Newbie saying hi and after advice

C

ColTho

Hi folks,

Just bought a 2003 1.5 SE. Only driven it once so far and it seems ok but I thought I'd ask if there was any obvious improvements that should be made right away?

I've heard that a new stainless exhaust can improve it but I know jack about cars in general to be honest.

The stereo's built in as well. I hope it's not too difficult to take that out and put in a different one?
 
Welcome!

That's not quite fair, the 1.5 is a bit underpowered but it was designed as an economical daily-driver so it's never going to be a hot-rod. However it has decent torque and accelerates OK up to motorway speed and it handles well so it can be fun enough on the back roads and is a pretty good car if you aren't expecting miracles on the drag strip. I only really sold mine because I broke it in a number of annoying ways.

A performance air filter panel will hopefully smooth out the power delivery through the gears a bit and may get you a couple of extra horsepower (I wouldn't bother with a cone filter really) and won't cost a huge amount. Lightweight 16" alloys and decent lowering springs will improve the handling even more (unless you get really lightweight 17" wheels the extra weight of 17's will slow you down) and a nwe exhaust may look and sound nicer but without some serious engine mods will not likely gain you much power.

Other than that unless you want to spend a fortune on power modifications (and we're talking at least a turbo conversion here to get any real grunt out of it) you're better off modding for comfort, features and looks - or just enjoying it as it is and saving the money you would spend on mods for something with a bit more power.
 
Welcome Colin :) Wraith is spot on with his advice there - either save your money & enjoy the car with minor mods or sell it on for a bigger engine if you want performance. Even if you just want a show car, it'll still cost a few grand to make it look special enough.
 
Hey,

Thanks a lot Wraith and Almerasleeper. That's more the kind of advice I was after.

I haven't got the money to do loads of mods anyway so i'll look into an air filter panel and some 16" alloys.

Cheers
 
im glad there are more N16's now. I hope more and more turn up to meets there was just me and edk at the last meet.

Welcome to the club :-)

I got a 53 almera SE as well I got a phase 2 (black projector head lights) I am just thinking which almera you have a Phase 1 or a phase 2 as in 2003 both was still release on that date. I can give you a lot of advice on audio so let me know what almera you have

Phase 1
http://www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/images/vehicles/9893_562.jpg

Phase 2
http://www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/images/vehicles/700_3949.jpg
 
Welcome to the club :) A few choice mods for looks could be good, and in terms of performance exactly as wraith and sleeper say ;) I had a 1.5 before and it was pretty nippy round town so it can still be fun to drive as it is, just don't expect a genuine fast car :)

Get some pics up and we can give you some cosmetic ideas. Also with thos 16" alloys, do make sure they are lightweight i.e. not fox, ripseed sort of thing :rolleyes: Team Dynamics or Rota are a good bet amoung others and reasonably priced too.

Enjoy the forums :thumb:
 
There are some subtle, simple and cheap mods that can make a big cumulative difference cosmetically - smoked or clear side indicators, de-badging the back end, removing dealership stickers, plain tax disk holder, non-branded number plates and so on cleans things up a lot, Ice blue headlamp bulbs and sidelights, chromed indicator bulbs and so on can make a subtle difference depending on the colouring. A heavy tint on the rear windows and boot helps blend the 5-doors' two rear window panes together and makes the car look a bit longer, flatter, wider and sleeker (couple of hundred quid for a pro job or about £30-40 if you DIY) and a medium-dark spray tint on the rear light clusters polished-up makes the lines round the car's backside look smoother. Rally mud flaps (my next mod) can make it look lower and wider.

A good wash, t-cut, wax and polish can do wonders too.

If it's a phase 1 (early 2003, no plastic grille on front spoiler, separate front headlight and indicator housings) you can use no-more-nails or something to put a mesh grille on the lower bumper quite easily and if you have the foglight blanking plates you can slice off the back of them and put mesh behind them for a nice effect (or a neat place for cold air feed if you use a cold-air kit and route the ducting where the resonater lives). Even something as simple as changing the interior lights for bright white LEDs can make the inside a nicer place to be.

You can get a decent set of lowering springs for under £200 which gives a subtle drop and improved handling (though you need to find someone cheap to fit them, I got raped on that).

You can pick up a nice backbox for under £200 but THB if the exhaust is in good shape a well camoflaged exhaust tip is a cheap cosmetic mod that makes a difference.

Add a cheap set of 16" alloys (lots of good deals around right now) and nice tyres and you should have change from £1000.
 
Hey,

Thanks again everyone (especially wrath)!

Some really good tips there. It'll take me a while before I can do much to it (lots of money going elsewhere at the moment) but i'm definitely gonna look into some of those mods.

I'll try and get some pics up in the next few days.

Darren - mines a phase 2. All I want to do at the moment is install a new stereo with an aux input. Looks fairly simple but think I need to buy a new fascia for it to look right.

Cheers
 
ColTho said:
Looks fairly simple but think I need to buy a new fascia for it to look right
Click to expand...

if they made one that would be very simple. I am guessing you have climate control? if you have climate control they do not make a facia. they only made facia's for the S models of the phase 2. you can modify the original facia to get it in.

oh yeah if you have sat nav thats even more of a pain.
 
:woohoo: another N16, the numbers are growing people :eek:
Anyway, I've got a Phase one so I'm nae gonna be too much use here but my advice would be to keep things subtle. Welcome to the club dude.
 
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