Side Mirrors

The next in line are the mirrors,i checked out couple of options available.the first one is the carbon fiber cover for the existing mirrors, which completely looked like original CF mirrors



There is a similar chrome cover for the side mirrors which is very flashy.



The other one is the Mirrors with LED blinkers built into the mirrors.it was too flashy for me the



Another option I found are the original carbon fiber shaved mirrors,they are amazing,very light and sporty.these mirrors weren't available locally.I had to get it shipped from taiwan.it took me couple of hours of on-line searching to locate the right person to buy from.I finally found a reliable source from where I could get rest of my parts shipped too.the pricing was very reasonable and the finish,quality of the products are really good.it took quite some time for the mirrors to arrive since it is shipped international.I had no customs problem or other damages on the mirrors.



There was a later model which came out after I purchased the shaved carbon fiber mirrors which were also sporty...

Bodykit

I just had one option for it and its the swift sport kit, the european version ,the GTI 2 Kit and the Hikari kit were'nt released by then,i loved the hikari kit for the swift which was released recently,its got led's built into the front bumper which looks very sporty.



I got my sport kit after about a month,its came unpainted,i wanted a dual paint scheme Red/Black,which were my favourite colours and would go well with the existing paint.



I also wanted to complete it with a spoiler and had couple of choices of gettin the factory spoiler, the GTI Spoiler or the CF Monster Spoiler.the monster spoiler seemed to be quite expensive so i picked the GTI spoiler.i decided on a dual paint scheme with black on the edges and the top portion, red on the bottom of the spoiler.it came out quite well.

The entire kit looked totally sporty,it gave a completely different look from all the swifts in the city.looks exclusive and one of a kind.

Time For New Rubber

I had to swap the tyres coz the first set of tyres had been run for about 46K Km and that's pretty gud also a good time to upgrade the rims and put some wider tyres.I had to think for a while between show-off or pure performance and finally picked something that would give me a run for my money.The Stock tyres that came with the car are 165/80 R14,

I have an option of going for (195/60 R15) (205/60 R15)(195/55 R16) (205/55 R16) or (205/45/ R17) (215/45 R17) (225/40 R17).but anything above 16's isn't gonna be comfortable also its gonna drop a bit of power,the steering would get a little more tighter and it would scrape underneath on full load.so 17's seriously a big NO...its only pure show....!



I had to pick between 15's and 16's.there are very few options available in 16's compared to 15's and 17's also I thought it might be better to go with 15's keeping the power on tap.for the tyre brand I had an option of Bridgestone Potenza GIII/Falken ZIEX/Yokohoma S Drive.I got a better deal of on the potenza's so I went for the 195/60R15 GIII's.it was tough for me to pick the wheel design even though I have very few options available in the place I live.



I definitely want something that will define the car.I came across the Lenso kuza anime series and I liked the blade style design,they are different form the regular alloys with spokes.it also has metallic finish and a red shiny lip finish.Its so catchy and different.I had a doubt when I got it but I am totally happy how the car looks.

Things Start Getting Better

I finally placed an order for a custom free flow exhaust ,An Air Intake Kit,Iridium Plugs & Sparco Seats.I got the Plugs and the Seats in a couple of days and got them installed.the recaro speed seats were amazing.it was so comfortable to drive around and feels very secure at high speeds.the seats make a huge difference in giving me the boost to drive it hard around corners.the seating is low compared to the stock seats and it has a very good back support.



I received the headers and exhaust later on.it took about 25 days for them to be made and sent to me.they are full stainless steel Headers, later I thoughts I should have got the regular cast iron manifold and piping but I didn't give it a thought initially.

After I swapped the headers they seem to boost the low and mid range a bit.the car's pretty quick in the second and the third gears.the acceleration is improved a little over stock.it sounded very aggressive and loud initially.later on as I drove more n more the sound came down a bit and there is still a very good grunt in the low gears.




The Air Intake Kit took about another 2 weeks and i had to decide between K&N and Green Cotton Storm, I some how liked the Green Cotton Storm,cuz it has a cover protecting the filter and also it is priced better.I pulled out the stock filter and had to reroute the piping.the piping i used initially was a bit messed up and i didnt prefer to go for a metal pipe,instead I managed to find a rubber hose for the filter.a little bit of weight reduction and also I figured out the metal piping might get hot faster than the rubber.it took about an hour to get everything fixed and took it out for a drive.it feels so nimble and there is slight increase in the power.



