My Progress Thread - By Kris

[Kris]

OK so had my car just before christmas. December 20th 2015. Its a 1.6T 200 astra gtc with the following spec

Navi 950 + infinity speakers
Front and rear sensors
19" alloys
VXR styling kit
Flex ride (sport and tour buttons)
TPMS
Spare wheel

And looked Like this when i got it - 



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So My first mod was to change the horrible yellow DRL lights - 

I didnt take any before pics but we all know they are horrible lol so heres the after pics



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So of course they made my headlights look very yellow then bvecause they were so white, so next was a 6000k hid kit from lush ligthing city - 



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Made a huge difference. Very happy with them.




Next was all new interior white LED and number plate LED 



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As you can see they make hell of a difference and they make the standard lights look horrible in comparison.





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Then I put on heko wind deflectors - 



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Love the wind deflectors!!



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Then it was pressed plates for my private reg.



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My name is Kris Morris so this plate was a great 2015 one for me to get as kr15 and moz short for morris etc.



Next up was a couple of cheap mods - 


Silver pedals - 



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Silver Door Pins - 



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And Smoked Indiacator Lenses with VXR surrounds



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I then debadged the rear of the car 



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and the sri badges on the side.


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next i booked it in to get the following bits sprayed

Roof
Mirrors
rear badge
front grill 
chrome strips around the door
Calipers

Also the wheels were refurbed to a gloss black

here are the results



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Oh and as you can see above i got some number plate surrounds too




At this moment I was quite happy with it. But have now just bought a set of 20" VXR wheels which im picking up next sunday



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They are freshly refurbished and had them for a bargain price of £275. its a 6 hour return trip but will be well worth it.

Providing I can get the sensors off my 19" wheels these will be on there on the 20th Feb

I have also ordered eibach springs yesterday which will also be going on the same time as the new wheels or just loweirng it as it stand now.

Future mods - 

put on VXR wheels which ive bought
Lower it
Remap - I still have 27 months warranty so stll undecided here atm. Im desperate for it, but dont wanna land with a huge repair bill that could of been covered with warranty n the future. Its a toughie.

So yea, thats it so far. thought I might as well make one so I can delete the pics off my phone then lol.

I will also welcome any tips/ideas etc of where i should go next guys so give me feedback if youve got it

Cheers

[tucpal]

coming along very nicely

[J1ODYA]

Looking good there... and those VXR wheels are v cheap!



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[Tonto]

Very nice car mate, coming along well!


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[Kris]

Cheers guys Yea mate the wheels were a steal couldnt leave them there for that price, I was luck to get them really as about 15 people messaged him for them after me lol.

[tucpal]

did you get them last week on ebay if so can you look at the back of the alloys and read the stud size.
and make sure they are 5/115

[Kris]

did you get them last week on ebay if so can you look at the back of the alloys and read the stud size.
and make sure they are 5/115

No mate I had them off facebook. Also they are 5/115 as the guy has the same car as me plus he sent me pics of all 4 alloys with size and part number etc. they just dont come with centre caps or tyres which ive ordered caps at £53!!! and tyres ill order next week to be delivered into my garage.

[tucpal]

cool mate there was a set on ebay last week and they were 5/110 advertised as astra j
but they hads no tyres cool anyway now get them fitted lol

[sheppy1]

Your car looks awesome mate! Great progress thread too

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[Kris]

Cheers sheppy. It's coming along ?

I know tucpal I can't wait. Just gutted I had already paid for my 19"s to be done lol.

Anyone here used nankang ns2 tyres? They've got great review and I can get 4 new on 235/35/20 for £300 without fitting.

Also, what's people's thought on the profile. Standard vxr tyres come as 235/35/20 and then some said her 235/40/20 to keep the speedo accurate.

But surely adding an inch to the rim plus then an extra 5 profile will make it out more?

I know the 19's on there now are 40.

But I thought adding an inch via the 20's and then 35 profile tyres will keep it more accurate rather than making them even bigger with 40?

Cheers

[tucpal]

go with the 35 they will also work out cheaper than the 40
obviously the 40 will give a better ride but as you say
keep the speedo as close as possible

[Kris]

go with the 35 they will also work out cheaper than the 40
obviously the 40 will give a better ride but as you say
keep the speedo as close as possible

Yea I think thats what i am going to do mate. people ere telling me that the 40 will keep it more in check, but the garage told me opposite. But yea as you say it will save a couple of quid too

[Kris]

Anyone used nexen or nankang tyres? they seem to have some decent reviews and are only £65 a corner for 245/35/20 so £300 for a set of 4 delivered. I just dont wanna buy them then be skidding all over the shop in the wet weather lol.

[sheppy1]

Wanna make sure you're not skimping on tyres dude! Check out black circles. Com... They even come and fit them outside your house! I only ever go for big brands... Safety first!

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[Kris]

i dont mind paying up to £125 a corner but didnt wanna go more than £500 for the tyres. someone else said runway which are on blackcircle and are like £75 a tyre fitted. Im just not clued up on tyres. you see people say they paid £175 for a tyre and still call it a crap one. then you see some cheaper ones with better ratings and reviews than expensive ones etc.

[sheppy1]

Well I did a tonne of research before I got my last ones and still ended up with the continental conti sport 4 ones which are what my car shipped with and they're great... Rear ones have been on the car 2 and half years and still have almost full tread, front ones needed replacing after a year and I briefly tried some part worn pirelli ones but then went back to the conti ones as I said.

