Well boys, its been a while here are a few shots to update you on the progress of my CATERA.

I got sick and tired of watching the back end being all tucked in so here is what I did with it.. I ordered a 50mm Wide TRACK+ Kit from H&R and they came in today, I got around to installing them and here are the results, it looks bad ass and with some 245s it will look even better.
The spacers are for SAAB 9-3 and 9-5 and they fit perfect. I will try to post some more pictures of them.

Enough talk here are the pictures.


http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09427.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09430.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09429.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09444.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09448.jpg


http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09451.jpg

BEFORE
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09440.jpg
AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09468.jpg

The tires actually lign up with the fenders now, before there was about 1.5" distance from the outer side of the fender to the top edge of the tire, now that distance is cut in half.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09461.jpg
BEFORE
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09462.jpg
AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09472.jpg


BEFORE
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC07976.jpg
AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09468.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09480.jpg

Looks good man.. Do you notice any difference in the drive now?

Nice. Reminds me of the "Wide Tracking Pontiacs". It's subtle but it gives the car that extra something, but +50 mm more offset? There's still the question of the wheel bearings but I know you're on top of that. I think you should have added mud flaps (I hate that name) at all 4 corners. With the extra wheel track the paint needs more protection. I bought these Highland Front Or Rear Mud Flaps (http://www.car-stuff.com/store/?N=4294966862+1586+4294963943+4294966717&catq=true) but haven't installed them yet. Colormatch them or leave them black but I think they'll look good on our cars and protect that paint.

Elvin


http://www.car-stuff.com/store/images/prodimage/images/highland/Contura_Car_rear.jpg

Well I got around to finding a suspension engineer at work who does the wheel bearings and he explained the concept to me and he pretty much said that if my wheels were 1" wide then I need to worry but at the current configuration he said I will be fine.. and if the bearings were designed to last me 200K well maybe I will only get 170K out of them which is no worry, I am not planning to drive the car that long.

So I will keep you guys updated on that. I haven't noticed any difference in ride and handling but I haven't pushed it to the limits yet...

Here are some extra pictures from the street.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09490.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09489.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09491.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09492.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09494.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09484.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09487.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/DSC09488.jpg

looking good

do they sell lowering springs for our cateras? your car would look stunning if it was lowered an inch or so

Yes, Eibach has lowering springs for the catera. What is the make and model of the wheels on the silver car. They look great.

It definitely looks much nicer but I’m curious how the handling is affected, I would suspect it would cause the front to plow more.
Are you originally from Müchen or did you just buy the plate?
After Ate and PBR engineered and manufactured your calipers you write Brembo on them haha.

looking good

do they sell lowering springs for our cateras? your car would look stunning if it was lowered an inch or so

I have thought about it but I think I will keep the factory settings for now and maybe just maybe down the road I will drop the 1400$ on the KW kit from Germany.

Yes, Eibach has lowering springs for the catera. What is the make and model of the wheels on the silver car. They look great.

I know they do for sure, but I think H&R also makes some stuff for our cars across the big pond as I have seen stuff from the european web sites. The wheels came from OPEL ASTRA SRi whcih was here in the states for testing, and I managed to get the wheels off of it... THey are 18x7.5 with the 5x110 bolt pattern and 37mm offset.

It definitely looks much nicer but I’m curious how the handling is affected, I would suspect it would cause the front to plow more.
Are you originally from Müchen or did you just buy the plate?
After Ate and PBR engineered and manufactured your calipers you write Brembo on them haha.


It doesnt really feel any different, the back seems a little more planted, during turns etc, but its only the first day driving it, so I cant tell a difference at all, my friend from work said that it will help with limiting oversteer in the RWD platforms, but he said I wont be able to tell the difference.

The plate was from Germany, and my friend had ordered it with my american numbers on it, and he said he couldnt get the M-removed, BTW he is from Germany, he is the one that sent me the Opel grille, and a few other things for it...

AHhh as to the brembos, well I got brembo rotors waiting to go on there and also I couldnt find any PBR Stickers... so I just hoped no one would notice... :halo:

Two things.

First thanks for the info Re: the wheel bearings. Now I might just order me a set of them there Hubcentric whatchamacallits.

Last, since you have the wheels handy, would those Opel hub caps on your Astra wheels fit the Catera Sport wheels?

Thanks.

Elvin

PS: It sure would look dynamite lowered.

Two things.

First thanks for the info Re: the wheel bearings. Now I might just order me a set of them there Hubcentric whatchamacallits.

Last, since you have the wheels handy, would those Opel hub caps on your Astra wheels fit the Catera Sport wheels?

Thanks.

