General Desperately needing inspiration

[adruss85]

I've had the stilo 8 months now, covered 14k, and been disappointed for most of that time.

Don't ask me why, i love how it pulls, it's very comfy, and it's quite economical, but it just lacks something. Is it fun? character? style?

So here i am, asking you guys what are my options. I've been looking at quick petrol cars, Clios, Corsa VXRs etc, but is there a way i can radically transform my car from comfy motorway cruiser, to sporty b-road machine?

I've looked at remaps, coilovers, lowering springs, strut brace etc, i'm just wondering which one will transform the car the most!

I've the Mjet 150 by the way!

 

[mk85]

Hi,

I know how you feel!! I have only just started modding my stilo.. i bought it with the intention of not doing anything but i felt i had no choice after a few months!

Each to thier own i think. The cheapest and most successful mods so far are the coilovers and some form of engine mod, but that is only worth it if you like the way the car looks...?! the general feel for it has improved greatly but that is what i want in a car, exterior isnt my thing hence the 5 door for practicality not the 3 door.

in summary i guess you have 3 choices; both mechanics and body, body only or mechanics only.

BODY

Body Kit
Lexus Lights
Mesh grill
Window Tints

Mechanics

The usual suspension, brakes, exhaust etc

OR BOTH

Cheaper to do the Body only in the short term unless you are happy with mediocre performance mods!

having read through that.. i dont really have an answer!!! LOL

Sorry. good luck!

 

[adruss85]

I'm not really tempted by the body bits, i'm more go than show, although alloys would be ok i suppose.

I know the RR day is coming up and for £200 + insurance i could get it remapped (Pete reckons 180bhp+ and 275lbs/ft+), but it'd still have the very sloppy, very understeery handling. I dont know whether a change of tyres might fix that? With the rain thats coming down now some uniroyals might be an option!

Would my money be better spent on coilovers or a remap do you think?

 

[Pomp]

Dont get lexus lights

Get a remap and whack coil-overs on it

 

[adruss85]

Dont get lexus lights

I really wouldn't!

Get a remap and whack coil-overs on it

I only want to get one so it doesnt bunk my insurance (or bank balance) much!

 

[Greggers]

Coilovers are great as long as you only drive on roads as flat as glass or don't mind having a skeleton of jelly . Also, alot of insurers won't touch a drop of below 50mm. Worth thinking about :idea:

Personally, I'd go for some Eibach springs and dampers (or Bilstein) and a strutbrace. That'll cure the roll and understeer instantly. The strutbrace is a good cheap starting point at only £65 delivered and should make a noticable improvement to the understeer.

 

[adruss85]

Thanks, i've been looking at braces actually - but they were only a little less than some lowering springs and didn't know which would be a better choice handling wise. I live in the sticks and most of the roads a drive on - including those i enjoy driving on are quite potholed so maybe coilovers aren't much use! (although prob quite good for track days!)

I think i might have a go with a strut brace this weekend and see where that gets me. If it helps significantly i might think about some more power at the RR day :devil:

 

[OzMoSiS]

i dont have coilovers but i have uprated springs and shocks from proven-products.co.uk and think the handling of my stilo is a lot better than its competition, braces should improve that quite a lot too.

my advice, uprated shocks and springs and braces, then after you get used to it, remap. should end up with a mad beast then!

your mjet should go upto 200bhp

 

[Pomp]

Careful with cheap springs though, they will knacker your dampers

 

[Greggers]

Thanks, i've been looking at braces actually - but they were only a little less than some lowering springs and didn't know which would be a better choice handling wise.

The strutbrace is only £65 and decent springs with matched dampers are going to cost a fair bit more, say, around £300-£400. Don't even contemplate only changing the springs... it'll be a false economy

 

[adruss85]

Careful with cheap springs though, they will knacker your dampers

Yeah so i've heard! This will probably be a daft question, but what is the difference between uprated springs and dampers, and a coilover kit? Guessing the coilovers are a designed from scratch suspension system rather than separately designed springs and dampers?

200bhp Oz? Crikey

 

[Pomp]

Yeh if you want it lower then get springs and then worry about the problems.... But if you want to actually feel the difference, then trust me getting coil-overs or GOOD QUALITY springs/Damper combination is the only way forward, and worth the dosh!

Struts dont do much in my (little) experience

TBH my friend im not over-confident on stating the differences, all i can tell you is that the standard dampers are ONLY BUILT for the standard suspension. No other.

 

[Greggers]

Struts dont do much in my (little) experience

I think it very much depends on the car and whether it has mcpherson struts on the front (as opposed to double wishbones). These put huge stresses on the strut mounts which can be relieved by added a strutbrace, which distrubutes the load across both strut mounts by tension and compression of the bar itself. It all adds up to a chassis that doesn't flex as much, better steering precision and less tyre wear.

Manufacturers are starting to fit them as standard to some of their more sporty cars, so it can't all be bad...