[Bass&Trouble]

..aka, the "preyer" becomes the "preyee".

Yes, I plead guilty to all charges of sending many an unsuspecting ICEr's budgets zooming skywards.

However I hope all of you will not be as ruthless, and give me some nice and inexpensive suggestions to make my Lancer a better and more enjoyable car.

I am not posting any pics of the car, cos it's as stock as it gets.

A good set of wheels seems to be highest in the order. Nothing too fancy like OZs etc, something that is regarded as value for money. I hate cars with low profile tyres and the way they ride. My current tyres look nice, not much wear. So a stock sized rim would work best I guess. 13", is it?

Next in line is some suspension/ steering work - if required. The steering is wobbly at low speeds. I suspect that this is because the previous owner removed the OZs and threw on the stock wheels before selling the car. So the al-bal must be haywire. Hence, I plan this step after getting the new wheels. So, will buy wheels - get al/ bal done - check steering/ suspension if required. The car's suspension feels very "soft". Is this normal for Lancers? If not, any good garage where this can be checked/ fixed?

Seat covers are required. G Sport are decent, eh?

Car needs a full paint job. There are scratches on the bonnet and I might as well give a full fresh coat while I'm at it. Any suggestions here too? Original paint is "Black Magic". Intend to keep it that way. And if it wont be a packet, maybe throw in the sporty bumpers, skirts and a spoiler.

Are aftermarket power windows recommended? Would love for it look like stock with the OE switches etc if possible. And asolutely nothing that is prone to conking off. I have learnt from past experiences, that there is nothing more annoying than to open up the door panel and using a spanner to roll up the glass of a broken power window.

Any other minor mods? Oh yes, need a decent horn. What suits the Lancer, and is capable of getting two-legged cattle out of the way?

Its your only chance to get even with me, so keep the suggestions coming.

[Vid6639]

The Lancer begs for 14" or more. Since you need decent ride please please get 14" alloys and not 13". Tyres you can go for are 195/60-14. You may get decent exchange if your current tyres are good. Please don't go for 13" alloys on a Lancer. It's a waste.

Front suspension is very hard in the Lancer whereas the rear is softly sprung. You may need to change the suspension bushes but suspension bushes are not sold separately. You need to get them from outside as HM sells the entire lower arm with the bushes.

G sport covers are decent. Make sure you get the steering wrapped as well as the steering wheel looks spindly in the lancer.

Power windows I have no idea about aftermarket ones.

For the horn you just have to get the Roots windtone super horn. Sounds like the Skoda horn but is 10X louder and sounds amazing. Cost Rs. 380.

Any other help let me know. Have a look at my garage as my car is also Black magic.

[leadf00t]

Congrats Ajay and welcome to the "Magic Black" Lancer Club

Are you just looking at changin just the wheels or tyre's as well.
Vid is right in saying that 14" are the ones to pick. with the 13" the ride is excellent by not so great in terms of looks. the tyres sometimes look very puny.
So pick nice 14" alloys.
Like I said earlier makes sense to pick tubeless tyres since the advantages compared to the tube type are huge.

I will be going to J Williams in Pune this week for my regular 80K service. let me see how much the whole OE kit for power windows cost. I imagine it should be around 20 - 25K.
Remember my driver side power window controls were rattling when we were tuning my car a coupe of weeks ago and I mentioned that the new driver side controls costs about 2.5K.

Visit some accessories guys and see what they can offer you. I

BTW when is the ICE thread coming coming up with some exotic brilliant sounding stuff
OT: but is it now in mumbai or pune??? Possible i could get a look at it :-)

[Bass&Trouble]

Thanks leadf00t. Car was supposed to be in Pune but due to last minute change of plans, its back in Mumbai with me.

Wheels and tyres are very urgent. Considering the steering wobbles at low speeds, its not very pleasant to drive. 14 it is then, based on yours and vid's suggestion. So please let me know the make of wheel and tyre to buy. Something mid end. Where to buy from, would be very useful, alongwith indicative price.

