Expensive mistake?
 

Ok please don't flame me and hear me out.

I really wanted this car for a long time and bought it as soon as it came out (may 2012). After 1 year of daily driving and putting 20k miles on it I am having some second thoughts.

My concerns are not about it being slow or anything like that. But I want to mod, DD, and track my car. I feel like I can't do all those things to it and it last more than 10 years max (optimistic).

So the past month I have been using another car as a DD (my sisters, since she doesn't have license LOL). It has me leaning to having 2 cars, a DD and a fun car. The thing is with the DD car I drive slow (50 mph) and less risk of getting tickets and decent mpg, 30 mpg. With the BRZ I have been pulled 3 times, 1 ticket and 2 "talking too/warning"

The BRZ I thought would be a perfect only car; a compromise between DD and track/mod car. I'm not sure anymore, I love it so much and don't want to put DD miles on it for nothing. If I am going to have a DD and track car, why shouldn't I have a yaris and a corvette? I don't know, I'm kind of just spewing shit right now.

Please convince me BRZ only car YOLO not a single fuk given

what about a motorcycle? lol

yea i thought about that too but the consensus seems don't drive one to save money unless you are really into it. Plus I can't use it in winter.

But if you mean motorcycle for track, I have never driven one and don't have the first idea about it...

Can always pick up a cheap beater to drive daily.

Yea that's what I am thinking right now, buy a cheap car and mod the fuk out the BRZ. Just on the fence :\

Why don't you still mod the crap out of the BRZ and save up to get a corvette or what ever expensive sports car you want next.


My plan is to get this in order. FRS, IS-F, GT-R, Aventador.

My concern is if I put a lot of mods and a lot of miles I'm going to pay a shit ton in maintenance and accelerate wear, potentially blow it up. much faster than if I just use it for fun and track.

That's abundantly clear, since bikes are RIDDEN, not driven!

On the serious note, a car is worthless if you can't use it as a dd... unless you are wealthy and have an alternate. As for driving like a...well you need to watch over your speedo, unless you want to A.) loose your license or B.) pay insurance fees out of the @#$%! Think of it this way, speed racer! Why drive a slow car, fast on a public road? Be safe and good luck!

Its so easy to drive this DD slow (accord). With BRZ I always find myself trying to hit corner exits and revving it out. Frequently in 3 digits and my worst pull is 50 over (highway construction zone with no workers, not a residential). I find it so hard to hold back when in BRZ but with a meh eco car I find it so easy to meander at 45-55... Thats why I'm thinking get a slow car and DD it slow and get a fast car for track driving. Then again it might get me in more trouble if it is faster than BRZ...

No brainer there! Who could resists?

buy a bike! lol

I own a r6 and I love it as a weekend toy thing, the frs is gonna be my daily cause I plan on getting a vette when I finally come back to the states lol

You still need insurance on that sports car... Be dumb not to have full coverage. Which means an assload more money. My insurance dropped a good bit from my 2013 Camaro SS to the BRZ

What's the point of keeping it long but not use it?
Just fix whatever breaks and keep up with the maintenance, that's how the non-garage queen last for decades.

I fking love the color and its contrast of your car in your avatar. Omggg lol

Back to the thread... Op why not make small performance changes? Or small appliances like radars or dash cams? But if anything a moto would do. Only bad thing you gotta worry about is the crappy drivers who don't look at where they go.

Start out slow. For me I am in the same situation as you because I want to fully mod my car but at the same time my dd miles are kicking me. So what I do is add mod every six months. Little mods like tints, exhaust, intake, spoiler, etc. Keep in mind that you are saving a lot of money on your new sick ass ride

Cars are poor financial decisions in themselves. Modding them, even more so. Tracking them is hardly inexpensive.

You will never see financial return in this hobby. You will always lose money.

Now, with that being said, what do YOU get in return? Personally, nothing else makes me feel better than driving the piss out of my car. Additionally, I love modifying my car. Not to mention, I have met some of the most amazing and down to earth people in this world thanks to cars.

I try to relate it to a vacation for example - you spend money but in reality, have nothing to show for it once it's over. However, you do take the memories and experiences you had while you went through it.

:cheers:

One car=don't go to the track
One car=it cost too much to go to the track for you
One car=just enjoy it fully everyday and get a new one later

i only have 1 car and i dd and track it :P lol. Im planning on getting another dual sport though just to commute in

I was DDing and tracking mine. Then I built a track car. Then I bought another DD. Now it sits in the garage waiting to be put up for sale. :shrug:

You live in NY, no? So basically, your not going to be tracking you car during the winter months, so throw that out the window. Sure, you could hoon the fuck out of it during the winter months but if its a track car, you really wanna bug that around on snow?

