£300 to spend on 172 Cup mods, what to do?

ukaskew · Dec 4, 2005

Got about £300 (£400 at a push) to spend on the Cup, whats the best thing to go for? Everything is currently completely standard apart from an ITG panel filter and all bulbs changed.

Hillpower Induction kit is in my thoughts at the moment as apparently thats around £300. Coilovers are out of my budget but I could go for springs and a strut brace, not sure what the benefits of springs are on roads though apart from the visual enhancement.

K-Tec Stealth exhaust is an option, especially as I will eventually need to replace the current one when it fails anyway! Would rather save this for another day though, perhaps next Summer.

Any thoughts? Saving it and adding a few hundred extra in the future is completely out of the question so £350ish is absolute max.

BenR · Dec 4, 2005

Witout pushing anything, but i would opt for a modified inlet manifold. This has constantly prooven itself as the single largest gaining modificaiton for what is literally beans.

mattrt · Dec 4, 2005

beans, surely growing something in your engine bay wouldnt create much? unless you were running the car on oxygen and you were using the power of photosynthesis, but then youd need light to them....... hmmmmm

il stop now

yeecup · Dec 4, 2005

when i had my cup one of the first mods i did was uprated lowering springs lowered it 35mm as they sit way to high standard and are a bit on the soft side made a huge difference both in looks and handling and only costs roughly £150 fitted. then get yourself a stainless exhaust nice sound and looks better with a tailpipe showing rather than hidden away imo.

Phill1978 · Dec 4, 2005

yeecup said:
when i had my cup one of the first mods i did was uprated lowering springs lowered it 35mm as they sit way to high standard and are a bit on the soft side made a huge difference both in looks and handling and only costs roughly £150 fitted. then get yourself a stainless exhaust nice sound and looks better with a tailpipe showing rather than hidden away imo.

hmm.. matter of opinion a discreet one with hillpower means you can quietly cruise around unoticed then roar when you need to (although not near grannies as they mite die with the savage noise the hillpower makes)

Andy GDI · Dec 4, 2005

do you want noise??

power??

handling??

whats the most important thing at this stage??

ukaskew · Dec 4, 2005

Andy GDI said:
do you want noise??

power??

handling??

whats the most important thing at this stage??

Bit more noise would be nice but only when I'm accelerating hard, don't want anything boomy when idle or at low speeds (which is why I thought a nice IK would be a good idea), I commute in it so I need some rest occasionally!

If going down the springs route I quite fancy going a little bit lower but not slammed or anything, and don't want an unbelievably hard ride. Any springs worthy of my requirements out there?

Whatever I go for I'm willing to travel to get it done properly, I'm hopeless in a mechanical sense so I'm more than happy to have a day out at K-Tec/Hillpower wherever as long as its not up-proper North (I'm in Wiltshire!)

Phill1978 · Dec 4, 2005

ukaskew said:
Bit more noise would be nice but only when I'm accelerating hard, don't want anything boomy when idle or at low speeds (which is why I thought a nice IK would be a good idea), I commute in it so I need some rest occasionally!

If going down the springs route I quite fancy going a little bit lower but not slammed or anything, and don't want an unbelievably hard ride. Any springs worthy of my requirements out there?

Whatever I go for I'm willing to travel to get it done properly, I'm hopeless in a mechanical sense so I'm more than happy to have a day out at K-Tec/Hillpower wherever as long as its not up-proper North (I'm in Wiltshire!)

i was suprised with the hillpower, no extra noise unless you floor it from low revs or your really motoring, easy to install also

ukaskew · Dec 4, 2005

meggerman said:
i was suprised with the hillpower, no extra noise unless you floor it from low revs or your really motoring, easy to install also

Sounds perfect for me to be honest, looks fantastic as well. Will probably give them a call early January and get one ordered.

When you say easy to install how easy do you mean? Just a case of removing the current box and pipe, then replacing it and putting the air feed down near the front grill? Is it a wheel-off job like the Maxogen?

Phill1978 · Dec 4, 2005

ukaskew said:
Sounds perfect for me to be honest, looks fantastic as well. Will probably give them a call early January and get one ordered.

