Newbie questions about modifying my '93 festiva

[Bert]

I may not be so far north as you but I love driving Festys in the snow. It takes quite a bit of work to get one stuck and then usually it's because all the cars around you can't move anymore either. The secret is good snow tires. If you're still running around on 12 inch wheels and you want some Goodyear "snowflake" tires let me know. All season tires just don't cut it no matter what anybody says. Canadian Tire discontinued selling 12 inch snows 3-4 years ago. If you're really into upgrades you may want to contemplate the Aspire/Rio brake and suspension swap (lots of writeups on and about this in this forum) whereby you get better brakes and a superior choice of wheels and tires. I went through this winter with unidirectional 175/70-13 Nordics and they track like a mountain goat. As far as I'm concerned front wheel drive is 3/4 of the way to 4WD and I've seen lots of Jeeps and P/Us stuck at the side of the road only because a single front and rear wheel on non-limited slip diffs were spinning on ice.
By the way, from where in this fine land do you hail?

[olivia1993]

Olivia, if money is really no issue, then maybe you should get a dedicated 4WD for the worst of winter travels. For anything up to 8-10" of snow, a well set up Festiva with the best snow tires should work fine.

I recommend the following:

Aspire suspension and brake conversion, to give you bigger brakes and superior handling, along with more wheel choices.

Raise the car slightly (about an inch at most) to provide more ground (actually, snow) and tire clearance.

Get 14" or 15" wheels with the best snow tires you can fit. I'm planning on going to 185/60-14 tires, including snows, for my work Festiva. Taller tires can raise your car another 1/2" to 1".

Get a B6 engine swap, for a little extra power (from 63 to 82hp) without too much trouble or cost.

Extra insulation for heat and noise control. Rebuild most everything likely needing to be rebuilt (due to age). This includes all of your hard lines (fuel, fuel return, brake) and all brake hoses.

That's a good start, then you can think about "luxury upgrades." My own opinion is that the simpler, the better. (I hate power anything, including but especially windows.)

Good luck, and post some pictures!!

Karl

Karl,
Do you know how much all that would cost? I've been looking online all day long for different parts and trying to learn as much as I can about my car. I found a few cool custom shift knobs and some suspension kits. I'd also really like to put in a new stereo system - speakers, video deck, etc.

[olivia1993]

I may not be so far north as you but I love driving Festys in the snow. It takes quite a bit of work to get one stuck and then usually it's because all the cars around you can't move anymore either. The secret is good snow tires. If you're still running around on 12 inch wheels and you want some Goodyear "snowflake" tires let me know. All season tires just don't cut it no matter what anybody says. Canadian Tire discontinued selling 12 inch snows 3-4 years ago. If you're really into upgrades you may want to contemplate the Aspire/Rio brake and suspension swap (lots of writeups on and about this in this forum) whereby you get better brakes and a superior choice of wheels and tires. I went through this winter with unidirectional 175/70-13 Nordics and they track like a mountain goat. As far as I'm concerned front wheel drive is 3/4 of the way to 4WD and I've seen lots of Jeeps and P/Us stuck at the side of the road only because a single front and rear wheel on non-limited slip diffs were spinning on ice.
By the way, from where in this fine land do you hail?

Bert,

I'm in northern BC. I had pretty good snow tires, it's just so hard to find good ones where I am. And what is the Aspire/Rio brake and suspension swap? I really don't know a lot about any kind of car, including my own, and am very eager to learn as much as I can. Do you mean I would be able to get bigger, better tires?

[TorqueEffect]

Bert,

I'm in northern BC. I had pretty good snow tires, it's just so hard to find good ones where I am. And what is the Aspire/Rio brake and suspension swap? I really don't know a lot about any kind of car, including my own, and am very eager to learn as much as I can. Do you mean I would be able to get bigger, better tires?

With a Aspire or Rio swap? Yes. But for the Rio swap, you will still be stuck with the 12" tires in the rear unless you pick up some Geo Metro steel rims as well, which are 13"
Rios are a front end swap only, the rear suspension of a Rio will not bolt up to a Festiva, but the front suspension will, it needs to be from the older Rios with the two bolt top mounts, instead of the later 3 bolt.

Aspires are increasingly harder, and harder to find, so finding one for a suspension swap is difficult, while the Rio is plentiful in junkyards.
My yard has two atm, but when I went to get my struts a few month ago, they had six Rios.
Festies are surprisingly far more abundant than Aspires. We have had 4 different Festies at our upullandpay since I started going there a few months back, but not a single Aspire.

[Bert]

Hello Olivia. If this is your first car then don't consider spending any serious money on add-ons until you've thoroughly learned to maintain the car yourself for a year or two. They are 20 years old now, have a pre-OBDII electronics system and parts are becoming harder to find all the time. Ten years ago perfectly good Festys were already going to the scrap yards around here only because few jobbers knew where to find replacement springs. The parts counter guy at Canadian Tire (for instance) won't have a single Festy part in stock and the aisle catalogue books for filters and such don't even list Festivas anymore. If you're located in a modest town like MacKenzie or Fort St John, or for that matter even Prince George, virtually everything you want or need will have to be mailed, trucked or flown in.
They are becoming wonderful hobby cars but if you intend to rely on a Festy to get you to work on time and every day you'll have to do like many of us and gather up 2 or 3 more of these cars so that you can scavenge parts off one, work on one (or wait for parts) while driving another.

[Bert]

I am in northern Canada. I had really good winter tires this year and i still got stuck all the time.

Perhaps you are located in Smithers, or maybe Hooterville (Vanderhoof)?

[Larry Hampton]

If money isnt an issue, gtx trans and rear and these.

http://www.mattracks.com/models/litefoot/xt/xturhd/