Just mod the BRZ, accelerated ware will happen on OEM parts just as good for aftermarket. Unless you go shitty aftermarket, you'll be replacing shit left and right.
Don't go cheap, but don't go all out. Just mod it and drive it.


If you want something slow but fun to daily drive, go buy an Alfa Romeo spider or a Fiat/MG/Triumph. You won't get speeding tickets on those....


The biggest problem with track cars, is that one wont' satisfy you for long enough. You'll spend $20K on one and 100+ man hours, then in the next year you'll want to sell it and buy another car to track. You'll want to go faster, have more mechanical grip and have a more in depth experience.

just get a cheap miata and start tracking it.

I've decided to sell the BRZ, because I don't want to risk totaling the car at the track. I don't have that kind of money to just throw around. If you want to track your car, you need to accept the risk of losing it all. A sub $5k Miata/Civic/Integra is pretty much perfect for people who have normal jobs/income.

As for daily driving, the BRZ doesn't really do anything for me assuming you're obeying the speed limit. It's just like any other car for me. I'd actually prefer to get even better MPG, which is why I picked up a used Civic Hybrid. I like the BRZ, but I don't like it enough to throw a monthly car payment at it considering it sits in the garage most of the time.

Remind me why you don't DD the BRZ and picked up an M3 instead? lol

Congratulation, you have became wiser.

I was in the same boat as you are with my heavily modded VR4. Everything was paid off, but it sat and drain insurance on me.

Whenever i got it out as a DD, the value just depreciate, and about track time, i didnt have time to even do it any longer.

Ended up selling it, put the money toward a car for wife. Even though i really want another sport car, i rather go with wrx

More room, visibility (looking out and behind, so much more visibility than the BRZ/FRS has), DGAF factor in my narrow space parking garage at work, don't care so much if shit breaks, insurance is cheaper, etc.

I understand where you are coming from. I use BRZ as daily driver. It was purchased on july 2012 and has 26,000 miles on it. I drive it hard and daily. It is a pretty reliable car so long as you do the maintenance on it. As for using it as a track car PLUS a daily driver, it may be too much for the transmission, brakes, steering components to handle. But it depends how much track you plan on racing.

I had a 07 CBR 600RR along with my 05 tC and FRS that I picked up in June 2012. I sold the CBR last spring. The tC is paid off. I now use the tC as my daily driver and FRS when the weather is nice and no salt is on the roads. So, my recommendation is to buy a used economy car over a motorcycle. Especially if you live in NY the motorcycle idea is the worst investment you could make. As far as speeding goes, you can speed in any car. You need to cool your jets :-).

In before "my ex wife" is my most expensive mistake.

I thought I would keep the brz stock : no beater necessary.
N/A build : might wanna grab some steel wheels with winter tires.
F/I build : what can I find for $2500 that I don't care about.

You can still track and dd the brz. If you think your gonna go bananas with mods save a little extra for a p.o.s car.

If your young and starting to wrack up the tickets try to take it easy with that. (a lot of us have done that back in the day so we are only telling you from our experiences)

But life is a learning process and we all tend to learn from our own mistakes right?

This thread... It's kind of like asking: "Hey guys, can you give me advice on better enjoying my heroin?"

And we're all like, "Hell yeah, try this!"

But seriously that's what going to track is like. Zion is essentially asking how to be a better functioning "drug-addict". Totally happy to oblige dude!

So my $.02? Don't be a *****, do both! DD your 86 and ALSO get a track car. That way you're not wasting money trying to make a new car fast all while making it a loud, uncomfortable and void of its warranty. Seriously, do you want to go 10 second/lap faster than stock 86 for cheap? For $6-7k I can find you ready to go race cars (like Spec Miatas) and some private coaching lessons and voila, you'll go 10 seconds faster than an FRS.

K

That ^

I appreciate your honesty, I feel like no matter what car you get there is always the tension between practicality and performance. Why did you choose the civic hybrid? In my line of work I am required to drive many miles from court to court no matter what the weather is. And the RWD in the BRZ in the snow and heavy rain has become an issue, so there are times in which I wish I had a fwd gas saver like a civic. However, the exhilaration and superb handling of the BRZ outweigh the cons. At 26,000 miles driven in 17 months, I am in it for the long haul with the BRZ...... God Bless, and hope you get a good deal on the sale of your beloved car

Why does your sister own a car if she doesn't have a license? :bonk::bonk::bonk:

I'm starting to have serious thoughts about selling mine.

It's a good car and its fun but I want a bit more power out of it and its a bit uncomforting seeing how many people are having motor issues even at stock power levels.

Kinda sucks