers!

 

[Turkish]

I'd avoid the Toyo's, w**k IMO.

Removing the rear seats is straight forward. Once the isofix bar is out you should be able to get at the torx that holds the central seat bracket into the shell. IIRC it's only the rearmost one you need to remove the bracket should come out with the other still in situ.

 

[Fletcher]

Get some torx heads for a socket set, much better leverage.. and hope the torx bolt hasn't rusted in place.

 

[Steven103]

and hope the torx bolt hasn't rusted in place.

Which is pretty much 99% garunteed, btw...

 

[Bas]

Right think I get it... (isofix is'nt structural then?) thanks for the info I'll remove them nearer the time, but for now I need to organise buying and fitting the parts, and 'bedding them in'. Why avoid the Toyo's? anything better, bearing in mind it will be doing a fair bit of track work, haven't so far herd a particularly bad thing about them... and this brings up another point, currently i'm running standard wheels, 15" 6j's should i go 195 or 205 in terms of the best handling? I'm not bothered too much about the 'look' but in the future I would like to go up to a 7J rim size and planning the tyres could be advantageous...

Would I be better of doing the bushes instead of the ARB, or perhaps something else. bearing in mind i have a budget on top of the tyres, say £180 ish to do something that will really help with going round corners...

 

[Goodj]

bushes & top mounts would be a better ber

 

[Matt W]

How can you do 5 up laps with no rear seats?

 

[Fletcher]

Which is pretty much 99% garunteed, btw...

Knowsit

 

[Bas]

ha ha! its bad enough with two people, the little engine struggles up the hills round the track, maxed out at 77ish when porches fly past at 130+ the engine will have to be done once the cornering is sorted!

 

[Turkish]

Why avoid Toyo's? because frankly they suck. So so in the dry but pitiful in damp or wet. I'd sooner put michelins on or if you're strapped for cash contis.

205's are a bit wide on a 6J tbh stick with the 195's.

 

[Gandi69]

Are you on about all toyos there? R1Rs and 888s?

 

[Turkish]

Why would I be on about R1R's or 888's when he clearly states T1R's in the opening post?

 

[Gandi69]

By the tone of your post I thought you were generalising about the whole brand.

 

[Bas]

I think the R1R and 888's would be a bit extreme to be honest, whilst i do trackdays, the car is very much an everyday car and so i thought the T1R would be a good compromise, as i think it would be very hard to have less grip in the wet than the wanley's that came with the car... the write up is very worrying... and having done a wet trackday in them, i know first hand how little grip they have, so frankly slicks probarbly have more wet grip! so thats what drew me to T1R's, but any other tyre suggestions would be very useful. any yokohoma's worth looking in to? which conti's?

The top mounts seem quite expensive, for what they are (£154 a pair on k-tec) compared to the ARB at £174. and if i did the bushes, which bushes have the most benefits as the full set is £100 I could do the wishbones for 60 or the front ARB for £43 or bite the bullet for the whole set, if it is really worth it... how will they change the car realistically?

Cheers for responses so far, I'm fairly new to this modding stuff!!

 

[Gandi69]

My mate runs Pirelli Pzeros on his ST 185 (fitted with H&R coilovers and quaiffe diff) and he rates them very highly! Not sure if you can get them in your size though.