St185, Some Questions

March 2, 2006

Hi all,

just wanted to ask a few questions concerning the ST185, as i am giving serious consideration in buying one.

1. Is there anything persific i should look out for (Common Problems), apart from the normal obvious things?

2. What sort of BHP can you run through the standard internals, i've heard about 300ish is that about right?

3. If i did get one, the mods i was looking at doing first is, Front Mount & BOV, Full Exhuast, Uprated Manifold, a Decent Induction set-up, FSE (With possibly larger injectors??). Now, apart from all that (and not a bigger turbo/uprated internals, yet!) what mods would be worth considering?, Uprated Clutch/Uprated Brakes etc ??

4. In terms of performance of a standard ST185, how are like to drive/accelerateing/braking etc?

I think thats everything,

Any Help would be appreciated

Thanks

Tony

March 3, 2006

1. Is there anything persific i should look out for (Common Problems), apart from the normal obvious things?

well with the oldest of the 185's being 16 years old now rust is starting to become a problem, they do have a galvanised steel body tho so it wont be hard to find a rust free one.

take the car out for a test drive and at about 40mph put it in third and hold your foot to the floor, this will let you know if the clutch is slipping and if there are any other ignition faults.

after the test drive check there's no water spewing out of the over flow tank as this is possibly head gasket teratory

if you hear any knocks on accelerating or braking from the rear of the car it is likely the rear diff mount, simple job to sort but the mount is arround £80.

2. What sort of BHP can you run through the standard internals, i've heard about 300ish is that about right?

that would be the uppermost power and even then you would be risking doing some damage

3. If i did get one, the mods i was looking at doing first is, Front Mount & BOV, Full Exhuast, Uprated Manifold, a Decent Induction set-up, FSE (With possibly larger injectors??). Now, apart from all that (and not a bigger turbo/uprated internals, yet!) what mods would be worth considering?, Uprated Clutch/Uprated Brakes etc ??

first mods would be a complete cam belt, water and oil pump chane as well as a compression test to ensure it was running sweet as a nut before you start fidiling

first mod should be a de-cat pipe, it's an older car so you can get away with it for the MOT

then a blitz panel filter, to get the best from this you need to take the resenator box out of the wing to allow maximum airflow

then a full exhaust system 2.5 inches is the recomended size as 3inch tends to allow boost creep

then boost controller, electronic would be best, NEVER fit a bleed valve, they are the cheapest way to blow up your engine

FSE would be a bad choice, better getting a piggy back ECU, it's the most precise way to get the best performance, i'm running an e-manage and has cost me a total off £100. this can control larger injectors too if you decide to get them.

exhaust manifold, TBH untll your pushng the boundries of 400+bhp there's no need, they're only good for looking good under the bonnet.

uprated clutch would be a safe bet, if your going to be going for 5k rev launches then the minimum you'd need is a stage 2 clutch but if you just like good enthusiastic driving them a stage 1 would do.

brakes, most definately get them upgraded if your upgrading the power, i dont need to explain why except for safety reasons. but remember tires play as big a part in the braking as the brakes do

4. In terms of performance of a standard ST185, how are like to drive/accelerateing/braking etc?

as standard they can seem a little down in power but that is because the standard 200 bhp is going thru the 4WD and drains it to as low as 130 bhpATW. they are a great drive, i wouldnt still have mine after the amount of money i've spend on it (more than i bought it for 2 years ago) if it never gave me a sence of satisfaction everytime i'm behind the wheel. braking, this can always be improved on :thumbsup: