hi guys ive just brought a fiat brava 1.6 16v auto its a relle nice car and i love it but its not enough.

The problem im having is that the car handles like a boat on choppy water the front is fine but the back sways like the pirate ship at a theme park and i just dont trust the cars handling.

Im thinking about lowering the car 40mm all round as the first mod on the car i can do this for under £200 if i just buy the the springs and get a garadge to fit them has any one else found this and wot have they done about it.

Next on my long list of questions is how much will my gearbox take this is the first auto ive had the only reason i brought an auto was coz i brought the car off my mum so at least i know its been looked arfter but i want to tune the engine buy having a decent exaust and a K an N induction kit and wanted to remap the ecu but if i do all this wene im going down the road and i use the kickdown coz some 17 year old in a corsa is up my arse will the gear box take it or will it just explode under the extra pressure.

ok next qustion is styling ive seen a rele nice kit for the car its the fiat brava drift body kit they make it for the bravo too as well it looks nice on the pics but that means nothing has anyone got this kit here.

and finally more worries about the gearbox arfter i get the body kit on the car im going to get some aloys (obviusly hub caps just dont do it for me ) now i realy want 17" X 7" with 45mm low profile tyes and the car lowerded 40mm all round and 2 worrys here first is will the car take 17" aloys if its lowered 40mm and secondly anougher gear box issue will the auto gear box cope with the extra strain bigger and wider wheels will give it.

thanks if u can help me on any of these points it will be really apreciated thx

i think a standard bravo handles like a boat, and not a good boat. so i guess a brava can only be worse. both my bravos scared me when standard, it was one of the main let downs. i've lowered my bravo 45mm, it makes a big difference but i still think its below average handling IMO. i just dont get the same confidence i did from other cars i've owned. i think the light steering is at least partly to blame, my HLX has reduced assistance which makes things better so maybe you should think about geting the power steering from a 1.8hlx bravo, its an easy change over.

fitting lowering springs is very very easy on these cars. each rear spring requires only 1 nut and bolt to be removed. each front spring requires 5 bolts to be removed, and then one nut off the top of the strut. all you need is a jack and some spanners, and 1 allen key. i wouldnt pay someone to do it unless they were only going to charge £40, its a one day job even for a beginner. i've lowered loads of cars and this has been the easiest ever. you can get springs cheap on ebay, i paid £59 for new springs including delivery off ebay.

the auto box isnt good news really, it makes your car slower than other 1.6s, if you raced a manual 1.6 you'd see a big difference. i think it will take more than an air filter and exhaust to get you as fast as a standard 1.6 to be honest. your car will never be able to hit the high revs. maybe a conversion to manual gearbox would be the best mod you could do. its not as hard as you'd think, but definately not a DIY job. i wouldnt bother, its easier to sell the car and buy a manual.

i doubt the auto box will struggle to take the mods, or 17s, but it may break due to the usual auto box problems most cars seems to have, they just dont last as well an manuals and cost a lot to replace. the 17s will fit fine so dont worry about that. im not the guy to ask about bodykit choices, i've gone through puberty so they all look gay to me. just dont buy fibreglass, its crap and wont last long. plastic is the only way you have a chance of making some of your money back when you sell it, unless you're willing to repair and respray the fibreglass regularly, which ends up costing more than a plastic kit in the long run. fibreglass is brittle, cheap and nasty stuff that costs nothing to make. a plastic bumper will get stone chips, a fibreglass one will have holes, a plastic bumper can actually handle a bump, a fibreglass bumper will shatter with the slightest impact, a good hit with your fist will easily be enough to crack it. plus fibreglass rarely has a flat surface, it tends to look dimpled from a side angle. then again this is just my opinion, many people are happy with their fibreglass bangers, people laugh at them, but that doesnt matter if you're happy with it.

thx m8 great advise as for the body kit all it is is just front and rear valances side skirts boot spoiler but if anyone has a brava gt kit ill have um off ya lol

and im not worried about speed the car flies with the sport button on .

wow a sport button, i didnt know thay had a sport button! what rpm does the gearbox change at when in sport mode?

Lowering these cars may be easy when it does what it says in the book, but it's not easy if the bolts have seized, even the Fiat guru that is Pete struggled with this baby And I wouldn't for a miute have known how to use a spring compressor or even what one was so if you want to do it yourself, find someone who knows what they are doing to help you And someone to have a laugh with over the 'rear access hole'

If you're putting springs on, might as well go the whole hog and put a full kit on as it doesn't make any difference to the job and the difference is better again (well, that is if you're wanting to do it for handling purposes and not just for looks), it's a bit teeth-shattering though on bumpy roads and I did suffer sea-sickness for the first week

Although I have zip experience of them, older Fiat autos never seem friendly, the button sounds innovative though.

Have you got a picture of the bodykit?

all bravo/as have gas shocks as standard on the rear so there isnt really much of a need to upgrade them, but getting some gas shocks on the front is worth while as the standard hydraulic shocks have a bit too much bound. kyb excel-g gas shocks cost £28 each at my local which is a bit more than i hoped but not bad. its worth it.

basically with the sport button on it wont change till redline it allso does the same if u just keep ure foot down hard its pritty cool it goes witch is why i beat some idiot in his corsa sri last night hehe love it

1.2s don't have gas ones at rear for sure (mine leaked), guess you guys with the bigger cars get fancy ones I'm pretty positive the difference in mine isn't all down to the springs, a lot of friends lowered with springs only have a lot of bounsies.