Category: Highlight

  • Used Modified Cars Under £10,000 in 2018

    Summer’s right around the corner, meaning many people will be looking to switch their car of choice. If you are looking at buying a modified car, and have a budget of under £10,000, we’ve compiled our top ten list using cars for sale today.

    This list compiles our favourite ten modified cars for under 10k. This list should give you the inspiration you need to find that perfect summer car. Included in our list is a wide variety of cars, from full show cars, to lightly modified motors.

    1 – Volkswagen Scirocco GT Tdi 170 – £7,700

    VW Scirocco For Sale Under £10,000

    If you are looking for a bit of get up and go from a modified car, along with German build quality, then this tastefully modified VW Scirocco is ideal. Sitting on Eibach springs and 19″ AVRS Alloys, this car is totally stock under the hood. The Autovogue bodykit and custom exhaust build make this car stand out from the crowd visually.

    View the full listing here.

    2 – Audi A3 Air ride – £6,300

    Audi A3 For Sale

    Another German hatchback, and that isn’t a bad thing. Looks, German engineering, reliability & practicality. All things that are sought after in when buying a used car. This example stands out from the crowd with it’s air ride suspension. And a remapped 1.2 engine means it has some poke for a small engined car!

    View the full listing here.

    3 – Ford Focus ST Mk2 – £7,000

    Ford Focus ST For Sale

    We’re going with another hatchback for our third pick, however this one originates from Ford. The ever so popular Focus ST Mk 2 to be precise. This Focus ST is a monster, pushing 330bhp and 408ft lbs of torque thanks to its Dreamscience tuned engine. It backs up those power figures by looking the part with it’s Air Lift suspension and Schmidt alloys.

    View the full listing here.

    4 – VW Polo 6R – £7,500

    VW Polo For Sale

    Number 4 goes to our cover car and this show ready Polo looks drop dead gorgeous. Sitting on bagged suspension, this Polo has R32 body panels, Audi alloys, and a custom R32 style exhaust. This is real head turner, while maintaining practical.

    View the full listing here.

    5 – BMW E92 320D – £5,995

    Modified BMW 3 series for sale

    We are taking a break from the practical hatchbacks with our next pick and going coupe. If you are looking for a modified German Coupe, then it wont be long before you stumble across the E92 BMW. There are plenty of these around, and many have been modified. Although this one, with it’s Matt Gold wrap really stands out from the crowd. Other than the wrap, this tame 320D has been remapped, and sits on 19″ Quantum S1 alloys.

    View the full listing here.

    6 – Audi A5 Xclusive Performance – £9,995

    Audi A5 For Sale

    Continuing the theme of German coupes, our next pick is the mighty Audi A5. This one has been heavily modified by Xclusive Performance. Giving it a whole new wide bodykit, alloys, exhaust and various RS5 finishes. If you are looking for a completed project car then this is a great pick, as all work has been completed by a professional garage to a high standard. This car is a steal for under £10,000.

    View the full listing here.

    7 – Audi A5 – £8,250

    Audi A5 For Sale

    Two Audi A5’s in a row? Yes, well this one is for those who like their cars a little more stock and original. This car crams in the modifications with Stance+ Ultra Coilovers, a set of sweet 19” Rotiform CCV rims and a stage 1 remap performed byMOTECH PERFORMANCE to name a few. Also you’ll spot a bevy of RS5 body parts and you’ll sure hear it coming with a centre box delete.

    View the full listing here.

    8 – Bagged VW Bora – £2,900

    Vw Bora For Sale

    This VW Bora is a retro pick, and a favourite of ours. It sits absolutely perfectly on Air Lift AutoPilot V2 creating that iconic slammed look, and the bagged suspension setup and rims on this car cost just as much as the sale price! This Volkswagen is an absolute steal for just shy of £3k.

    View the full listing here.

    9 – Nissan 350z GT – £8,000

    Nissan 350z For Sale

    If you love your car to stand out of the crowd, you can’t nail it as much as with this Orange 350z. This modified 350z is finished in a factory orange, and has plenty of alterations to make it unique. You can start with a full sports suspension setup, with genuine Nissan GTR wheels, a host of Nismo upgrades, engine remap and a full Scorpion Exhaust system. This is a real head turner.

