Hello all,

I have recently acquired a 1.6 Gen II Coupe, pics in the Intro section if anyone's interested. And I have a rather unhealthy obsession with the car, I envisaged keeping it for a year or so and selling it on, however I don't really think that weill end up being the case. Invariably I've looked at some aftermarket tuning options for the car and I'm weighing up a few options.

I've planned a few visual mods, well - Black Alloys and A few colour coded things for the interior; I don't want to do anything that major as I actually like what my car looks like off the bat. I have a few questions performance wise about what I should do next mind.

I've looked around and you seem to be able to buy suspension kits* which drop the car by 40mm. Is this too much? any issues with every day usability etc, what's the handling difference like, would this kind of drop, coupled with a strut brace have a serious impact on handling?
*The suspension kit I am referring to is the Eibach Sportline Series, which is a full set of shocks/springs. I'm not into the idea of putting lowering springs on and seeing what happens.

Rear Brake Disk Conversion; Currently, mine has drums at the back. I'd like to put disks on, I was planning on going down to the local scrap yard and ripping the rear disks off another coupe, then replacing the pads/disks if necessary. Not exactly elegant I know, but I can't think of any better way of doing it, is this something that is worth doing? I'm partly doing it for the visuals of having disks all round to be honest and I understand that 70% of the braking is done at the front anyway, but again has anyone done it?

The big dilemma - the 1.6 Engine. I'm debating doing some mods to the engine, nothing too serious, I've read the guide to tuning the 2.0 litre thread and come out of it a little wiser, and at current I am looking at sticking a Cold Air Induction Kit on it, and possibly a Piggyback ECU. I don't really want to head into modifying camshafts and such as there's no price listed for that, and I assume such major modifications could get very expensive very quickly. But the issue is that should I change to a 2litre engine before I do any of this, or at all. Currently my 1.6 has 120000 miles on the clock and seems to be running just fine, so I am not too into the idea of fixing it if it isn't broken yet. This would also be a pretty major thing to do, and would be some serious work for me and my mechanic mate. He seems to think that the wiring looms and such are the same and it wouldn't be too bigger job as far as engine swaps go. But how much money is involved in this? I.e How much is a 2L enigne in good nick going to cost me?
On a futher note I understand that the gearbox is the same for the 2 Litre engine as it is for the 1.6, and that the two litre is meant to top out at 130MPH, I can already do this in my 1.6, so I presume that the 2L's do go faster? Not that you really want to go much faster than that anyway, but just for intrigue's sake more than anything.

Additionally is forced induction a possibilty, or does that not happen on the 1.6 or the 2l? Be it Super or Turbo, I'm intrigued as to the possibilties and the pitfalls of this kind of idea, I understand that with and engine with 120k on the clock I'd have to look at running low boost, but again, someone on here mya have pearls of wisdom to offer.

A final issue is the similarity between the 1.6 and 2 Litre engines, from what I know, both are 'beta' engines, and from this I can extrapolate that the 2 litre is essentially a bored out 1.6, so I presume the Cold Air Intake would fit a 2 litre or a 1.6, or is this completely untrue?

Sorry for the rather lengthy post.

I'm lookin at this route at the min too, owning a gen 1 1.6, presuming u own the beta engine then as far I'm aware it's a bored out 1.6 engine as I'm lookin at gettin a 4-2-1 manifold nd the 2ltr shud fit!

As regards the rear disk, hig a member has a walk thru off taking the while rear axle off a 2ltr including the brake lines and swapping em out!!

Cai is good, can get cheap enough ones on eBay nd the like, don't bother with k&n as your mostly payin for name but if ya have the cash by all means!!

Hope this helps, and if I'm wrong the hardcore boys will correct my errors lol!

Not much available for tuning the 1.6 engines. I've looked into this before and quickly gave up hope. As far as getting a SRI, theres plenty on ebay for about 30 quid, and the pretty much do the same job as the more expensive. Just don't expect any major BHP gains (if any). it mainly just make more noise.