Elvin

PS: It sure would look dynamite lowered.


I got them from AUTOSPORTSTYLE.com, they are for saabs 9-3 9-5 models, as they have similar hubs with exactly identical dimentions. Bolt Pattern, Center bore diam... etc... As for the bearings well the engineer that I talked to has put on a set on his mustang whcih is IRS, and he has over 100K miles on them with 1.25" Spacers and no problems yet.... so he said we should be good for a long long time... he also said the bearing in there is very strong too as its over an " wide.

Those center caps are the same inner diameter as the CATERA ones so they will snap in but they dont look good on there at all, they are just not made for those wheels, in fact you will be better off with getting some of those Opel stickers off ebay and putting them in place of the CATERA SPORT logos on the caps...

HEY ELVIN, maybe I can send you some pictures of the car so you can put them on that CATERA Picture colection of yours.

The plate was from Germany, and my friend had ordered it with my american numbers on it, and he said he couldnt get the M-removed, BTW he is from Germany, he is the one that sent me the Opel grille, and a few other things for it...

AHhh as to the brembos, well I got brembo rotors waiting to go on there and also I couldnt find any PBR Stickers... so I just hoped no one would notice... :halo:
That’s interesting that you got 2 different plates with matching #
I'm just giving you a hard time about the calipers haha I’m sure 99% of people wont notice. I'm getting the C6 corvette calipers for my car soon, I wonder what people will say when they see the corvette raised letters on them haha if someone says something I’ll just tell them it’s the new 4 door vette lol

Wait have you done hour HW on this, are you sure that the C6s will fit on there, I think they are totaly different... and with 6 piston caliper you might be overdoing it.. my set up cost me 100$ and its about as good as it gets... when you lay on the brakes you often find yourself disturbed by the annoying kick of the ABS screamin for help so more powerufll caliper then that is highly unneeded IMO, but its up to you...
I think GTO calipers with C5 Brake pads are all you will ever need for the braking system on your car...
But hey keep us updated on that project... :thumbsup:

I ordered a 50mm Wide TRACK+ Kit from H&R and they came in today............
.............I got them from AUTOSPORTSTYLE.com, they are for saabs 9-3 9-5 models, as they have similar hubs with exactly identical dimentions. Bolt Pattern, Center bore diam... etc.

I have turned that site inside out. I found the SAAB spacers but no 50mm.

5mm DR Spacer / Bolt Pattern 5x110
15mm DR Spacer / Bolt Pattern 5x110
20mm DR Spacer / Bolt Pattern 5x110
25mm DRA Spacer / Bolt Pattern 5x110

Am I missing something? Could you clear this up?

PS: Thanks for the offer of pictures but I've already pinched them. Just haven't uploaded them yet. Belated thank yous.

Elvin

Not the Z06 brakes lol, I've got 13" front rotors and will be using the 2 piston Z51 calipers I’ll need to custom fabricate the brackets. I'm also upgrading the rear breaks to 12" vented rotors. I plan on doing this over the winter so once I’m done I’ll post the pics ect..

elvin it's a 50mm track wider kit that means each spacer is 25mm (roughly 1")

Yep sorry my bad.... its 25mm per side because i wanted a spacer that would bolt up to the hub and this is the smalles side that would do that..

notice the DRA and how the other ones are DR... well the DR only use longer bolts and that is a big no no... the DRA is what you want to be safe...

Saab 9-3 and actually i can get you a link if you want...

I'm also upgrading the rear breaks to 12" vented rotors. I plan on doing this over the winter so once I’m done I’ll post the pics ect..
My 2001 Sport has 11.26 inch vented rear discs. You can use those. Should be an easy job. The fronts you plan are a different story. Good luck.

Originally posted by CateraMV6
Yep sorry my bad.... its 25mm per side because i wanted a spacer that would bolt up to the hub and this is the smalles side that would do that..

notice the DRA and how the other ones are DR... well the DR only use longer bolts and that is a big no no... the DRA is what you want to be safe...

Saab 9-3 and actually i can get you a link if you want...
I thought that's what it was but needed confirmation. And thanks about the DRA info. Now all I need is the money.

Thank you both.

Elvin

Catera MV6 where did you get your resonator? (Muffler at the rear)?

Catera MV6 where did you get your resonator? (Muffler at the rear)?

i think it's just a tip

yep its just an ovel or elipsoid or whatever you want to call it tip, it just happened to be the right size that it huggs the two original tips so I painted those flat black and stuck the new one on top .. in some of the pictures you can still see the other 2 tips inside the one oval one.

My 2001 Sport has 11.26 inch vented rear discs. You can use those. Should be an easy job. The fronts you plan are a different story. Good luck.