    View the full listing here.

    9 – VW Golf Mk3 Show Car – £5,200

    VW Golf For Sale

    We’re rounding out our list strongly with this stunning Golf Mk3 show car. This Golf is custom from front to back, riding on Airlift Air Ride installed by the guys over at Only Charged Dubs. On the outside is a new paint job in VW Peppermint Green, with custom smoothed panels, and moving inside you’ll find a Genuine Quick release Neochrome NRG steering wheel, along with reworked Cream leather and vintage touches. To top it all off, this Golf has hardly any miles on it for it’s age, as it’s been used as a show car! You really wont find many custom cars this clean for under £10,000.

    View the full listing here.

    Source

  • Nissan S15 Car Build – Staying N/A

    About 3 years ago i picked up an N/A S14 and I did a few bits to it. I drove it every day for about a year and a half. I had the desire to give the S14 a turbo so I picked up a T25 and all of the other bits I needed and just bolted them to the N/A engine. It worked really well, making fairly decent power on the WCP dyno but in all honesty I regretted it almost instantly. It had lost all of the fun of the N/A. This was one of the main reasons I sold it. Below you can see the beauty.

    Modified Nissan S14

    Once I sold it I knew I was going to have to get back in another N/A s-body, so about 2 months ago I saw an N/A s15 up for sale which was still in Japan. There and then I knew I had to get it so put a deposit down on it. Timing worked out well, the S15 landed on the Tuesday and the Jeep I was running sold on the Friday. So on the Saturday after work I headed straight to the garage and picked it up. The pictures he had originally sent me showed a fairly decent car but when i got there I was blown away by how good the car actually was, so that was a really nice surprise. This was it when i was picking it up.

    Modified Nissan S15 Stock

    I only had it for a week and was away from home most of the time, so I got very little time to spend on the car unfortunately, but I did get to service it and got to have a better look underneath. I was delighted with how clean it was.

    Modified Nissan S15 Under

    I picked up some nice big Brembo brakes off an Evo 7, with drilled and grooved discs and a pair of Nismo front lower arms to go along with them. A huge improvement from the originals!

    Modified Nissan S15 Brembo Brakes

    Actually fitting them turned out to be a bit of a dick. It took me almost a month to get a set of adapters to simply bolt the calipers on and I had to change to a bigger BMC . It was just a time consuming and annoying job overall with a bunch of hiccups and hurdles, but it’s done now. I then had the problem that my wheels wouldn’t clear the calipers which I had sort of expected, until Daren Moynihan put a pair of 8.5″ Blitz O3 rims up for sale. I bought them and they fitted nicely, but shortly after he was selling a pair of 9.5 ” O3’s so naturally I bought those too. I now have 6 Blitz O3s when all I wanted was a pair, but hey ho.

    Oh, I also got a new set of HSD Monopro coilovers.

    Modified Nissan S15 suspension

    I finally picked up a pair of seats that I had been wanting for a good while. They were a pair of red genuine B-GREOS . I already had a drivers side Bride Rail sitting here for a while so just loosely fitted the drivers seat.

    Modified Nissan S15 Bucket Seats

    After fitting the new seat, I quickly realised a couple of things;
    1. I’m a fat bastard.
    2. I’m way too tall to fit with the standard wheel. My knees are wrapped around the wheel, so to be able use the seat I’ll need to use a dished steering wheel of some sorts. I already have an NRG snap off kit, but I just hadn’t decided on what wheel to run. I decided to hold off for a while before I decide.

    After installing the coilovers, I rolled my arches properly. Cleaned them all down inside and gave them a few coats of stone chip. Once they were rolled I then gave the lip of the arch a few coats of clear just to make sure they would stay protected. But me being a smart twat, I forgot to take pictures as I was going…

    I also got myself a pair of Toyo Proxes T1’s for the front end.

    Modified Nissan S15 Wheels

    I picked up a DC2 lip and fitted it. I just had to melt the sides with a heat gun to flatten them out so they could reach the length of the bumper, and now it fits fairly well. I just need to paint it!

    Nissan S15 Car Build

    As you can see I painted the DC2 lip, which came out alright for a pretty half assed job.

