At what point is your car no longer daily driveable?
 

This is going to apply to only a select few, but maybe you could also shed some light based on your previous cars.

There's tons of aftermarket support for the twins. It's incredibly tempting. I've never really done more than intake, exhaust, shifter, springs + shocks on any of my previous cars. My friends warned me about going mod crazy. I haven't had the car for a month yet and I already have TOM's tails, Tarmac Zeros, LCAs, and a shift knob on the way. I have seen guys with mods by the dozen within months, which scares me.

I want my car to keep the reliability, above average gas mileage, quiet cabin, and decent ride quality. I've planned my mods accordingly. But a part of me is still afraid the drawbacks that come with some things may add up over time, as they did on my Z28. But the Camaro wasn't the best daily driver to begin with.

I know I will not go F/I, at least. I know an UEL header will be loud as hell, but I love that sound.

You can drive anything daily :)

I think it becomes a point where it's no longer comfortable to drive daily on normal roads. You could do polyurethane bushings everywhere, but even though it tightens things up, the increased NVH may be more than you're willing to tolerate. If you don't mind your car rattling and rumbling because racecar, then you could go pretty far down the rabbit hole before drawing the line on daily driving. If you use your car for long commutes, you may not want to do that.

I'm the same.

My plan is basically intake, exhaust (after market catted header with catted front pipe and catback), springs, wheels, tyres and a tune. I've already done the intake, wheels, springs and tyres so all I need to do is the exhaust and the tune.

Only body mod I've done is the beat sonic fin. In the future I might do a five axis spoiler and Toms tails but no major bodykits. I like the stock lines and height clearance. I've already dropped the car an inch and thats' as far as I want to go.

At what point is your car no longer daily driveable?

When the cheap interior parts squeak, rattle and buzz like there's no tomorrow.

Although, I'm probably the only one of this opinion. :D

So almost imediatly?

It's personal preference. Some people like destroying their subframe and shattering oil pans every other week. I see people DDing their cars with 1 inch ground clearance in NYC. To me that is undriveable but people are doing it. It comes down to what you can tolerate and you ability (including financially) to fix things that break.

I have a Camaro with a battery that dies if you leave it sitting for an hour. Definitely wouldn't daily drive it.


Cuz then people would see me driving a Camaro. :lol:

When you don't look forward to driving it for errands.

Probably the best answer I've seen yet. Once you lose that feeling where you want to take the long way home or forget something from the store on purpose just to go back then you have probably gone too far...

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I am in a similar predicament since I intend for my BRZ to be my DD until the factory warranty runs out. I am more of a mod noob than most here, and decided to stick with all cosmetic mods. Being without a workspace / car jack space to work on, I've even opted out of any ... 'under the car'... replacements. My current mods: Shift knob, clutch height adjustment, european oem arm rest, and the customized molle seatbelt padding from Endom (all of which are existing threads in this forum if you look hard enough...pm if you need links).

P.S. if you dig hard enough, you'll also find my almost suicide whilst modding my car :bellyroll:

When exhaust drone become unbearable.

When it doesn't drive....

You have 30 posts and at a glance i don't find anything harmful

son i am disappoint :paddle:

+1! But you really have to love it or a car set up for competition can get old fast on the street. Stiff bushings, shorter springs, higher damping rates and short stiff sidewalls make for a pretty nasty ride on less-than-perfect streets. Scraping over driveways and speed bumps can really make you regret lowering it, especially the 5th time you have to repair the damage. And even the initially gorgeous sound of a large-bore Stebro exhaust on a tuned 1275 Cooper "S" or a 4-pipe Abarth on a 356 Super gets annoying driving from Philly to Florida, especially when it attracts every cop within earshot. Been there, done that, outgrew it.

I had to drive my '57 356 Speedster daily for 4 months back in '85 because my wife's car needed major work after a bad hit. I gave her my Subie wagon and gladly took the tub to work...for about a week. Driving home in a heavy rain, I was so wet that I had to lay out the contents of my wallet to dry overnight. The "heater" had emphysema, the defroster couldn't blow out a dying candle, and the overall comfort level was as low as the 76'ers' expectations for a championship. I never thought I'd say it, but I was truly thankful when her car came back good as new, I got my Subaru back, and I didn't have to drive Tubby unless I wanted to.

I've used a '57 XK-150 coupe, a '58 Lotus 7, a '52 MG-TD and several 356s as daily transportation over the years. Some were vintage racers, some were at the tail end of their life cycles, and they all brought me great joy - some when I bought them and some when I sold them. My FR-S handles well enough and rides hard enough right now. It needs no major mods to please me and I'm pretty sure I could get it around Lime Rock at or below 1:04 bone stock.

So it's absolutely true that you can drive pretty much anything legal to work every day - but you may sacrifice a few body parts along the way (yours and the cars). If you love it, do it - I don't regret a minute of the agony. But it's an education, for sure.

I think this is a very interesting thread, as opposed to many here. I struggle with this question too, and have only done a CAI, weathertech floormats, and a Racseng cam cover because of oil leak. I'd like to do an exhaust, but am still unsure which will be too loud, drone too much for me to enjoy the car on a trip to the mountains or beach. I've never really gone down this path very far, even though I've had many "sporty" cars over the years. Unless I'm pretty sure of the results, I'm not going to spend money on aftermarket parts. I guess I need to find some locals with mods, and get them to let me do a ride along to experience them. Again, interesting topic.

