help!how should i spend 2k on my ae111

[TIM13]

have 2000 dollar saving to modifly my 96 bzg ae111 without supersturt.
plan: 1.a better suspension kit for handling performance(1500)
2.cool air box and exhaust muffle(500)

i have been reading forums is the message boards...hear that the exhaust modified do not have much gain.
also the suspension suggestion for lowing...

i don't want to be real low with my car.... just the best performance with the money....

aim: not a lot of hp.... impovement on existing standard only...

could people give me some advices and things to watch out for?.. thank you

[CozmoNz]

If its fairly stock i suggest:

Modify the existing 2:1 part of your headers, you can make quite a gain from this.
Cold air box, another quick gain
Remove cat, or gut cat
trd lowering springs + wheel alignment (1.0-1.5 neg camber on the front)
if your going for more handeling, freshen up your brakes, maybe some new rotors and pads, better responce through the pedel (depends how far you push your car).
new front strut brace, could be rungi and weld a tube between the struts at the rear (i dont think you can buy a bolt on rear strut brace..), new front and rear sway bars and poly bushes.


if you have any left, spend it on petrol .

[RBRCHKN]

buy a lada and do an engine transplant on the ae111

LADA POWER!!!!!

[Leon]

springs, shocks and a bigger rear sway bar

[Caveman]

buy a lada and do an engine transplant on the ae111

LADA POWER!!!!!

GO THE LADA

[TIM13]

yap...sounds good...but don't wanna changing engine now...... i want to impove my skills first..... no enough to handle the high hp....
i was just wondering if i should change the standard shock to a better one and buy a better spring(well TRD is good).....i don't want to spend $500 on ceft(WASTE OF MONEY) what sort of shocks or damper kit should get... how much am i looking at? where is the best place to get those aftermarket part for my car?
thank you guys

[Mr Revhead]

you need:

TRD springs
TRD shocks
Whiteline adjustable rear swaybar

all of which i can supply (see my sig)

then a good K&N filter, and a better 2-1 exhaust section.
will make it a damn fun car to drive

[TIM13]

thank you for the advices..... i have send u a e-mail about the parts...just another concern about the front struct bar..... there is a factor one in it... do i need to raplace it or spend the money in else where? AND is my 15 inch ENKI mags good enough to use?

[AceSniper]

15's are fine go for decent 205/50/15 rubber tho, freshen up your sway bar bushes, dont gut your cat! replace it with a resignator (might pay to keep the cat incase of law change) center muffler is straight through so from any point after that get new pipe onto a good flowing n/a muffler, get your front bake rotors skimed and get some semi-race compound brake pads, replace your brake fluid with super dot 4, replace gear oil and coolent replace thermostat... afew imports I see have never had this stuff replaced.

Im not fully sure but for a non superstrut replacing the swaybar with a superstrut one might be a upgrade... I think they are thicker.

[bad20v]

Im not fully sure but for a non superstrut replacing the swaybar with a superstrut one might be a upgrade... I think they are thicker.

Are you sure a s/strut bar will fit on a non s/strut?



And....

P.S: TIM13 : Ignore CozmoNz, with his 'gains' from changing things. They are not as dramatic as he makes them out to be. Leave the front exhaust sections alone. Do what AceSniper said with the rest of the exhaust.
A cold-airbox and cold-air induction will help, and can be made easily if you have a bit of mechanical know-how. Change your air intake with either a aftermarket panel or pod filter from a reputable brand. Not a Repco 'special' item.
New 8mm leads, new plugs and a decent oil flush and change.An aftermarket strut brace that joins the two front struts together with help with structural rigidity. About $99.00 from RAW Motorworks on TradeMe. Dont do the 'rangi' weld job like CozmoNz said, thats just dumb! Its an ae111 not a chevette!
Connact Mr Revhead and get new TRD shocks and springs from him, as even though your ae111 is fairly new, it can be surprizing what a freshen up will do to your handling. The rear swaybar from Whiteline is brilliant!
Upgrade your suspension bushes as well with urathane items from SuperPro or Nolathane.
* Front/rear sway bar bushes.
* Front Lower Control Arm bushes
* Rear Trailing Arm Bushes
As for your wheels, 15's are fine. Just make sure you have tyres that are, at the least, of a H speed rating. Anything lower is just not worth fitting.

