Here you are faced with the issue of defining what it is that you say you want as opposed to what it is that you are actually willing to put up with to have it. How many of us have fantasized about owning a Ferrari? And yet the image you may conjure up of ripping down a twisty section of road on Monaco has about as much to do with Ferrari ownership as does driving the Rubicon trail for most of the SUVs you see at the local strip mall. When you factor in about $5,000 in routine maintenance appointments, $400 for tires, and crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic with no safe place to park when you finally arrive, the reality of what it must be like for regular folk to own and drive a Ferrari every day sinks in — and the next time you find yourself drooling over one on the freeway, you might even feel a tinge of superiority — especially when you see an elite Italian exotic disabled at the side of the road or on the back of a flatbed while you drive past in a dependable little Japanese econo-car.
The allure of advertisements for flashy new products in magazines is no different. That straight-through exhaust would look great on the back of a Lexus IS300 — and it even adds 15 horsepower at the wheels! Of course, the Lexus that had previously been a quiet and sophisticated driving experi- ence now drones and buzzes endlessly like a high school kid’s pizza delivery car, police seem to be following the car wherever it’s driven, and the local dealership charges a small fortune to replace a catalytic converter that failed prematurely. And the 15 horsepower gain? That was a peak reading at the very top of the rpm range just before redline. Elsewhere, the car’s horsepower levels are the same as stock or just a hair above — certainly not enough to feel — and the torque, which was enjoyable in the midrange, is now greatly diminished.
The reality behind car mods designed to extract additional performance from your car is that every part, no matter how well engineered, is based on an inherent compromise. In the preceding example, while the shiny new exhaust looked great and made higher peak horsepower, drivability suffered as a result of excess noise, the midrange torque that matters most for around-town driving was diminished, the car drew unwanted attention from local law enforcement for a probable noise violation, and a factory part failed as either the direct or indirect result of the installation of the new exhaust.
The same spring and shock absorber package that allows for greater control in corners and better road feel will nearly always compromise ride quality. The turbo kit that provides all the extra power you could ever want will gener- ally cost a small fortune to both buy and install, will have a number of hidden costs in the form of needing an upgraded clutch, fuel system, a set of gauges, engine management, and tuning, and will become a real headache for emis- sions testing purposes. Furthermore, the car’s engine warranty will become a distant memory and routine maintenance will need to be followed religiously to prevent engine wear. The roll bar that enhances safety will render the back seat all but useless and may be more dangerous for street use than if it had never been installed. The list goes on and on. When buying a new performance product, understand that most every product on the market is designed to make your car do certain things better, but at the expense of letting certain other areas fall by the wayside.
In addition, performance products generally hurt the resale value of your car, even as they add to your enjoyment of it, because not all buyers would get the same satisfaction out of the modifications that you might. Even if they did, they would strongly suspect that the car has lived a hard life by virtue of the fact that is has been modified — whether or not this is the case. Lastly, replacement parts for damaged or failed performance items can be hard to locate. Certainly, these items are not as easy to come by as those from your local dealership’s parts department, and the more rare and desirable the part, the more of a headache it will be to replace if it is ever damaged or worn.
Car mods can dramatically improve an aspect of your car’s performance, but can also
Sacrifice another aspect of performance.
Hurt your car’s resale value.
Be expensive or difficult to repair or replace.
