It Gets Old Fast | Real Life: Modding a Nerf

[FirestormFRS]

I'm going to share my opinion Dez. I just think you went too far too fast. You didn't take the normal route of an upgrade/mod every 3-6 months like normal humans do. You went all in and you got burnt out with it. Again just my opinion no offense meant.

[boucher]

Originally Posted by Mikem53

My last car was an 08 Vette.. With Z51, NPP, 2LT
436 HP, 430TQ. All stock, warranted and was trouble free for 5 years of DD
And Funtime use..
The car needed nothing except a Resistor for the CAGS defeat.
These days there are several cars u can buy without the need to modify them and still stay competitive..
I'm all for tweaking something to make it more efficient and a bit faster.. But when you try to make it into something it's not... It can get ugly as the the OP has pointed out..

There's no car that "needs" to be modified. We choose to do that. I understand that it's possible to buy a car and leave it totally show room stock, but for most people that modify cars, they can't leave things alone. I think OP just hit a rut and lost interest. That interest will probably come back eventually.

[sprintertrueno86]

Atleast you have a Turbowski

[Tromatic]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Aside from straight line speed its a great daily driver.

I knew it was slow before I bought it, and I don't care about straight line speed. That's just the part you take to get to the curvy bits.

[Cheeseballs]

Aside from your terrible brake situation, do you think your overall opinion would be different if you had gone with the Jackson Racing CARB kit? It seems to be about the closest kit out there that you can set and forget. There haven't been any reported issues thus far with that kit either.

[Model Citizen]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Gonna buy a C7 can call it a day.

This is something I've wrestled with too, in my case it was ruled out because in this area the c7 would stand out far too much. A c6 still isn't a regular sight around these parts. I don't want that kind of attention.

Otherwise I can't help but think how much of your complication and issues are somewhat due to the choices taken. At the end of the day building a cheap car for track and street will involve a higher commitment of time and $, that is an unavoidable truth.

You were an early adopter of the vortech kit and have dealt with it's growing pains, while something like the Jackson kit seems to be relatively trouble free and with longer maintenance intervals. (Wouldn't you just time vortech oil change with engine change btw?)

How much of your sprint brake issue would be resolved with smooth rotors? Seemed like in the other thread it was established the grooves originated from the tip of each j. Granted for winter the stock calipers should be swapped back over. But I guess that's why you have a turbowski.

On the oil cooler end perhaps the oem implementation may have been sufficient in a non hot climate and would have eliminated that end of the hassle. I'm eagerly awaiting some legit track results of people that have taken that route.


Regardless of what you do from here. Thanks for taking a bullet and laying out what not to do for the rest of us who have more money than brains.

[clayrush]

I can feel the pain in my wallet from modding cars. And worse yet I am doing it to 2 cars at the same time. The major satisfaction comes from doing it to a car that is rarely modified heavily, at least around where I live. (Celica GT-S) And the frs is fun just because my girlfriend enjoys it. Heck having a girl that enjoys sports cars and appreciates upgrades is exciting.

I am just thankful I don't need to worry about winter where I live.
But I do have CARB.

[JSanders]

This is precisely why I won't overly mod my FR-S much less boost it in any way, shape, or form... Adding that much equipment on a car that was not designed for it is GOING to lead to problems, sooner or later. If you want FI, either make the car that is boosted not a DD or barely street driven at all or, just by a car with factory FI and mod it... Way more reliable that way. Just my .02

EDIT: I'm also a mechanic by trade so I def do not want to make more car work for myself on my down time... warrany is a priceless thing for me so I will hang on to it...

[chrisl]

Originally Posted by boucher

There's no car that "needs" to be modified. We choose to do that. I understand that it's possible to buy a car and leave it totally show room stock, but for most people that modify cars, they can't leave things alone. I think OP just hit a rut and lost interest. That interest will probably come back eventually.

That's possible. There are some car guys though (myself included) though who genuinely care more about the result than the process, and if a car hits all the right buttons stock, there's no real need to mod it (and, in fact, that's preferable to starting with a car that isn't what I want and modding it). I'm not saying either way is necessarily better, just that there are a variety of different ways to love cars.

[Kiske]

This was sort of my situation going into the 86 platform. I was going to buy a car I didn't have to fuck with (other than a few cosmetics) because I was getting tired of spending every other paycheck and weekend working on my t2 rx7. That lasted about 3 weeks before I pulled up to a modified FRS. The bug bit and I've been slowly decending into the hole I was in but, on a new platform. This time I can say I'm a bit more reserved/cautious and broke.

The only way I think I'd stop modifying is if parts were so hard to find, and so expensive that I couldn't. So pretty much on a exotic or something.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by clayrush

I can feel the pain in my wallet from modding cars. And worse yet I am doing it to 2 cars at the same time.

I'm building out my other vehicle at the moment, and having that constant assault on my credit card is helping to keep me from modding my BRZ. It's still stock to the bone. Every time I'm tempted to buy rims or tires or a header or exhaust or even a shark fin antenna, I just open the $22K spreadsheet I have running to track my other project and see immediately where the money has to be spent.