    Modified Nissan S15 Bonnet Off

    I also fitted the less aggressive one of my B-GREO seats which I fit into nicely. I fitted my snap off boss kit and a small OMP flat wheel that I just had for the drift car. Now I can actually fit into and drive the thing! The OMP wheel will be getting replaced in the near future once I decide what type of wheel I want to run full time. It’s hard to decide what to go for as I prefer a small wheel but it’s very hard to find a wheel in a brand or style that I like. I haven’t taken any interior pics just ones from the outside.

    I decided to take it to IGR drifting in Galway for a little fun! I got the car out on track and I’m very happy with it overall.

    Modified Nissan S15 Drifting

    And here’s just another random pic.

    Modified Nissan S15 night Photography

    Right. So when I put this on the road it was way too low and the tyres were rubbing the arch linings badly. I ended up raising the front end up around 8mm which helped a bit, but it was still rubbing too much. So… I cut up 2 beer cans and used sealant to secure them. This worked for about 2 weeks until they were fully worn through and now they’ve worn into the hoses at the top of the lining. The loom at the back of the arch has also been worn through.

    I’m not really sure where to go from here, I refuse to raise it up so that’s not an option.
    I was planning on tucking the loom above the lip on the frame when I take the car off the road around the end of July, but I need to sort it ASAP as I don’t want to drive the car and make it any worse.
    I also want to keep the arch liners to stop everything getting caked in crap, so I need to figure something out!

    Here’s another random pictures anyway.

    Modified Nissan S15 Build

    I finally got a chance to go at the loom and linings.
    I got quite lucky, the top part of the loom was almost perfect and I didn’t have to alter that at all. But… The back of the loom was a bit rough. So i split the loom, re-insulated all the wires and was able to tuck it up into the back corner of the arch and cable tie it there. I then just pulled the rest of the loom up a bit tighter against the frame and cable tied it up there. Job done!

    Modified Nissan S15 Sideskirts

    Anyway I got some side skirts as you can see in the picture above! I robbed one of my girlfriends Nissan S14 skirts to just try it out of curiosity.

    They looked pretty decent but they were a mile off fitting. Still, they gave me an idea of how a set of skirts would look on the car and I kind of liked them!

    A day or two later a guy local to me put up a pair of standard S14 Kouki skirts for free so i nabbed them. I didn’t know if they’d fit but I thought they’d be worth a punt. So I picked them up, put them up against the car and they were surprisingly close.

    Modified Nissan S15 Custom Sideskirts

    All I ended up having to do was trim a few millimeters off the end of them and make up new end caps. I wasn’t overly keen on how secure the caps were in the end but I’ll come back and fibreglass them on at a later stage.
    I decided to paint these with the gun instead of the rattle cans that I had used for the front lip, as I had a bit more time to do these properly. I’m fairly happy with the finish you can see below.

    Modified Nissan S15 Painting

    I didn’t bother filling any stone chips as I wasn’t sure that I would even like them, but they’re working fine atm. I might pull them off over the winter and re-do them but I’m happy for now.

    Fitting them ended up being a pain. The passenger side went on perfectly first try around. The drivers side took three attempts to get right and as I was using double sided tape to secure them, that ended up being a right struggle. We got there in the end and this is how they turned out, pretty smart I think.

    Modified Nissan S15 New Sideskirts

    I’m still getting used to them but I think I like them for the time being. That’s pretty much it for now. I’m taking the car to Galway drifting again so hopefully the standard clutch can put up with another full day of abuse in the dry!

    Here’s another picture of my N/A drifting experience in the dry.

    Nissan S15 Drifting

    A full days drifting in the dry on a standard clutch and it was flawless, can’t say enough for how well these cars can perform in standard form I don’t get why more people don’t jump on them

    A few more pics.

    Modified Nissan S15 CarModified Nissan S15 Drift build

    Source

  • Ultimate Guide To Car Modifications

    Plan your modifications and have an end goal

    It is important to have a goal in mind when planning to upgrade and modify a car. Joey may want a louder exhaust. But it’s no good buying that 3inch exhaust for his naturally aspirated Integra GS-R only to experience less oomph low down as the power band has moved. If Joey is planning to install a turbo the 3inch exhaust is justified. If the plan is to stay naturally aspirated then a 2.5inch exhaust would have been a better buy!

