Recent developements with my car (tidy)

[tidy protege]

Well as promised i said i would keep you guys and girls updated on my once bland and boring 323's transformation into my dream protege.

As many of you know i have been driving around some months now with a half finished looking car with the sp20 front bar but missing the rest of the kit.

As of about 8 days ago i now have tidy back with the rest of the kit and a set of satin black tailights thanks to he guys at burg design in melbourne.

The car came up better than i was anticipating and costed more than i was planning, but the results speak for them self.

Today i went to Sydney and i got the aspect of my performance goals done at liverpool exhausts. I was planning on getting a set of pacemaker headers but have decided to track down a set of headers that have higher dyno proven power gains, Today i had a 2/1/4" catback mandrel bent exhaust system fitted with 2 medium sized resonators and a medium sized cannon fitted to the rear of the car.

Initially i was a little disappointed as it appeared like i had lost alot of down low torque and the cabin drone was something shocking. Good news is the exhaust has started to quieten a little and my car seems to be finding that low end i thought i had lost. I took the car for a spin a little over an hour again and although a small performance modification, it has brought out a new feel in the cars responsiveness and accelleration that i really like.

It has pleasent sound and has made the car much more snappier with its take offs. After this small performance mod i have the urge to given tidy some more muscles and im really lookingfoward to see what the future holds for my car.

Here is a link to my cars profile, i will put up some updated shots soon with the exhaust system on it:

http://www.astinagt.com/forums/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=582

[twilightprotege]

sounds good!.......but what header???

try resetting the ecu to speed up the ecu learning of the exhaust mod

[chicaboo]

Hey Craig,

Nice to see things coming along mate. But if you want a higher peak power header than the Pacemaker, you'll probably have to pay $500usd+++ for the AWR like Andrew, Kurt and Arden have. My OBX costs half as much, and just seems to boost power everywhere, but mostly in the low to mid power range most noticeably. I can't even say for sure it's better at the top end, but I am making 13kW more at ~6000rpm, so it must be ok, but just not as good as the AWR or Pacemaker. Don't forget you'll need a new midpipe and cat for it all to work the best it can...

[Fro-Daddy]

looky what i just found :)

http://www.pacemaker.com.au/npdec2003B.htm

[chicaboo]

Actually I just remembered that 1.8s need a new midpipe with headers no matter what. Unless you get the Hitech full kit, maybe? But you're better off getting it done anyhow...

[tidy protege]

I was thinking along the line of either the obx or Awr headers, im not overly keen about buying the pacemakers because i havent seen or heard much about them. Where as with the OBX headers you Gav have made a 13kw gain and snerts and andrews results speak for them selves.

As far as the ECU learning i can already start to feel it, when i was driving around sydney the car wasnt going all that well and on the trip home i started to feel the car loosen up. I have gone for 2 good drivings tonight and i really can feel the car coming into its element as fair as the exhaust goes. The power is stronger, more direct smooth and conscise than before and i can feel greater gains than i did with my 1st 323, but this new exhaust system is miles less restrictive than the ones i had on my blue car.

Another good thing is, after driving both my car and my brothers car back to back i think they would be extremely even, which is what has really made my day, because it was frustrating him always having that edge on me before i had my exhaust done.

[chicaboo]

Craig, if you get the AWR headers, make sure you don't get the funky batch that had the primaries sitting out too far, they won't clear the A/C fan. But hopefully these have all been recalled and you won't have any problems.

Things to watch out for: The OBX have very short primaries that sit close to the engine. So close infact they almost touch the radiator plumbing to the water pump, on mine they appear to miss be less than 1mm. With the OBX you will need to weld a cap on a nut over the external EGR bung, and also put a bolt into the internal bung for the 2nd EGO sensor we don't have on the 1.8s...
The AWR have a bit of a dogleg EGR hose that comes off one of the primaries and sticks out to the left. I guess you could cap it the same as OBX or have it ground off and closed if you don't see yourself on-selling to a SP20 owner down the track. I don't know where the 2nd EGO sensor is on the AWR, but it should be the same story once again.
Whoever fits them, in the case of OBX make sure they rub the headers down with something to remove all traces of oil, etc before you start the car and drive off. Otherwise you have smack hand marks all over them for eternity until you polish the living **** out of them.
Yeah, and the midpipe on the 1.8 is shorter too, so you need to budget for that and the cat like I said earlier.

