It's been nearly a year since the demise of the Daewoo of Death. Granted, that car had sentimental value out the ass, it was faster than it had any right to be and the track days were hilarious, but I should not let nostalgia cloud the facts. Almost every Daewoo part on the Daewoo of Death needed to be upgraded if I was to move forward.
That had started out relatively cheap. I could junkyard source stuff like larger rotors and spare body parts. The cheapness of the parts also made me completely remorseless about chopping stuff up and fabricating body panels out of discarded central air conditioning units. However, I was running out of low hanging fruit.
The Daewoo family of engines had oil control and heat management problems that were going to take many moneys to fix. I was actually getting ready to swap in a Hyundai beta drive train, which would have been an enormous PIA but probably better than Daewoo E-tech turd polishing. My brakes were turning blue after the last track day and there was no obvious upgrade path. Best of all, lateral grip was getting high enough that chassis rigidity was becoming a major issue.
In other words $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
But now I have something better. Behold, Rocinante, the 2002 Hyundai Avante Deluxe.
I've christened her Rocinante in honor of Don Quixote's horse. Like the great knight of Lamancha's fine steed, my Rocinante is unlikely to inspire awe in the passerby. Further, like the legendary battle charger of yore, my car is awkward, past its prime and soon to be engaged in tasks far beyond its capabilities. Last, but by far most important, like the biological Rocinante, my Rocinante shall charge headfirst into many excellent and droll adventures.
She's got a 1.5L alpha DOHC engine with 104 hp and a 5 speed stick. It's immediately obvious that a 104 hp Hyundai makes a lot more power than the original 1.5L, 106 hp Daewoo engine. Gearing is similar, weight is similar and this Avante is vastly faster than the Daewoo was before the 2.0L motorswap.
The suspension is four wheel struts. Due to the sub-optimal geometry up front, I probably can't lower Rocinante at all, which is okay because it's pretty low as is and Korea is REALLY bumpy. The brakes are all discs, the unibody is miles stiffer than the Nubira and most of the rust is confined to dangerous places like control arms. I'm excited to begin!
So, is this, like, a problem or something? 
Or, you know, how about this?
See that groovy little cast iron piece? The one that rotates inside the rubber bushing? It turns out that shimming under that mount raises the roll center and dials out some anti-squat. I'm gonna try just that in a month or two after I install my (planned but not yet purchased) coil overs. 
I cleverly didn't take any useful before pictures, but here's the after. I knocked down a ridge shrouding the flapper and opened the side nearest the opening up a few millimeters. 
Here's the exhaust inlet before.
And after. 
Want to touch the lady ...
16 inch Magnus wheels.
16 inch Tosca wheels.
17 inch Tosca wheels.
16 inch Sonata wheels.
