Max Power December 1999 Special Awards issue reviewed lots of things including 'Performance Tuners'. One of them (Motorsport Engineering in Ross-on-Wye) was not a million miles away from me so I gave them a call and asked what was available for my car. As it was a newish model and not a favourite car with modifiers they had to do some research and got back to me in a couple of hours with some ideas.
They followed this up with a written 'Personalized Tuning Programme' each part of which was individually priced so I could choose just the bits I wanted and including fitting costs and VAT. Impressive service I thought by Gary Bollands their Technical Director. I arranged a date for the springs, Superchip, filter and Remus back box to be fitted but I had to wait a couple of extra weeks for the filter and back box to be fitted as they had not arrived on the day.
Results - more power and torque at 3000rpm and more again at 4500prm. The engine was only 5000 miles old and had hardly loosened up but the changes were obvious. Lowering the centre of gravity by 25mm by fitting the springs really helped the cornering and gave a feeling of greater stability in a straight line.
Unfortunately when the springs settled in after a little use and with only two up the rear tyres scrubbed when the suspension compressed. I went back to Specialist Car Parts and there followed a long and protracted argument about fitness for purpose with SCP who wouldn't move. I was gutted but with the car only a few months old I didn't want the arches modified in any way so the original Racelites went back on and eventually I sold the wheels and tyres for half what I paid for them.