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[Eskimo]

Afternoon Gents,

I've reading this forum for sometime now and thought it was time I joined.

I was wondering if any of you could advise me on a few things about my car.  It is a '98 2.5 Elite.
I've owned the car for 6yrs and in that time I changed a hell off a lot of things on it, springs, wishbones, engine, exhaust pipes, all discs...etc.  They are all standard components.

As the car isn't really worth much and to replace it would cost a small arm and a leg, so I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers about enhancing the performance etc on it.

I'm hoping next year to take it to the Nurburgring and in standard form I don't think it would be a good idea.

Thanks for reading

[Admin]

Hi Eskimo.

The 2.5 V6 can be enhanced quite easily.

1st one (and most effective) is to fit a set of 3.0 cams.
These can be had for £100-£120 and are not difficult to fit if you know your way round the engine.
Best time to change is when doing the cam belt kit as you will remove to fit anyway.
This will give a gain of around 17bhp.

Other improvement is to "chip" it.
I would completely recommend M-Tek Performance (member on here) for this.
Chip is £160 or thereabouts and will increase power by 10% (significant improvement in driveability).

These 2 together should have you pushing 200bhp and the car feeling a whole lot quicker than before!

Before doing these though I would do the simple things that can make such a difference.

Clean the breathers and throttle bodies. There is a guide in the maintenance section.
Change the fuel filter. It is amazing how often this is overlooked and can make a big difference!
Check the air filter is clean. A dirty air filter will hamper performance.
Change the oil and filter every 5k at most. Best thing you can do to your engine.

Finally. I trust your cambelt kit has been changed every 40k/4 years (water pump every other change)?
This is crucial, and also if the timing has not been done properly using the proper kit then the valve timing will be out and power will be reduced (usual sign is a flat spot around 3k rpm).

Taking it to the Nurburgring would be good fun. They handle well, even better with uprated suspension components.
Brakes would be my concern....

[Eskimo]

Laidback66, wow.  Thanks for the reply!

That's a lot of info and better than I thought I would get.

I have done some looking on the internet and the only remap I can find will cost £275, where do I get one for £160.  Also if I do the cams should it be chipped after?

With regards to the cam belt, the engine I have is a later model with the new oil filter, does this still need a change every 40k?

Do you have any recommendations for the brakes?  I would say this is the only real disappointment I've had with the car.  Apart from all the bills!

My father had a cd 2.5 from new for 5 yrs and that was the only thing he thought was wrong with the car.  He also drives like an old man!

cheers

[Admin]

The chip M-tek provides is a straight swap, you can do it in 10 mins or so all in.

The chip can be done before the cams. Simply disconnect the power supply when replacing the cams (make sure you have radio code to hand!) to reset everything.

The later model you refer to is called the "facelift" model and yes you still have to change the cambelt kit (not just the belt) every 40k/4 years. Rebuilding heads when the tensioner lets go is not fun!

As for the brakes.
This is a funny one. I find that if they are maintained properly the Omega brakes are usually very good.
Use genuine discs and pads (pattern ones are not good) and ensure the fluid is completely flushed out (ie squeeze it out of the calipers, something garages never seem to do). There is a guide in the maintenance section written by Marks DTM Calib (all knowing one ).

On Marks drive there is a 96 elite estate with bl**dy impressive brakes. The reason they are is simply that Mark stripped them down, cleaned them, and then got all the nasty old brake fluid out.