When you say easy to install how easy do you mean? Just a case of removing the current box and pipe, then replacing it and putting the air feed down near the front grill? Is it a wheel-off job like the Maxogen?

easy remove standard box, keep standard feed, cut out a bit of plastic behind front bumper grill thats part of the radiator cover and use cable ties to attached the tight fitting intake boot to the front lower grill, use the aupplied 60mm ducting straight upto the open side and tie the pipes with clips to keeps them secured running both feeds into the open side ! 1hr job for me and im a complete spoon at that sort of thing, get the front lifted up proper as you will need to be under the car so two jacks on either side. also remember to put handbreak on and put in in first.

anyways increase in economy for me, its completley silent unless you cain it or blip in low revs just to sound cool and after a while you think its a sound thats always been there.
bit pricey but i got mine 2nd hand for like £150 !

haitch · Dec 4, 2005

id stick with the panel filter and get some springs, eibachs maybe, more fun to be had with them than an ik

hkka · Dec 4, 2005

my theory is - start from the bottom to top. Therefore, tyres, then suspension.

But if you want speed, go for chips. It is simple and noticeable.

drsmith · Dec 4, 2005

id be tempted to stick with the ITG panel filter and jump on our 'k-tec' exhaust group buy, then either go for the sports cat or BenR's inlet manifold work, be a little more than £400 but worth it no doubt?

wide · Dec 5, 2005

i'd go for a hillpower silicon inlet bend £50 to go with your itg panel filter & benr's inlet manifold work £180 & eibach sportsline springs £134 = £364. then you'll have increased power & torque & handling, not bad for £364 say £50 for spring fitting, all in just over £400 & when you next save up a s/s catback zaust.

Andy GDI · Dec 5, 2005

Pipercross panel filter
Eibach springs.
adjustable camber bolts.. (1.5 degrees should see a nice turn in)

rmccardal · Dec 5, 2005

ITG panel filter !!!!

You luuurv pipercross.

Andy GDI said:
Pipercross panel filter
Eibach springs.
adjustable camber bolts.. (1.5 degrees should see a nice turn in)

EVOgone · Dec 5, 2005

GET A KONI SUSPENSION KIT FROM TWEEKS WITH DISCOUNT £330 approx... THIS WITH TRANSFORM YOUR CAR.....!!!

DO IT, DONT JUST GET SPRINGS..!

Tucks · Dec 5, 2005

^^^^^
Get the Suspension kit & Take the back seats out!

Ali · Dec 5, 2005

Andy GDI said:
Pipercross panel filter
Eibach springs.
adjustable camber bolts.. (1.5 degrees should see a nice turn in)

And save some money for new tyres!

EVOgone · Dec 5, 2005

EVOgone said:
GET A KONI SUSPENSION KIT FROM TWEEKS WITH DISCOUNT £330 approx... THIS WITH TRANSFORM YOUR CAR.....!!!

DO IT, DONT JUST GET SPRINGS..!

BUMP^^^^^^^

ukaskew · Dec 5, 2005

Blimey! A few things to consider there, suspension kit sounds interesting. Will do some research and see what I think. Cheers everyone.

MATT BLACK · Dec 5, 2005

Dont touch the cup suspension you will have to spend £400 to get a set up as good as the standard cup suspension. Get your self one of the following and then add to it at a later date

R-Sport ECU - 0208 540 9991 £280

Piper cams hillpower - http://www.hillpower.co.uk/ 01530 273633 £290

gas flowed inlet manifold - hillpower

viper ram air - k-tec racing http://www.k-tecracing.com/

de-cat.....anyone with a hacksaw and a welder

Personally i would go for the ECU 1st ( GDI do them as well ) then over a period of time have the rest done. The difference will be extremely noticeable.

ben_p · Dec 5, 2005

ditto that, is that price cams fitted matt?

Floodie · Dec 5, 2005

Sorry to hijack... is the Rsport ecu similar to Superchip?. My cars "schipped" but would be worried about adding cams and doing the inlet mod incase it erm, runs lean (have i got that right?) - thought you needed to go down the SMT route when messing with the cams and inlet

MATT BLACK · Dec 5, 2005

The r-sport ECU is mapped to take the mods. I had all the above on mine and with a little help from gas i was running mid 13' on the strip. If youve got more money to play with contact Andi at GDi for more info on ECU's and re-maps

Floodie · Dec 5, 2005

Thanks J3ned your a star mate... would you say it would be dodgy keeping the superchip and adding those cams and inlet work? - i take it the superchip ISNT capable, or able to cope with those mods... why pay for an rsport if my schip would be fine... ta!

