Potential Project Ideas Options

[senick]

I recently bought an e46 328i, which is now my daily, and decided to store my 95 ST. I did maintenance and suspension work to the 328, and was struck by how much more expensive (needlessly I believe) BMW parts are than Toyota. And I have to say, for as much love as the e46 chassis gets, I honestly feel like the AT200 is the better car to drive.

Anyway, since storing the Celi, I've been constantly thinking about a project for it (and missing its excellent fuel economy), and I was looking for some input. I should say, though, that I wouldn't likely get started on any such project for at least a year from now, likely longer.

So the philosophy of the build would be to maintain the reliability and fuel economy of the 7a, while increasing long distance driving comfort and maximizing engine power delivery through driveline and suspension improvements. Basically, in the same vein that the BRZ/FRS was designed to make the most out of a relatively low powered engine through intelligent overall car design. The emphasis is on a comfortable, fuel efficient and reliable car for driving long distances, while always having the potential to be a 'driver's' car.

I have a few ideas currently, such as:

-Lightweight driveline components, wherever possible. Are these available for the 7a? I see flywheels for the GT, but so far nothing for ST.
-Underdrive pulleys
-Lightweight wheels/ sticky tires.
-Weight reduction where possible, but not in compromising comfort or increasing road noise. Feasible?
-Lightweight exhaust
-4 wheel disc brake conversion
-Suspension upgrades. Would certainly welcome suggestions on this.
-Cooling system upgrades (better efficiency)

And more, but I'll leave it at that for now. Other than additional comments, I'd also like to know if anyone has suggestions on where to look for parts? I've done a fair bit of searching and referenced a few sticky's, but it's still hard to find parts for an ST. For 7a specific parts, I suppose I can look at Corolla sources, but for suspension and other parts I'm at a loss.

Finally, I've been wondering if it would be possible to swap a 7a into a GT body? I assume yes. I feel like the GT is more amenable to performance suspension and braking mods.

Any input is very welcome, thank you for reading!

This post has been edited by senick: Feb 23, 2017 - 9:25 AM

[Box]

Would have to look into it but I don't see where an extra point and increasing flow and timing would warrant a reflash or piggyback even having MAP instead of MAF, but would have to look more in depth since it's been yeas now since I've looked into it. The 6 speed is so close together you really won't get any mileage difference, same with the 5 and 6 speed in the Miata. 4A-GE with standalone as mentioned would be another option, I think some have done the 4A-GZE in 7A Corollas before and maybe a Celica. The 20V you do have to rev out to get going from what I've read, but you have to do that to some extent with the 7A anyway. Anyhow here are the ratios for the C56 and C60 respectively:
1st: 3.166
2nd: 1.904
3rd: 1.392
4th: 1.031
5th: 0.815
Reverse: 3.250
Final: 4.312

1st: 3.166
2nd: 2.050
3rd: 1.481
4th: 1.166
5th: 0.916
6th: 0.725
Reverse: 3.250
Final: 4.529

So at 70 mph you're talking about 3,400 rpm with the C56 vs 3,200 rpm with the C60, hardly worth the trouble in pursuit of fuel saving.