Too new to cars for my own liking.
 

Hey everyone. Not sure if this topic would go here or somewhere else. But, unlike many of you, I never had any figure in my life while I was growing up that knew anything about cars. I'm 25 now, I don't know anything about engines, wouldn't really be able to name almost anything that a vehicle has in it in order for it to function, and I still have no idea how to do an oil change. Mechanics has always interested me, but even then I felt like there is so much about it to learn, and I know so little right now, that it's a bit intimidating.

I just discovered the Scion FRS and the Subaru BRZ no more than a week ago, and for whatever reason, it's captivated me. It started with the look of it; I wasn't expecting a vehicle this incredible looking to be so affordable. I began doing a bit of research behind it; going to this forum, youtube, looking up reviews, anything I could to find out more information. And that's when I discovered how versatile it is, how it's like a "blank canvas" of sorts, ready to be tuned and upgraded to our liking. This had me mesmerized.

This is where you guys come in. While researching, I further realized how little I actually know about cars at all. I'm planning on grabbing myself one of these two amazing vehicles within the near future, but I still have a few questions to ask.

I'm not dead-set on what I would be upgrading, if I upgrade anything at all. Currently, I am more keen on Aesthetic properties, rather than the actual function of the vehicle, and that's only really because I don't know anything about that. However, I want to learn all I can about everything!

Let's just say that money isn't an issue, but I still don't need the best of the best of anything. I'm mainly looking for the greatest upgrades that are also the most cost efficient. The best bang for my buck. So my question for you all would be, what does that consist of? I keep hear about turbochargers, and I vaguely know what they do. If I were to go with that option, what else would I need to install in order to get the most out of the turbo?

To give you the greatest perspective, the budget is $10,000 to do whatever you want to the vehicle, performance wise. This is excluding the vehicle itself, and also excluding the aesthetic properties (which may be close to $10,000 as well, considering I have no idea how to do anything myself).

Any suggestions?

That's a tough question.

What are your goals? Hard parking? Just cruising? Drag racing? Auto cross? Road courses?

Have you driven the car? Is it fast enough for you? You don't need a turbo (or supercharger) if the car is quick enough for you already, these things end up being a slippery slope that you just keep dumping money into.

What aesthetics do you like? Lowered stance? Big rims? Tucked wheels? Body kits? Spoilers?

What you should really do is get the car first, then decide what you like and don't like, then make changes to make the things you like better and try to eliminate the things you don't like.

The car is quite capable right out of the box, great handling, good ride, good mileage, quick enough (for most), it might be all you need.

If you're worried more about aesthetics, the Cosmetic Mods subforum has a lot of info for you, including lists of lip kits, body kits, LEDs, and on and on. For interior, @Jive Turkey has done amazing things to his car, which I would copy shamelessly except I don't have that kind of money.

I would suggest driving your car for a while and picking a goal. You want to track it? Autocross it? Stance it? Put a lift and knobby tires and rallycross it? Drift it? All of these things have unique requirements and methods. Find your goal and research what needs to be done to achieve it.

Read the stickies in each of the technical forums. Wheels and tires has a wealth of information about what fits and what doesn't. Engine, exhaust, transmission; software tuning; and forced induction have a lot of great information as well.

Turbochargers use exhaust-driven turbines to force more air into the cylinder than it could otherwise pull in normally. You increase the fuel intake as well, and you get more power! Which comes with its own tripping hazards, so don't dive in without doing your research first. There are also superchargers, which are belt-driven instead of exhaust-driven. Same goal though, force in more air than normal.

Read the DIY forum to get a feel of turning a wrench on your car. Some of the stuff is easy and provides a lot of gain, so I'd start there to get your feet wet.

If I had $10K, I would do some high performance driver education (HDPE) days to learn what I'm doing, then start modding. Full exhaust, tune, suspension, wheels and tires, and aero work. Then I'd put the rest of it into more track days. For me, I want to know how to go around the track faster.

http://www.autozine.org/technical_sc...ech_index.html

Wikipedia is great too.

