supercharger

I never had an issue with standard brakes, I have run EBC drilled and groved discs and redstuff pads before and have reverted back as cost is not worth the actual increase (unless you think your a racing driver when ever you get behind the wheel) for normal road use around town or on motorways the standard setup is perfect, its one of those many tricks by performance parts manufacturers to sell their goods, the vehicle manufacturer spends millions setting the car up for best overall performance within a strict set of guidelines, this means the car is running at optimal performance for all the parts fitted then along comes Mr Modder who sais " I know better and can make the car better than the manufacturer with this part that cost a couple of grand to get from idea to manufacture, this then puts strain on something else so that you have to upgrade that part, before you know it you have spent £3,000 replacing parts that have worn out prematurely just so you could get an extra 10bhp
 
Procomm said:
I never had an issue with standard brakes, I have run EBC drilled and groved discs and redstuff pads before and have reverted back as cost is not worth the actual increase (unless you think your a racing driver when ever you get behind the wheel) for normal road use around town or on motorways the standard setup is perfect, its one of those many tricks by performance parts manufacturers to sell their goods, the vehicle manufacturer spends millions setting the car up for best overall performance within a strict set of guidelines, this means the car is running at optimal performance for all the parts fitted then along comes Mr Modder who sais " I know better and can make the car better than the manufacturer with this part that cost a couple of grand to get from idea to manufacture, this then puts strain on something else so that you have to upgrade that part, before you know it you have spent £3,000 replacing parts that have worn out prematurely just so you could get an extra 10bhp
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I think this is a bit simplistic in some cases.

Manufacturers aim for cost vs benefit I guess rather than performance. If you fitted a really finely tuned aftermarket suspension system would you claim the factory set-up was better? I guess you might, as is your prerogative but that doesn't mean it's in any way inferior to the compromise system from the factory.

The EGR system is probably a good case in point. It no doubt cost a vast sum of money to implement but I doubt many owners would say it enhances the car.
 
I agree to an extent but building a car is more than just designing how fast the car should go, every part that goes into building a car is rigourously tested to meet the performance of the other parts, yes certain things like exhaust and interior trim dont matter to much but even something as simple as Sparkplugs, most cars have several makes of sparkplug that will work perfectly well as OEM spec but when you move on from single to multi spark you start ageing other engine parts within the combustion cycle

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HT leads being a prime example, I did research the Motorcraft HT leads when i was planning on upgrading to blue silicon coated performance ones, I got intouch with Motorcrafts R&D department who informed me that unless i was upgrading all of the ignition including Battery, Alternator power and earth cables, spark plugs and coil pack and then remapping the ECU there was no point so i left the standard ones on and have not had an issue, no performance degredation, no issues with coilpacks or anything else within the electrical side of the engine bay where as i have seen many issues cropping up with cars that have had the upgrade
 
Something like suspension is a great example. Most aftermarket "set ups" either are just inherently rubbish or will end up just being rubbish anyway.

In the case of Cougars, only the full Eibach dealer fit option could be considered an upgrade. All the aftermarket springs fitting to OE shocks are a downgrade in driving dynamics. The CofG is lowered fractionally but the car is under damped and patters on uneven surfaces, reducing grip. Front-rear bias is usually upset too. Even if someone buys top quality adjustable dampers, the simple facts are that the geometry is not adjustable on most cars, and even if it is, it takes a lot of trial and error and genuine expertise to set up adjustable dampers to work properly. Most people either fit them themselves or pay a non-suspension specialist to fit them. They're not actually "set up" at all. In each case the car is made worse in every objective measure.

It's only if you pay some proper experts a sizeable sum of money will you end up with a suspension tune that is better than a well maintained OE car.
 
benham said:
Manufacturers aim for cost vs benefit I guess rather than performance.
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Of course they do, but the most important factor is that the car should be safe and have a predictable longevity. Or as Procomm puts it:

Procomm said:
every part that goes into building a car is rigourously tested to meet the performance of the other parts
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By that measure the stock suspension is in fact better, all other things being equal. In my opinion, taking a stock car and improving it in a balanced way is an art. And generally speaking you'd better be prepared to go big or go home.

benham said:
The EGR system is probably a good case in point. It no doubt cost a vast sum of money to implement but I doubt many owners would say it enhances the car.
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No, the EGR system is an absolutely lousy example since Ford wouldn't have fitted it by choice. It was mandated by the US CAFE regulations and they knew full well that it would have a negative impact. I imagine the only people who were happy about it were the service centres who could charge 80 bucks an hour spraying carb cleaner into the inlet manifold.
 
Mako said:
Where's the battery Luke? In the boot?
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That would usually be the case mate, happens a lot in modifed cars, just causes more problems I guess as you have to have a decent thick cable to get a decent current and make sure the battery is mounted securely (unless it's a gell type like an optima Red top/yellow top)
 
You add more power and get more wheelspin, so you add an LSD and bork the clutch. Fit a heavier clutch and pop the slave cylinder. Replace slave and pop the master cylinder. Replace that, and strip teeth off the gearbox or diff pinion gear. Replace the gearbox and break a driveshaft...

Give up.

Break car for spares.

