To mod or not to mod?

Serj

Serj

Serj

Soldato
Joined
18 Nov 2004
Posts
3,577
Location
Bournemouth
I'm sure many people have had this dilemma over the years; do you mod your existing car or put the money towards upgrading to a new one? This is my situation:

My car is running at around 140-145 bhp; current mods are a CAI and a strut bar. Insurance renewal in April will be around £600. To insure anything remotely interesting will cost at least twice that. For example, a Civic VTi will be around £1300 for me to insure (assuming i have 2 years NCB in April). Tbh, the performance increase isn't worth the hassle as it's only half a second quicker to 60 than my car would be in stock form.

Realistically, i could get around 20-25 bhp maximum more from my car at the cost of around £600-800. It also looks as though i'm going to be keeping my car for at least another year.

This seems to draw to an obvious conclusion, however i can't help but think it's a bit of a waste throwing the best part of £1000 at what is effectively a 'luke warm' performance car, which at the end of the day is just a Hyundai, which also adds to the fact that i'll see little return when it comes to sell the mods and the car.

What do you guys think? Do you have to justify spending money on your car to yourself? Or do you just think '**** it' and do it? I'm quite sure this is the car i want to be driving right now for many reasons, it's just not quite fast enough :( I look forward to hearing your thoughts. :)
 
Save up imo, it takes a lot longer to do, but ultimately no amount of modding is guna make your car feel any real difference unless you spend upwards of £3k (all imo)

If you want a better car buy a better car, dont go trying to make your current car any better because to get that amount of change isnt possible. i dont know if iv made myself all to clear.
 
Its worth throwing money at some cars, ITR / Skyline for example but i wouldn't start chucking money at your Hyundai it simply isn't worth such expense for few real world gains.
 
Serj said:
What do you guys think? Do you have to justify spending money on your car to yourself? Or do you just think '**** it' and do it? I'm quite sure this is the car i want to be driving right now for many reasons, it's just not quite fast enough :( I look forward to hearing your thoughts. :)
Click to expand...

I dont really think about spending a pile of cash on my car as its money other people would have spend urinating up against the wall as I dont drink or smoke. I know that I'll lose a pile of money on the car and the mods but its the only real hobby I have so I have given up caring about it. Plus the car is getting to the stage where its getting fast so it always puts a smile on my face when driving it.

Hopefully I'll get on some trackdays with some of the guys on here some time this year and that should be a great laugh. Hey its only money :p
 
My vote goes with buying a better car.
Modding one area of a car (e.g. engine) usually results in a requirement to change other areas such as the brakes, suspension etc. By the time you've finished, you could have bought a substantially better car.
The only reason I can think for modding a car is that you've already got something that cannot be substantially bettered by something else at anything like sensible money.
e.g. if you have an Elise, the only real car that its similar, and would better it by a substantial margin is probably a Noble, which is clearly a LOT more money.
In the area of mainstream cars, there's almost always going to be something better available.
 
If you'll be doing the work yourself, then go for it! It also depends what kind of mods you'll be doing.

I'm picking up some new suspension for mine on the 18th and some strut braces a short time after that. I disagree with willd58's statement as I know for a fact that the mods I've got planned will make it feel like a different car altogether.

Even replacing the steering wheel in mine has made it much more comfortable to drive!

The suspension and strut braces are going to set me back around £150 for the lot (that's front upper, and both rear braces and 50mm springs on 220 turbo shocks). They're a worthwhile investment for the car.

Spending £600-£800 on an extra 25bhp isn't worth it IMO. The gains will be quite small. You could get a nitrous kit for a couple of hundred which will boost the power for much less. I'm not sure on the prices, but I think a 50 shot of nitrous is under £300.

You could even supercharge it. You can get Eaton 'chargers from "the bay" for about £100. Then you just have to fabricate your own mounts and find a way to drive the charger.
 
Yea, making a not so good car feel better cheaply can be done, but in his case, where he has a reasonable car to begin with, there arnt many areas that can be improved on the cheap.
 
£800-£1000 for a 15-20% increase in power seems a bit pricey, considering the value of the car. It would be noticeable I think, but if I were you I'd save your money and insure something a bit fruitier when you change cars.

Then again I'm looking at spending £350 on an exhaust system that will give me a couple of bhp (maybe) on the Civic.
 
thebrasso said:
Then again I'm looking at spending £350 on an exhaust system that will give me a couple of bhp (maybe) on the Civic.
Click to expand...

The main difference between an exhaust and an engine modification that won't add a lot of power, is that the exhaust makes the car look and sound loads better!

An exhaust is definitely on the cards for me too. That's like 60% of the value of my car! But then to me, a car isn't just something to get from A to B, it's a hobby.
 
My answer would be save.
I have spent about 2k on my car and love it, and could spend a lot more chasing power. bu the handleing is there and its fast enough to be fun. Proper suspension, bigger wheels and an exhaust. It looks better and handles like a dream. But I dont think I would do more to it. (got my eye on integra type R or fabia VRS depending how sensible I'm feeleing!)
 
agw_01 said:
The main difference between an exhaust and an engine modification that won't add a lot of power, is that the exhaust makes the car look and sound loads better!
Click to expand...

Depends upon your opinion. A LONG time ago I put a Janspeed on my old Twin Cam, just gave me a headache on long drives.

Amusingly I met a chap last weekend who'd just spent £1100 on a Remus unit for his ML v8. One week on he'd paid to have the Remus removed and converted back to standard as he also got headaches.
I'll stick with standard exhausts thanks.
 
The only problem is that i don't see a clear alternative in terms of an 'upgrade' to my car. I mean, a Fiat Coupe Turbo? Nice car with a turbo but the styling isn't to my taste at all. The only alternative i can see is a Mitsubishi 3000GT or a GTO, but it will be another few years until i can insure one for a decent price. I'm put off by the RWD of the 200SX as it would require a certain degree of skill to drive and i'd never be 100% confident when the weather gets bad.

My regular drive is around 180 miles of motorway followed by a 70 mile blast through some of South Wales finest roads (this will continue for the next 4 years whilst i'm at uni), so i'd need a sports tourer rather than an out and out sports car i think. An Integra is out of the question due to the motorway section of the journey. This is why i'm happy with my Coupe at the moment, it fits the bill but is lacking in the power department.
 
I'd think about things like decent tyres on the coupe if you haven't already, and some uprated brake pads and discs if possible.

Otherwise if I was in your position I'd save your money for the next car.
 
Serj said:
The only problem is that i don't see a clear alternative in terms of an 'upgrade' to my car. I mean, a Fiat Coupe Turbo? Nice car with a turbo but the styling isn't to my taste at all. The only alternative i can see is a Mitsubishi 3000GT or a GTO, but it will be another few years until i can insure one for a decent price. I'm put off by the RWD of the 200SX as it would require a certain degree of skill to drive and i'd never be 100% confident when the weather gets bad.
Click to expand...
There are loads of cars out there. If you like the kind of cars I do, but dont lik the looks of the Fiat, how abouts...

Skyline GTS
Celicia GT4
FTO
Hyundai Coupe V6 (I'm guessing you havent got that model already?)
Peugeot Coupe V6
Alfa GTA V6
350 ZX
Honda Accord Type R
Toyota Supra
Toyota Soarer
RX 7
Acura RSX
Pulsar GTiR

Just ato start you off. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom