[shahbazm88]

Hello people! I have been a silent follower of TBHP for a long time, browsing the forums populated by its extremely knowledgeable members . And here I am finally, as a proud member!

Shahbaz here. I am from Kerala, though majority of my life has been spent in various regions of India. I have a Mechanical Engineering degree and am currently pursuing my MBA in Operations ( I worked for a period of more than 2 years in between).

Automobiles mean everything to me. And so does motorsports. I recall the time when F1 was interesting, and I skipped one exam just to watch that race at Spa. (Totally worth it). I am open to all sorts of discussions, be it F1, GT or WRC.

I am quite a cautious driver (Or so I'd like to believe), always trying hard to keep that road rage in check. Currently I own a Palio 1.2 Sport (P) and a VW Polo 1.2 (P). Coming to the point of truth : I have seldom got my hands greasy working on a car, and compared to most of the members, my technical know-how might be on the lower side. So please pardon me if I blank out on some of the highly technical aspects.

My current mission is to acquire a Palio 1.6 GTX and give it a proper performance treatment. I know it is an oldie.... but its a goldie! I also agree that Palios are extremely hard to mod (Current options are just Intake, FFE and stripping out the weight), which is what makes the project all the more challenging and interesting. I have already spoken to personnel from Red Rooster Performance and Pete's regarding further options available. Also, I am sure I can count on the TBHP brotherhood to guide me through!

That's it for my boringly long intro. Hope to see you all around.
Cheers!

[GTO]

Welcome Shahbaz!

Originally Posted by shahbazm88

I recall the time when F1 was interesting

2014 was rather interesting, wouldn't you agree?

Nice profile pic, I love Senna too (though I love Schumacher more).

I skipped one exam just to watch that race at Spa

Tell me it was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QpD1awopQ

Or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eE3gCy5zvM

My current mission is to acquire a Palio 1.6 GTX and give it a proper performance treatment.I know it is an oldie.... but its a goldie! I also agree that Palios are extremely hard to mod (Current options are just Intake, FFE and stripping out the weight)

Golden rule of modifications is to start with a good base car. The Palio is too old, clean examples are nearly impossible to find and parts are hard to come by. Why live with 3 compromises? If I were you, I'd sell my existing Palio 1.2 & Polo 1.2, and buy a VW Polo GT TDI or TSI . More punch? Get yourself a pre-owned Laura 1.8 TSI for <6 lakhs.

The only reason you should buy or retain a 10+ year old car is if there is some sentimental value attached to it (e.g. my Jeep). Other than that, pick new. They are superior in every which way.

Wish you a great 2015!

[shahbazm88]

Originally Posted by GTO

Welcome Shahbaz!



2014 was rather interesting, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for the great welcome GTO!
2014 wasn't exactly boring, but I like it better when teams are closely matched! The new Blancpain GT series was a better watch for me last year.

Originally Posted by GTO

Nice profile pic, I love Senna too (though I love Schumacher more).

Thanks again. You got that right! Schumi was great (Sad as the current state of affairs are), but Senna sits on the top for me. Even though I couldn't watch Senna's drives on live television (Was still a school kid), I became a fan watching the reruns and reading about him. His racing was just raw! Plus he was a phenomenal character, as far as I could observe.
"If you don't go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver"

Originally Posted by GTO

Tell me it was this:
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=R3QpD1awopQ

Or this:
https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=-eE3gCy5zvM

It was neither, but I guess maybe you knew.
I started watching F1 in 2000. But I can recall that second video! That famous Hakkinen move. Hakkinen is one of my favourites (His ice cool humour and attitude is just amazing). Thanks for those shares!
I was in fact referring to the 2009 season, when shockingly a Force India got into the podium!

Originally Posted by GTO

Golden rule of modifications is to start with a good base car. The Palio is too old, clean examples are nearly impossible to find and parts are hard to come by. Why live with 3 compromises? If I were you, I'd sell my existing Palio 1.2 & Polo 1.2, and buy a VW Polo GT TDI or TSI . More punch? Get yourself a pre-owned Laura 1.8 TSI for <6 lakhs.

The only reason you should buy or retain a 10+ year old car is if there is some sentimental value attached to it (e.g. my Jeep). Other than that, pick new. They are superior in every which way.

Wish you a great 2015!

I agree with you 100% on this, Palios are too old. And you got that right, I do have a sort of sentimental value attached to the car. So if I sell my 1.2 and get a 1.6 I feel I can still hang on to the memories. And I plan to do a restoration job first before diving into mods. I plan to keep it minimal at the moment and recon that the engine might require some rework. Plus, I would like this to be an experimental project, so wouldn't want to risk investing big cash on a Laura (which is a phenomenal value-for-power car actually)! Perhaps in the future....
I know I am going against proper sense, but I hope I can still count on some advice if I do manage to set off on this.


Me and my father did consider the TSI while scouting the stables, but the cost of purchase was just spiraling out of control! So the 1.2 will have to be the family car for now. Its a bit low on grunt, but I am getting it bumped up to 85bhp from Pete's soon!

Wish you a wonderful new year ahead!
Eagerly awaiting the start of the new race season