[jw6277]

What i need to do before i make up my mind is take it offroad, my problem at the moment is that i only drive it on the road and i keep thinking
it would be great to have some extra kick. im not saying its a slouch the way it is, but i tend to drive it hard. It makes lots of noise but doesnt
really go if that makes sense, it has improved a fair bit since i did the carb but its still nothing special. although i might just be expecting to much
of it.

[Gwagensteve]

It's a small 4WD. Careful what you wish for - add much more power and you'll start to realise that you own the third worst handling car ever sold in Australia , behind only the WRX and a SWB vitara.

You can only use as much power as the chassis can handle, and in the case of a sierra, thats not a whole lot.

Wait until you have taken it off road. Once you start thinking of your car as a 4WD first and a road car second you'll assess what you need differently.

Iv'e never owned a road car that I didn't think couldn't do with more power, but I've rarely seen/owned a 4WD that I thought needed more power, assuming the car was properly geared.

Steve.

[stockman]

Off topic:
Are you saying a WRX handles worse than a Sierra?

[Gwagensteve]

I was being slightly facetious, but I really wasn't happy at all with how my WRX (07 STi) handled. I don't think they really "handle" at all, they just stick. Get them close to unsticking, and it's very hard to work out what they are going to do. You can't really feel the weight transferring at all. I couldn't ever really get a feel for it at all - in fact, it felt, at times like it was understeering and oversteering simultaneously. On dirt, it was completely retarded.

Spectacularly fast when you work within the huge grip they have, but that's not the same as handling. A Mazda MX-5 handles. My Renault Clio handled. Even the Cooper S we had handled in a slightly awkward way. a WRX doesn't handle.

Oh and SWB vitaras, when stock, should have been banned from sale.

Steve.

[jw6277]

Gwagonsteve: Yeah i understand, i probably wont go to extreme with it just a few little mods.

[stockman]

lol, I thought you were stating some facts.

[Gwagensteve]

double the post

[Gwagensteve]

Handling can't be expressed "factually" - that's the great problem with US motoring journalism - they have dreamed up lots of empirical tests but that doesn't mean a good empirical result means a car handles well.

Take, for example, peak G's. The US market is really obsessed with peak G performance, but who cares how high the peak G figure is if, once it's exceeded, the car kills you? That's the line between grip and handling.

Handling is an expression of how playful, wieldy or confidence inspiring a car feels, or how munch feedback it has. Thats not an expression of how fast it is around a track or how much peak G it can generate.

Steve.

[ozzycouch]

Like everyone else has said, put in a bigger motor if you want reliability and to save some money.

However if you have some time and or money on you want to waste have a go...
I supercharged a 1000cc mini motor and was very impressed with the results.
Felt like you were driving with a much bigger engine, much more torque down low, which would be beneficial in 4x4 situations.
I had access to a workshop when I build mine up, so it didn't cost much, but took a lot of time.

Here some pictures for motivation..

[jw6277]

ozzycouch: That looks pretty neat, it definitely sent some motivation my way. If i do end up going the supercharged path
ill probably end up building an entire engine, just so i can be sure it can handle the boost.

Is the supercharger you used an AMR?

[ozzycouch]

Not to sure to be honest,
It was off a small capacity (650cc?) Subaru engine.
Was the cheapest I could find at the time!

[jw6277]

Im pretty sure by that description it would be an amr.
Are you happy with the out come?
was it worth the work?

[ozzycouch]

Very happy with the outcome and defiantly worth the work.
Put a smile on my face every time I drove it.