I’ve had my 2005 mk2.5 arctic 1.8 for a couple of years now and have already put on an ilmotorsport midpipe, cobalt single exit muffler, full polybushes front and rear including engine and diff mounts and welded/undersealed the chassis. I also already have good quality all-season tyres (its used year round) on the super heavy stock arctic wheels, alignment is done and all routine maintenance and servicing is up to date.
I am looking for the next best bang-for-buck mod. I have £1-1500 and am wondering what would give me the most improvement to how the car feels (not necessarily faster but feels better/more fun to drive).
I am considering:
Enkei RPF1 15x7 or 16x7 with summer tyres
Coilovers
Rollbar
Anti roll bars
Bucket seats
Torsen LSD
I am considering taking the car to trackdays when i have more free time later in the year but again I am not fussed about making it faster for that.
One important thing to note is that I am a student with limited disposable income, that means that it will take quite a while to save enough money to do more mods so if you think particular things should be done in-conjunction with eachother, they should be done together now.
Any advice is welcome along with suggestions for things I haven’t mentioned.
You;ve got more “disposable income” than me, and its been 27 years since I could described myself as a student (living on a £4200 PhD studentship).
I would consider a 4P rollbar, thicker, but not tubular ARBs and adjustable droplinks. And the left over money spent on trackday lessons and your own lid.
I’ve had my Madge for four years the only non standard item on her is the stainless steel cat back exhaust which I had fitted when the old unit started falling apart.
I use her for occasional track day, hill climbs and sprints.
If you are not feeling any direction in which you want to go with mods I would seriously recommend you spend the money getting your driving skills level up to a point where you do feel the direction you want to go with mods.
The real difference in the ability to go fast is in you and will never be in your car.
The best money spent on the car is always on the big nut behind the wheel. With that upgraded, you’ll have more confidence in the way the car behaves and what to do when it does anything else.
Recognising that you’re primarily interested in upgrades to the machine itself, I’d still say spend on driver mods and then work out where you think the car needs help once you’ve done that.
For the feel of the car, All Season tyres are going to give you understeer before you would desire it, and light wheels will make it feel far more lithe. You don’t have to be spending the £250 or what ever they cost on RPF1 though.
