The lazy mans performance upgrade - Saxperience

simpsonator · 19th November 2003, 02:08

I've got a 2002 vts and being a lazy man who is lucky enough to come into a bit of money.
I've been looking into getting someone to tweak the car a bit. I looked into l.a.d motorsport and gmc motorsport. The problem is, with being new to the whole modding thing,I was hoping some of you guys could steer me in the right direction.
My budget is £1500 to £2000.

Enbwo · 19th November 2003, 05:20

Well there's the basic tuning mods which you need to start with. Such as:

Full Exhaust system - £250+

Induction kit - £70+

Mild Road Cams(kentcams.com) - £200+

Chip - £100+

Then you have Nitrous Injection £500-1000

Add labour costs to that and you will be somewhere around your budget. Any further mods you should speak to a specialist about. Should be about 160bhp without nitrous and upto 250bhp with nitrous depening on how much you plumb in. But that could be a bit dangerous with that much N2O

Or save up another £2500 and go for a Supercharger conversion. Supposed to be about 225bhp.

atton · 20th November 2003, 03:33

i'd go for the LAD Motorsport 180bhp conversion think its around £1500 then throw on a viper, de-cat pipe, and have it set up on the rolling road closest you'll get to 200bhp for under £2000 me-thinks!!

simpsonator · 20th November 2003, 22:32

Cheers atton,

I've been looking into the lad conversion and it seems pretty good.

I've just got to find a way of getting down there from deepest darkest dundee.

richsVTR · 21st November 2003, 04:14

imo the best option is :-

1,enclosed induction kit like procomp/green/bmc (£150-300)
2,btb 4-1 manifold (210inc vat/del)
3, full cat back system and de-cat, like btb or magnex,scorpion etc (£300-400)
thats ur breathing sorted which should give u a healthy rise in power.

next would be the major stuff
4, a hi-flow's stage 3 head
5, piper 285 degree cams
6, dastek unichip

ask the likes of keir or george(full_chat) they have done this sort of modifications with good power increases

hope that helps

CAGGSVTS · 21st November 2003, 15:30

i think i'll have to agree with Atton on this one mate!!

i've been lucky enough to bump into a lad who has had this conversion done and you would not be dissapointed. its absoulutely hilarious to find that type-r that was kissing your rear bumper is now a spec in the rear-view.

Keir · 21st November 2003, 16:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpsonator

Cheers atton,

I've been looking into the lad conversion and it seems pretty good.

I've just got to find a way of getting down there from deepest darkest dundee.

If you're in Scotland then there's no point going to LAD when there are better tuners with better reputations a lot closer to you.

I would suggest GMC and Hi Flow Heads - both have impeccable reputations and both are a lot closer to you!

There is a discount available at Hi Flow Heads if you speak to George Leake (Full_Chat_Guarenteed on the SSC forum) or contact me, I have his number.

Hi-Flow Heads

GMC are one of the best known Saxo tuning companies in the country and have built many s/c saxos and Dave Sharp's T/B'd beast.
They have a good reputation and know what they are doing.

GMC Motorsport

You're looking at £400 odd for the best Saxo exhaust money can buy, a BTB system from BTB.
Induction kit £150-£200
Manifold £200
Cams £600 + fitting
Dastek fitting and re-map £400

and I'd get some 285mm Hi-Spec brakes

Badda bing, you're money is spent.

Keir · 21st November 2003, 16:31

LAD conversions are known to be a 'little' optimistic to say the least. There is no way you will get close to 180 bhp with the modifications they perform, you will be much better off going to GMC and Hi Flow Heads

richsVTR · 21st November 2003, 23:43

its true about LAD i wouldnt bother wasting ur money, use gmc or hi-flow heads much safer option

simpsonator · 22nd November 2003, 17:56

Cheers guy,

That my question answered. I needed your expert opinions on the subject and considering everything you've said, I think I'll save up a bit longer and get the full blown supercharger...just gotta find something to sell now...oh Gran!!?
Any more views on my choice, good or bad, would be helpful.

madaxgt · 23rd November 2003, 05:51

you should ignore all this air filter sh*t to be honest they dont work. If your starting of tuning your car and you have 2k i would add throttle bodies and the exhaust system mentioned above i would recommend gmc.

with throttle bodies and a free flowing exhaust you will get more than this lot.
Induction kit £150-£200
Manifold £200
Cams £600 + fitting
Dastek fitting and re-map £400

then when you want to spend more you can upgrade the head and cams easily as a tb setup is ideal for this.

p.s. if you get tb's get gmc 180 degree trumpets otherwise you will loose quite a bit of midrange possibly.

