powderbomber
managed to score one of these pretty cheap and enjoying it so far. too nice to go stupid on but keen to investigate any handling suspension/brakes upgrades - also performance stuff engine/exhaust etc. finding it hard to get any decent info on the net, best I have found is comments like "highly tuneable" "can make big power" but no explanation of how or what to do. long shot but thought id see if there were any good bits floating around?
Spac
Evo front struts bolt in, but be aware that most of them don't have mounts for the sway bar. I've been running my silver car with the front swaybar disconnected, and haven't found any drawbacks.
Evo1-3 (and 10?) rear shocks bolt in. Evo4-9 shocks can he made to work, if you can figure out how to convert the lower mounting fork to an eye.
Aftermarket rear swaybar for a Proton is a good upgrade.
Stock brakes work very well with good pads. Evo1-3 upgrades bolt straight on. The brake hoses are developing a tendency to split with age, so some new braided hoses are good for reliability.
Motor wise... Hard to know what the limits really are thanks to so much shit being spoken on the internet, but they do appear to be more durable than the I5 versions on a HP per cc basis.
Rods are the weak point, as with all Whiteblocks of the era.
NA cams, exhaust upgrade (rear muffler delete at a minimum), IC upgrade, and a suitable tune will make for a very entertaining road car. You can buy x40-specific 19T turbos which are supposed to be a good move.
Is it the yellow one from eastern Vic?
Spac
In terms of actually helping you out with parts, I have a set of four Bilsteins that are almost new, a pair of H&R front springs, a pair of Eibach rear springs.
I'm also wrecking four cars and have the parts from another 2.5 of them so if you need anything else, just sing out.
powderbomber
awesome! great info thanks! its a black one i grabbed in country SA, have been driving it for a couple of weeks waiting to find out the hitch as to why it was so cheap for the condition and it actually looks like it might be legit. 257kms but receipts for everything back to the original owner - looks like I am owner #4. has had all four struts replaced around 20k kms ago (monroe) and they seem pretty OK so might not be the first priority - would be good to get it a bit lower so interested in those springs - are they stock height or how much will they drop it?
will look into the rear muffler delete - want to do the same on my v8 xc90 so might see if I can do both at once
also thanks re the suggestions for swaybars/suspension - will investigate evo bits
Spac
The springs I have are lowered. For the shit roads we have around here, the fronts are too soft relative to the height, TBH - they tend to crash through on bigger bumps. I replaced them with Eibachs.
Spac
They are ridiculously good value to buy ATM. And ridiculously difficult to sell...
I can't think of another car that goes close to a T4 for price, performance, safety, fuel economy and reliability. Especially if it is a manual.
Vee_Que
Other than sheer comfort due to the offset steering wheel and the fact I'm tall. And the handling is pretty normal for fwd car with irs. An is200 beats it for that hands down.
Ex850R
Vee_Que;131894 wroteOther than sheer comfort due to the offset steering wheel and the fact I'm tall. And the handling is pretty normal for fwd car with irs. An is200 beats it for that hands down.
I wondered about that omparison.
I liked driving an auto NA S40 1998 , wanted Trbo...
Vee_Que
The price of a lexus is a bit more. But not by much. The lexus doesn't understeer at speeds higher than what the s40 just won't do in the road.
Ex850R
The RWD would get my vote here , yes , im a bit over high powered FWD!
Well , i was years ago i spose , my 850R , i spent too much money on sticky tyres to always be smoking them...
After my V70R and driving the S80 AWD V8 , not going back...