Pete’s Skoda Laura

Pete’stune. Tuning, until recently an underground garage scene, has now gone pro. Peter Chako, enthusiast-turned-entrepreneur, took his love for tuned and modified cars and translated it into a successful business. Unlike most start-ups (and aptly for the business he’s in), the hotelier didn’t go slow.

His way was a flat-out approach spending massive amounts on buying advertising space, amounts that even car manufacturers would debate a bit about. But would customers bite? Would they spend with their right foot?

No one knew. But customers did spend, and how. Today, hooked up with some of best tuning outfits, Peter is set to take his enthusiasm, his search for power and speed to the rest of India.

We had a rare opportunity to see masses of extra horsepower, hi-tech suspension systems, lots of grippy tyres and customised braking kits; how Pete’s products worked in an extreme environment of a track, namely the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore.

SKODA LAURA

Pete’s Skoda Octavia

On the outside, like most of Pete’s cars, the Laura doesn’t look much different. The chin is slightly more aggressive and there’s a mild spoiler at the rear. Most of the money has been spent under the skin with a full remap job executed.

ECU (the electronic control module unit which controls various sensors in a vehicle) specialists Custom-Code re-flash and re-programme your ECU resulting in a motor that can deliver a higher performance — 150bhp of diesel slug in this case. Helping the motor breathe is a Green Cotton filter, and there is also a six-pot caliper Tar-Ox braking system (the six-pot indicates the amount of braking force generated. The more the pots more the braking power. This particular one is made by a specialist company Tar-OX), adjustable Bilstein B16 springs and dampers and up-rated H&R anti-roll bars making it a thoroughbred sporting saloon.

The car was equipped with a DSG twin-clutch gearbox (Skoda’s gear box which has two clutches) and once into the turbo zone (in which the turbocharger spools up to give additional power to the engine), the whack delivered to the lower part of your back resulted in an ever-widening grin.

The Skoda leapt on a continuous wave of torque as the DSG gearbox pre-selected gears for the driver. The throttle responses were also vastly improved, the performance delivered instantaneously once in the narrow diesel powerband.

We strapped on our V-box timing equipment, selected ‘S’ (for Sport) on the gearbox and achieved only 8.9 seconds to a 100! There was also a massive leap in the Laura’s dynamics. Bilstein’s B16 PSS 10 is the company’s top kit.

This spring and damper set (components of the suspension system) features inverted mono-tube technology, increasing the surface area over which the damper works, high strength motorsport-grade springs, ride-height adjustment and 10-stage damping adjustment (you can adjust the suspension in ten stages according to your preferences for ride and handling) creating an unreal transformation.

The Laura’s steering was a touch light. Still, the overall poise of the car, the manner in which it loved to attack corners and its insatiable appetite for being driven hard had us in raptures. And then those six-pot calipers and Tar-Ox brakes delivered a lot of feel and weight. All this comes at an asking price of Rs 6 lakh.

MARUTI SWIFT DDis

Pete’s Suzuki Swift

Fiat’s 1.3 Multi-jet that powers the Swift diesel can be tuned to produce a lot more power, and the stiff chassis and high agility of the suspension package also respond superbly to being fettled.

Sure, the Swift is no Skoda but it was still fun. We found that it was noticeably quicker in a straight line, the Tar-Ox brakes provided high levels of confidence as one braked into a corner.

OCTAVIA RS 300BHP

As card-carrying members of Petrolheads Anonymous, the car we were thirsting to test was the 300bhp Octavia. It was fitted with a more affordable suspension system from Bilstein, the B6 Sport, and an upgraded turbo (they have updated the turbo charger for better performance). The change over a stock RS is massive and the car displays far superior grip and composure. It also remains much more stable under acceleration and braking, making this a super upgrade. However, remember to upgrade your tyres; often, upgrading one without the other is not much help.

But while we were floored by the improvement in the car’s dynamics, and especially by the affordable suspension kit, there was little discernible improvement over one of Pete’s 230 bhp upgrade kits for the RS.

Maybe it was the heat at the track that robbed the temperature-sensitive turbo of some of its power, maybe it was the slip in the clutch. Whatever the reason, we didn’t find much difference in straight line performance (how powerful the car is on a straight road. How fast does it go from 0-60kmph or 0-100kmph).