New Beginings

[TZVUnforgivenRolla]

Just bought a 98 corolla seca conquest hatch. Due to the new P plate rules i am not allowed to drive anything above 200kw at the engine. Any advice as to what i should do to increase my overall performance without going over the limit? I plan to have this car as my daily driver but still want to be able to compete in low level event's. Will be adding low to medium audio and the visual will be kept to a minimum. Any input would be wecome as i will be sharing my progress.

Thank You

[Tats]

I've got a 96 Corolla, same model. 85kw engine stock. Believe me, short of ramming a Saturn V rocket up it's ****, you're not going to have any problems with a 200kw power limit :) Anything that would get you anywhere near that power would break other laws first - no "engine modifications", no turbo etc.

Actually to be honest the 7A-FE won't get your heart racing whatever you do to it..... a good exhaust will give it more lungs in the top end but power still drops off markedly after 5k rpm. Don't bother with a pod unless you run a cold air feed to it, and even then you're just making yourself a target for Constable Penelope Pitstop. Oh and don't over-rev it too much, 7A rods are weaksauce.

Is yours an AE102? They're pretty nimble once you spend money in the right places, treat it to some decent springs (not King Springs, they're too soft) and shocks and some nice swaybars. The brakes are decent enough, depending on what motorsport you're thinking of doing. The engine is a lost cause so I'd say spend all your money on making it handle :)

[SILVABULLIT]

2ZZ engine and box would get it moving!!

[Rolla Boy]

I'll have to agree that the 7AFE's are probably ranked as number one in the gutless catergory lol...

Although, mine was never built for speed...

I've been thinking about doing the turbo conversion for the whole time that I've owned the car but yeah, would be spending around the 10k mark and I just don't think it's worth it as I hardly drive the car anymore...

I'm looking to sell my whole stereo and boot install and do a new one but with the money I get for the old stuff, that would go a long way to getting my new stuff so I won't be spending much at all (hopefully anyway haha)...

[TZVUnforgivenRolla]

Yeah itsa ae102r with 10400 on the clock.

So you reckon i should focus more on the handeling and cornering ability? i was thinking of starting with a cold air intake and straight flow exhaust. what would you recomend for springs?

I only have access to low level street meet drag's up here but am willing to take the time to get to the nearest track. On the plus side i have really nothing else to spend my money on so i have some cash to spare for a while

I'm a bit of a noob to all this so the more idea's the better

[Tats]

I did exhaust, springs, shocks and front strut brace and I love it. Still rolls around a bit in corners though, good swaybars and stiffer bushes would finish the package off nicely. Can't really suggest much more than that, maybe better brake pads and slotted rotors if you get more serious about track work. After that the only way to go quicker will be engine conversions.... just noticed you're in QLD so my previous comments about not having forced induction may not apply.... what exactly are the rules for what you can and can't drive? If you can get away with a 4A-GZE conversion, that will give you the straight-line oomph you're after.

[TZVUnforgivenRolla]

I did exhaust, springs, shocks and front strut brace and I love it. Still rolls around a bit in corners though, good swaybars and stiffer bushes would finish the package off nicely. Can't really suggest much more than that, maybe better brake pads and slotted rotors if you get more serious about track work. After that the only way to go quicker will be engine conversions.... just noticed you're in QLD so my previous comments about not having forced induction may not apply.... what exactly are the rules for what you can and can't drive? If you can get away with a 4A-GZE conversion, that will give you the straight-line oomph you're after.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you tats cpu crashed, anyway the rules here are that you cant drive a turbo/super charged vehical and it cant have more than 200kw at the engine. I was hoping for around 150kw but judging by what you have been sayin thats not gunna happen but i can still try. the problem is there are few performace stores here which means i'll more then likely have to drive down to brissie to get most of the work done. the up side to that is more planning time.

[Tats]

Your call man. My personal opinion, by the time you've worked a poultry 7A-FE to 150kw at the fly (and I don't even know how you'd go about that without making it uncomfortable to drive on the street), you will have spent enough money to have bought a car that meets your needs better. If you can be patient, I'd do some basic stuff then wait until these rules are out of your way. I stopped spending money on my Corolla and just waited till I could afford a JZX100, now I couldn't be happier :)

If you've got your heart set on throwing money at the AE102, have a think about a 4A-GE 20v transplant. Heaps more parts available and some engine work will get it moving along much better than the 7A ever would. Another way would be using a 4A-GE head on the 7A-FE bottom end, there's some info around on making that work.