    It’s always wise to have an end goal in mind. Will your car of choice be slammed to within an inch of it’s life, or a true licence loser. These decisions now will dictate the modifications you should focus on.


    Stanced

    If your goal is to stance your car so the regular driver thinks it must be broken, then you need to start putting those pennies into “my air suspension” jar.

    Your focus is going to be around a killer suspension, wheel setup. Team those two main modifications with exterior mods to highlight the curves and contours of your car, and even engine tuning if you are after a bit more oomph.

    Performance Focused

    You may prefer your car to come more in the shape of a track monster. If this is your way forward then you are going to want to extract every punch of performance out of your engine setup. Install a turbo & intercooler if your motor is NA. Firm up that suspension and invest in a good set of tyres.


    Before we start modifying cars

    Below we will detail some of the more common modifications that car modders install. Not everything will be relevant to you and they don’t need to be completed in the order below. With that said, let’s break out that old ratchet set!


    Air Intake System

    Car Air Intake Modification

    One of the easiest ways to gain some horse power is with the installation of an intake kit, or if a new kit is out of your reach, a performance air filter.

    The science behind this being very simple. Power is created from mixing fuel and air, the more of each that is included, the more power you get. Simple… kind of!!

    Replacing your standard air filter (which is probably paper) with a performance air filter from some one like K&N will free up the air flow slightly, but not much. you will get a very minor performance bump, but the main benefit here is that you will hear more of the engine noise when you press that loud pedal! Great!

    So should I get a performance air filter?

    If you aren’t doing it for the extra power but would like a bit more noise, then sure. As an added bonus you don’t need ninja skills to install one either! If you want more power look to a Short Ram Intake or Cold Air Intake.

    Short Ram Intakes & Induction Kits

    For more money you can get yourself an induction kit or a Short Ram Intake, which usually incorporates new pipe work, and a cone shaped air filter. This replaces your OEM air box. This will no doubt net you slightly more horsepower but not a huge amount.

    The main problem here is that the new induction kit sucks air from your engine bay… which is hot. It isn’t until you get your car up to speed that cold air starts to flow in.

    This is where cold air intakes come in to play.

    Cold Air Intake

    Cold Air Intakes include longer pipework than a Short Ram Intake and take the air from a different part of your engine bay, further from the heat. This can be from near the ground and front bumper.

    Since the intake is sucking in colder air at all times, more power is generated through more consistent speed ranges. However they come at a price. As more pipework is included, and the fact they are generally harder to fit, the price will be higher than a Short Ram Intake.

    Short Ram Intake vs Cold Air Intake

    If both of these intake systems are available at a similar price, we would always recommend a cold air intake.

    However if your car isn’t already turbo’d and you are planning on adding a turbo we would advise against installing a new induction kit. This is because a lot of turbo kits come with their own intake system.


    Exhaust System

    Car exhaust modification

    Another popular modification is the exhaust. Noise, noise noise!

    If you are going for noise and size, as detailed in our introduction, ensure you are getting the correct sized exhaust for your engine.

    One myth is that larger exhausts cause a loss of back pressure which negatively affects performance. This isn’t entirely true. Going back to Joey and his Integra. Larger exhausts that are stuck onto naturally aspirated engines can give the effect of power loss. This is because the power band shifts. You will need higher revs to unlock that power.

    If your plans are to turbo a NA car then by all means go big. For high powered cars we recommend installing that 3inch exhaust. If you are staying naturally aspirated then coming down to a 2.5inch exhaust will be beneficial.

    Resonator Delete vs Muffler Delete

    If noise is your goal then you can consider deleting either the muffler or resonator, or installing a straight pipe.

    Deleting your Resonator will unlock some noise, however if you are keeping your muffler stock you won’t get too much of a gain. Also be cautious of the dreaded droning at constant rev ranges if deleting the resonator.

    If you want more noise, but want to keep drone to a minimum, then consider a muffler delete, or a custom muffler build. Removing the muffler will unlock more noise than the resonator alone.

    And if you want to really annoy those pesky neighbours then you can delete both and install a straight pipe. This will be super loud, like jet plane taking off in your garden loud. You’ve been warned!

    Should I Upgrade My Downpipe

    Installing a performance down pipe can be really beneficial if you have a turbocharged car. This is because you want the most unrestrictive pipe possible coming from the turbo.

