New Adelaide, Australia Gtvi

Hello, new to the forum as I just picked up a 2001 Gtvi - in the Apple Green colour.

Coming from Evo’s the Gtvi is a bit of a change of pace, but looking for some cheaper on-track fun.

Looking to do the usual modifications to get a car reliable on the track.

Cheers,
Evan

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There it is hiding among some friends!

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Hi TPG,
welcome to L2D. I’m not much up on sirion stuff with the exception that I use sirion parts on my move and mira. :slight_smile: Some of the other guys will know alot more than me. I will say though keep the services regular and it should help it along alot. It seems he k3 engines and the ejde engines can gum up the rings if not looked after. If your going to be doing track stuff I would definitely look at handling first.

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Welcome mate.
Good to see another track enthusiast here.

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Welcome. With a track focus you are well and truly among friends.

Thanks for the welcome!

Still of two-minds if this car will be the best for track work, given i’m not too sure how healthy the engine is. Bought it sight-unseen on a whim for relatively cheap, it does blow a bit of oil smoke higher in rev range. Will try to run an engine flush and fluid change to see if that improves it at all. And get a compression/leak down done.

But formulating a long list of possible mods (no particular order):

  • New radiator
  • Oil Cooler (+thermostated block)
  • Race Seat + relocating it rearward and lower
  • remove some interior parts
  • Coilovers & Guard Roll (DONE 27/4/18)
  • LSD
  • wheels/tyres (DONE 25/2/18)
  • minor intake/exhaust mods
  • engine rebuild (pending what items are available for the engine)
  • oil temp/pressure gauges

We’ll see. It is a nice idea and i’m growing fond of it, need to see how the engine is before deciding on whether or not to follow this pathway.

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What sort of track work? What class? Do you want to be competitive? No need to answer these. From this sort out what tires (the best you can get in qual and biggest you can fit) you can run and decide on what will fit.

Double sway bar is useless. Add an extra centre sway bar bracket or two to stop flex under braking/acceleration. Get the spring rates right and keep that front end tracking the ground the best possible for max traction. Start with std front springs (std rate is close to right when starting out) and stiffen the rear until it start picking up a rear tire (shorter rear dampers help to. I use either externally adjust able spax or non adjust Koni on the rear and ext adjust Koni sport on the front).

LSD a must.

I’d start with std engine, a damn good solid centre clutch, upgraded pressure plate and super light flywheel.

First mod I’d ever make to a Sirion is, as you know, lower the driver’s seat.

Bigger brakes and rear discs before more grunt.

Prob all stuff you’ve thought of.

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Mainly private track-days (ie Mallala and soon Tailem Bend in SA), nothing more structured than that. Just matching power/weight of vehicle to friends (S1 RX-7, Satria). So competitive isn’t a necessity, meant to be more fun and learning/trying a different style of car - one that can’t make up poor braking/cornering by a boot-full of boost.

The initial stuff will be getting the car more “safe” for the track, both from an occupant standpoint and a vehicle standpoint.

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Welcome fellow Adelaide dweller to the forum. The GTVi is a surprising little bugger that gets up and boogies.
A cold air intake makes a great difference.

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Thanks Dale,
Your thread implied that was a different airbox lid that you modified? Which model might that have been off?
If worse comes to worse I don’t mind cutting into the standard part.

Slow progress thus far - but plans for rims/tyres/suspension is solidifying :smiley:

I used the lid from the EJ-DE engine fitted to the L700 Cuore / m100 Sirion

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Thanks Dale, I’ll be on the look out.

Minor update, a bit of debadging!

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This Sunday we are having a bit of a Meetup, you should join!

https://www.facebook.com/events/2076462342586875/?ti=as

I missed going to the above meet…actually I just didn’t want to take it out stock!
I’ll be sure to attend the next if I can.

I’ve not made a big dent on the list of mods (installed some old stereo gear and threw in a new air filter) but it should shortly have: wheels / tyres / tint completed.

I did manage to take it out over the weekend:

And a useless, but cool nonetheless mod of a Storia rear garnish:

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Very nice we should come together, so we can photograph chalk and cheese GTVi’s. Mine is pretty ghetto at the mo.

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Where in SA are you guys from?
I’m in Murray bridge for this week until monday

Basically Adl CBD for me.
If you can get down to Glenelg on either Saturday or Sunday “All Japan Day” is on at one of the parks/reserve there.

Ah I can’t. I’d love to but Iv got karts all weekend. It’s first round of your national series. Iv got 4 drivers in it and need to be there for them.

Well they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so i hope @Oropi_dai isn’t offended by this…


*apologies if the above is stretched…

They’re the same SSR / Speed Star Racing ‘265’ in 15x6.5+34 as on @Oropi_dai’s Sirion.
Although I had a little more trouble fitting the rears, as they fouled on the solid rear axle / beam. I managed to get them on with 5mm spacers - but hoping to grind a little off so i can run with either 3mm or no spacers at all.

My fitment issue could be due to the 195/50/15 Kumho V720’s - they’re quite chunky. Or the fact that this isn’t lowered yet, which has altered the geometry somehow. As it is the tyre fouling, not the rim itself. Grip is excellent, but I’ll need to see how much further inset I can get the rims and roll/flare the outside lip as it scrubs on the outside lip at the moment. A change in suspension from the old original gear would also help it not roll on to the guard. I’ve also noted i have some black plastic trim that follows the wheel arch where as a lot of other Sirion’s dont - so not sure if that is just a year/model thing, but i’ll see if i can remove and what the paint looks like underneath.

Any hints on rear-geometry (and front) setup would be great, as one side has a few deg of camber and the otherside is sitting at zero camber. There is a chance a car this age isn’t exactly ‘straight’ underneath.

Oh and it was tinted too…makes a big difference in temperature when you have the race-ready lack of air-con!

Beam axle won’t need much camber. Is the ride height equal side to side? How much toe does have? Toe out will make help initiate turns or make it feel loose on turn in. Toe in a little for some straight line stability. If you want it to handle keep really close to std front springs and up the rate in the rear until it starts lifting a rear wheel at full tilt.

Car look great.

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