With all this done properly, your car will feel alot better and will handle alot better than it does now. And you should have some change left over from your $2000.

[Leon]

I also can't say enough good things about the whiteline rear sway bars. I have one on my AE92, friends run them on their EP71 and EP81 Starlets, and we all have been absolutely blown out of the water by the incredible turn in they have given us.

Oh yeah, also never underestimate the advantage of getting a wheel alignment by somebody who really knows their business. So get a recomendation of somewhere really good, don't just go to the nearest tire shop.

[bad20v]

Oh yeah, also never underestimate the advantage of getting a wheel alignment by somebody who really knows their business. So get a recomendation of somewhere really good, don't just go to the nearest tire shop.

Yeah, forgot to put that in. Good call Leon. Cheers.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah, and MAKE SURE they listen to you. you DONT want factory specs, you want less camber at the rear and more on the front.
say 1deg on the front and .5 on the rear, thats what i run my ae101 at.
iirc they run .3 on the front and 1.3 on the rear. which is nuts

changing the 2-1 section does make a difference, the rest of the exhaust isnt too bad...

[Adamal]

I'd go with suspension upgrade. Personally, I wouldn't spend money on a muffler alone. I'd go for a full exhaust upgrade.
It's a bit of a catch .22 though, as you'd usually do exhaust upgrades to match the modifactions to your engine, yet its typically one of the first things that people do... Haha

So yea, improve handling and handling skills. I think you've got a good mentality and mindset there

[TIM13]

firstly thanks for AceSniper's advice .... i was worried about the law chang on cat too... and my gear oil and coolent have not been replace since factory released..... that is what the guy told too.... a lot of car never change them......my brake pad is fine at the moment... should i change my brake disc or pads to bigger ones....are they too expensive?

and thank you for bad20v.... i have just done a service and change my oil to 10w40w....i don't know much about the cold-airbox constraction...i might need to get a shop to do it for me....my pod filter is apexi ....and i am not sure about the 8mm lead.... are they all the same with different brands.... they cost about $400...do they worth getting...the plugs r platinum from factory.... the struct bar is selling special in beyond 2 i think....$50( might be wrong)...for the suspension bushes how much r they...my tyres are toyo t1s and proxes 4...they are all right i think..
about the withline rear sway bars and the alignment advice..thanks Leon and bad20v...i will get something better then...
for Mr Revhead's advice.... i have sent a e-mail to u about the trd suspensions and i do not have enough knowlege about he camber adjustment ... do u mean the angel of front and rear bars?

[TIM13]

hi thank you for ur advice Adamal....
the suspension upgrad will be the first thing to do on my car.. exhaust system as i have known from above people's advice.... the original factory spec is ok with the front(at least the 4-2)and the piping as i have known is better than ae101....i just need to upgrade some part of the exhaust system without spending too much on good full system...i think they cost 1500 from japan...APEXI one(full system)....i have seen so many clashing from my friend and handling skill is the most importan first step.... i will do my best to learn step by step first...thx

[TIM13]

o..i have noticed the camber means.... the wheel alignment......yap i will definlily do that after the suspension kit upgraded....if i have money left... i will spend it on my cluch... the standard one is just too soft for high revs...

[bad20v]

Cold-air box's aren't too hard too make, this is my one:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/ba ... NTAKE1.bmp
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/ba ... NTAKE2.bmp

Really easy to make and works very well.

If your going to upgrade your brakes, get the disc's skimmed and get some EBC Greenstuff Pads. Great for the road and the track.

As for the bushes; ring SAS (Shock Absorber Services), Autolign or Stocks for prices. SAS do the Whiteline swaybars as well.

[Mr Revhead]

you will need to get a wheel alignment when you fit the springs/shocks
if you get someone to do it, an alignment should be part of the quote.

the stock clutch should be ok, unless your being really hard on it.
youll have your prices soon

[TIM13]

hello thank you for the photo... now i might understand how the cold air box works..... it just stop the hot air from engine side .... how can i buy the metal pieces from.. what material r they....