$10k:

$1200 (max) 18x8.5"+ rims
$600-800 tires

$1000 (max) coilovers = lower ~1.5-2"

$6000 turbo kit (I'd wait a few months and see if you really feel this is necessary)

Rest: exterior modifications or upgraded front brakes

Before jumping into forced induction (turbo/supercharge - which makes the car go faster) you should think about driving the hell out of the car first, just to see if it's fast enough for you.
On my daily commute, I rarely drive past 3k rpm, and I also don't track (yet, hehe) so I, personally, don't need it to be faster.

Everybody sees the 10,000$ figure and goes "Oh, he has money, he should dump it into FI" - be careful with that. Read about it, think hard about it and have fun :)

NB: I quoted BlueDubbinTDI because I just want to point out that he's in Canada - prices are different. So paying 600$ for 18" tires isn't really an option, unless you're going with Nankangs!

Also, $1K max for coilovers doesn't get you very good coilovers.

10k is a lot if you shop around and get good stuff.

feel free to read my thread, the interior is where i really went nuts. its more affordable than people think.

you need to set aside around 2k for suspension, 2-3k for wheels tires, 1k for interior, 1k for exterior, 2-5k (depending if boost) for power. etc etc etc.

read people's threads and see what you like. i would advise you to figure out what YOU want before you get in over your head and realize all the mods you bought, you don't really need or like.

-ivan

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I am trying to get as much research in as possible, and I definitely am not going to spend money on anything that I don't know everything about; what it does, how well it does it's job, if I would really enjoy it, etc.

I'll definitely look through all the threads I can here, too.

Right now I'm kind of just figuring out what my budget really needs to be, and what costs I should expect to see.

I have this impression that the stock car isn't that great unless you through in this thing or that. However, those are all the opinions from random people online watching some video about the cars or simply people who have a bias because thy think their vehicle is the best thing I the world. Clearly that isn't the case. I will likely throw on all the asthetic stuff (body kits for me), then decide if I need any upgrades at all.

Enjoy the car as is. Learn and grow with her. Add modifications as you go and learn more in general. It's a shame you didn't have someone with the car/racing "bug" growing up. I'm sure for most of us it was our fathers. But it's NEVER too late to start and don't let anyone belittle you for not knowing what they think they know.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cars and racing! It's the best passion there is.

and very expensive.....

:sigh: Too true

This car is amazing straight from the factory. It's well balanced, reasonably powerful for its size, looks great, and is a blast to drive. If you want to make any changes, make sure they're beneficial first.

If you want to do track days, upgrade your brake pads, change your fluid for something with a higher temperature rating, and go for it. That's all you need to do for a while. Then as you improve your skills, new tires, springs and shocks, simple power mods like exhaust and a tune will let you progress. Once you outgrow that, start looking at coilovers, aero mods like diffusers and splitters, a big brake kit, and E85 or forced induction.

If you're used to slow cars, the power won't bother you. In that situation, the only thing I would do is change the exhaust. Changing the intake also gives you more sound but the exhaust will actually buy you a miniscule amount of horsepower which for me at least, makes it feel like better value. The sound is a huge part of the driving experience for most people. Also since the car is new I would go ahead and get a tune just because it will actually add some good power and you'll be able to enjoy it for a long time, plus you'll save a tiny bit of gas (and a large amount of gas if you're willing to run lean).

All of this above is sound advice. Like they have said drive the car first. This way you'll be able to judge for yourself things like the ride quality, noise level and handling characteristics before altering the vehicle. When you decide what to do ask around, you might be able to find a mechanic who would be more than happy to let you hang with him/her while modding your car. While there you can see and chat about what's going on. Stay out of the way with your hands in your pockets and with the right attitude both you and your mechanic could have an enjoyable experience. With that kind of money the first thing I'd do is go for some bitchin wheels and tires. Seriously consider not lowering the car. Since I presume you have no experience with a car like this lowering the car could lead to some discouraging and expensive repairs.


Enjoy the experience. You've found just the car to make that a reality.