2002 Opel Speedster FOR SALE & 2022 GR86 Snow Plough

Yeaaaaassss - My vision is finally realized

Yes, I know I'm on the wrong tires but something was already itching at my brain

I had gone down the route (well trodden it must be said) of getting track modifications for my car. My wheels were too wide and the tires too aggressive for the manner in which I use the car.

I'm up in the mountain passes and it pretty much always cold up there. These tires had little grip and I was getting tramlining which made the car very skittish. My friend had the narrower TDs on his car and more regular rubber and even though it has 100hp more than mine, it felt much steadier and easy to drive.

So, wheels need to be sorted.

Next up was the Larini. It sounded great but it was just too loud. The pops and bangs on the overrun were antisocial and I felt like a major tool. It also had the inverse effect of really making me drive more slowly.

Right then, the exhaust needs to go as well.

The final thing (leaving power aside for now) was that I always though the front end could be a little sharper and this was confirmed when I drove the silver car. I needed to work on that as well.

Front suspension mounts swapped for Elise items to bring the front down 10mm













You can't do the same with the rear as it's hard mounted

So I test fit the set (this was before the front mounts so still a little high on the nose)




Also, weights. Front OEM - 17.5 KG, ATS 18.1 KG, OEM 15's 14.7 KG. This will work nicely

I lost lights around 8.00 p.m. 50km North of Stuttgart on the return leg.

A friendly French trucker with a phase tester helped me and we figured out a dodgy relay. A little switcharoo and I was on my way.

1300km round trip in 36 hours

When I had mine I wanted a bit more noise than the OEM could provide, so I went for the Piper. My wife was worried it would be too loud for our quiet* cul-de-sac so while waiting for the exhaust to come I always reversed on to the drive and as soon as I had fitted it I began driving on to the drive so the exhaust was pointing away from our house!
She never noticed, although the Piper wasn't too loud anyway.

*quiet for Basiltown, I might add

Larger 65mm LE5 throttle body







Some other smaller new pieces











I do love the green so I'm going to wrap it myself in 3M Kelly Green Gloss





Finally I pulled the ECU as it's off to a specialist in the Netherlands to make the most of these changes. It also allows scope for reprogramming in future as I am close to purchasing a ported head with stiffer springs, 11.1 CR and stage 2 cams. That second step would happen mid-year as I want to experience the changes step by step. My target in the end is 200 bhp keeping it NA which would be a handy bump from the original 147 bhp.