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Old 07-10-2007, 09:44 AM
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justinfox justinfox is offline
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Motorsports: Tell us how you want to improve your Fit!

Well I initially bought the Fit to grow up a bit. By that I mean, to drive something good on fuel and something cheaper to insure (my current other car is a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R and my previous daily driver was a Mitsubishi EVO 6.5 Tomi Makkinen Edition). But being a car modifying junkie I couldn't help myself. I figure that every car can be bettered and that included my daily driver. So here's a picture story of events, hopefully it'll give you some insight into how I'm trying to improve my fit.

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Picked up the little car from the dealers and went straight to JDMyard.com, my mates who sell all sorts of great JDM goodies. Notice the plates they gave me say "ANAS YO?" I knew I had to replace them ASAP!!!



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Walked out of JDMyard with some goodies to improve handling. As they say, it's best to spend up on suspension and tyres before power. A formula I use on every car I modify.



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But before whacking these mods on I took the bare bones stock as a rock little Fit to Wakefield Park race track for a fang as it's always best to just track a car in order to figure out just what modification you might need. I'd only done 1,000kms but to hell with it, best way to break a car in, in my opinion! I did a 1.21 which isn't too shabby and I walked away from the day with a massive smile on my face. Brakes were great and didn't fade too badly at all. Handling is amazingly neutral. I was totally surprised at what this little car could do out there on a track. So much so that I knew I had to mod the car some more (hey if it was a lemon in the handling department I might not have bothered!). Here's a video of the day from inside my Fit:
YouTube - Compact Cup





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Modifying is also about experimenting. I believe that you can't just go off things you read in magazines and forums. Sometimes you just really have to try things out for yourself in order to gain experience. I know that if you bung on a pod filter on most turbo cars, you get massive gains. I wanted to try a short ram despite reading all the info online about heat soak. I felt a great change, more response and a little more sound which is always nice but then I tried a CAI and bought a J's racing air guide to guide air into the pod. I've found the CAI to bee even better than the SRI. I felt like I lost a little bit of response down low but gained everywhere else and it's nice to know I'm grabbing cold air at all times.


HKS short ram


TODA CAI


J's intake air guide into the pod filter/CAI.

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My new plates to replace "ANAS YO"! How "fitting"! It's always nice to give your car more character with nice plates. It's like giving your car a name.



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My project is coming along nicely. I've got the coilovers in and J's racing roll centre adjusters on the car (as I've lowered it a fair bit). I've found the right damper setting too. Sydney roads are shocking to say the least and as it is now it soaks up massive pot holes no worries at all.



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Can't ever do with too little chassis bracing. I doubt my Fit will ever see a full welded in roll cage so chassis bracing is the direction I am heading in.



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Feel is important to me. The mugen short shifter ads to the sporty feeling some more. Every little bit helps the fun factor.



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Next was weight savings, perhaps the most effective way to make a Honda go faster!

- Stock wheels: 7.7kg/wheel x 4 = 30.8kgs
- Buddy club QF: 4.6kgs/wheel x 4 = 18.6kgs
= Weight saving of 12.2kgs (unsprung weight FTW!).

- Rear magic system seats = 30kgs
- Spare wheel + tyre = 15kgs
- Rear spare wheel floor cover/panel = 4kgs
- Rear sliding parcel tray/luggage cover = 2kgs
- Tool kit = 2kgs
- Rear floor mats = 1kg

TOTAL: 66.2kgs!!!

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Some more heavy stuff removed/replaced:
Axle back stock exhaust (8kgs)
Stock Airbox (2.7kgs)
Stock suspension (20kgs)

On the cards:
Bucket seats to replace front seats
Headers
Titanium cat-back
Lightened pulley
Lightened battery

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I've always been a fan of semis for everyday street use! A set of Toyo R888 semi slicks are now on, they warm up very quick and they're also great in the wet. Cornering speeds have increased and confidence has increased even more.



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So, even though my GT-R is my dedicated track car. I find the Jazz so much more fun on the street, and in some ways, on the track too. It's all about how much time I am flat chat on the accelerator and how I can just chuck the little car into the corners without lifting off. It's all about momentum and planing ahead if I want to overtake someone. I've been so surprised about this little car. She's a very fun daily driver (I drive 30km to and from work daily), fun in corners, lots of feel, like a track car for the street. I've got a Nardi 330mm steering wheel ready to go on the car, the J's racing X brace and I've bought a K20A too but that's on ice for now. I'm really looking forward to taking it to the track again now that she's getting all set up and ready to go!


__________________
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My garage:
1993 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
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