At what point is your car no longer daily driveable?

[bluesman]

Originally Posted by N1rve

You can drive anything daily

+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.

[Don Ivey]

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.

[J_kennington]

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.

[drewbot]

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

[BlueDubbinTDI]

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

[bluesman]

Originally Posted by Don Ivey

I struggle with this question too

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?"

[Jyn]

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.

[lickitysplit]

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.

[TruRace]

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.

[Nevermore]

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.)

[Anthony]

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.

[ZionsWrath]

Originally Posted by Anthony

[IMG]http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=61472&stc=1&d=13883531 27[IMG]

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]

[Anthony]

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

[ZionsWrath]

Originally Posted by Anthony

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.