I've been looking for some slight performance gains on my 1.6 MPi Leon and I've been asking a couple of forum members for advice. They've been so nice to help me and point me in the direction of changing the air intake, camshaft, and exhaust systems.
I'm brand new to all of this so I've been doing some research. I think I found that the exhaust system, which is, perhaps, the most expensive of them all, will give me the most gains in performance and the least risk of anything being damaged.
I have also found that there are a lot of mixed reviews regarding replacing the air intake. Some of the popular brands that come to mind are K&N, Pipercross, AFE, and Apexi. The K&N is probably the most popular of all of them but as shnazzle pointed out to me, and as I read online on several articles, it is pre-oiled and the fact that it lets more air in, it can let some bad particles in that would just compile dirt in the engine and perhaps lead to ruining one or more pistons. I have read that I'd need to keep an eye on intake and clean it out whenever possible. The problem with that is that I live in a country that's, well, pretty dirty and I wouldn't want to risk blowing out the engine for some slight performance gains. I haven't heard that the other two brands, though, like the Pipercross Venom could result in that, but I am unsure if they're worth the pennies.
And as for the camshaft, Nath. linked me to this: http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=40GS1HK&a=i This one supposedly fits my car and gives 20 BHP or more, which is awesome, but I am not sure if they sell it where I live. He also told me that probably the only downside to installing a lifted camshaft is
I asked a friend of mine who recently became an official reseller of Pipercross products and he told me that he can get me a light-weight Pipercross camshaft and that it'd make a nice difference in performance.
What do you guys think? I'm truly sorry for the long post and for wasting everybody's time, but I'm new to all of this and I actually love my car and wouldn't want to do anything stupid and ruin it. All I'm looking for is perhaps a 12 BHP and 20 N-m torque increase which would improve the throttle response and let me accelerate even just a little bit faster.
Thank you so much.
p.s. any body got a link for a nice cat-back exhaust system that would fit my car?
I'm brand new to all of this so I've been doing some research. I think I found that the exhaust system, which is, perhaps, the most expensive of them all, will give me the most gains in performance and the least risk of anything being damaged.
I have also found that there are a lot of mixed reviews regarding replacing the air intake. Some of the popular brands that come to mind are K&N, Pipercross, AFE, and Apexi. The K&N is probably the most popular of all of them but as shnazzle pointed out to me, and as I read online on several articles, it is pre-oiled and the fact that it lets more air in, it can let some bad particles in that would just compile dirt in the engine and perhaps lead to ruining one or more pistons. I have read that I'd need to keep an eye on intake and clean it out whenever possible. The problem with that is that I live in a country that's, well, pretty dirty and I wouldn't want to risk blowing out the engine for some slight performance gains. I haven't heard that the other two brands, though, like the Pipercross Venom could result in that, but I am unsure if they're worth the pennies.
And as for the camshaft, Nath. linked me to this: http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=40GS1HK&a=i This one supposedly fits my car and gives 20 BHP or more, which is awesome, but I am not sure if they sell it where I live. He also told me that probably the only downside to installing a lifted camshaft is
I asked a friend of mine who recently became an official reseller of Pipercross products and he told me that he can get me a light-weight Pipercross camshaft and that it'd make a nice difference in performance.
What do you guys think? I'm truly sorry for the long post and for wasting everybody's time, but I'm new to all of this and I actually love my car and wouldn't want to do anything stupid and ruin it. All I'm looking for is perhaps a 12 BHP and 20 N-m torque increase which would improve the throttle response and let me accelerate even just a little bit faster.
Thank you so much.
p.s. any body got a link for a nice cat-back exhaust system that would fit my car?
that would be the best bet for getting performance! 