Another thing I forgot to mention. The headlights need to be upgraded. Should I go for Zenon HID kit (whatever that is) or just change bulbs to something better? I also think that the headlight "housings" (??) themselves have become dull. Are any fancy headlight housings available for the Lancer? Angel eyes? Matching tail lamps also in order then, I guess.

And is the stock front grill fine or shoul I look to change something there too?

[JRD]

hey good to hear that you have a lancer..
so here is my two cents.
there could be 2 reasons for the wobbling of your steering:
1. the stock rubber is very old and has lost its softness . so change it.
2. your steering column is worn out. also the lower arm and axles needs to be checked for wear.

for the exterior i would say get the sfx kit, its still by far the most decent and well designed kits for our road conditions and wont burn a hole in your pocket.

In the wheels department I would say 195/50/R15 would be great. Trust me the ride is not that bad. If you install good quality tires then it works great and the grip is more then enough for those 87bhp. I have the same setup in my ohc and no one in my family has ever complained about the ride.

But if you don't like that option then go for the 14inch setup. The sfx came with 14inch rim and tyres and virtualy no affect on the ride quality. so its your call.

and at last the horn. my friend Hella Red Grill will be enough to make that cattle go deaf (Ps: Animal rights people, I have no intention of doing that) should cost about Rs1200.

Hope this helps,
-JRD.

[low_bass_makker]

I would recommend 17 teens...the car would look bling bling.

[frankmehta]

i suggest you get the gsport luster range, anything above that and its not worth the expense.
as for the horn i suggest you get the standard klaxxton windtone(skoda type) or hella red grilles. stebel nautilus is spoken about well in this forum but the horn is too shrill and may get you in trouble. another good vfm option is the bosch windtones that i have in both my cars. they are very reliable and sound like the klaxxtons.
about oe power windows, i wouldnt like to recommend any aftermarket or oe fitment, as the effort and cost that goes into their installation is not worth it; i feel its better off winding the windows with your hands, costs less too
are you getting the carputer??? plzzzzzzzz make sure you have a look at the options available and plzzzzz get the one which features an auxillary pcie slot for the graphics card, cos the onboard video chips are quite ok to play normal movies but any chances to expand in the future get nullified. get something that can play atleast 720p movies competently..
and yea congrats on the new ride!

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Wheels and tyres are very urgent. Considering the steering wobbles at low speeds, its not very pleasant to drive. 14 it is then, based on yours and vid's suggestion. So please let me know the make of wheel and tyre to buy. Something mid end. Where to buy from, would be very useful, alongwith indicative price.

Get some nice Lenso wheels which are good VFM. I like the lenso design that jiggy has on his OHC. Tyres get 195/60-14. Your choices are between the most popular bridgestone Turanza or Michelin XM1+. I would recommend the michelins as they provide better ride. The turanzas are very durable and long lasting tyres but ride is not as good. handling wise both are good.

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Another thing I forgot to mention. The headlights need to be upgraded. Should I go for Zenon HID kit (whatever that is) or just change bulbs to something better? I also think that the headlight "housings" (??) themselves have become dull. Are any fancy headlight housings available for the Lancer? Angel eyes? Matching tail lamps also in order then, I guess.

Somehow I don't like the aftermarket taillamps which are available for the lancer. They are either too chromy or the LEd one looks like it has chicken pox. That's your choice.


The stock headlight housing provides the best light. If it is dull then you can change them to the same one. Another option is to just change the bulbs. Xenon's are expensive. I would recommend 100/90W upgrade with change in relay and wiring or just changing to philips vision plus bulbs in 55/60W. I'm using the vision plus and there was a big improvement in illumination.

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

And is the stock front grill fine or shoul I look to change something there too?

If it's the body coloured one then it's fine. If it's the chrome one change it.

