What to do?

**Beanie** · 18th May 2018, 15:42

I recently bought a Vectra C 56 plate 1.9cdti (150)

Bought it with 86k genuine. runs really smooth (not like the 58plate i tested on the same day!)

It had a few issues when i first got it.

Knocking on the back end. after changing exhaust bushes it turned out to be the anti roll bar bushes - fixed by the father.
Heater was blowing cold all the time, or luke warm at best. thermostat on the dash was tempermental and would only go up sometimes. We figuired it was the sensor/thermostat sticking so we just replaced it. - fixed
EGR valve error was showing up when the guy sold it me, he said it probably just needed cleaning due to the car not doing many miles that year, he just replaced the role thing before i took the car home - fixed
Currently every now and again theres a knock on the front passenger side. I work for the NHS and a crew mate of mine whos an ex mechanic told me its quite common for the anti roll bar links to go. so ive replaced them both as they were cheap enough. not 100% sure if its fixed it completly but its not knocking anywhere near as much as it was - Kind of fixed?
Bought two new front tyres. it liked to spin when sticking my foot down even in second!
Also - We noticed when taking the throttle body off there was a thick black tar substance on the inlet pipes and on the throttle body. we gave it a quick clean but my dad said we need to pull the whole throttle body off and give it a thorough clean and that maybe it was caused by the thermostat not working? any ideas anyone?

So currently the car hasnt cost me alot.
Thermostat - £40
Bushes - £8
Anti roll bar links - £20 for a pair
Tyres - £160 budget (wtf)

Looking at other stuff to do to the car now. I kind of like the window covers that some have? Not sure what they're called but they are like wind deflectors or whatever.

I know NOTHING about tuning a car (hence why i'm here) and wondered if someone could pm me or talk to me about whats easy / cheap to do at first... I dont really wanna blow the engine up or anything like that but ive heared a simple remap will gain me about 30bhp on average. which I'm not sure if i would notice a great deal? I also dont want to risk blowing the turbo as ive heard its quite common on these.

At some point I wouldnt mind changing the stereo. Ive been browsing and i see swapping to a satnav color version should be quite simple. I wouldnt mind a apple car play stereo though which i could get for around the same price but ive seen the current stereo comes out all in one piece so didnt know if it would be possible to do?

All in all going from a 2015 VW Polo 1.4 90bhp to this im pretty chuffed. The polo was a salary sacrifice car which has now gone back so I just have the vectra now.

Any replies would be much appreciated - Based in Hebden Bridge - West yorkshire.

**fatfred** · 18th May 2018, 22:39

Sounds like you are on the ball already,.

PM @Teapot for a remap. There o is no better solution. 30bhp? Get the @Teapot torque and smoothness that follows the best remap available.

Other remap are available, but they don't compare!

You only wouldn't notice the difference if you are brain dead, no offence intended....... it will be a different car.

**Dog_Book** · 18th May 2018, 23:57

There’s a recent thread here which all the first tuning stuff is mentioned have a read through it

**northpole** · 19th May 2018, 07:42

those things are wind deflectors and yes they aren't expensive ... 40 tops off ebay but make sure you get the right brand... you'll want them from Team Heko and as you've been told the remaps from @Teapot are second to none, good value for money and he is very knowledgeable,friendly and his support is better than those of bigger companies... that all said contact him via PM and he'll sort you out... he also offers remote mapping so the distance doesn't have to be a problem... I say contact him asap

other mods... well you can always lower the car a bit/ put on some window tints, swap the cloth interior to elite heated leathers (around 80 to 120 pounds) and get some nicer wheels but those aren't cheap unless you buy a set that needs to be refurbished... alternatively you could go full XP2 bodykit on the outside and go for a Full vectra VXR interior but that won't be cheap...
as it was pointed out there is a topic that lists almost all mods that you can do to the car... from simple bolt on to adding extra OEM options

**soulman** · 19th May 2018, 08:21

Welcome to the forum . Members enjoy spending your money for you with their ideas

. Your first mistake was probably the budget front tyres ,once remapped you will be spinning them up all the time .lol

**northpole** · 19th May 2018, 12:53

he wanted idea's he got idea's no one is spending his money he will just need to look at his budget and take it from there... also the stuff pointed out to him isn't that expensive and most of it is what everyone does

**Beanie** · 19th May 2018, 16:45

Anyone know the average price Teapot charges? and the average gains? I've pmed him yesterday and waiting for a response.

The tyres i got are not bad grip wise actually. foot down to floor i no longer spin even in first.
In terms of noticing. My polo had a cracking 0-60 of 10.9sec (woo) and apparently this vectras 0-60 is 8.9. I tried to go for the earlier one as i noticed theres a later version thats like 9.4sec. Anyway Ive noticed a big difference in just the two seconds so i guess i'd notice it. Obviously drive a range of vehicles at work but majority if them are the vans and the skoda octavia scouts (Nippy!)

The car is already pretty low IMO, its the SRI suspension which as said my crew mate told me to get the SRI as the handling is much better. I'd like to keep the outside fairly stock. The car came with full black tints on the back which I dont mind except the rear windscreen as it makes it difficult to look out of.

**BORNXenon** · 21st May 2018, 08:56

Welcome to the forum.
The wind deflectors are approx. £30 - £40 from the bay of thieves and are well worth it if you ask me. Not only do they look good, but if your rear passengers have the windows down in the back, it doesn't sound like an Apache helicopter is chasing you like it does without them!!

Changing the stereo is easy enough, if you are changing for another VX stereo, make sure you get the radio and screen together as they come coded together, if you want an aftermarket one, you can just leave your screen in situe and stick the new unit in the dash. If yours is full canbus (which it should be on a 56 plate), you can still use the computer using the scrollers on the steering wheel.

I changed mine for an Android unit from a chinese company called AutoPumpkin and to be honest I can't fault it. It has radio, bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, DAB+ (if you buy the additional unit), and you can get a small bluetooth plug that goes onto your diagnostic port that sends all your ECU data to the stereo so you can use Torque (other programs available) to read the live data, read and clear fault codes, etc. It's pretty cool stuff!

**Beanie** · 21st May 2018, 16:58

Spoke to teapot. Possibily going through a breakup at the mo and if it completes then ill have more funds available (Ill have my wage back!) so the wind deflectors I'll do and ill probably take a 250 mile day trip down to see teapot.

I didnt know you could put an aftermarket stereo in as i thought the current one comes out all in one piece so thats good. Ill probably try and get one with apple carplay. Have you got a link to the one you have?

Cheers