Originally Posted by funwheeldrive

I never understood why so many people are in a rush to start modifying a brand new car. What's wrong with enjoying it the way it came from the factory for a couple of years?

That's what I did with my other vehicle. I waited until the engine finally died before doing anything to it. Now it's getting a moderately modified second life at 14 years old.

But with the BRZ, it's hard not to modify it because there's so much potential there. It sounds okay stock, but it would sound great with a header and exhaust. It performs okay stock, but it would perform great with a tune. It handles like a dream stock, but rims, tires and suspension upgrades would make it a wet dream.

The problem is that no single one of these mods breaks the bank on its own. But once you've done one, you have the bug, and it's hard to stop. I could easily see the mods on this car becoming an all consuming obsession.

[Cal3000]

Seems like you were focused on building a track car. So yeah, you are going to have to do a lot of maintenance.

My car is my DD and built for street use. Vortech kit makes a great DD. I have 27k miles on the kit so far with little to no issues. Same belt, same pullies and I drive the car really hard everyday.
I only had one instant when the belt was running off track on the pulleys. That was after 26k miles. It was an easy fix.
Seriously, this kit, you can pretty much slap on and forget about it.

My spending for the kit.
Vortech Kit- $4,165
Installation- $700
Crappy FA20club tune- $300
Dyno Tune- $400

So overall= $5,565

And you got yourself a mini Porsche. lol

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by dem00n

How about this, i'll give you a Z32 300ZX, give you cash to modify it, then will see how long you last until you're submitted to a mental institution.

Good luck fitting anything.

I remember the hayday of the 3000GT, Supra and 300ZX my buddies dad had a 3000GT VR4 and the 300ZX, I'd go over to his house as a teenager and they guy would always have something apart. Only thing I heard coming out of that guys mouth was: "Piece of shit, fuk this, who designed this!"

Originally Posted by frsinpa

This might be one of the best examples of #firstworldproblems that I've ever seen.

TL;DR - I spent $10K modifying a car and I'm frustrated that it takes up time and leads to unforeseen issues. Now I am going to vent my frustrations.

Honestly though, I do get your point, I do. However, what do you think is going to happen when you drastically modify a car? It's going to lead to some issues. Quit yer bitchin

This post is not about poor me, the 86 is one big first world problem anyway. It was just one of those posts where you get your fill of issues.
Now that the weather is almost normal, I have been getting more people messaging me, stopping me to ask about the car. And it's hard for me to even justify all the work, because I can't, it has been a pain in the ass when you don't have a shit load of time.

Lot of younger dudes on here, many want to mod the shit out of their car, just want to put it out there it aint all rainbows.

Originally Posted by FirestormFRS

I'm going to share my opinion Dez. I just think you went too far too fast. You didn't take the normal route of an upgrade/mod every 3-6 months like normal humans do. You went all in and you got burnt out with it. Again just my opinion no offense meant.

No offense taken, some serious truth in that. Wanted to reach a goal.
It's one of those, hey I did it, now what? Who cares?

Goal is to hopefully have some fun with the car this summer.

Originally Posted by boucher

There's no car that "needs" to be modified. We choose to do that. I understand that it's possible to buy a car and leave it totally show room stock, but for most people that modify cars, they can't leave things alone. I think OP just hit a rut and lost interest. That interest will probably come back eventually.

I think you are right, aside from consumables and tire choices.
There are rare exceptions but I agree.

Originally Posted by Cheeseballs

Aside from your terrible brake situation, do you think your overall opinion would be different if you had gone with the Jackson Racing CARB kit? It seems to be about the closest kit out there that you can set and forget. There haven't been any reported issues thus far with that kit either.

The JRSC is another warm weather unicorn. I have not seen any data on the Kraftwerks or JRSC from people running it in cold climates.
You stack, IC, Oil cooler, Rotrex cooler and bigger radiator up front that is a lot of lines and pipes. Is the SC oil and motor oil going to be overcoolered in 0F windchill days? I can bet it will. Aside from the obviously longer SC oil interval seems about the same in terms of maintenance to me, someone correct me if my assumption is wrong.

It's all about support, who tunes for it, how many people own it and who runs the kit. Strength in numbers helps. One of the main reasons I would consider it is because CSG runs it and they are actually pretty transparent.
But with how many Vortech kits are out in the wild, most of the problems get found quicker. And we have a straight line to the manufacturing, and support with them too, as much as I like to bitch.

Originally Posted by Model Citizen

This is something I've wrestled with too, in my case it was ruled out because in this area the c7 would stand out far too much. A c6 still isn't a regular sight around these parts. I don't want that kind of attention.

Otherwise I can't help but think how much of your complication and issues are somewhat due to the choices taken. At the end of the day building a cheap car for track and street will involve a higher commitment of time and $, that is an unavoidable truth.

You were an early adopter of the vortech kit and have dealt with it's growing pains, while something like the Jackson kit seems to be relatively trouble free and with longer maintenance intervals. (Wouldn't you just time vortech oil change with engine change btw?)

