September 2002... Time for a Custom Manifold.

After quite a few trips to RC Developments and numerous phone calls, I am now fed up of waiting for them to resolve the downpipe problem. They seem to think they can't re-design the downpipe to be further away from the altrnator!? Working in the chemical industry, I know nothing is impossible

I've asked an engineering friend of mine (Jimmy Hall) to fabricate a stainless steel downpipe, to direct the heat further away from the alternator. Whilst we are at it, I've asked him to make me a new turbo manifold too. I...

July 2002... GMC Motorsport Tune-up.

Danny made the trek upto GMC Motorsport with me... and what a fun drive it was!! John Dobson wasn't happy with the way a few things in the conversion were done, but as they were only minor things, we made a few changes to the configuration and started with the rolling road tune-up fairly quickly.

Straight away we all knew that the car was going to make decent power on the rolling road... it was wheel spinning without any effort. More straps were required to hold it down more securely.

We decided to MAP the car at...

June 2002... Another Alternator?

Things now seemed to be running smoothly, and I'd done quite a lot of hassle free miles in the car, BUT then it happened. I had managed to damage another alternator... the voltage regulator had gone chips again!

This was the second alternator to fail now... I had suspicions that it could be due to the turbo downpipe being too close to the alternator, and so I'd already lagged the downpipe with heat wrap.

With another alternator on the car and two heat shields I set off for the REVS Magazine Saxo Trackday at 3 Sisters...

May 2002... What Next?

Myself and Gaz had another session, trying to improve the fuel map using the MF2 controller. We wanted to get the fuelling right across two different boost settings... 0.5 bar and 0.75bar. After about 20 minutes of adjustments the general fuel MAP was in place and the performance of the car was MUCH better at the higher boost setting.

took the car back to RC Developments, so that Clive could have a drive of the car and check that all was well. Clive was happy with the car's performance, but on the way home, blue smoke started to puff out of...

April 2002... Arrival at Donny 2002.

Thanks to the help of Danny, Gaz, Dave and Lee the car was repaired, cleaned and polished ready for the Donny show... even though I had to leave 8 hours later than planned.

The new bumpers look good and the stainless steel mesh really does help the appearance of the car even though it was a real pain to fit.

The Apexi exhaust really, REALLY sounds amazing, giving a deep burble and plenty of lift-off popping... class! The exhaust system definately was worth the huge expense. The car got a lot of attention...

April 2002... It's back at last.

I got my car back from RC Developments just before 1am on the 31st March... Hooray!! Since getting the car back, I've been busy fitting the air/fuel ratio meter and tidying the engine bay up. But that's all I can do for now, as my car's gone in to the bodyshop to have the new bumpers sprayed.

Whilst the car's in the bodyshop, Rob will also be repairing a dent in the passenger side wing and door... another battle scar from SST. Hopefully the car will look good at the Donny 2002 show with the new D&M front bumper and the Dimma rear...

February 2002... Time to strengthen a few things.

There's been a bit of a delay getting my car back on the road, as RC Developments have moved premises. This has however given me some time to gather a few essential components. Top of the list being a stronger clutch!

GMC Motorsport were able to get an AP Racing 4-paddle clutch and strengthened clutch cover fabricated... It looks like a bit of a beast and should cope with whatever power the engine can throw at it!?

Next on the list was a new set of caliper spacing brackets from Severnside Motorsport....

November 2001... $hit Happens!

Unfortunately, SST went bankrupt a couple of months ago, before there was time to properly finish the latest mods on my car. This left me in a very sticky spot as everyone knew the car had a huge SST history.

Things have to continue and so I found a really good tuner who was local to me! This tuner came in the form of "RC Developments". I told Jenny and Clive at RC the history behind my conversion and they were really keen to help me out... "Phew!"

The car had developed a bad bottom end knock and a...

September 2001... Everything changes.

Since January, a huge amount of work has been done to my car and almost every area of my modifications has been re-worked...

All previously planned modifications were completed and then things just went mental! The first addition was a pair of Cobra Monaco race seats. These are rigid frames and can be quite harsh, but around the track they do the business!

Straight away the engine got a little more attention. Low compression pistons were fitted at SST and the boost was increased to approx 10psi. The difference between...

August 2000... So What's next?

At this point, I had my Saxo tested on a rolling road at Automech in Irlam. The result was 138bhp at the flywheel... A healthy increase from the stock 120bhp, but was this enough? NO was the answer!

I was now faced with a dilema... with options of throttle bodies, nitrous injection, turbo charging or a supercharger conversion. The choice was not easy! What direction did I want to take my car!?

I got on the phone again to Gary at Saxo Sports Tuning (SST) and asked his opinion of the turbo charging route. As it happened,...