Hello,

As I always wanted to have my own track day car, I decided to turn my German GTi6 (S16 in Germany) into one.

Last year, I first collected some lightwheight C5 aluminies and some Nankang NS2R tyres:



Then I went to the Nurburg Ring.



That tasted like more! So, then I bought some additional goodies: OMP upper and lower strut brace, de-cat from Spoox, straight pipe from de-cat to Remus back box.



The lower strut brace still has to be fitted...

Then I went to the TT circuit in Assen where I did some laps with an instructor first. After lunch I went on the track where a absole c#nt in a rented BMW missed his braking point and slammed into my car!



But, this does not mean I quit! In contrast: a friend of mine has quit his track day car project and sold me his upgrade parts:
- GAZ Gold adjustable coil overs;
- BakerBM adjustable top mounts;
- GAZ Gold adjustable rear dampers;
- Xsara-306 revised rear axle;
- Peugeot Sport (?) roll cage;
- Peugeot Sport rear brake disks.


GAZ Gold with BakerBM adjustable top mounts. Never fitted


Roll cage and in the back the Xsara-306 hybrid axle

And from other sources, I collected: front wishbones with Powerflex Black P-bushes and Powerflex Purple front bushes, deepdish steering wheel with boss, OMP seat bases, door straps, and some other bits.

So, now we are in lock-up, I decided to do some work on the track day car:


Coil overs that are currently fitted. Most likely V-Maxx


While I am at it, will change these as well


This pipe needs to be replaced. Will fit an oil catch can as well


Even this unit is leaking

Wheight reduction:


The window control unit, I want to fix in the space for the speaker


All the plastic trims have come off as well


Removed everything in the rear


Seats out


The wire mess from the Gemel alarm


Rear part carpet: out


No idea what this connector is for


Bit of water under driver seat


Are these for the side airbags?


Again: sh!t load of wires from the alarm


End result so far


Gave the cars a good wash yesterday

Next on the list: Removing current coil overs, creating a bit space for the BakerBM top mounts, fitting GAZ Golds. While I am at it: change old droplinks for new, and wishbones for the one that has the Powerflex bushes fitted.

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My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Looking Nice Joep!

Assen is a great circuit to start off on; nice and flat and lots of run-off space!
Come practice at Wimedo when you (and the lockdown) are done.

PS. Now I need to add a cage to my list too ;-)

@Sander: yes. The run off space I needed for sure during my first laps 😝 and when the BMW hit me 😡
Want to go to some more tracks. But I will be mainly at the Ring as it is within an hours drive. Wimedo, is that always open?

@Mike: thanks! The rear bumper of your black car will be an example how I want to make mine. But then with the exhaust at the standard spot.

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Over the last week I removed the VMaxx coilovers (might go on my girlfriends 206 SW now) and fitted the BakerBM adjustable topmounts with the GAZ Gold adjustable coilovers (photos will follow).

One question that I hope one of you might have the answer to: how do I set the correct preload of these coilovers?

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Then it might be the same for the GAZ ones...

I am just going to wind the lower ring up to the point I cannot move the spring. Then I wind it up 5mm more before I fix it with the locking ring. That is how it was explained on YT, but that were different coilovers...

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

The gaz will be the same as the old coil overs in terms of adjustment - adjusting the collars will adjust the height. You’ll get the height etc set fairly easy but after having mine set up and corner weighted recently I’d really recommend spending the extra and getting it set up, easily the best and most cost effective thing I did on mine in terms of track driving

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

That looks sinister. The front end should feel crispy fresh now

Some updates:

Last weekend I removed the headliner as well as the sun visors so the roll cage can be fitted.




Also removed the rear wiper as 1) I do not use it 2) it never works well 3) weight reduction:




Took all my tools out of the car:





And put the Xsara rear axle in:



Yesterday, I went to the fast Peugeot expert (approx. 200km drive) for the Dutch variant of the MOT and
to have the rear axle fitted.

Apparently the old axle was completely stuck as a result of the bump by the BMW. Unfortunately, I have no photos of how the bearings were pushed out and everything was rusted solid.

But now the Xsara axle is fitted. We were not sure what ARB was used during the rebuild of the axle, but for sure thicker torsion bars. Also, solid mounts were used:





Everything looks way more rusted than it is in real life. So no worries there.

What was also a big question, was what the ride height would be. My mechanic did not remember if he had set a height already. So, we just fitted everything and then lowered it:



Perfect!

What I found quite interesting is that the phase 3 GTI6 does not have a brake bias compensator. Apparently not needed?

We set the GAZ dampers on the rear at 15 clicks from zero (36 clicks in total) and I drove off. When there are some dips on the highway, the rear tyres rub... so maybe a few clicks more will be better.

Next up: PhillipM lower strutbar, body repair, cage fitting.

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Looks like we have the same mechanic :-D
Both fast (car) and quick (mechanic) !

Interesting stuff going on here. Keep up the good work.

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DIABLO GTI-6 - Legend - NILE GTI-6 - Sold
CHERRY GTI-6 P1 SUPERCHARGED - Broken up
BLACK RALLYE - Sold
205 Dturbo xud9 work horse - Dead
CHERRY RALLYE - new toy

While the car is at the body shop, I made a nice purchase:



Acquired OMP seatmounts a while ago already. Now these lightweight OMP seats became available at a very fair price! Includes 4-point harness in red. Perfect as the color scheme will be black with red accents.

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots

Yesterday, I got my car back from the repair shop. The damage was way more work to repair than they anticipated. Good we made a price agreement upfront

So, yesterday evening I wanted to fit the OMP seat bases and seats... If I use the prefab holes, the seat is about 10cm to far out! So, that will need some drilling of additional holes in the base.

But, then I realized that I cannot use the standard belts as the connector is fixed to the original seat! Now I first need to find someone who can weld in my roll cage and read up on how to fit 4-point harnesses. I know the belt that runs over your shoulder can be fitted to the horizontal bar of the cage, but where to fit the other two belts that run over your legs?

Any example is welcome! Also any tips and tricks on fitting the seat in the right position.

________________________________________

My car park:
'96 Sigma Blue XSi6
'98 Diablo Red GTi6
'99 Onyx Black S16

All RFS powered!

Plus various other Peugeots