Currently:

During February 2007 my car was at Stealth Racing having an extensive (and expensive) programme of restoration and upgrades.

The list of work included:

• new clutch and timing chains.
• head-off refresh with new valve stem seals.
• Schrick 268° cams.
• high compression metal head gasket.
• Schrick VGI (Variable Geometry Intake) dual-tract inlet manifold.
• Fidanza lightened flywheel.
• Custom engine remap (ditching the ChipStar) to Super Unleaded and a raised rev limit.
• Vibratechnics front engine mount.
• Custom Gaz Gold 2-way adjustable coil-over suspension.
• New front wishbones and track end rods.
• Vibratechnics front wishbone bushes.
• a 3.68 final drive to lower the gearing and improve acceleration.
• 288mm front brake upgrade with Golf Mk3 callipers, Brembo discs, Mintex pads and Goodrich braided hoses.
• New amplified radio aerial.

The car is now producing 226 bhp at the flywheel and 205 lb ft, and that was on month-old 95RON Unleaded with the car mapped for Super Unleaded. I would imagine it would be well into the 230's now it has had several tanks of V-Power and everything has loosened up. It would be nice to get it back onto a rolling road to see how much, but it isn't a high priority right now.

I also plan to source some 16" alloys but have so far been unable to find anything that I consider OEM+ as I want the car to retain the original look as much as possible. Speedline 2110 in 5x100 would be ideal but these are now out of production.

Edit: June 2008 - have had some fettling of the suspension by Julian of Balance Motorsport. Top chap, and highly recommended for his no-nonsense approach of "if it doesn't make it go faster, stop better or handle better, it's not worth doing". We raised the ride height to get the geometry right, including the all-important front lower wishbone angle, and the car is transformed. There is still some work to do, but it is a big step forward.

Previously:

In October 2000 I had some modifications done to the car by Stealth Racing and Automotive Developments (AmD). These were:

• ChipStar re-programmable "piggy-back" tuning controller (like a re-chip, but doesn't require you to open up the existing ECU).
• Gas-flowed enlarged throttle body.
• PiperCross induction kit.
• Zimmerman cross-drilled & vented front discs with Pagid fast-road performance pads.
• Koni top-adjustable dampers with matched H&R springs, 30mm lower than standard.

Power was increased to 201bhp (from a disappointing 184bhp, 6bhp less than the claimed output).  Torque was also up, from 181lb ft to 197lb ft.

Power dynoplot	Torque Dynoplot

Pipercross induction kit	Minor interior changes

I also made some minor trim changes in 2001 - a Momo Millennium steering wheel and some stainless steel sill plates.

In September 2002 I took the Pipercross off again and reverted to the standard airbox. After almost 2 years of noisy induction I'd had enough (and had a headache!). It was a very easy job, so I've kept the Pipercross to put back on for Track Days etc. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable difference in response or power between the induction kit and the airbox, to be honest.

The Zimmerman discs and Pagid pads eventually wore out and were replaced with the stock items that came off the car originally.

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