To begin with, the engine has developed a high pitched whine which cuts in
above about 4000 revs/min. It appears to be related to induction (my
guess...) since the pitch is constant irrespective of engine revs. It
sounds like a sort of whirring whine, something like a distorted,
high-pitched clarinet (okay, so it's hard to describe). According to my
service department, this is a problem which has been reported by a couple
of other S16 drivers in the last 16 months, although they have not been
able to track down the problem. Any ideas? Fixes?
Problem number 2 is brake squeal. At the moment, I can honestly say that I
have never (ever) heard a car's brakes squeal as loudly as mine. At my
last service, I had the pads chamfered on the advice of my mechanic. This
worked for literally two days. Once again, any advice people have would be
appreciated.
Next, when I bought the car, the previous owner had replaced the original
195/55 Michelin Pilots with 205/50 Pirelli 700's. this results in a slight
"dishing" of the sidewalls over the rim, which I do not find unappealing,
and which in fact serves to save the mags from scraping on kerbs when
parking. However, at my last service, my mechanic recommended that when I
replace the tyres with the originals when they wore out. His argument was
that the car would in fact handle better on the narrower tyres since the
Michelins are better tyres, and because the car was developed on them.
Does anyone have any feelings on this matter?
Also, the previous owner had fitted an Australian made Powerchip (ECU
replacement) which claims an increase in power from 116 kW to 129 kW, and
an increase in torque from 193 Nm to 210 Nm. The first question is whether
people think these quoted figures are likely to be accurate. The second
question is whether anyone knows of any drivetrain weaknesses which might
be placed under undue stress due to the change (alternatively, if the
drivetrain is sufficiently strong, is there much further gain to be had by
upgrading the exhaust system, and if so, by how much).
Any other comments on upgrades, improvements, known weaknesses etc would be
welcomed, as there are few opportunities in Australia to get much
information on this particular model (it was only sold for 2 or 3 years
before being discontinued, although they have now commenced selling the GTi
6)
Thanks in advance
Jeff