[Loud]

@zacky1st, I think you posted the same twice. BTW Your Zen looks killer!
First I was thinking what is that thing (air filter) in the place of the RHS headlight. BTW What was the reason for placing it there? Can you share the tyre specs?

Also, I was wondering why the alloy (Pic #2 of Post #915) in the picture is different from the rest?

[Grr7]

Originally Posted by zacky1st

My Zen Carbon modified for Hill Climb Racing and Autocross

Attachment 1070434

Attachment 1070435

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ZAC Motorsports

Wonderful! Those tyres have completely changed the usual "soft" character of zen.

Just one big question: What modification to prevent these tyres from fouling with wheel archs? The 155/65 R13 tyres mounted on 4.5J alloy wheels love fowling the rear archs even at slightest of load and road curve. No amount of modification (from 1 inch rubber spacers) to changing the dampers to brand new OEM have helped!

[Loud]

@Grr7:

Just one big question: What modification to prevent these tyres from fouling with wheel archs?

I think he may have hammered the wheel arches from inside so they bulge outwards. This seems unusual but many of my friends (with upsized rims) have done this. But, it should be under supervision of an expert, since the outer surface might not turn out smooth after the work otherwise.

[zacky1st]

Mod team note: Back to back posts, please use Multi Quote (Quote +) instead. Also use proper punctuations instead of using this.... Thanks.

Originally Posted by Loud

@zacky1st, I think you posted the same twice. BTW Your Zen looks killer!
First I was thinking what is that thing (air filter) in the place of the RHS headlight. BTW What was the reason for placing it there? Can you share the tyre specs?

Also, I was wondering why the alloy (Pic #2 of Post #915) in the picture is different from the rest?

Hey...I have two different sets of wheels and tyres. The one your referring to are stock Carbon 13" alloys with MRF ZLO Tarmac Racing Tyres. VERY HARD to source these. The other ones in the pics are 12" steel wheels with SEMPERIT off road tyres, made to order from Austria..

Originally Posted by Grr7

Wonderful! Those tyres have completely changed the usual "soft" character of zen.

Just one big question: What modification to prevent these tyres from fouling with wheel archs? The 155/65 R13 tyres mounted on 4.5J alloy wheels love fowling the rear archs even at slightest of load and road curve. No amount of modification (from 1 inch rubber spacers) to changing the dampers to brand new OEM have helped!

Hey, The wheel arches buggered up my tyres during the event. I'm running fully adjustable custom made coil overs in the front and custom springs and shocks in the rear too. The car is usually set up pretty hard, but for the auto cross i had a comparatively softer set up, but compared to stock suspension still 'HARD'. So now my car is back to the work shop.. Fender arches all round. This will allow for more lowering and travel. My car must be back by max Saturday..will post pics soon..

[ImranShahnawaz]

Hi,

I got a 1999 crab zen, VXI recently. The car has clocked 1 lac kms so far. After buying I took the car to the MASS and rectified all issues with the car. But after using the car from last two months I'm facing two issues:
1) With the AC on the engine power drops.
2) Engine vibration with AC on.

The car runs smoothly without AC, but with AC on the engine power drops. Especially on up hill, with four people and AC on I have to put the car on 1st gear to climb. Sometimes at big speed breakers I have to lower the gear to 1st gear to cross. Though I understand that the gear changing ration in a crab engine will not be same as with the MPFI engine. What could be the reason? Please let me know if anyone has a contact details of a good engine mechanic in Bangalore.

The other issue is about engine vibration after switching on the AC. Engine vibrates only at the neutral position. But with a slight touch of acceleration the vibration stops and noise also subsides inside the cabin. There is no vibration and noise inside the cabin in the moving car. Though the issue is not so big, but it is quite irritating while stopping at traffic signals or whenever I have to shift the gear in neutral position.

Help me to rectify the issues.

Regards,
Imran

[mindless wander]

Hey fellow Zen-iacs,

I have a 2003 Zen Carbon which has barely done 30k kms. I got it as my 19th B'day gift and used it primarily for going to college and going to tutions. I was looking to sell it but somehow just can't let go of this beauty - feels weird. I have seen and read many people use/lust for this car as their project car.

That got me thinking that what all can I do with this car to make it a fun car - budget is around 30-40k initially and can spend later with time.

Suggestions/advice most welcome.

Cheers

[saket77]

Originally Posted by mindless wander

That got me thinking that what all can I do with this car to make it a fun car - budget is around 30-40k initially and can spend later with time.

Suggestions/advice most welcome.

Cheers

Zen, that too a Carbon, is already a fun car!

Well, a free flow exhaust, some spruced up interiors like leather seat-covers, and some paint job according to your taste (see pictures of many modified zens on our forum) should do well. A free flow exhaust will make is sound better. K&N filter should also add some spice to the way it drives & sounds. Plonk in a navigator for adding some character to the car. Buy good shoes like Michelins, would be a worth.

If you are a fan of underbody neon lights, then it can be done, though may not be street legal.

Later, when you have more to spend, an E-Zen or a B-Zen conversion would transform the car into a rocket. But with that, I would advise to get the Esteem brakes too, with correct tyre up size as well; but lets save that for later.

Regards,
Saket

[mindless wander]

Originally Posted by saket77

Zen, that too a Carbon, is already a fun car!

Well, a free flow exhaust, some spruced up interiors like leather seat-covers, and some paint job according to your taste (see pictures of many modified zens on our forum) should do well. A free flow exhaust will make is sound better. K&N filter should also add some spice to the way it drives & sounds. Plonk in a navigator for adding some character to the car. Buy good shoes like Michelins, would be a worth.

If you are a fan of underbody neon lights, then it can be done, though may not be street legal.

