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The team attempted to make an ordinary second hand car (a Renault Avantime, which posted a reference time of 1:42.5) lap the test track as fast as a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, which managed 1:28.2. They were given half the cost of an Evo (£15,000) minus the cost of the Avantime (£5,200) leaving them £9,800 to spend on improving the car.
The modifications included fitting new brakes - which were too big for the wheels to fit on - forcing the team to spend more on bigger wheels and track tires; an adjustable suspension kit and swapping out the front seats for lighter racing ones. May spent the entire first night attempting to tune and restore the engine to its former glory of 210 bhp (156 kW), he almost succeeded, getting it up to a respectable 206 bhp (153 kW).
The next day, Hammond fixed a rear wing from a Super Aguri SA07 Formula 1 car to the rear of the car, to which Clarkson commented would be useless as it was a front wheel drive car and the spoiler would push the rear of the vehicle down. Clarkson also fitted a wooden splitter, which he fashioned himself, to the front of the vehicle, which promptly caught fire. During the Stig's lap, the wooden splitter also helped ruining the car's handling by popping the rear out and causing tires to lock.
After several attempts the car finally managed a time of 1:35.4 on the track in the hands of The Stig, which resulted in the team pointing out how much money is wasted on trying to improve cars and how little it does to improve the overall quality and performance of the vehicle – most of the improvement that they did manage came from removing unnecessary weight, and May's retuning of the engine, neither of which cost anything beyond the time and effort that was put in.