[Technocrat]

Ajay,

If its of any help, Autocop after market PWs will cost 12k(all four) 5.5k(front two)

For headlights you can either go for the current generation clear lens headlight with 100/90 bulbs. If possible find out the HL assembly which came on some particular version of Lancer(forgot version name) it had twin reflectors(two separate bulbs for high & low) something like the Indigo & it looked nice

[leadf00t]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Wheels and tyres are very urgent. Considering the steering wobbles at low speeds, its not very pleasant to drive. 14 it is then, based on yours and vid's suggestion. So please let me know the make of wheel and tyre to buy. Something mid end. Where to buy from, would be very useful, alongwith indicative price.

Tyre advice and me ??? where is the Tyre bhagwan.

BTW I have Bridgestone Turanza ER60 Tubeless 185/70R13 on my car.
MY car already had stock 13" alloys so didn't change them so just chose to pick new footwear.
They have run for 10K and hardly has any wear. Far better grip and low noise than the stock rubber which is inherently very hard. I have good experience of the turanzas even on bad roads in the countryside.

I think Vid too runs his lancer on the same.

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Another thing I forgot to mention. The headlights need to be upgraded. Should I go for Zenon HID kit (whatever that is) or just change bulbs to something better? I also think that the headlight "housings" (??) themselves have become dull. Are any fancy headlight housings available for the Lancer? Angel eyes? Matching tail lamps also in order then, I guess.

Looks like you have developed Deep Pockets like Amey.
I believe you are more of functionality over form person.
I would say just upgrade to 90/100W halogens for now with an wiring relay . They would cost 1K. See if it serves your purpose. HID's can come later. Ask Amey for HID advise and he can help you he has significant experience in headlight upgrades for his Octy.
(BTW Throw that black cover off your new ASUS PDA. it looks hideous. try a transparent one)

I hope you are leaving enough Vitamin M for your ICE.

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

And is the stock front grill fine or shoul I look to change something there too?

Photos please. IMHO the original lancer grill looks the best. i hated the vertical chrome grills found in the later lancers.

[Vid6639]

Techno, twin reflectors were only on the 1.8INVEX. They wont fit on the old Lancer. Ajay which model is your car? The oldest gen lancer did not have clear lens lamps only freznel.

The newer ones had the clear lamp units but they also came with a new bumper and bonnet to accommodate them so they cant be replaced.

[Technocrat]

Oh they looked nice & I thought would fit. So no clear lens option for the old Lancer?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Oh they looked nice & I thought would fit. So no clear lens option for the old Lancer?

Nope unless you go for aftermarket ones like what Ricky_63 had gone for initially. But I think he replaced them back to OE as the illumination was even worse than the OE ones.

[Bass&Trouble]

Ok, first things first. Which model from Lenso? Need to send the model number to get quotes. I think I'll go for 15". I drive very carefully.

Tyre Singh has recommended Yokohoma. Forgot to ask him model number. Anyone?

Originally Posted by leadf00t

I hope you are leaving enough Vitamin M for your ICE.

Whether I have to beg, borrow, steal, or murder - nothing will ever take away anything from the ICE.

I was in the market for a 1.25L car, upped it to 2.5. So techinically, after buying this car, I have 1L to "spare" for all this tamasha. I am definitely "function over form", but while at it, a little more form shouldnt hurt.

[Amey]

I would highly recommend Michelin Pilot Preceda 2 for the tyres.

As for headlights, no need for HID, i used to have Philips Rally 130/100 Bulbs which were awesome but they also managed to melt my holders.

Since the Lancer has H4 bulbs, i would highly recommend Osram Nightbreaker bulbs which i am currently using in my Swift as well as Octavia and i am very happy with them.
Since they have stock power rating, you dont need cut outs or anything, just change the bulbs. They have excellent throw and light density is also very nice.
1 Pair would cost around 1500 or so.
Also please dont put Angel eyes or any aftermarket headlamp assemblies.Stick to the stock assembly, with right bulb it works very well and you wont face any problems in terms of visibility at night.