Hello, member from Sydney Australia. After shopping around after my Audi A3 died, I found the car to be excellent value considering it had all the features I was looking for such as leather seats, LED headlights, turbo, sat-nav, reverse camera, folding mirrors, etc. Granted it's no hot hatch, but it provides just enough power and response to make driving fun when you need it.
I'm a modder by nature, but since this is a daily driver and I'll be putting a lot of km's on it, I decided to keep the mods to a minimum. It helps that this latest generation Cerato/Forte is so new that not a lot of aftermarket parts are available yet. Let me know if you'd like me to go into detail on any of the following. Let my mistakes help in preventing your own:
* Exhaust
Quad tip axle back muffler (custom fabricated)
* Suspension
Eibach lowering springs
Whiteline rear sway bar
* Lighting
All lights replaced with LED's (signal, trunk, interior, rego, foglights, reverse)
* Wheels
20x8.5 Avant Gardes wheels
235/30-20 Lexani LX-20 tires
* Cosmetics
15% ceramic window tint
Aftermarket boot lid spoiler
Rear window visor
Vinyl wrapped: red accent on rear diffuser, red accents on front grille, rear panel
Black/carbon fiber K badges
Vinyl wrapped lower interior doors
Tint wrapped front and rear signal lights and taillights
* Misc
aFe Cold Air Filter
SaaS Throttle controller
JB4 ECU Control Module
Recently upgraded to 20" Avant Garde wheels. Not sure if I like them yet:
Yes, that's a good eye you got. I believe I ended up with +45mm offset as I didn't want to risk rubbing nor having to roll the fenders. And sure enough, no rubbing so it was a good decision.
My last two cars I ended up going with coilovers as it provides more control over the ride height, but this time around I couldn't do my research in time before getting the Eibachs.
I asked every single seller and they could not confirm that coilovers for the previous generation nor any other Kia or Hyundai application could fit (I later found out that the suspension for the Hyundai Elantra 2015+ AD will fit this generation Cerato/Forte).
So in the end I just settled for the Eibach springs, which were a +40mm front and back, although to me it was more +40mm front and about +30-35mm rear. But this evened out the front and rear fender gap.
Sorry, I digress. To answer your question, the Eibach lowering springs are the only thing I've done to the suspension.
Thanks to Tristen from Cherry Tuning & Performance, just got something called RaeChip installed. I was looking into the ECU flash tuning, but Tristen said it would require unlocking the ECU's bootloader, which would pretty much void my engine and ECU warranty. With another 7 years left on warranty, it was too much to forfeit.
Australian Reseller for RaceChip interceptor performance chips.
www.cherry-tp.com.au
Which is essentially a boost controller that doesn't require fine tuning like a universal HKS boost controller. But it was only the third of the price of ChipTuning, a piggyback setup. At the moment it dialed to the mid-way setting, and I'm to leave it for 3-4 days while the ECU gets adjusted. After that I can dial it to the max where it will increase boost. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
Yes, that's a good eye you got. I believe I ended up with +45mm offset as I didn't want to risk rubbing nor having to roll the fenders. And sure enough, no rubbing so it was a good decision.
My last two cars I ended up going with coilovers as it provides more control over the ride height, but this time around I couldn't do my research in time before getting the Eibachs.
I asked every single seller and they could not confirm that coilovers for the previous generation nor any other Kia or Hyundai application could fit (I later found out that the suspension for the Hyundai Elantra 2015+ AD will fit this generation Cerato/Forte).
So in the end I just settled for the Eibach springs, which were a +40mm front and back, although to me it was more +40mm front and about +30-35mm rear. But this evened out the front and rear fender gap.
Sorry, I digress. To answer your question, the Eibach lowering springs are the only thing I've done to the suspension.
Thanks to Tristen from Cherry Tuning & Performance, just got something called RaeChip installed. I was looking into the ECU flash tuning, but Tristen said it would require unlocking the ECU's bootloader, which would pretty much void my engine and ECU warranty. With another 7 years left on warranty, it was too much to forfeit.
Australian Reseller for RaceChip interceptor performance chips.
www.cherry-tp.com.au
Which is essentially a boost controller that doesn't require fine tuning like a universal HKS boost controller. But it was only the third of the price of ChipTuning, a piggyback setup. At the moment it dialed to the mid-way setting, and I'm to leave it for 3-4 days while the ECU gets adjusted. After that I can dial it to the max where it will increase boost. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
It's been a few days already, so I've dialed up the setting to the max. Pretty good extra boost at mid to high end. The car would kind of run out of puff at the mid range, but now it pulls strongly. But essentially this is a boost controller so there's no change during cruising or everyday driving. It's only when the turbo kicks in when you can feel it.
Question! First off, beautiful car! Love everything about it! My question regards about lighting, do you have (white LED) turn signals? For my second question, what did you do to your grille to remove the chrome because your grille looks absolutely amazing! Could you also send me links to all your cosmetic parts? Thank you for your time! much appreciated!
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