There is a turbo 'kit' available for 1.6 engines. I think SFR sell it. But with all the extra bits needed, ie, uprated brakes, clutch, engine mounts (possible piggy-back ecu), The cost would be hitting the heavy end of about 5k.

If your mate reckons he can fit a 2l engine, then try buy a crashed/damaged car and take what you need from it.

Wouldn't bother with the 1.6l engine if you want any kind of noticable performance increase.

i have to agree generally with burger the only way your gonna see any gains in real terms from a 1.6 is boosting cos n/a wont show anything much.you should aim to make the 1.6 more driveable not faster

Thanks for the responses guys:

Dupleman; please define what you mean by making the car more 'driveable', I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying here.

According to my mechanic mate, it is a beta engine. I will check for you guys ASAP though - hammering it down with rain at the moment so I'm not too keen on going outside - it's a W reg if it helps you out at all. If it's an Alpha engine though, I reckon any idea of an engine swap would be off; I don't want to have to take the car off the road for months as I don't have another spare or anything like that. Hopefully, it is a beta if I choose to go down this route.
What's the real difference in terms of performance between the two engines, same gearbox and such, but can you feel the extra power? I mean, for £200, 20 odd horsepower doesn't seem too bad bang-for-buck wise, but I'd like to know if you really notice the difference. Just out of interest how much do you think a garage would charge for the conversion?

Hopefully the suspension mods will help me out on the twisty bits which should be good. Do you think those mods will cause the car to be too 'twitchy' though?
By the sounds of things rear brake disks are out then, something I can deal with but I thought it was worth exploring the possibility anyway.

SRI/Cold Air feed seems to be the way to go then, are there any kits that you recommend or have had good experiences with? What about the other end breathing wise, are there any exhaust systems that work well with the car?

ECU shall be left alone then unless I get serious with the engine. Just how much money do you start dropping if you consider the option of fitting cams and other performance internals to the engine?

I'd probably stick with the 1.6 'box then, I was under the mistaken impression that they were identical units but as you state, NSL is 70 and I don't need more top end speed. Whilst on gearboxes, reading that 2 Litre tuning thread once more there's a possibility of extracting more RWHP through a more efficient transmission. Is this something worth doing do you think?

Forced induction is out, I'm not adverse to the idea of spending money on the car, but sums like that are serious, new car money...

Thanks again for your time.

you cant aim for serious power with n/a 1.6 you'll never get it
there are various things you can do to make it more driveable.......cai will give a bit more go mid range you'll notice....exhaust makes a nicer sound......fitting a different intake manifold gives it a bit more low down go.....suspension swaps for better grip so you can go round corners a bit quicker...........thats the aim of a more driveable car.............

i know what ric means and he's right when he says that things that you do really are worth doing if you enjoy them
but throwing mega money power wise at a 1.6 is a waste tbh

you know what i'd love to see? Gen 2 with a honda engine in

and a matching new front end

sharky keeps saying he thinks he can get bigger import engines in the gen3

forced induction - on an engine with 120k on it i wouldnt touch it if im honest mate, any engine with more than 70k on it would be a risk IMO. plus the fact that you would be looking at a minimum of 2.5k to get any sort of setup on it, if you were looking at that sort of money then i would first look towards getting a 2.0l first.

as for bhp per buck, you may spend 4k on a turbo setup to gain 100bhp that is £40 per bhp, an engine swap to the 2.0l, call it £400 for 20bhp = £20 per bhp, alot cheaper overall and only have the price per bhp.


if you are serious then i would either look at doing an engine swap to the 2.0l, or swapping the car for a 2.0l overall. 120k miles doesnt mean a shagged engine, but isnt the condition of engine you are wanting to be trying to force more power through it.

people have put Nissan Pulsar GTi-R engines in gen1s before...