modifications to gtb that worked.

[redtyson]

Hi im intrested in modifications that have been done that you find have worked better than the standard kit.plus wright up what you gained from it
pictures and manfactures used or parts.
I. e thumbsdesign

[Dr Fly]

Good Question, it all depends on what you want to do with it, and how much you want to sink into the thing.

Its been a while since we have all been running our GTBs with most the upgrades for a couple of years.

I was very careful when i put mine together, always introducing an upgrade half way through a meeting, and checking the times etc.

The biggest difference was with the thumbs weight kit, it shaved nearly a second of my lap times at the local club. The next best is the carbon shock towers, it wont save time, but will finish you races, i went through 3 or 4 front towers till i fitted this one, and its not been off the car in two years.

The alloy motor mount is nice, no real performance advantage, but does make the car a little more robust, and helps if you are pushing the heat limits of the motor. which can get quite hot.

The gear diffs are more of a preference thing, yes the car is a lot quicker with them, but it can be a bit snatchy and less predictable, so i usually switch them with the ball diffs, all depends on the track and how lousy my driving is.

CVDs on the front make the car a bit smoother, and are a lot more robust than the kit driveshafts, rears are less important, but still a good investment if you plan on doing some serious mileage.

I also had quite a few issues with the kit bearings seizing, so thumbs do replacements for a good price, there is also a slipper upgrade which is better, and helps prevent damaging the belt pulley, which is one of the only weak points.

In short, most of the upgrades do make improvments, some to performance, and some to reliability, but the cars are pretty reliable and take a serious amount of abuse.

All the carisma and Thumbs upgrades are available through trackside spares.