Souping up my motah

[MicraShed]

Over in Beige-land I asked about ideas for a small Micra K11 size but fun sporty replacement for the Micra.

Some interesting suggestions were proffered forward and I have found myself looking at Clio 172's and Sport Ka's - however yesterday I discovered an interesting thing, the mental health lead at our place has a K11 road rally car. With the 1.0 donkey.

Of course the car itself is a bit OTT for my tastes, with alloys, flared arches, roll cage and all manner of things removed from the inside. It does however retain the original donkey in 1.0 guise but is putting out (allegedly) over 120 bhp.

Key improvements seem to be limited to faster road cams, throttle bodies fitted to each cylinder and rather large air intake and a new ECU.

I am actually wondering if keeping the uBer low miles giffertastic Micra I have but splodging my savings not on another car, but on upgrading what I have with strut braces, stiffer suspension, Green Stuff brake pads, fast cams and a large air intake [I dont think the throttle bodies or ECU will be worth the money to me] it might make what I have already a lot more fun to drive. The other thing I want to try and do is extend the drivers seat track so it pushes a bit further back.

[Leonard Hatred]

120bhp+ sounds a bit SPURIOUS to me.

[Amazo]

1-litres had about 55bhp; mind you, they do go a bit, as I #ahem# discovered when driving one a few years ago...

[I.K.Brunel]

Whilst it probably IS possible, I would not be 100% on whether it would be desirable.
The sort of things needed to make the gains would have a negative impact upon other factors that would necessary for an 'easy life': Economy would probably suffer an amount, plus just ease of driving would be worsened - lumpy idle, having to wring it to get to the performance gains etc.
The other examples you've cited start from the old adage of 'ain't no substitute for cubic inches' - I don't know what a 172 is, presumably 2-litres and the Sport Ka is a 1600 from the box. So the tuning provided by the manufacturer is well within tolerances of being 'normal' to drive when you want to potter to the shops, but fun when you want to give it the beans. I haven't driven a Clio, but I have had experience of a SportKa, and they are a bloody good hoot - alot better than I was expecting.

I would suggest that if possible you try to wangle a run in the Mental Health boss's Micra, and also have a go in the aforementioned hot hatches and see what is the best balance.

Of course hidden option C is to go for something more visceral than the modern hatches, which whilst quick are not as involving as some of the older crop - something like a 205 GTi or 106 Rallye or whatnot. Guaranteed fun without the expense or frustration of an overtuned Micra or the inital buying costs of something new.

[Seth]

Stuffing 'a fast' camshaft (or two) in an engine without upgrading anything else ie ECU/injection will probably just make it less driveable for very, very little gain.

100bhp/litre is always the figure in my mind that naturally aspirated cars pretty much stop at. A bit more is achievable on an engine that is well known and has lots of people sharing proper tuning experience (eg Ford Crossflow) but it'd have to be exceedingly rev happy and not really a road car. The rally car is probably restricted to certain modifications due to class rules. I' suggest that more use-able power is really where forced induction comes in. You would probably get better gains by sticking on some low pressure turbo set up that won't grenade the otherwise stock components. Wasn't there a turbo March JDM yO! version. Probably worth investigating the Japanese tuning parts availability for these - enough seem to have been played with going by threads on the blue forum.

[Hirst]

It's also worth bearing in mind that competition use engines are often in such a delicate state of tune that they need frequent rebuilds, something which isn't a problem if they're not doing a lot of miles, but a bigger issue for a daily driver. Given that K11 Micras can very quickly develop the timing chain rattle of death, I wouldn't bother touching the internals of the engine at all. Ultimately it's quite a sophisticated engine anyway, they're all DOHC 16V and I imagine you can unlock a reasonable amount of power just by improving the breathing of the car. I would get the idea of 100hp out of your head though, it'd cost a lot of money and not really result in a car that's nice to drive.

You're probably best focusing on the main weaknesses of the car and seeing what can be done cheaply, I reckon a budget of about £500 would transform it into a much more fun to drive car, whilst keeping it very driveable. For a start the standard Micras use very skinny tyres, so the first thing I'd be investigating is some slightly wider wheels, though I'd still keep it 13". Something appropriate could be sourced off another old Nissan for extremely cheap I'm sure. Then fit some good new tyres as it'll make a world of difference.

Then I'd probably look at the suspension, I imagine some improved shocks/springs would help - there should be a wealth of options here, some people would say go for coilovers but I think being that it's a road car you could just get some decent shocks (KYB probably do sports ones for these) and some good-quality lowering springs (ones made with performance use in mind). I imagine the K11 doesn't have a very strong chassis so a front strut brace will also stiffen it and help make the most of your new suspension.

As for the performance aspect, probably best seeing what other people do, but I imagine the airbox will be tiny and restrictive so replacing that and combining that with an improved exhaust system will help. Don't go for the "bigger is better" principle as it doesn't really work like that on normally aspirated cars. Check out what the works exhaust systems would be like and that'll give you an idea of what to aim for. It might only be that you need to replace the back box.

Personally though, I would start with a better base - the 1.3 Super S or SR would get you off to a headstart straight away. Unless you've some big thing for the 1.0 engine, you'll be going the hard way around.

[MicraShed]

Unless you've some big thing for the 1.0 engine, you'll be going the hard way around.

Not really, its just a 2 owner giffer spec FNSH 1.0 Micra with just 50K on the clock.

It does however have a rusty as fook front crossmember which will need replacement next MOT time.

The idea of getting a better spec base car (going back to the thoughts of either a Clio 172 spastic mentalist or Sport Ka which looks nice and I bet is a hoot to drive ) is probably the most sensible way to get a slightly faster car, though I might have a go at helping mine breathe a bit more easily first to see if that helps it.

I did look at 1300cc Micras, but couldnt find any that were in as nice a condition as mine for the money I have to spend.

[tone_depear]

Chav cars best for ragging about tike a tit, but Saxo VTR/VTS's must be close to bottoming out money wise by now?

[MicraShed]

^^^ They are, but you try and find one that hasnt been cocked about with. Top of my list of pet hates is lowered suspension. Stiff is fine, but lowered makes me want to hit people round the head with a cricket bat.

[tone_depear]

They are out there, but I see your point. Now I've had a look i definitely want one though. BAH.