hello! newbie here with nu car! :D

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floydrob

New member
Points
66
Car
astra 1.7cdti
hi, i'm robert, i'm only 16 but i have been driving since i was old enough to see over the wheel. i have owned a toyota hilux and a nissan micra for a few years (yes i know, its embarrasing), but after a bit of t-cut and some tinkering, i managed to sell them both at good prices. as i will be driving on the road next year, i bought myself a vauxhall astra 1.7cdti, which i thought meant something deisel turbo injection, but as i now figured, its actually clean deisel technology incorporated, and it doesnt have much power, so before i start driving on the road, i want to mod it a bit, not much externally other than the VXR exterior pack with front spoiler etc, nice alloys with low profile tyres and lower, stiffer suspension so it can go flat round corners

i dont like overdone cars with mile wide exhausts etc. but one sound i've always liked is that of an aston martin DB9, anyone know how i could replicate it, or close to?

can i have a few tips on what combinations of performance parts i should buy, and what brands are good value and quality.

i got a gift card for my birthday at knockhill racing curcit where i done 25 laps in a 2.0L seat leon and half an hour on the skid pan, but i want to go up with my mate when he gets his car every weekend, make it a sunday thing, thats when the track is open, £40 for 25 laps, so it needs to handle well too, and according to top gear, the astra vxr just has too much power for FWD, so lower/stiffer suspension will be a must, but again, what set is good and wont break my bank!

any help is greatly appreciated!:bigsmile:
 
the ctdi should be common rail, not sure on the 1.7 but the 1.9 can be taken from 150bhp to nearly 200 depending on tuning comany used however its the mountain of torque that will allow you to leave 2 ltr petrols standing without issues
 
forgot to mention, reason i didnt get anything biger is insurance, i'l be looking at £1700 for third party fire and theft cos the 1.7cdti is in group 4, same as the 1.4 petrol, and i aint drivin a car wif a 1.4 badge on it! but i dont think i'll tell the insurance company that i boosted it by 40+ hp, if thats possible, i dont want to ruin the low rev performance though, cos i'll just be racing around town with my mates and not really going anywhere other than the 100mile trip to knockhill every sunday. also, what do turbos etc do to mpg?

oh sorry, 1 more question, is it possible to make it rear wheel drive, or 4wd preferably that can be switched like on a 4x4, my hilux had a 2nd gear lever that allowed me to put into 2wd, 4wd, hi and lo

obvi i wouldnt need hi and lo, but rear wheel drive for a bitt of fun drifting, and 4wd for better handling.

thanks
 
Hi robert and welcome to TorqueCars. You sound like a real car nut so you'll fit in just great.

I don't think you'll ever get a diesel to sound remotely like an Aston Martin though.

I must caution you against "racing round the town with your mates". TorqueCars are strongly against any form of street racing or anti social driving styles. I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound like "racing" but as you typed that I have to pick you up on it.

RWD conversions are relatively hard. If your comes with a 4wd option it will have the transmission tunnel to the rear for the driveshaft and this makes it harder. The big problem comes with the fact that most RWD engines are mounted at a 90 degree angle to FWD engines.
 
Hi and welcome.

Getting an Astra diesel to sound like an Aston Martin :lol::lol::lol::lol: made my day that....

Your CDTI, as far as i am aware anyway, stands for Common rail, diesel turbo, injection, as the older DTI models are diesel turbo injections and weren't common rail.

There are 2 forms of the 1.7CDTI i think 90 bhp and 110 bhp (have a little look to see if you have a RED TI), can be tuned to improve torque, best bet is to get a tuning box (as i have on my 1.9 CDTI 150) which really improves throttle response and torque and cost me 50 quid, if you're looking for big power, you'll just have to sell your car i'm afraid or leave it well alone and save up for that VXR!

ETA - And don't even contemplate RWD, it's not gonna happen kiddo!
 
