Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 75: Hotting Up

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 75: Hotting Up

Having already described my revisions to a few designs originally made by other Automationeers, I'll be focusing on one of my own designs this time. In this case it's the Morton M10 - a small and light compact front-drive hatchback. Given that a base model variant of this trim has already been made, it made perfect sense to create a sportier version. Here's how it happened.

The engine was the most obvious place to start. With a more aggressive tune, forged internals, high-flow headers, individual throttle bodies, a higher compression ratio and a searing 8200-rpm redline, it developed 180 horsepower (on 95 RON premium unleaded) - a huge improvement on the base model's comparatively minuscule 100 (on 91 RON regular unleaded). Although the power band had been shifted from the low end to the upper rev range, I considered it more fitting for the new trim's more sporting character.

Overview of the aggressively tuned engine found in the Morton M10 1.8 SR.

To harness all this extra thrust, the rest of the car also had to be tuned accordingly. The automatic gearbox was replaced with a six-speed manual, and a limited-slip differential was fitted. Uprated brakes with larger rotors and a sportier suspension tune helped emphasize the car's sporting intent. Visual modifications, however, were quite subtle, with a mild aero kit, reshaped wing mirrors, larger frontal air intakes and wider wheel arches (to accommodate a larger wheel and tire package with dedicated high-performance rubber) being the only changes made to the car's bodywork.

A Morton M10 1.8 SR in Sprint Red Metallic.

In short, the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll character of the standard car had been replaced with a more aggressive Mr. Hyde feel in the 1.8 SR.