The filter started catching a lot of dust in its current location,so i need to relocate it closer to the front grill,it also requires cleaning every month since the conditions here are so dusty.

Break

For about 2 years there weren't any serious upgrades on the car.I was busy with my studies and work in U.S and also was busy tuning my Accord Coupe there.the major issue was of swift not being launched in the American market.since it being only present in the Asian and European markets most of the parts were hard to find on ebay or other online stores and very few people have international shipment option.

I tried contacting some of the manufacturers of the after-market parts in china and Japan and got very few responses.I haven't ordered anything yet but just kept a watch for the prices.once I moved back to India ,I finally had a chance to work on it full time.I started contacting all the manufacturers I contacted earlier and requested quotes for the parts.it took quite some time to get all the responses.meanwhile I started searching locally for someone to import parts for me.

My primary preference is to improve the performance of the car,so started making a list of stage-1 mods which are quite accessible in my location,I managed to find a local tuner who could get me quality stuff and placed an order for a Full Free Flow Exhaust System , An Air Intake Kit ,Iridium Plugs & Recaro Seats.Those were the major upgrades to the car starting from April 09 and then the serious tuning begun.....!

Sports Wheel & Pedals

The next in line were a few minor accessories.I had a very limited budget as I was a student and it was tough to spend a lot on the car then.

I looked for quality stuff on-line preferably ebay.initially I looked for a good steering wheel as the stock wheel is huge and feels heavy.I spent couple of hours everyday to look for quality stuff and finally I picked up a 320mm Type R racing wheel,an aluminium finish sport pedals on ebay for a good deal.

I managed to bring the wheel and pedal's from U.S but I completely missed on the hub part.it took quite some time in Bangalore to find a suitable hub for the swift,as the car was just released a couple of months ago.I still couldn't find a hub with auto-cut-off signal option.I had to sacrifice that for the wheel and it wasn't a big deal anyway.

The pedals fit perfectly and I had the brake pedal adjusted closer to the accelerator pedal so could make use of the heel-toe down shifting or double declutching when necessary.

I.C.E (In Car Entertainment)

The selection for the music system took quite some time to decide between a lot of options,after some good research on-line and posting questions on forums I have closed on Alpine & Polk.picking the right kind of speakers for the front and the rear was quick.

I picked Polk MMC690 Coax Speakers for the rear and went for Polk DB6750 2 Way Component with a crossover in the front.I couldn't afford to get an Amp for the speakers so pushed it for later.

It was a tough choice to pick the sub-woofer,choosing the make was quite easy coz I am a big fan of alpine products.piking the size took some thinking,finally went for the 12" Sub giving up on the boot space.I got the SWR 1242D Sub which can handle upto 500W RMS.It's actually a bit overpowered than the speakers and for the amplifier for the sub I went straight ahead for the Alpine MRP M650 Class D Amp.Alpine Amplifiers are known for their quality and the performance.there is no doubt in picking the amplifier,for a moment I thought I should have gone for the Alpine MRD M605 or the MRD M1000 but I am quite happy with the existing amp.Wiring was done up using the monster cables.

The Head unit is an Alpine CDE9852 it was a good buy,I didn't go for the top end unit but rather I picked something that has a decent spec.

Everything was bought in U.S,I had couple of friends carry the speakers and the head unit to india,I took the subwoofer with me in the baggage.it was quite heavy but still had to sacrifice everything for it.

Finally the Install took about couple of hours,it was done at EBBASS in Bangalore.they did a good job with the installation.I was quite happy with the system.

Suzuki Swift 1.3 by Dtuner

This blog is entirely about my Suzuki Swift & the Mod's done on it.

It all started in April of 2006 when the car was bought brand new.Everything on this car was picked with extreme care and after a through research.A lot of time was spent on searching for the right kind of stuff.I was on a strict budget initially so I am completely dependant on ebay and other online stores for the parts.Most of the stuff was purchased online by me in the United States and bought to India.

The Entire Modification is done in different stages,I started working on the I.C.E initially and later on the performance and appearance.Performance and Handling to me was the priority.I am an adrenaline junkie and i d like to work on to get the best of the car.