Andy GDI · Dec 5, 2005

any off the shelf chip is not going to cut it with other mods done.. its really needs mapping to suit the car and its spec.

Andy GDI · Dec 5, 2005

AJRMOTORSPORT said:
And save some money for new tyres!

its not a massive camber adjustment..

some guys are running over 3 degrees .... but if your not wanting to drive that much round corners then leave it std...

Guy · Dec 5, 2005

whats peoples opinions on the piper cams from hillpower compared to the AWT billet cams?

Floodie · Dec 5, 2005

Andy GDI said:
any off the shelf chip is not going to cut it with other mods done.. its really needs mapping to suit the car and its spec.

Cheers Andy... isnt the Rsport considered as an "off the shelf chip" tho which j3ned said was alright? or do i have the wrong end of the stick

Andy GDI · Dec 5, 2005

Piper cams are regrinds, (nless they are billet as wel) we sell them as well but have decided not to use them as they dont have a large enough BCD which means there are gaps at the low point between the lobe and the roller follower...

so they tap!

Guy · Dec 5, 2005

ah right.. been there with the old tappety piper 285 cam in my old car and it was aweful. sounded like a ford CVH.. lol

yeah i noticed on the piper rebsite theywere regrinds - bit offputting

whats the price incl fitting of a set of AWT billet cams?

Ali · Dec 5, 2005

I'd be interested in cams aswell...Jus canny get down to cambridge...

Guy · Dec 5, 2005

give me the money and i'll get them for you

in my car

:clown:

EVOgone · Dec 5, 2005

j3ned said:
Dont touch the cup suspension you will have to spend £400 to get a set up as good as the standard cup suspension. Get your self one of the following and then add to it at a later date

R-Sport ECU - 0208 540 9991 £280

Piper cams hillpower - http://www.hillpower.co.uk/ 01530 273633 £290

gas flowed inlet manifold - hillpower

viper ram air - k-tec racing http://www.k-tecracing.com/

de-cat.....anyone with a hacksaw and a welder

Personally i would go for the ECU 1st ( GDI do them as well ) then over a period of time have the rest done. The difference will be extremely noticeable.

What a load of crap. My Koni kit took an afternoon to put on and the only thing to adjust is to ensure the tracking is done (had the camber checked so they were not miles out but you have very little advustment anyways).

Gain was around 10 second arround the n/ring. Remap would make about 1 or 2 sec difference max.

Oh a set of DS2500 pads and some race fluid will reduce by more than a re-map too.

Why is everyone bothered abouot 10bhp when brakes and suspension give you 10 times the improvement.

EVOgone · Dec 5, 2005

EVOgone said:
What a load of crap. My Koni kit took an afternoon to put on and the only thing to adjust is to ensure the tracking is done (had the camber checked so they were not miles out but you have very little advustment anyways).

Gain was around 10 second arround the n/ring. Remap would make about 1 or 2 sec difference max.

Oh a set of DS2500 pads and some race fluid will reduce by more than a re-map too.

Why is everyone bothered abouot 10bhp when brakes and suspension give you 10 times the improvement.

The car is a 172 cup and the difference is chalk and cheese after the suspension was done. Big set-up is for coilovers but they are 600quid + Koni Kit 330 max.

ben_p · Dec 5, 2005

how ofteen is goin to the ring though? our roads are shite, standard setup with apex springs would do for any "steet racer" a bit of noise and power is a far bettrer option,

Dave H · Dec 5, 2005

I would fit the 'go faster' stripe from the 182 !!!!!

Could a Cup go much faster??

jon_r · Dec 5, 2005

Personally i'd spend the £300 on two trackdays, book some instruction and improve your driving.

A decent driver with 150bhp will destroy a crap driver with 250bhp.

Your 172 Cup has ample power as it is and handles superbly already, spend your money on something usefull.

Chris n nic · Dec 5, 2005

But not everyone is going to be going to Ring a few times a year m8.....faster can mean different things to different people...I got a 15 sec dead in my std cup on the 1/4 mile....£500 later I got 14.1....surely this would make more than a second difference over a 14 mile track? Obviously the susp makes a difference but driving around duel carriageways etc it isn`t going to make the same difference as on a track

Chris

£300 to spend on 172 Cup mods, what to do?

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