MY CAR

I have always been very interested in cars from an early age so I obviously couldn't wait to get my own car! A few months before my 17th I did lots of research to decide what car to get. I eventually went for the SEAT AROSA 1.4 16v Sport. However, I looked at the following: PEUGEOT 106 QUICKSILVER (looks very good outside but not as nice inside or as quick as the Arosa), FIAT SEICENTO MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (bit too small & slow for me), RENAULT CLIO 1.4 SPORT (didn't look as sporty as the Arosa & not as nice inside), TOYOTA YARIS SR (good all rounder but not really a young lads car is it?), NEW MINI (nice but too expensive with the optional equipment I wanted - no alloys as standard!). I am very happy with my choice (see my review for more details). The only regret I have is that the Pug 106 I liked looks a bit better on the outside.
Information about me :)

MY PICTURES

Above are a selection of pics of my car, but I will be adding more so keep looking back. Tell us what you think! (mdhirons@yahoo.co.uk)

Click on the images above for a larger better quality version (pictures open up in a new window & loading times should be miminal as I have compressed all images adequately)

MY MODIFICATIONS

You can probably see from the selection of images above that I have done a few modifications to my car. A list of all my mods and extra details on them are outlined below:

.:Rear spoiler

I spent ages checking out lots of different spoilers (Lester, MS-Design, ABT, Seat Accessory, etc), but eventually went for this beauty. It is the same as the one by ADM-Tuning and certainly is the best of the lot as the neat design fits around the original brake light. Also it is suitably large (by no means OTT, but larger than Seat's own). I would recommend the company that I got from. The delivery was quick, painted for only £65 by them and finish is fine. They were also helpful via email on fittings, etc. http://www.topgunltd.com

.:Pipercross Induction Kit (PK049)

This was a great mod for less than £100. I can't really say it altered the performance of the car noticeably, but the induction roar is immense. I love it and many others that have heard it comment on how loud it is. However the note is not annoying as it is suitably deep and smooth. I am not sure how it would sound on models other than the 1.4 16v Sport as this model has a decent centre exit exhaust as standard so the car can actually breathe :) It has not had a negative impact on fuel consumption either.

.:Green Cold Air Feed (dia: 70mm, length:extends to ~1m)

One problem with the Pipercross kit is that it does not include a cold air feed, which is needed really due to its location (see pics above). To start with I got some cheap ducting hose from Halfords, which was a waste of money as it did not stretch far enough and broke very easy! Anyway, I stretched my budget and got a cold air feed made by Green. This was much better quality - stronger, stretches far enough and had a larger diameter. You can see in the pic above how I have fitted this using 3 large tie wraps and directing it to the hole behing the front grill (looks as if this was made for it!) Anyway, surprisingly the feed made a noticeable improvement. The car definately felt like it accelerated quicker and certainly more smoothly. The noise was not made any quieter really, it just produced a different note which was nicer and you could here the air being sucked in under hard acceleration.

.:Vibe CBRA 100 Active Sub

As the space in the Arosa's boot is very limited I just opted for this 10" Vibe sub with a built in amp. This only took up 1/2 of the boot space so still some room for a few shopping bags :) Some people argue that active subs do not sound as good as a separate amp and sub which is true in many circumstances. However, my neat sub was very easy to install and rated very well (better than similarly priced sub and amps combinations in a Max Power test). I am certainly happy with it as it goes loud enough and has good enough bass for most people.

.:Sony CDX CA850 Headunit

This headunit looks superb in my car as it has no buttons on the front at all and is completly operated by remote. A silver headunit or one with lots of buttons showing would not have looked as smart in my opinion. Don't let the lack of buttons fool you though as it has a wealth of features such as controlling the sub level and a decent customisable EQ.

.:Sparco Carbon Gear Knob (not shown in pics)

A reasonably cheap mod that smartened up the interior of the car and made shifting nicer. It was a bit of a pain to fit though. See Stuff/FAQ section for details

.:Ripspeed Tax Disc Holder (not shown in pics)

At less than £20 this little mod is worth the money. It looks smart both inside and from the ouside of the car. Although, it took ages to get it to stay on the window and annoyed me in the process, but this was probably because the temperature was near 0!

THE FUTURE

There are a number of other modications that I would like to do to my car in the future to make it my "perfect Arosa"! These include (in order of when I will get them, if I do!):

Suspension Kit - I was considering just lowering springs but now I've changed my mind and want to get a Koni Adustable (rate, not height) Suspension kit (lowers by 35-40mm). I have seen it priced at just £300 inc. PP at MotorSportWorld (MSW), which is certainly the cheapest!

16" Alloys - There are a number I like (it's so hard to decide!). The OZ Hydra's shown below are a favourite though:

I have also put some wheels onto a side pic of my car, check them out & tell us which you like!

See wheels on my car!

MP3 Headunit - Being at uni and having a super fast LAN connection my collection is rather big now:) I will most likely go for this superb Kenwood unit (KDCPSW9524) or one of the flash Sony ones.

Side Skirts - There are a few about but I would probably go for the JE-Design ones shown on the car below:

Rear Bumper - MS-Design (shown below). This lower bumper extension looks great, suitably aggressive but quality comes at a price :(

Front Bumper - ADM Tuning - I rather like the look of this front bumper (see below), what are your opinions?...

Twin centre exit exhaust - No idea what make yet, but the one shown in the MS-Design pic above is tasty ;)