100 pound upgrades

[marmite369]

whats the best options on around 100 pounds GB upgrades thats aprox 150 dollars US. was just wondering if there is any out there or if there's a set of cheeper options out there thatt give minor boosts to power over this money range. im just looking to give myself a few extra bhp overall not a huge power gain as with the 1.4L peterol engine theres not a huge amount of point in doing 1 large upgrade how i see it i would rather do a set of upgrades that boost certain areas. however if there is a large upgrade option out there for this price or a little more i would be interested as long as there isn't a huge amount of work needed to actualy fit. i know this might seam rather silly but iv got a long standing rivalry between me and my best mate and right now he had me. only just mind you but still it's enough. i already have done a few minor cheep as chips upgrades, i.e air filter + cold air feed, performace exughst 2" cat back system, better oil + high flowing oil filter, using performace colant in the engine to (got that one for free from a friend who works at a local car tuning shop that does work on a local race team) and iv fitted a grounding kit. it's not a huge amount i know but it's a start how i see it. my aformentioned friend has mentioned that where he works they use heat wrap on the manifold and all the rest of the system apart from the cat and backbox obviously, now iv read reviews on this and they seem to be rather mixed on the subject, on one side they say yes it works and works very well by keeping the gases hotter and therfore allowing them to flow faster out of the engine causeing the gas sensor to compensate by increaing power from the ecu. however i have also read that this has the oposite affect by the ecu actualy decreasing power to get the levels correct, the same artical also stated that the increased gas flow damages you catalic converter and then causes back presure leading to engine failure, so im torn between the two right on which to belive.

whats the people opions on this subject?

if anyone knows of any decent upgrades that are at a reasonable price please do let me know many thanks

[Petrified.Rabbit]

there is a group buy on aveoforum right not in the 100 pound range for a lightweight smaller pulley, should free up 4-5 hp and allow faster acceleration..

I wouldn't do the exhaust wrap, i dont buy it, the heat being keep in the exhaust will help only so much, but i don't see it helping so much that the o2 sends more gas to the engine.. The area between the manifold and primary cat gets pretty hot as it is..

you could through on a cometic head gasket, a slightly under stock thickness to up the compression ratio, but you wont gain much there, you could also deck the head etc..

being your in the uk, you can upgrade to a 1.8 liter or something if you find a short block, or even swap out the tranny for another trans with tighter gearing, and final drive for fast acceleration..

lightening the car also helps in drag times..

[marmite369]

how much work is involved in changing the pulley that you mentioned as although i know enough mechanic friends time is more an issue need to be able to use my car daily (even weekends as i have call-out) so if it's a easy enough job to diy than im sure i could be able to stretch the budget a bit more. and again iv never changed a head gasket before so im not sure how much work there is involved there either if this is a simple job again i might be interested in going through that route. as for the gearbox unless i can find out a car that has the same fittings and then nab one off one in the scrappy there's not much available on the cheep in that market. although i did wonder i have seen performance clutches going for the kalos/ aveo but i wasn't to sure on how good our stock one is.

[Petrified.Rabbit]

the pulley is as easy as an accessory / serpentine belt replacement, then four bolt to unbolt it from through the wheel well, shouldnt take more than an hour or two.

the rest sound like it might be out of your range.. head gaskets are cheap but its labor intensive..