MarkEB · 23rd November 2003, 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by madaxgt

you should ignore all this air filter sh*t to be honest they dont work. If your starting of tuning your car and you have 2k i would add throttle bodies and the exhaust system mentioned above i would recommend gmc.

I would recomemd what madaxgt says as i have jenvey throttle bodies and a DTA FAST race engine managment system in my mk2 vtr, besides other things....

atton · 24th November 2003, 04:45

After reading some of the above i gave GMC a call to see what they can offer,My god do they know their saxo's!!! i learnt soooo much its completely changed the way i'm going to tune my car, 4get LAD mate gmc are oop north and if u went in you would not be disappointed beleive everything they say give them your car and your 2 grand and you will be the happiest man in scotland... well until the power bug bites again that is!! Let us know what you decide on

Keir · 24th November 2003, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by madaxgt

you should ignore all this air filter sh*t to be honest they dont work. If your starting of tuning your car and you have 2k i would add throttle bodies and the exhaust system mentioned above i would recommend gmc.

with throttle bodies and a free flowing exhaust you will get more than this lot.
Induction kit £150-£200
Manifold £200
Cams £600 + fitting
Dastek fitting and re-map £400

then when you want to spend more you can upgrade the head and cams easily as a tb setup is ideal for this.

p.s. if you get tb's get gmc 180 degree trumpets otherwise you will loose quite a bit of midrange possibly.

No offence but you appear to have completely ignored his budget restraints.
He has a standard VTS and wants to know what tuning solutions can be offered for £2k

The GMC throttle body conversion will cost £1321 + vat (hence about £1552) and to run the conversion you require stand-alone management which when added to the cost of the actual hardware will blow the £2k budget by a massive amount!

So how do you expect him to afford the exhaust as well?!?!

Induction kit £150-£200
Manifold £200
Cams £600 + fitting
Dastek fitting and re-map £400

^^ these allied to an exhaust will get you in the region of 160 bhp and still leave you enough to get some uprated brakes (which you will need).

The cams will force more air into the combustion chamber, the Dastek will inject more petrol - bigger bang = more power, and if you get an enclosed induction kit then the air will be cooler, and therefore more dense, meaning a bigger bang still.

saxovtrjamii · 25th November 2003, 14:42

Everyone who says GMC are one of the greats aint lieing.
They are very helpful and I have one of their btb 4-1 manifold for my vtr and its does give a whole increase in power across the range,also ive got the magnex s/s full system zorst which is great to, decat coming in next few days so i hope that will add a little bit of power and alot more quality sounds. If anyone is wondering about the Ecotek, ive got one of them fitted and they are ok, but nothing special, tho throttle response is up.

Im in the same boat as ya man 2k, and ive had quotes from gmc and they seem to be the best around.
From them im goin for a 285 piper cam, vernier pulley, comp belt, maybe a comp head gasket, and get them to fit a good enclosed induction kit, and after that get them to fit a dastek unichip (there is a new dastek chip out, tho im not up on that yet so ill see when time comes which one will be fitted.)Rolling road that little lot and that should see my vtr up to around the 120 bhp mark, maybe a little more.

Gmc do head work aswell so thats an option to, but this little lot should cost around 1200 quid without zorst, decat which i have on already.

but go for gmc, they seem quality.

jay

Keir · 25th November 2003, 15:41

Be careful with GMC though.
John Dobson isn't known as 'Mr VAT' for no reason. All of the prices quoted on the GMC Motorsport website are excluding VAT. So you have to remember to add 17.5 % onto all the prices.

Example: Enclosed induction kit for VTS

ABPA 003 SAXO VTS - £148

The actual price will be £173.90

saxovtrjamii · 25th November 2003, 16:10

has anyone heard of Scole enginnering in suffolk or Clive thorpe tuning near Norwich???

Keir · 25th November 2003, 16:15

Nope

masevtr · 25th November 2003, 22:01

I have spoken to Andy at Hi flow heads and he knows his stuff, def recommend them and will be buying all my stuff their in the near future, prices are good and i have heard they have a good rep.

Would agree completly with what Keir is saying.

Keir · 26th November 2003, 15:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by masevtr

I have spoken to Andy at Hi flow heads and he knows his stuff, def recommend them and will be buying all my stuff their in the near future, prices are good and i have heard they have a good rep.

Would agree completly with what Keir is saying.

Remember to talk to George Leake (Full_Chat_Guaranteed) if you're an SSC member as you'll recieve a discount.