It Gets Old Fast | Real Life: Modding a Nerf

[Mikem53]

Good write up.. There is much goodness in just leaving things stock..
This car is still very enjoyable in stock form.. Warranted, affordable.. Peace of mind.
Yet still very capable right out of the box...
I enjoyed reading about your mods, trials and tribulations.. Makes me glad
I chose to leave it stock..

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by reni

Great write-up. This is exactly what makes me laugh when I see people on the internets say shit like "Oh, I can just by a $20k car and with $10k of mods it's better than a $50k car". No, it's not. I mean, I appreciate the satisfaction from working on a project car, but especially with a modded FI car the time and money you spend just troubleshooting stupid shit often gets ridiculous, and too many people seem to want to ignore this reality...

Exactly.. Modding can be fun.. But it's not easy to do it right...
If you want a fast car... Buy a fast car...

[Lonewolf]

Sounds like you should have just kept the car stock or never purchased it...hindsight is always 20/20

[Dooley]

Great read!

Although, I feel like you had no clue what you were getting yourself into when you bought a 1st gen car.

[Sirsimon]

@Dezoris: So if you had it to do over again, would you have bought a different car?

[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?

The car doesn't need costly mods to be fun, that's why it gets so much praise in the first place.

[EAGLE5]

[mush]

U gotta pay to play

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by Tromatic

Makes me glad I'm perfectly happy with the car as it is, and I like it more every time I drive it.

Aside from straight line speed its a great daily driver.

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

Eh, thats nothing... Try rebuilding a rare car from the junkyard from scratch and then you can start complaining :P

I'd have my shotgun ready

Originally Posted by swpbrz

Confirmed my suspicions car is so much fun stock

One of the things I said when I did my first BS review was, I did not have to worry about the car. Just drive the piss out of it. It was not a huge investment, so I did not care.

Now that the car has all this money it I dont have that level of fun anymore, namely since I have to fix the turd.

Originally Posted by AirborneDeth

Complaining about dropping 15 grand in upgrades to your car is ridiculous. I work 2 jobs and can't afford to do what you have to your car. $400 for brake pads? I would be happy with a $100 shift knob, but my family comes before the car does. Why modify the car at all if you don't want to put in the time needed for upkeep? Thats what car people do. Spend time with their car. Be it driving it, washing it, modding it, or showing it. Hell, some people live just so they can post pics of their cars on this forum. Look at the Whiteout thread. Someone photobombs that thread on just about every page, with nothing new done to the car.

Your car is pretty awesome.You might be better suited driving a Prius, though. I drive a stock FR-S, but I love spending time with it when I can.

I put the time and up keep into the car. Thats the point of this, its not about the money anymore. Its about the time wasted ****ing with all the mods. The truth is, 10k or 20k does not matter, the car was about as fun and less drama stock.

I had a 2000 Insight for 5 years, one of the best DD every, until all the electronics shiit the bed and the battery pack failed twice, cats destroyed EGR clogged, injectors failed etc. etc. Done with all the half baked electric wanna be crap.

HAHA, Prius is zero fun, nothing even remotely interesting until its out of warranty and you see the repair bill.

Originally Posted by Model Citizen

So, vortech honeymoon over?

Gonna buy a C7 can call it a day.

Originally Posted by reni

Great write-up. This is exactly what makes me laugh when I see people on the internets say shit like "Oh, I can just by a $20k car and with $10k of mods it's better than a $50k car". No, it's not. I mean, I appreciate the satisfaction from working on a project car, but especially with a modded FI car the time and money you spend just troubleshooting stupid shit often gets ridiculous, and too many people seem to want to ignore this reality...

Nothing could be more true. If you have the money and more importantly time to constantly duck tape your thrown together sports car, bless you.

Originally Posted by Dooley

Great read!

Although, I feel like you had no clue what you were getting yourself into when you bought a 1st gen car.

I did not to learn and experience it, to see exactly how the aftermarket has evolved. Lesson learned.

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by Sirsimon

@Dezoris: So if you had it to do over again, would you have bought a different car?

I had many different sports cars, prior to this. I wanted to see how far you could take this platform to a certain extent. I would never do it again.
Do over: Alignment, tires. Done.

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?

The car doesn't need costly mods to be fun, that's why it gets so much praise in the first place.

Its a fun car, but bought it to see if the aftermarket could improve it.

[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.

[boucher]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Gonna buy a C7 can call it a day.

No you won't. That's the part about this hobby that always gets me. "I'll leave it alone and enjoy it", turns into "It would look so much better lowered" or "I'd like a little more power." Yeah there are frustrations involved, for sure, but it's never enough to make anyone stop being a car guy.

[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

[Mikem53]

Originally Posted by boucher

No you won't. That's the part about this hobby that always gets me. "I'll leave it alone and enjoy it", turns into "It would look so much better lowered" or "I'd like a little more power." Yeah there are frustrations involved, for sure, but it's never enough to make anyone stop being a car guy.

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..