i've had my coupe 20vt plus y2k for about a year now..have plans to upgrade it so that it will go quicker....a few things though... firstly, i've been told that if i mod the coupe beyond 300ish bhp then i am likely to have an undriveable car (ie in heavy traffic) esp. beyond 400bhp where the power band will kick in sometime after 5k rpm... is this correct?
if thats the case, then my best option, since what i really want is a car with torque which is more linear throughout the power band, would be to upgrade it to about 300-350 bhp...in which case, what would i need to do to get there?

Looks like we've lost the tuning FAQ.

As standard the 20VT has 220bhp, so 300bhp is almost 40% more. You can therefore expect to have accelerated engine wear and possible catastrophic failure. There are things that you can do to get more power, and 300bhp is attainable without internal engine work (major cost). Most people seem to get away without major problems (yet).

I've decided that around 300bhp is my comfort zone, much more gets expensive and compromises the car too much for day to day use IMO (e.g. non-standard clutch required).

For 300bhp I'd recommend:

1. FMIC (ProAlloy in my case) (£410)
2. Chip (GTEC1/2 from GrahamL) (£35?)
3. Boost controller (£200+)
4. Hybrid or larger turbo (£500-£1200)
5. Larger exhaust (£300+) with either decat (not legal) or race cat (£300+)
6. Straight induction mod (£200)
7. Uprated fuel pump (£80)
8. Boost gauge (£30+)
9. Rolling road run to check fueling (?)

All the prices are my guesses and assume that you do all the work yourself. Labour will add around 50% at a guess.

my other question would be "won't a larger intercooler cause increased lag?" lets say i do the above minus the uprated intercooler, would i be sacrificing on the cars reliability?

in whih case, if i skip the intercooler, the following would be my options...
gtec2
electronic boost controller
gt28r
3" exhaust with decat
bmc cda
walbro 255l/h fuel pump
blitz dtt2
now, assuming the above is done, would it be beneficial to change the injectors, say to one which is about 700cc? if so, are there other associated mods necessary to go along with that?

to be honest, you'd be better fitting a fmic, although it would cause lag, you could iron it out with a good boost controler. there are a few factors that cause lag, like turbo housing etc... the fmic would let you run more boost, hence making 300bhp more achivable.

You'll be upping the boost to achieve 300bhp. With the standard intercooler you risk it leaking (the endcaps are plastic). The standard intercooler probably won't cool well enough for 300bhp of airflow. It's easiest to fit everything at once.

You could go for a Pace wingmount intercooler (two currently for sale, mine and Nigel's) and a chargecooler (mine will be for sale soon, just got to get some pictures as it's modified), but for 300bhp I'd go the FMIC route. A Pace WMIC plus chargecooler will cost more than a FMIC (even secondhand I suspect), although it is easier to revert to standard (no bumper cutting).

You don't need to change the standard injectors for 300bhp.

hmm... lets say i change the stock intercooler piping to either stainless steel or samco's...would that help? as for the plastic covers, is it possible to replace them with a better material?

ha ha! just buy a front mount! you won't be sorry!

Has anyone got pics of a standard intercooler and a Pace wing mounted intercooler?
I not sure which is on mine
I know it's made from silver welded aluminuim!
I was in a car pit re-clipping the exhaust back up and I noticed it,

I was looking towards the front of the car on the lefthand side above the undertray ( in the pit!!)

here you go.

Thanks Matt
Looks like I have a Pace WMIC on my car! bonus!