If the words “Zaporozhets” and “tuning” are mentioned in the same sentence, the first car that usually comes to mind is the 968. Or perhaps the “Hunchback” 965. Or… surely not the Chance, of all things.  
But the basis for this project was a car with the 1102 designation, a weak carbureted engine, and the nickname “the poor man’s eight.” However, there is now nothing left of either the poverty or the little engine, while the designation is the only thing that still reminds us of what this car once was. The “poor man’s eight” has evolved into an “eight for speed.”  
Unlike many projects that begin with a car — either one already owned or one desired — this one began with… an engine.  
In 2008, Evgeniy had a complete engine-swap package lying around in his garage. It included an Opel C20XE engine with 183,000 km on it, a gearbox, and driveshafts from an Opel Calibra.  
At the time, amateur tuning projects were dominated by naturally aspirated VAZs, while turbocharging experiments were still in their early stages. So the goal was set as ambitiously as possible: to build a stable, fast, reliable, extremely lightweight, yet reasonably affordable car.  
Since the powertrain had already been decided, all that remained was to choose what to put it into. Popular options such as the VAZ-2108 were too heavy — and, besides, too predictable.  
While struggling to decide, Evgeniy also decided to break a few stereotypes. As the foundation for the project, he chose a ZAZ-1102 Tavria: a car far from ideal in terms of styling, with questionable engineering solutions and a body made almost literally of cardboard-thin sheet metal, but with one major advantage — it was more than 200 kg lighter than a VAZ-2108.  
Exterior  
The new engine, followed by the custom subframe, proper suspension, hubs, brakes, and roll cage, added a significant amount of weight to the Tavria. The battle against those extra kilograms began with the bolt-on body panels.  
Everything considered unnecessary was cut out of the doors and hood. The windows were replaced with polycarbonate, with the exception of the windshield and the driver’s side window.  
The stripped, cut-up, yet radically reinforced body remained virtually unchanged on the outside and was still immediately recognizable.  
The color was refreshed as well: the car was painted a warm white and fitted with 15-inch forged wheels — primarily to accommodate the 288 mm brake discs rather than simply for aesthetic reasons.  
In fact, every component of the project serves a purely functional purpose, making the Tavria stronger, faster, or more durable.  
For example, the front bumper is not there simply to attract attention. It is an aerodynamic component that continues into the flat underbody, creating a low-pressure area at high speeds while also covering the custom subframe and the low-mounted engine.  
The factory front seats and rear bench were excessively heavy. To reduce weight and provide a fixed driving position for both driver and passenger during spirited driving, the original seats were replaced with Sparco fiberglass bucket seats.  
The factory seat belts were replaced with three-point belts.  
The steering wheel was replaced with an Italian-made Nardi unit.  
The factory instrument cluster refused to cooperate with the Opel gauges, so it was removed. For better information at a glance, only the essential instruments were installed in the cabin: coolant temperature, oil pressure, fuel level, and a tachometer.  
Sound deadening, the headliner, door cards, carpets, and all the other attributes of a comfortable car — insofar as that word can be applied to a Tavria — were sent to the trash.  
Mechanical  
The primary objective of the project was to successfully fit the Opel engine under the Tavria’s hood.  
In this particular case, the biggest challenge was not wiring integration or adapting the surrounding components, but simply the physical size of the powertrain itself. Fitting it into the small ZAZ was far from easy.  
The Tavria’s remarkable lightness was achieved through equally remarkable — or, more precisely, extremely sparse — use of metal, including in structural components.  
Anyone who has had even indirect experience with these cars has probably heard stories about front suspension strut towers tearing away, rear beams breaking loose, the front half of the car separating from the rear, and the other “joys” of owning one.  
For this reason, installation of the C20XE began with cleaning and re-welding the factory seams, reinforcing the front structure, and installing a roll cage.  
To minimize vibration, the engine was mounted on rigid engine mounts with minimal rubber, made using polyurethane bushings.  
The new engine also required an upgrade to the braking system.  
Up front, the car now uses 288 mm ventilated two-piece brake discs with calipers from a Volga.  
The new engine significantly increased the load on the front axle, so the springs and dampers had to be selected to cope with the additional weight. Custom spherical-bearing top mounts were also fabricated.  
For four years, the car was driven with the stock engine, apart from a slightly increased fuel-system pressure, an ECU calibration intended for a non-catalytic-converter engine, and a 63 mm exhaust system.  
During this period, modifications were primarily focused on the suspension and body.  
But during one off-season, curiosity eventually led to the engine being opened up. After all, the engine had already exceeded 200,000 km, with 20,000 km of that accumulated under hard driving conditions.  
Zhenya found only minor scoring on the cylinder walls. Under normal circumstances, an experienced garage mechanic would typically replace the piston rings, lap the valves, put everything back together, and say, “It’ll run some more.”  
But considering the car’s intended use, he decided to empty every student piggy bank he had and order a complete set of new performance parts.  
Accralite forged pistons were selected, along with lightweight and durable H-beam connecting rods, a QED throttle-body assembly, and QED camshafts with solid lifters.  
The engine block was modified to accept piston oil squirters and bored to suit the new pistons.  