    Your stock down pipe probably contains numerous bends, and these are quite often restrictive crushing bends. Installing a mandrel bent larger diameter down pipe will free up that air flow.


    Installing a Turbo Kit

    If you don’t have a turbo on your car currently and plan to install one, we wouldn’t recommend completing any engine modifications until the turbo kit is on. Once the turbo goes on then you can build from their. Most turbo kits include a high performance intake, and you can add a turbo back exhaust in good time to free up that air flow.

    Cars with a stock turbo

    If your car does have a turbo, either stock or a previously installed kit, then the mods of choice are easy.

    Check and upgrade that air intake to a cold air intake. Add a high flow down pipe along with a larger mandrel bent exhaust system.

    From there you can tune the engine to deliver more power and boost.

    Tuning and Re-Mapping

    Remapping your car is possibly the single biggest performance boost modification you can perform. Most manufacturers run their cars down on power to cater for specific markets and target audiences. Because of this most motors can be re-mapped to utilise the extra power that the manufacturer had disabled.

    The most important piece of advice here is to pick a reputable tuner. A bad tuner can cause damage to your engine, so make sure you do your research here!


    Suspension

    Buying a modified car

    This is one of those moments that you need to ask yourself what you are after with the look of your car and the performance goals.

    Depending what you are after you have a multitude of options. If you want a little less arch gap and a slightly firmer ride you can get performance springs or lowering springs. This will shave off those mm and can negate some body roll. Team a good set of springs with performance dampers and you will have a strong ride, with a much more aggressive stance.

    Should I always buy new dampers when I upgrade the springs?

    No… but yes. Your stock dampers can last a while with lower springs, however the increased spring rate will cause them to wear at an accelerated rate. This could mean that a few months after you paid that mechanic to install your springs you will be going back to pay once again to replace your blown shocks.

    Why not get a decent set of dampers to go along with your new springs and save yourself that extra labour charge.

    Lowering Springs vs Coilovers

    If you are track focused and want more control over your ride height then coil overs are the way to go. They generally create a better handling car than a spring and damper combo. Coilovers also give you the ability to adjust the ride height, making your car setup much more versatile. Ideal for track occasions. Coilovers would be advised if you are after max performance, and lowering springs if you are after a better look.

    So wouldn’t coilovers always be recommended?

    The trade off however would be that coilovers come at a higher cost. The adjustability and overall setup mean the price point is higher compared to springs and shocks.

    What the heck is air suspension?

    Air suspension is exactly that. An electric air pump fills the hollow suspension with air, which in turn raises the car off the ground. We won’t touch too much on this one but it is a truly great option for those who want a super stanced look to their car. You can set multiple height levels, meaning at the touch of a button your car can sit higher or lower.


    Wheels and Tires

    Aftermarket wheels are one of the best visual mods to start with. They give a strong look to any OEM ride and can really set your car apart from the crowd the instant they are installed.

    Aftermarket wheels often boast that they are lightweight to satisfy that need to shed weight in exchange for performance.

    Which wheels you stick on your ride is such a personal option that no one can really advise you. You have to look at them day in day out after all.

    The best thing to do would be to go for the lightest wheels that you can find and like. If you are planning on installing a big brake kit then you need to allow room for the disc and callipers.

    Another thing to look for is the wheel offset, which dictates how close to the car the body of the wheel is. In extreme cases, too close and your wheel can clip your suspension. Too far and they will stick out for the arches. There are great tools on the web to calculate your offset and offer visual comparisons from your old wheel setup to your new.

    We always use a site called http://www.willtheyfit.com/ to check our new wheel setups.


    And after all of that information about modifications…

    Right. Lots of information. We wanted to touch on a lot of options from performance to aesthetics, and now it’s over to you to plan your build. For us that is one of the best and most important parts, planning. At this stage your imagination can run wild, you can cost up everything you want to do and scour those specialist forums for suggestions.

    Modifying your car is fun and shouldn’t be daunting for those who are doing it for the first time. You will rarely get the correct setup first time round, and will no doubt change up parts over the course of your ownership. Importantly, have a goal in mind and make it your own.

    If you’re reading this article with the intention of buying an already modified car, be sure to read our modified car checklist.

    Source