Mine were £120 each and that was fitted at my front door

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[Kris]

Well I did a tonne of research before I got my last ones and still ended up with the continental conti sport 4 ones which are what my car shipped with and they're great... Rear ones have been on the car 2 and half years and still have almost full tread, front ones needed replacing after a year and I briefly tried some part worn pirelli ones but then went back to the conti ones as I said.

Mine were £120 each and that was fitted at my front door

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where from mate? i cant find anything that cheap atm and im looking everywhere lol and myprices are just delievred. I have bridgestone potenza on there now and ive never had a set of tyres last me more than 9-10,000 miles lol let alone 2 and a half years lol

[sheppy1]

Black circles like i said mate just did another search and they're coming in at £106 fitted per tyre...but I do only have 17s ... not sure what size yours are

[Kris]

Oh right. Mine are 245/35/20 Thats would be why then I guess. Have a look in my tyre thread on astra J page made,just put an example in there. Cheers

[Kris]

Tyres ordered went with the nankang ns2. Ordering a front splitter and 2 skirt extensions as well now. anybody got these fitted already and have a pic?

[cornishtaz]

Which splitter snd side extensions

[Kris]

Which splitter snd side extensions

Off Dave Williams on the Facebook site mate. If you look on there I've made a post and he just put pictures

Also just landed myself a vxr steering wheel AND gear knob and all the surrounds for £200 ?

[Kris]

Just received my k&n air filter



To replace this paper one



Easy to install and looks like this then




What are people's thoughts on the k&n air filters? Did they actually make a difference on your car?

Time will tell

[tucpal]

nope no difference at all they just look nice and you clean them instead of replacing them

[Kris]

Oh well lol.

[sheppy1]

What @tucpal said is the main reason I backed out...Ha. I checked loads of reviews and most said they made no difference other than made the car sounding a little different...

[Kris]

Ah well at least it's another thing ticked off the list lol and was only £40.

[Kris]

Attempting to flyeye my lights today. Will post results later IF i get any HAHA!

[tucpal]

good luck and cut that stuff real carefully take your time

[Kris]

Well that was a wasted hour. It's freaking hard. I had half a light perfect and then needed to pull it loose a bit again to flatten out another piece and then it just started to go tits up. I might just try a tint spray.

I've now crumpled it up in anger lol!!


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But it's good stuff and VERY sticky. You just need a lot of patience I guess.

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Also when I had it covering half a light it did look very nice I must say.

[tucpal]

it does take practice

[J1ODYA]

I remember watching a guy tint my windows and the trick was to soak it in soapy water to slide it in place then rub it out when the film is in place.

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[Kris]

Hmmm that's not a bad idea as it goes mate but would it will stick after that is the question.

Also I ordered 109x50 I think it was and wouldn't of been enough for 2 lights I don't think lol. Just ordered a can of spray tint for £5 and will give that a try.

[Kris]

Going on a little 4 hour journey tomorrow to pick these up

[tucpal]

LOVELY thats going to set the car off very nicely

[Kris]

LOVELY thats going to set the car off very nicely

Cheers mate I cant wait : I also have a bi-plane spoiler coming

[Kris]

So picked everything up today. Was a 10 hour trip but WELL worth it. The vxr steering wheel and gear stick make hell of a differnce. the wheel is so soft and a great grip on it. It just glides through your hand and feels very sporty.

The VXR wheels i bought were in absolute PERFECT condition look like they have never been used and even came in the original boxes that they come in from vauxhall.

Ordered 4 of these - Hankook
Ventus S1 EVO2 K117 For £501.88 and as soon as they arrive my wheels are going straight on

Also took t time today and got 34mpg out of my 1.6T 200 on around 450 miles, then filled the tank up and got 425 miles!!! My previous best was 343 lol!!

[tucpal]

looking good

[Tonto]

Very nice mate, looks awesome.


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[Nemo]

Very nice mate

[Kris]

Cheers guys Dunno whats next. Will see what the ride is like once the alloys are on and then look into lowering it.

[tucpal]

think you will be fine just with the 20 on

[Kris]

think you will be fine just with the 20 on

Thats what I'm hoping for mate but I think the gap will still be big as the tyres are 245/35/20 so the profile is smaller even though the rim is larger. If its just a small gap the next set of tyres i'll get will be a 40 profile just to try but if its a big gap ill be ordering eibach right away.

[Kris]

@cornishtaz when you put vxr wheels on your Gtc did you lower it as well mate?

[cornishtaz]

Yes mate had it on Eibachs with no issues

[Kris]

Oh damn mate that looks lovely. Have you got any pics before it was lowered with those alloys on or was it already lowered ?

[cornishtaz]

I'd already lowered it on the OE 19's

[sheppy1]

@kris the air filter made any noticeable difference then?

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[Kris]

@kris the air filter made any noticeable difference then?

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Not that I can tell mate. But since its gone in, my miles in the tank have increased but thats probably down to my driving. I'll be getting the induction kit anyway as soon as it comes out fron injen,

@cornishtaz - cheers mate, looks MUCH better lowered. Where did you order your springs from mate? Did you go direct to eibach?

[cornishtaz]

@kris Got them for ebay