The crankshaft was dynamically balanced together with the flywheel and clutch assembly.  
The cylinder head received extensive hand porting.  
The valves, valve seats, and combustion chambers were modified, the valve guides were replaced, and duralumin valve spring retainers were fabricated.  
The fuel system evolved from conventional rubber and metal lines to braided hoses with AN fittings.  
The original fuel tank was replaced with a 45-liter ATL racing fuel cell equipped with an internal anti-surge system.  
There are now three fuel pumps: two auxiliary pumps that transfer fuel from the main tank into the surge tank, and a main Bosch 044 pump that supplies fuel to the engine.  
Fuel pressure is controlled by an Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator.  
It soon became obvious that the factory ECU would no longer be capable of managing the increased number of horses under the hood.  
To control the engine’s power and allow further tuning during operation, the ECU was replaced with a January 5.1.41 unit and subsequently calibrated.  
The dyno test was something of an exam, considering that the engine had been assembled by the owner himself.  
The result: 252 hp and 277 Nm of torque at the flywheel, using the factory exhaust manifold.  
The factory clutch struggled to hold those numbers.  
So during another off-season, the extremely heavy factory flywheel was replaced with a custom-made duralumin flywheel.  
A smaller-diameter sintered-metallic clutch disc was installed, together with a modified pressure plate.  
The Opel and Tavria have different track widths — obviously, with the Tavria being narrower.  
As a result, the driveshafts had to be shortened and welded.  
This solution was not particularly reliable, and the driveshafts failed several times.  
To eliminate the problem in the future, the plan was to manufacture new driveshafts from 30KhGSA alloy steel bar stock.  
The outer CV joints were replaced with more durable units from a 2.0-liter Opel. This required only re-machining the wheel hubs.  
The project was conceived as a platform for implementing the owner’s own ideas.  
There was no specific competition class in mind, such as drag racing or time attack.  
Eventually, the car was tested in 402-meter drag races and also completed a couple of sessions on Moscow-area road courses, where the limitations of the braking system — specifically the brake pads — became apparent.  
Plans  
Essentially, this Tavria is a complete and finished project, but if desired, it could be reconfigured for a specific type of competition.  
For drag racing, wider wheels suitable for drag slicks would need to be purchased, along with another round of weight reduction.  
For circuit racing, an oil cooler, performance brake pads, and slightly stiffer rear springs would be required.  
For now, however, the owner prefers not to turn it into a dedicated race car completely.  
To him, it is more of a quick street car.  
Modification List  
ENGINE  
Opel Calibra C20XE engine  
Accralite forged pistons, 12.5:1 compression ratio  
H-beam connecting rods  
Piston oil squirters installed in the engine block  
QED camshafts with solid lifters  
Custom adjustable camshaft gears  
Aluminum pulleys  
QED individual throttle-body intake system with custom carbon-fiber velocity stacks  
Ported cylinder head with enlarged ports and modified valves, valve seats, and guides  
Fuel-system lines with AN fittings  
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator  
Custom rigid engine mounts  
ATL racing fuel cell with anti-surge system  
Three fuel pumps, including a Bosch 044 main pump  
EXHAUST SYSTEM  
4-1 exhaust manifold, 63 mm exhaust piping  
MG-Race resonator  
No-name rear muffler  
ELECTRONICS  
Motorcycle battery  
6-terminal battery cut-off switch  
January 5.1.41 ECU  
TRANSMISSION  
Opel F20 manual transmission  
Modified shift forks  
3.94 final drive  
Worm-gear limited-slip differential with 10 kg preload  
Shift mechanism play eliminated  
Short-shift linkage on spherical bearings  
200 mm unsprung/undamped sintered-metallic clutch disc  
Reinforced clutch pressure plate  
Aluminum flywheel  
Heavy-duty custom-made driveshafts  
SUSPENSION  
KW suspension all around  
Front:  
Newly fabricated front crossmember  
Custom polyurethane-mounted subframe  
Custom tubular A-arms  
Custom spherical-bearing top mounts with offset centers  
VAZ-2112 steering knuckles  
Steering-arm “ears” re-welded to accommodate the lowered ride height  
Three-point-mounted steering rack  
Spherical-bearing tie rods  
Rear:  
Reinforced and seam-welded rear beam  
Reinforced rear-beam mounting brackets  
Converted to four-bolt wheel hubs  
Modified shock absorber mounting points  
Relocated spring mounting points  
BRAKES  
Lucas brake booster  
Lucas master cylinder  
288 mm front disc brakes with Volga calipers  
Goodridge brake lines routed through the cabin  
Tilton adjustable brake-bias valve  
Vertical hydraulic handbrake  
EXTERIOR  
Lightweighted body  
Roof-mounted fuel filler neck  
Racing hood pins  
F1-style mirrors  
Trimmed front wheel arches  
Custom-fabricated metal mudguards  
Rolled rear wheel arches  
INTERIOR  
Roll cage  
Sound deadening removed  
Additional gauges  
Nardi steering wheel  
Sparco bucket seats  
Three-point seat belts

A "Vosemorka" for the Fast: Tuning the ZAZ-1102 Tavria