How much of your sprint brake issue would be resolved with smooth rotors? Seemed like in the other thread it was established the grooves originated from the tip of each j. Granted for winter the stock calipers should be swapped back over. But I guess that's why you have a turbowski.

On the oil cooler end perhaps the oem implementation may have been sufficient in a non hot climate and would have eliminated that end of the hassle. I'm eagerly awaiting some legit track results of people that have taken that route.


Regardless of what you do from here. Thanks for taking a bullet and laying out what not to do for the rest of us who have more money than brains.

I would love an OEM solution, or close one that was actually tested and that could be run year around, waiting for someone to take the lead on that swapping the one from the Forrester or Legacy or whatever.

The brakes are quieter now, with the smooth rotors again. Much better after a few days but still will never be quiet. It's a track kit so I get it and lesson learned. Again cold climate issues.

See my comment above about JRSC.

C7 is the first vette I would consider owning but, with having the S2k and the FRS no point adding more garage rot, just yet.
The good thing about those cars is most older dudes buy them and rub them with a diaper and never drive them. So the used market is loaded with quality.

Originally Posted by clayrush

I can feel the pain in my wallet from modding cars. And worse yet I am doing it to 2 cars at the same time. The major satisfaction comes from doing it to a car that is rarely modified heavily, at least around where I live. (Celica GT-S) And the frs is fun just because my girlfriend enjoys it. Heck having a girl that enjoys sports cars and appreciates upgrades is exciting.

I am just thankful I don't need to worry about winter where I live.
But I do have CARB.

I drove the GTS the week it came out, I loved the motor. I can see why you would spend the money on it. The trans seemed weak though?
My ho aint into cars, which is fine but I could see the appeal of having someone enjoy it with you.

Originally Posted by JSanders

This is precisely why I won't overly mod my FR-S much less boost it in any way, shape, or form... Adding that much equipment on a car that was not designed for it is GOING to lead to problems, sooner or later. If you want FI, either make the car that is boosted not a DD or barely street driven at all or, just by a car with factory FI and mod it... Way more reliable that way. Just my .02

EDIT: I'm also a mechanic by trade so I def do not want to make more car work for myself on my down time... warrany is a priceless thing for me so I will hang on to it...

When you fix things for a living all day, the last thing you want to do is fix your own junk.

FRS was one of those cars you could tell they just built to a price point and stopped. I bought it knowing that, and wanted to see if the aftermarket would finish where they left off. Interesting journey, just too much work.
If they sold an STI or TRD FI, FRS with Brembos and other tweaks for 35k, I would have bought that.

Originally Posted by Kiske

This was sort of my situation going into the 86 platform. I was going to buy a car I didn't have to fuck with (other than a few cosmetics) because I was getting tired of spending every other paycheck and weekend working on my t2 rx7. That lasted about 3 weeks before I pulled up to a modified FRS. The bug bit and I've been slowly decending into the hole I was in but, on a new platform. This time I can say I'm a bit more reserved/cautious and broke.

The only way I think I'd stop modifying is if parts were so hard to find, and so expensive that I couldn't. So pretty much on a exotic or something.

Yeah when you exhaust your bank account and max out credit to mod your metal collection you cross then line. Been there done it. Blows.
Even the exotics carry issues, forget working on them yourself, getting parts, or having the serviced in a reasonable time.

Originally Posted by extrashaky

I'm building out my other vehicle at the moment, and having that constant assault on my credit card is helping to keep me from modding my BRZ. It's still stock to the bone. Every time I'm tempted to buy rims or tires or a header or exhaust or even a shark fin antenna, I just open the $22K spreadsheet I have running to track my other project and see immediately where the money has to be spent.



That's what I did with my other vehicle. I waited until the engine finally died before doing anything to it. Now it's getting a moderately modified second life at 14 years old.

But with the BRZ, it's hard not to modify it because there's so much potential there. It sounds okay stock, but it would sound great with a header and exhaust. It performs okay stock, but it would perform great with a tune. It handles like a dream stock, but rims, tires and suspension upgrades would make it a wet dream.

The problem is that no single one of these mods breaks the bank on its own. But once you've done one, you have the bug, and it's hard to stop. I could easily see the mods on this car becoming an all consuming obsession.

Having debt from cars blows, its a hobby like anything just one of the most expensive, but its part of the experience. The spreadsheet is sobering, it should open and say, "Hey As*hole, you have a problem."
But then you go online and guy pink kevlar cannards. Feel your pain.

The 86 is one of those cars, you should not own if you have problems with moddifying cars. I have always had cars I never touched. This was the first one I really just pissed away money on.

At the end of the day, you can say you did it. But the question will still remain, was worth it.

[ericmpena]

A couple of months ago I passed a SWP BRZ bone stock sitting in a parking lot. I stopped and stared at it for a while and kept thinking about how great it looked with nothing modded on it. Sure it's fun making the car your own and modding it every chance you get, but along with modding comes a list of problems.
I wonder how many people out there wish they had left their car stock instead of turning their car into a money pit that sucks up all your time.