Elvin
Now why would i want to go smaller when i already have 12.1" rotors and matching calipers? ;)
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e294/75Stingray/My%20Catera/IMG_4744-1.jpg

I looked around but could find no one that sold rear discs other than stock replacements. I assumed you were only upgrading from solid to vented rotors. Where did you find those 12.1 inch discs? Did you have to fabricate a new mounting?

Well now that the winter is near I decided to go back to the OEM 17" Wheels with the new tires that I put on a while back...

The tires are 245 45 17 Kumho Ecsta ASX I believe... but I can check if you want...
Anyways the other wheel and tire package was a mere 44lbs/pc... and these suckers are almost 55lbs... so quite a weight difference and you can tell that by the way the car drives...

here are some pictures of the car that i jsut took... its about to start snowing out and thats why it was wet... ohhh and my car is super dirty...
Enjoy :)

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC00072.jpg






BEFORE
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC07975.jpg
AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC00073.jpg






BEFORE
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC07976.jpg
AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC00074LHCROP.jpg

awesome...

AFTER
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/DSC00074LHCROP.jpg

WOW!! I like how you went the extra step and truly converted your Catera into an Omega by switching everything from left to right. I guess moving the steering and controls required shifting the exhaust to the right side but did you have to reverse the US Flag too? :hmm:

Elvin

WOW!! I like how you went the extra step and truly converted your Catera into an Omega by switching everything from left to right. I guess moving the steering and controls required shifting the exhaust to the right side but did you have to reverse the US Flag too? :hmm:

Elvin




Yeah that was kind of hard... it took all but 3sec BTW... LOL funny thou...

I forgot to take the picture from the opposite side so I wanted it to be as close to the other as possible and that was the first thing that came to mind...
Sorry about the flag thou... :duck:

hhaaaahahaa.
as soon as i saw that picture, i figured out that it was just flipped.
nice...
:rofl:

the gass cap is even gone lol

hahaha.
o man.
im glad i go on this forum at work.
it makes my day a little better.
you guys just keep makin me laugh.

I finally got around to installing the H&R wheel spacers in the rear. The fenders look filled to the brim now. I'm running 235/45-17 tires and the extra inch (25mm) on each side brings them almost even with the inner edge of the fender. She looks hot with a wider butt.

I do have a question. Now, it could be my imagination but anyone with these spacers notice a different feel when turning? I think it turns is quicker. Like the extra track width levers the front end around easier than before. As I I said, I could be dreaming but it sure feels that way.

Elvin

Question for u guys. Do these spacers come in a set of two? And do they come with everything like the bolts shown in the picture and such?

Nope you get everything you need, the two spacers and a set of 10 high strength low profile bolts that attach the spacer to the hub and then you simply tighten your OEM bolts to the provided holes in the spacer... do not torque the bolts more then 80ft.lb as that is the meax torque for the stock ones... I had mine up to 120 once and I think that may have been a bit much but nothing happened to the threads, I was affraid they may have stripped... BTW I still havent figured out what the spacers are made of, because they are clearly not ALUM, they must be some sort of Alloy or something because they are really strong...

Good luck, I like mine a lot and I was considering a 5-10mm for the front but I dont want to deal with the longer bolts, it gets kinda scary there... risk of loosing a front wheel is not a joke...

My package had instructions, 2 spacers and 10 bolts. The non DRA spacers have longer bolts and nothing more... and I think the 5mm doesnt even have the hubcentrig ring on the spacers due to the lenght of the ring on the hub...

With only a 5mm spacer on the front your factory rim will still be hubcentric on the factory hub. I tried with one of the cheap universal 1/4" spacers I had lying around (the 18x10 would fit on the front if I had just a few more mm for clearance haha)

I do believe that your turns would be quicker and easier, considering that it's almost or is 2" extra wider wheelbase and you put a better set of rubber than what's OEM and you have GREAT handling. Next time you go down an off ramp, be sure to warm up your tires and compare/contrast. :stirpot: IMO you would have better grip/steering but nothing that would make it handle like a Veyron.

I am soon to get a new set of rims 17x8 with some Pirelli tires so I will post pictures Immedietly... the rims are much lighter and will have a 35mm front offset and 10mm rear, so the stance will be quite agressive... The wheels are 17lbs/pc and combined with the tires I hope to be in the 35lb/corner which will help with the overal drivability of the car...

OEM wheels are 52lbs so shaving nearly 20lbs per wheel will help with accelaration as well as braking... and steering.

Lets hope all goes well and they will be on the car this weekend...

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/CateraMV6/HR%20Spacers/COMP.jpg

Here is a comparison picture, I never posted it...