That's pretty much a summary of how all these go in the end. Every one was was unique. Nobody wanted to buy any of them when the builder realised the reality didn't live up to the dream.
 
jamie_duff said:
You add more power and get more wheelspin, so you add an LSD and bork the clutch. Fit a heavier clutch and pop the slave cylinder. Replace slave and pop the master cylinder. Replace that, and strip teeth off the gearbox or diff pinion gear. Replace the gearbox and break a driveshaft...

Give up.



That's pretty much a summary of how all these go in the end. Every one was was unique. Nobody wanted to buy any of them when the builder realised the reality didn't live up to the dream.
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Yep have to agree here, mid 90's i had a series 2 RS Turbo, which i bought with a stroked 2 litre lump from power engineering, great car when it was running and stupidly fast for the time, but it needed a paddle clutch fitted to take the 240ft Ibs of torque and 230 bhp it produced, consiquently it had to have a non self adjusting clutch mechanism fitted and a modified cable, which used to break with regularity about every 10 months or so, because it wasn't strong enough to withstand the paddle clutch, that and every weekend i was out working on it to keep it running in tip top shape.

PITA to work on but damn good fun blowing away some pretty unsuspecting cars and a few of the slower 600cc bikes of the time !!!
 
Sorry for going back to the original question but think I read that lots of st24 owners run nos if you want small burst of power, sure that's what I read somewhere...
 
bobsleigh said:
Sorry for going back to the original question but think I read that lots of st24 owners run nos if you want small burst of power, sure that's what I read somewhere...
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I looked into a progressive nitrous oxide kit, gradually adds the nitrous/fuel instead of one quick dump. The v6 could see up to 150hp more power IIRC this way (there are more details on the forum in the modification section and then the forced induction thread) with reliability still being ok, something a quick shot of nitrous oxide/fuel couldn't guaranty as your more likely to blow the engine up (something one of the zetec cougar lads did with his No2 boosted cat)
 
Of the insurers who wont have your eyes out for mods like aftermarket exhausts, most will run a mile from nitrous oxide. It leaves you with one or two remaining insurers who will cover you, and they know they've got you by the nuts. You'll pay in insurance over a couple of years what you saved by going nitrous oxide instead of just buying a faster car.

I know I'm really down on power mods for Cougars, but I really think people need to make peace with the fact that the car isn't a high performance car and enjoy it for what it is.

There are far better ways of spending this money on cars. Or even go to the Caribbean for a week if you've never been. Anything really other than heroin will improve your life more than sinking cash in to a car trying to make it go faster!
 
jamie_duff said:
Of the insurers who wont have your eyes out for mods like aftermarket exhausts, most will run a mile from nitrous oxide. It leaves you with one or two remaining insurers who will cover you, and they know they've got you by the nuts. You'll pay in insurance over a couple of years what you saved by going nitrous oxide instead of just buying a faster car.

I know I'm really down on power mods for Cougars, but I really think people need to make peace with the fact that the car isn't a high performance car and enjoy it for what it is.

There are far better ways of spending this money on cars. Or even go to the Caribbean for a week if you've never been. Anything really other than heroin will improve your life more than sinking cash in to a car trying to make it go faster!
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I agree entirely with the above sentiment; again it'll sound that I'm also "on a downer" on the Cougar.

As great a car as it is, it's not a base car for doing "serious" performance mods to. There are five cars off the top of my head that'll offer you plenty of "fun" for less than the price of messing about assembling a turbo/supercharger and manifold for the Cougar before you've even started getting the spanners out.

The Cougar is a great tourer, and very dynamic for what it is, but piling money in to a fast Cougar does seem a little pointless.

That said, each to their own!
 
My insurers allow unlimited mods with a cap on bhp

As for performance all im doing is decat panel filter exhaust and a remap. Not wanting more power but a remap should improve driveability.

Ive had few fast cars, two things i agree with, you get used to the power and in thid country you cant really make use of it unless you have money for trackdays. And i defo dont, the now was just a point I read worth mentioning ad it would be cheaper than anything else I read



The nos
 
jamie_duff said:
You add more power and get more wheelspin, so you add an LSD and bork the clutch. Fit a heavier clutch and pop the slave cylinder. Replace slave and pop the master cylinder. Replace that, and strip teeth off the gearbox or diff pinion gear. Replace the gearbox and break a driveshaft...

Give up.

Break car for spares.

That's pretty much a summary of how all these go in the end. Every one was was unique. Nobody wanted to buy any of them when the builder realised the reality didn't live up to the dream.
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I got to the gearbox stage twice. Lol but its the layshaft that goes ;-)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 
benham said:
I agree entirely with the above sentiment; again it'll sound that I'm also "on a downer" on the Cougar.

As great a car as it is, it's not a base car for doing "serious" performance mods to. There are five cars off the top of my head that'll offer you plenty of "fun" for less than the price of messing about assembling a turbo/supercharger and manifold for the Cougar before you've even started getting the spanners out.

The Cougar is a great tourer, and very dynamic for what it is, but piling money in to a fast Cougar does seem a little pointless.

That said, each to their own!
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I'm a perfect example of the fact the cougar probably has enough power as I still managed to rack up almost the full quota of points on my licence lol, after all you can only legally do 70 mph on the public highway anyway :rolleyes:
 
I changed 2 due to diffs. Langers last box swap was unnecessary in the end as it was a knackered wheel bearing I think. He's not done one in a while though.
 
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