[dave23572]

This thread that I started has been very interesting, lots of good posts, thanks guys.

I'm certainly now very tempted to go for a Janspeed manifold and sports cat, to go with my (already fitted) ITG Maxogen.

I was a little surprised with some of the power gain figures banded about though, but actually I hope they are true. 12BHP for the ITG seems on the high side as I didn't notice a huge difference, but then again, I'm not a dyno.

So if these figures are to be believed, a ZS180 (starting at 175BHP) with an ITG Maxogen, JS manifolds and sports cat, should be pushing out 190 to around 200BHP?

One thing I have noticed, even with the ITG maxogen cold air feed, the KV6 is still very sensitive to air temperature. Producing a lot more power in cold air than on a hot day.


Slightly off topic
While I'm very tempted to go for the power mods (above), before I do those, I'd really like to improve the ZS steering to make it a lot more responsive/aggressive. I've done a lot of research on this and it seems to be an area hard to improve.

I've driven another member's 180 back-back with mine (someone that was very happy with his steering/handling) to see if there was any difference, it was exactly the same. So there's nothing wrong with my car, I guess my driving style / handling taste is different to most. I like a very responsive front end with a very quick "turn in", needing relatively less steering wheel input for any given corner.

I tested a 2010 CTR(FN2) and the steering was just what I'm looking for, but while I have flirted with the idea of just getting a CTR(FN2), I'd rather stick with the ZS and do some mods. It will actually be a cheaper overall route to a better car.

It sounds like the steering issue is related to the overall steering wheel to turning wheels ratio. I've looked into a quicker steering rack but there aren't any (that I've found anyway, Quaife certainly don't do any).

I also learned that lock-lock turns of the steering wheel isn't a good comparison between cars (such as the ZS180 and CTR), because the maximum steering lock may be different as well as other factors. I suspect the ZS has a relatively limited max steering lock, perhaps because of arch clearances or to protect the CV joints. The ZS180 has 2.5 turns lock-lock, a CTR(FN2) is 2.3. That's not enough difference to explain how much sharper the CTR steering is over the ZS. I suspect the CTR has a faster overall ratio because it may have a better max lock angle, and possibly other factors in the suspension geometry giving it this property. It may also be a shorter wheelbase. It definitely has lower profile tyres, could it be that?

It's such a shame (for me at least) that this seems to be an area that can't be improved in the ZS. It seems most owners are quite happy with their steering response and rate it highly, but different drivers have different tastes/preferences. Maybe it's because I've done a bit of karting in my time.

A quick-rack (if it existed) would be a way to go, but we would need to get the turns lock-lock to probably under 2.

Dave