upgrades / mods, whats worthwhile?

PugMug

Newbie
Points
16
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand
Car
2000 306xsi 2.0 16v
Hi all, i am new to the forum and i recently got myself an excellent condition 2000 306xsi 2.0 16v Manual, only done 36,000km's / 22,500miles NZ New. I want to shout it a few little upgrades, nothing major, i'm not trying to turn it into a GTI6, just want spend a little bit to get it running as good as it looks. I have a few idea's and wondered if you could share some of your collective wisdom and let me know if im wasting my time. Here's my list:
15x6 5 spoke alloy's - it currently has 14's and i picked up a mint set of 15's for $200 so will shout it some 195/55/15's
The rear muffler is rusting out due to only being driven around town and sitting a lot, will replace this with a light weight smaller unit nice chrome tip. Is there any point in replacing the cat with a high flow cat?
I want to do something with the air intake but i dont really want to use a pod filter, i know k&n have kits but i dont want it to look like a boy racers car, ideally i would retain the factory air box and use a K&N panel filter. I would like to replace the plastic intake with a slightly larger unit and replace the ugly fabric air pipe with a black silicon one, any kits you would recommend?
I want to eventually replace all the hoses with black silicon.
Replace the spark plugs with good irridiums and leads with good quality HT leads, anyone recommend some?
To improve response i read that you can use a high pressure fuel pump or regulator? Does anyone know if this is true and can recommend a unit?
And finally, when they need replacing i will get some descent brake pads and slotted rotors for the front, but its not high on the priority list, the standard abs brakes seems to do a great job.

Look forward to everyone's reply and feel free to suggest anything ive missed, keep in mind though i'm not wanting to go to the extent of doing cams etc

Cheers!
 
Heyaa mate, good place to start would be a k&n panel filter, high flow sports cat and a cat back stainless steel exhaust system :)

Also im not sure if the 2.0 petrol has an egr valve but if soo you could blank that off, and port and polish the inlet manifold for a few extra bhp.

Fuel pump would be a good upgrade but you'd have to do some shopping around for the right one.

A power boost valve will also help with power and driveability .. A re-map will give a good boost in power with a better throttle response :)
 
the 16v xsi is basically a detuned GTI6 so swap the parts over,
You can't polish the standard inlet as it is made of plastic, best to swap with the GTI6 one, use the sensors from the XSI one and use the GTI6 throttle body.

Panel filters are expensive and do very little to increase performance. I would suggest getting a bigger bore front pipe for the standard airbox and just use OEM paper filters. If you want a better induction sound then buy a K&N induction kit.

Sports cat's are good but expensive, De-cat is the way to go for power gains but yo may fail an emissions test, then again I've no idea on what the local laws are about such things, the MOT in the UK doesn't specificly say your car must have a cat it just says you have to pass an emissions test. However you will likely fail the emissions test without a cat on a car like that. As for an exhaust, look at a scorpian or a magnex, the scorpian might be more desireable because even though it is louder it's not deafening, unlike the magnex one, personal choice really there, both do increase the cars performance. The GTI6 exhaust manifold is a far better piece of kit than the XSI one and will improve performance

The ignitoin system on the GTi6 uses a coil for each spark plug and i'm pretty sure the XSI 16v is the same so you won't have HT leads to upgrade as the iginition system is already the best it can be just use some iridium plugs.
 

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