Are you gonna put up some piccies so we can see how the canon fits in the rear skirt?

[BigBoyLemonade]

Cars looking good! maybe grab a NOS kit for the strip... Its the best money for performance upgrade. Just don't use it on the street.

[pr1mo]

yep looking much better with the full kit now on. just out of curiosity. i have perfect 4 stud mags with the right offset for a 1.8BJ. what would be the easier option.

A: buy a 1.8 and SP20 kit + my mags and BA springs etc.

OR

B: buy a SP20 and look for someone to do a hub/brake swap?

[goldsp]

easiest option primo would be to buy mags to fit an sp20. much much cheaper option.

as the sp20 kit goes into thousands and a hub swap is about around150-250 a corner i think. and you want the brake swap too which will bring the price for the conversion well over the price for a new set of rims to suit your sp20.

[tidy protege]

I think the hub swap as jonno has said is probably the best path, it will be a much cheaper alternative and all those added little goodies the sp20 has over the 1.8 really do add up, my kit supplied, fitted and painted brand new was roughly around the 3 grand mark, then the 2.0 liter has the sp20 interior which is worth a motza, the abs, strut brace and more torquier motor.

In hindsight it posibly would have been cheaper if i had just gone out and brought an sp20, but tidy was so new with so little kays and already had a few goodies on it, i decided to take the more expansive and time consuming path. It was money well spent however not a cheap path to follow.

[chicaboo]

Methinks Mike (pr1mo) is being a smartarse?

[pr1mo]

no im not.

ive got 17 x 7"s with ET45 + suitible springs and my sis has a 1.8 protege

[chicaboo]

Ahhh, if they are 4x100 +45, it sounds like a worthwhile upgrade to sista girls car.

[pr1mo]

hehe yep and $450 a pop without tyres :(

i dont know of too many 5 stud mags with the perfect offset for the SP20 either

[butters323]

tidys car is hot. just thought id imput to wat burgs already knows. respect ma man

[chicaboo]

Mike, anything between +42 and +48 should work well, hell +38 will work with the right tyre combination, but your pushing **** uphill and limiting your options... Plenty of options in the 4stud wheels to suit those offsets though.

[tidy protege]

tidys car is hot. just thought id imput to wat burgs already knows. respect ma man

thanks man, it looks alot better now with the exhaust at the back

[chicaboo]

Pics of exhaust?

[tidy protege]

Not yet, tidy is a little dirty so once i give her a clean ill get some more pics happening, so you guys can expect to see them on say wensday or thursday cause the car is back off to sydney tommorow.

[tidy protege]

Heres a shot of my muffler so far after a quick wash:

http://www.ozmazdaclub.com/forums/photogallery/albums/userpics/my%20cannon.JPG

[mazdamanik]

tip looks very schmik dude....now it looks complet:D

[goldsp]

its friggen loud and burbles sweet too

[butters323]

orgasmic

[chicaboo]

That fits the cutout nice mate, is it a 3.5 or 4" tip?

[Fro-Daddy]

looks pretty good...

[tidy protege]

thanks for the good feedback guys, not much left to do on the exterior now, maybe a little lower and jonno has thrown the idea in my mind of some new window tint.

[goldsp]

nah second thoughts dont go mirror tint yours looks good and its brand new still really

[platypus]

as the sp20 kit goes into thousands and a hub swap is about around150-250 a corner i think. sounds about right... add another $80 if the inner bearing race stays on the outer hub...
at least the brakes are the same!!!

[goldsp]

yeh hub conversion is not cheap

[pr1mo]

5 stud to 4 stud in my case you could find someone willing todo a swap for free i imagine and youde give em the 5 stud 16"s for their troubles

[goldsp]

and if anyone needed some sp20 bj2 rims i got some , hehehe make the 1.8 a full sp20 with the sp20 rims tooo

[mazdamanik]

dont do mirror tint cops will defect you....also if u have coloured or paterns ull get defected....only aloud 35% black or lighter

[platypus]

i thinik when they say mirror they mean like high metallic grade film.....