Later, when you have more to spend, an E-Zen or a B-Zen conversion would transform the car into a rocket. But with that, I would advise to get the Esteem brakes too, with correct tyre up size as well; but lets save that for later.

Regards,
Saket

thanks

It already has leather seats (red n black the stock ones). i was thinking of putting Sparco replicas (I have 'em handy from my donor rally Gypsy) in the same color combination and remove the back seat. FFE and K&N should do some justice to the car . Shoes - while I was away from India for a while, my folks already changed the stock ones to Turanza (IIRC).

How much FFE can add in terms of performance?

Paint job - don't want to change the complete color; won't mind adding some livery to the black macbeth

Cheers

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by saket77

Later, when you have more to spend, an E-Zen or a B-Zen conversion would transform the car into a rocket. But with that, I would advise to get the Esteem brakes too, with correct tyre up size as well; but lets save that for later.

Regards,
Saket

What is an E-Zen and a B-Zen?

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

What is an E-Zen and a B-Zen?

E-zen is esteem engined zen and B-zen is Baleno Engined . There is one more called S-zen , thats supra engined zen .

[saket77]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

What is an E-Zen and a B-Zen?

Originally Posted by black12rr

E-zen is esteem engined zen and B-zen is Baleno Engined . There is one more called S-zen , thats supra engined zen .

Add to this, a Zen with a Honda engine is Zonda!

[karizma9292]

Hey guys , a small help . How much approx I need to shell to convert a carb E-zen to MPFI E-zen ? Also does the carb and mpfi g13b share the same block and pistons ?

[adsgill]

Originally Posted by ImranShahnawaz

Hi,

I got a 1999 crab zen, VXI recently. The car has clocked 1 lac kms so far. After buying I took the car to the MASS and rectified all issues with the car. But after using the car from last two months I'm facing two issues:
1) With the AC on the engine power drops.
2) Engine vibration with AC on.

The car runs smoothly without AC, but with AC on the engine power drops. Especially on up hill, with four people and AC on I have to put the car on 1st gear to climb. Sometimes at big speed breakers I have to lower the gear to 1st gear to cross. Though I understand that the gear changing ration in a crab engine will not be same as with the MPFI engine. What could be the reason? Please let me know if anyone has a contact details of a good engine mechanic in Bangalore.

The other issue is about engine vibration after switching on the AC. Engine vibrates only at the neutral position. But with a slight touch of acceleration the vibration stops and noise also subsides inside the cabin. There is no vibration and noise inside the cabin in the moving car. Though the issue is not so big, but it is quite irritating while stopping at traffic signals or whenever I have to shift the gear in neutral position.

Help me to rectify the issues.

Regards,
Imran

Hey Imran,

1. For a Carb Zen, thats normal for some drop in the engine power when the air conditioning is switched on. The manual of the car itself says that during the operation of a/c, you may notice slight changes in engine speed. Even the system is so designed that the compressor turns on and off on its own to maintain a steady temperature inside the cabin space. This thing sometimes gets annoying on highways when the engine speed suddenly drops when a/c comes on load, and sudden increase in power when it goes off.

2. Engine vibration with a/c on is yet another normal issue. Happens with me all the time. But still you can get it checked from some good mechanic, because after running for few kilometers the vibration decreases as compared to that at the initial stage.

Have a nice time 'Zen'ing around!!

Originally Posted by mindless wander

Hey fellow Zen-iacs,

I have a 2003 Zen Carbon which has barely done 30k kms. I got it as my 19th B'day gift and used it primarily for going to college and going to tutions. I was looking to sell it but somehow just can't let go of this beauty - feels weird. I have seen and read many people use/lust for this car as their project car.

That got me thinking that what all can I do with this car to make it a fun car - budget is around 30-40k initially and can spend later with time.

Suggestions/advice most welcome.

Cheers

Being a Zen Classic owner myself, I always felt that the Classic version should have been launched in 2 door mode. Man! my lust for 2 door Zen .

Anyways, you can get some nice 13 inchers, something in chrome with like 5-6 spokes(i think carbon and steel also came with 13 inch rims as stock like the classic). Get the discs and drums painted red that will match with your seat covers. Seat covers you can try from AutoFoam, same red and black dual tone. Add a spoiler to give her a sporty look.

Go for Magnaflow FFE and make sure you get the whole system changed, right from the header to muffler for gain in performance.

Cheers Mate!!

[hishetty]

I am planning to give my Jan 2005 Zen Lxi a mid-life makeover. She has clocked a little over 41K and never gave a single problem in all these years. I have had a Wagon R, i20 Asta and a Vento Highline Diesel and still prefer her when i want to have fun while driving. Just the usual wear and tear associated with age. Today i dropped her off at Automechs (Koramangala) hoping Naveen will iron out all the minor squeaks and rattles and replace parts that have reached end of life.

Once the above is done I also want to give her a new coat of paint. Although there is no problem with the existing paint there are these small dents from stones and minor bruises associated with our crazy traffic. These are pretty much all over the body and only part which managed to survive unscathed is the roof Her original paint is metallic silver and since i dont want to change to a diffrent color, i am planning to repaint her with Reflex Silver (same color on my VW Vento). Called Sai Colorium and they quoted 40K for Paint and Extra for tinkering Naveen agreed to do both for 26K. Nexus at NEW BEL Road quoted 30K plus tax. I am tempted to go with Naveen but i was not convinced with his paint workshop. Any suggestions folks?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by hishetty

Any suggestions folks?

A Zen is surely a car which can be given this royal treatment. Also, painting in the showroom colour is a better way to go, since it will not call for legal implications from RTO. Since, you are not convinced with the job of that particular service center, I suggest you look out for others. Will not hurt much in case you have to shell out 4-5K more, but will surely hurt if the car is not restored to your satisfaction.