I'll agree with the "when you lose interest" statement. My other car is a 90 eclipse, fully built motor, coil overs set as stiff as possible, solid motor/trans mounts. You definitely feel EVERYTHING in the road. But you know? Hearing that big turbo spool up and taking local back street corners with all 4(it's awd) is worth it to me.

YMMV, but when it becomes a hindrance to your daily lifestyle.

Examples may include:

- Too low to drive up to work parking lot without scraping something
- Exhaust so loud it hurts during highway cruising
- Too stiff that long drives are a pain, when GF complains
- Too unreliable (tunes or bolt ons) that you wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere and have it break down

When it is no longer reliable. I liked my previous car but when i got stranded 3 times in 3 months it was time to move on

You don't need to struggle with the question, Don - you just need to state it clearly for yourself and answer it honestly: what do you want from your car?

I never met a car that wouldn't benefit from another 100 horsepower, so that's a given for most of us - but bumping a 2 liter 4-banger to 300 hp is a major effort not to be taken lightly, and the rest of the car needs a bit of bolstering as well to handle it. When I hear about 300 hp Minis, all I can think of is the story about the old man who went to the ballet for the first time, took one look at the dancers up on their toes, and said, "If they wanted tall girls, why didn't they just hire tall girls?" You have a 911, so you clearly understand this.

If you love a deep exhaust note, get a Perrin. If you love the look of tires with no sidewalls on huge wheels, go 19". If you want to lead the pack at the track, upgrade the suspension. Decide what you love (or, for many of us, what we thought we loved until we got it...), determine the compromises you'll have to make, and go for it. I've learned to consider the cost a kind of tuition because I learn something no matter how it goes.

But my advice is to drive the car stock (at least, drive train and suspension) on the street for a while and invest in a good driving school before you make major mods to your cars. Once you can lap your local track safely and consistently at a clip that says you're ready, modify intelligently and you'll enjoy your progress on street or track. Driving your way to the front of the pack is a lot more satisfying than buying it. You really only need to mod for performance if you're at the limits of your current setup. Even Hamlet knew this!

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous suspension work to cut a second from one's lap times, or to educate against a sea of faster drivers and by becoming a better driver beat them?"
http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/mi...t-misc-082.gif

I daily drove my previous car in so many different stages of its life, it's funny thinking back on it.

- stock height, giant 18" wheels and no body kit (i was 16)
- lowered 2.5"+ with a body kit. Learned how to swerve around speed bumps and memorize pot holes
- supercharged
- supercharged with a much, much smaller pulley and methanol injection. Had to consistently remember to fill it up otherwise kaboom on WOT
- dying if it wasn't started every 7-10 days

Yet through it all, the only time I ever considered it not DD was when I had a straightback, no res, no cat exhaust system from a bigger header. It sounded like a Z28 at 10MPH and I absolutely hated it. The pothole swerving and stuff was annoying sometimes, but it kinda becomes a game.

It's all up to your preference.

When you no longer trust it to take you places, and/or it becomes a burden. I had a head/cam/intake/stalled 2000 Camaro that became a burden to drive into downtown. 50 mile round trip and it got about 16mpg, exhaust scrapped on everything. I had another car to DD but once i got rid of that and had to DD the camaro it took about a month before i sold it and got something else.

When you need to open the hood (for whatever reason) every time you go to drive the car.
And the answer to this question is totally subjective.

I think @Anthony might be able to shed some light on this. (Or he might just want to kill me for dragging him into the normal forum.)

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1388353127

I draw the line at engine delete. Unless my daily drive is always downhill, then I still wouldn't consider it not daily-able at that point. This is a tough one.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZppTvrqdOc"]Magnetic Hill | Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada - YouTube[/ame]

Guh. That was a painfully boring video, but yes. That is the sort of circumstance where an engine delete would still be daily driveable.

My favorite part is the video preview looks like the wife of your avatar.

It's no longer a DD when it's parked on its roof.

If your commute is down hill going there it'd be uphill going home.

Well then it would not be DDable. I'm saying if my destination was always downhill, it would still be fine.

That would make it the most anarexic 86 EVAR!

Whole car delete.

When your 240 has solid engine, tranny, and subframe bushings. Super loud exhaust straight through from the turbo. No interior with all sound deadining removed. Coilovers with custom stuper stiff spring rates whilst slammed to the ground. Fixed back bucket seat with no sliders for adjustments. To top it off a welded diff that sucks majorly for everything but drifting. Hence why I now own an frs for a daily and my 240 is only driven at the track unless I'm feeling wild.

And if you don't know @BoostinIX you should. Share the same boat fellas.

You mean like this?

http://site.wiringspecialties.com/Casey1.jpg
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I used to take it the 100mi round trip to work all the time.

"Daily-able" is pretty relative to the individual driver. I loved it and drove it over the BRZ some days. Depends on weather, road conditions, time of travel, etc. Hell I lost a little hearing taking it 60mi to a meet open downpipe, all a matter of how much you love it.

Plan to daily it some when the LS3 is done too ;)



<3

When it loses it's ability to drive properly in all climates and conditions.
(Too Low, Too Loud, Parts get destroyed after a winter)

To OP:

When it is no longer street legal as per your local laws.

The rest above that is entirely up to you.

Everyone on these forums from California would not be driving if that was the mindset... Hahaha