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hi, thanks, the only reason i havent got the vxr is insurance, it is impossible, it will cost me thousands! a group 4 costs about £1700 per year, thats the deisel astra i have, whereas the vxr would probs cost that per month. i think you'll agree, a 1.7 deisel is good as a first road car. i want to squeeze every possible bit of power from it because i want to race it, but the other option would be to buy a car for racing only and tow it to the track, but it would be too much hastle and i'm only 16, how would i pay for that? thanks :lol:
 
floydrob said:
hi, thanks, the only reason i havent got the vxr is insurance, it is impossible, it will cost me thousands! a group 4 costs about £1700 per year, thats the deisel astra i have, whereas the vxr would probs cost that per month. i think you'll agree, a 1.7 deisel is good as a first road car. i want to squeeze every possible bit of power from it because i want to race it, but the other option would be to buy a car for racing only and tow it to the track, but it would be too much hastle and i'm only 16, how would i pay for that? thanks :lol:
Click to expand...

You can't really 'race' a diesel, well you can, but not the ones we're talking about, they are built for reliability and fuel consumption and you don't really want to compromise that with some back street racing (which really isn't condoned on here mate).

VXR's are sweet, i like them too, but just work hard, save your pennies then get one in a few years, the prices would have dropped quite a bit by then too so you can get one with ALL the bits then stage 3 etc :D.

If you want to get a track car, then go for a Pug 206 GTI i reckon, great little cars that are easily tuned and handle well even in standard guise, the Astra would pull that on a trailer no worries, keep the Astra nice and safe driving - oh and remember to pass your test first :lol:
 
It's still a good first car. Makes my 1344cc Renault 9 look a bit sad ;)

When you hit 21 and have NCB your insurance will be a hell of a lot cheaper and you can get something really nice. I know it feels like an age away but it will come quickly. I know a few lads that screwed up and had crashes/convictions etc when I was much younger...

One can't drive anymore due to his injuries and the other couldn't afford the insurance on anything bigger than a 1.0 till he hit 25! Theres a lot to be said for avoiding the mad impulses of youth;)
 
hi, my brother has a 1.0l 58 plate corsa and he's had that in the garage twice cos he pulled the bumper off coming out of the drive and clipping the concrete post, and the second time was when my dad hit his car puling out of the drive. lol. we have too many cars there, but mine will be in the garage for a while anyway. what do you all think about skidpans and getting safe practice on a track? do you think it will just make me too cocky and drive faster, ar more confident and a better safer driver?
i'm not all about speed, as you may be able to tell from my driving past.....a 1L micra for messin about in the feilds in, and a 3L hilux for offroading, which is a very slow yet enjoyable sport, u cant rush off roading, unless you are going for a steep incling etc, but i like driving slow if i have torque, but if its got no power, i usually put my foot down to see what i can get it upto round the perimiter of the field. lol. dunno, i like grunt in a car, mabee thats why i got a deisel. i think i will get a track car soon, my mate is selling his mk1 pugeot 106, i think its 1.6, any good as a track car? i have driven it off road, and it beat the hell outta my micra, well thats not something to be proud of, but its in good condition for its age. are they easy to do up? or just ned-mobiles or chav-mobiles for those who dont know what a ned is. lol. thanks :)
 
just remember mate that you need to sit another test to tow.
unfortunatly not many people seem to remenber this

Take it your from scotland when your using ned ?
 
yeh i'm from scotland, not far from glasgow, hence why i cant stand neds and want to make them all jealous that i can afford a haf decent car cos i actually work and make an effort in life, whereas they r all smokin dope and gettin 'mad wae it' and then drivin about in their 4 wheeled skips with painted mdf spoilers and a totally different wheel in each corner. haha what a laugh. yeh thats ok as a car if u r gonna trash it in a demolision derby or summit, but not as a proper car. its quite funny though, cos my brother had borrowed a 1.9cdti astra from his company before he got his corsa, and when he pulled over for a cigirette, a doped up wee ned came up to him in his "car" or what he calls a car, and pestered my brother for a race to the end of this road, it was a private road but quite long with lots of sharp corners and hidden dips, so afraid he would get stabbed, he accepted, lets just say i **** myself in the passenger seat (not literally) while the wee knob who thought the astra was pile of rubish was left stalling at the start, no joke. must have been the funniest experience i have ever had in a car. lol. but we waited for a wee while to rub it in his face, but then just left cod he had either given up and turned round of put his skip in a ditch. :confused:

anyone got a good idea for a track car that wont cost too much? i like caterhams but i doubt i could afford one.
 
Robin Hood kit cars. A bit like Caterham but a lot cheaper. I think Oldgit has got one. Welcome to the site though matey.
 
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