Help out a n00b? =p

kingo · Post by **kingo** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:15 pm

Hey everyone

I dont own an FTO - currently im driving a 180sx, however im looking into selling it and purchasing an FTO soon.... i just have a few questions for you hardcore guys out there considering my future purchase - lol, please be simple with me, i dont know all that much technical car info.

Im looking for a 5speed triptronic GPX -

1 - first things first - im looking to chuck on a set of 18's straight away - will they fit on correctly.. no rubbing or anything

? will i need the guards rolled? should i get the car lowered... and by how much?

2 - next im thinking of going with a veilside kit from aresspeed - What do you think about the Veilside kit? Im really worried about taking off the front bar driving around town, speedbumps, pulling out off places etc... how far off the ground will it be? what can i do to solve this problem?

3 - after saving up a bit of cash im going for a sports exhaust sytem.. any comments?

4 - after all that and working my butt off to save cash, i would realy like to turbocharge it.... since im driving round now in an sr20det i couldnt resist wanting to.... do i 'need' a front mount intercooler if i choose to turbo it? external wastegate/BOV, any of that kind of stuff??? also, im told in preparing for the turbo i should make suspension and brake upgrades.. what should i think about doing there?

Ive looked around the forums but cant find a definent answer for some of my questions, i hope u can help me out

^^^^ that is the order in which im going to modify the FTO, should that be right?

Thanks for any help, would be greately appreciated

Slither · Post by **Slither** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:08 pm

first things first welcome abord and good choice in cars

now for my answers, or opinions if u will

1. there are several people who have put 18's on, depending on how much you lower the car, you will probably get some rubbing depending on the size tyre you run on it aswell, i'm running 17's with 215/45 on the front and i get some gaurd rubbing although my car has been lowed quite a lot!! Lowering is more a case of personal preference!!

2. Veilside kit is very nice, i have one fitted on my car, some people say that they are too common but i like em

It does however make the front substantially lower, especially if u lower the car as well, it takes some gettin used to but u can master driveways and speed humps, still expect to scrape or even crack your front bumper at least once, its inevitable if its a daily driver. Mine sits just on the legal limit

3. Depends on what size you are gunna run, i'd be looking at upgrading your air intake before doin your exhaust, as you will get much better gains that way, i have just installed a 3 inch alloy intake pipe to a 4inch K&N pod filter in a fully inclosed alloy heat shield and 4 1/2 snorkel piping to feed cold air to the filter. The FTO stock exhaust is pretty good at 2 1/4 inch but u can always go bigger, even just replacing the muffler will give you much better flow

4. Unless you are planning to place a top mount inter cooler on and make a bonnet scoop, id say you are btter off with a front mount, depending on where you are, there may be a workshop that has turbo'ed an FTO but if not you will need to be puttin in the big $$$ as all the work has to be custom made!! As far as suspension upgrades, if you are lowering your car thats already covered, although i would think about installing a front strut and sway bar to help reduce the body roll when cornering, brakes id say hang out for the brake upgrade steve is working on at the moment, other wise you could just upgrade your rotors, slotted or drilled and throw some decent pads on there such as RB74's, endless, brembo's or green stuff depending on what you would be using them for

One more thing, if you are planning on goin turbo, you mite want to wait on the exhaust as there is a big difference between n/a performance and tubo performance as far as the exhaust goes

wow that was a huge post!!! hope it helps ya out and that i haven't said anything wrong

no doubt someone will set me straight if i have!!

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:29 pm

i reckon veilside looks the best.. when we went to oran park my friends fto dat has full veilside kit would stand out and its got an aggresive look.

kingo · Post by **kingo** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:02 pm

wow, thank you for all the information

i didnt know turbocharging an FTO is a total custom job, i didnt realize that, i wonder... does anyone know a place around Brisbane that has had experience with this? even the coast? there must be somewhere.

im quite partial to my 180 since its turbo, so thats y i really want to go that way if possible.

Also, could someone give me some quick specs on the 5speed gpx? top speed, 0-60, stuff like that?

thankyou for all the help so far

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:10 am

If you are serious about the turbo, try PM'ing "Jeff" who is also in Brisbane, he is turbo'in his fto atm...

Slither · Post by **Slither** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:31 am

No probs mate

For a 5 sped manual GPX 0-100 7.6 seconds, 1/4 mile in 15.4 seconds. I would expect a 5 speed tip to b slightly slower than that but!

Hey boris didn't Jeff do the 6A13 transplant?? if so then it would b slightly different to turbo'in the 6A12, mikey is the only one i know of that has turbo'ed the 6A12, and scracy but his was already done!

That said it's probably still worth gettin in touch with him

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:27 am

Ye, I was thinking workshop wise.... Ah you can just read this thread:

http://www.ftoaustralia.com/modules.php ... pic&t=3385

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:04 am

sorry to be slightly off topic...
but how much are you selling your 180sx for? can you pm me details?
i could be interested...