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1.6K Upgrade Route


Petrolhead

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I know this has been covered before but was wanting some clarification.

 

I have the std 1.6 K 115BHP engine with std exhaust and 5 speed box

 

I am looking to get to 160-170BHP and may need to do ths in stages.

 

My thought are that I do things in this order:

 

Exhaust - Powerspeed

ECU - Emerald

Throttle bodies - Jenvy

Cams - Piper BP285

Head - DA Modified

 

Any thoughts on above?

 

have I missed anything and is the order correct?

 

The car will be for road use only the engine need to remain tractable and reliable.

 

What concerns me is that I the gearbox is a week link and I would love a LSD so should I go ahead or wait for a SL. My car is mint and I have seen others that were described as mint only to see that they were tired and scruffy. So would I be better sticking with what I know and upgrading it?

 

Any pointers or advise would be greatfully recieved.

 

 

 

I'm back *biggrin*

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That is how I started.

Now have 200bhp and just changed gearbox to 6 speed with R500 flywheel and clutch.

Have spent a small fortune.

If I as going to do it again I would seriously think about changing car to Superlight/R400/R300 as you get more kit on those and also resale value will be greater.

 

You may also wish consider/add

change the hydraulic followers to solid

uprated valve springs

forged pistons

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Exhaust Agree with powerspeed (i've got one top choice!)

2nd step Verniers to correct timing!!!

then go see Dave Andrews (DVA Power), he'll probably advise emerald, head work? porting and maybe valves,however for 160-170 you won't have to go to those lenghts...yet!?, cams and throttle bodies.

 

But Gearbox is VERY important, either change the gearing in the 5 speed or shell out for the 6-speed 😬.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Martin

 

MW 51 CAT

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doingf all that (if you get bigger valves as well) will give you 190+ bhp.

 

160 bhp is doable with a spec lower of cam (633) and no porting. have a look at the dvapower website for details.

 

for more than that you should look at pistons as well.

 

HOOPY

R706KGU Hoopylight R

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Petrolhead,

 

I'm in exactly the same position...

 

I'v already had my Powerspeed exhaust fitted and it's settling in quite nicely. Looks good, sounds good and has given the engine a more relaxed feel too.

 

Next up is a visit to Dave Andrews at the end of August. My 2001 Roadsport is EU3 spec. and Dave still doesn't have the adaptors available to plug in the Emerald units. Instead, he has recommended, and I'm having fitted, the K13 driveability kit which is principally some hotter cams and headwork whilst retaining the factory ECU. This should give about 150 brake.

 

I've been thinking about and LSD too but will probably see how the car drives on 150 horses before making a decision on that. However, following a top blat yesterday my views on gearboxes have again changed. I had put the gearbox towards the bottom of my upgrade list but now its back near the top. In practice, I'm only using two gears on the road, save for 2nd into tight corners. First and fifth are redundant. So it's a question of saving enough notes for a Caterham box (unless a suitably-priced re-cog can be found).

 

Final thought: I've owned my car from new and although it would doubtless be cheaper to sell it and buy an SL/SLR, etc., I've decided that my (irrational) emotional attachment to it is stronger than the desire to reduce cash burn. So I'm going to keep it and upgrade instead. *biggrin*

 

 

Christian

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In a similar boat in so much as I have a 1.6K supersport - recently added the 4-2-1 racing exhaust which made a minor improvement - I was planning to go to DVA and get an emerald ECU plus Jenveys which would probably take it to 155 bhp but having done a recent track day at brands have to echo thoughts of Christian that the gearbox needs changed - for blatting around the 5speed is too wide with 1st too low and 5th just an overdrive - difficult to "use" all the available power. Have a suspicion that I don't need it and should concentrate on gears first.

 

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Rich - i'd like a copy of what you have had done (+ cost if you don't mind)

 

I've had my 1.6 supersport for 3 years now and have slowly upgraded as follows:

 

6 speed gearbox

widetrack suspension with adjustable platforms

powerspeed exhaust

racing brake master cylinder (otherwise standard brakes)

 

all of the upgrades have been a success

IMO the 6 speed box is a must to properly enjoy the car

the exhaust upgrade is in preparation for an engine upgrade and has given a noticeable improvement in performance on its own

 

like others, i'm sure it would be cheaper to trade in the car for an SLR (say) but upgrading is half the fun *biggrin*

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Hi Richard,

 

An interesting thread. I've stuck to the standard Caterham route and took up the Roadsport'A' upgrade offer over the winter.

 

This has left me with an LSD, 6 speed, supersport, comp exhaust etc. I must say I'm pretty pleased with the set up and I'm getting some decent results in speed events but I'm struggling against people with some serious power (i.e 180 bhp plus) so I'm looking for my next move.

 

I'm minded to stay in the Caterham camp and give Minister a call but that means fairly big bucks so I'm interested in your experience so a copy of your notes would be handy.

 

Thanks

 

Chris

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