You’ve probably heard this argument before: Why would you even consider fixing up your car when it will always be slower than fill-in-the-blank faster car? Sometimes this argument makes sense, but often it doesn’t.
For many people, owning the humble car that over many years is built to be faster, leaner, and meaner is a convenient way to avoid the crippling down payment on the expensive high-performance car by spreading out the overall cost of modifications over a longer period of time, as budget and time allow. Rather than suck up an $800 or $900 monthly car payment, stratospheric insur- ance and servicing costs, and the image of just having given in to a mid-life crisis, many choose instead to lavish a little extra attention and money into their current automobile of choice. In addition, because this existing car has generally already seen its share of use, the extra attention can give it a second lease on life and maintain whatever practicality was part of that car’s original appeal.
Why’d you do it?
As the owner of a highly modified import car, I am often asked, with the enormous amount of money and attention I have invested in my chosen auto- mobile of humble origins, why I didn’t instead choose to just buy a true exotic and get the peace of mind that comes from owning a car that was engineered from the beginning to go fast? I would have spent the same or less money with a lot less time or hassle, had the benefit of a new car warranty, and gained some prestige and badge appeal along the way.
My answer is that I know myself all too well — I am never content with “good enough.” After a while, absurdly fast no longer feels fast enough to me (yes, horsepower is addictive). I could win the lottery and be given the keys to a $120,000 Porsche 911 Turbo and be content with it — for about a week. Then one restless night I would walk into the garage with a glint in my eye and wonder how much better the car would perform with 100 pounds stripped out of it, or with a few psi more boost from the turbos, or with stickier tires and stiffer sway bars
A friend’s Subaru WRX station wagon has been used many times to carry four of us plus a trunk full of supplies from Home Depot away from a stoplight, leav- ing a very frustrated Porsche driver in its wake. I am a big fan of Porsches, but I am an even bigger fan of making one’s car a unique reflection of oneself, and a capable, well-balanced machine as well. This WRX certainly fits the bill. It is practical, reasonably affordable, reliable, and was modified within the letter of the law. In short, it is a good use of a very capable platform endowed with the ability to perform to amazing potential with minimal compromises to its usability or reliability.
However, the less flattering counterpoint is the unglamorous, unfast car that will never be fast, will never live up to expectations, and will never make sense to anyone, including its owner, regardless of how much time or money is thrown into it. All across this country, collecting dust on jack stands and with half empty cans of house paint and boxes of Christmas tree ornaments stacked on top, are the “forgotten cars.”
These less-than-glamorous projects that never quite worked out, many of which the owners still make monthly payments on, greatly outnumber the successfully executed modified cars that are seen rolling down the road with style and stellar performance. With enough patience, time, money, and planning/skill, anything can be accom- plished.
There have been minivans that ran nine-second quarter miles at the drag strip and Toyota MR2s that have lapped Ferraris on racetracks, but for every one of these examples, there are dozens if not hundreds of examples that fell well short of what their owners had hoped to achieve.
Generally, knowing what others have achieved with cars of the same make, model, and year as that which you are planning to modify is a good starting point for deciding how far, or whether at all, to begin making changes (partic- ularly expensive ones).
TIPS
One useful tool in keeping expectations in check is to list on paper, as objec- tively as possible, the merits of the car to be modified:
If it’s an older car, what would it take to bring it back to a state of health so that it would take well to the modifications?
What kinds of modifications are readily available, and how much do they cost relative to the substantiated gains that others have seen them provide?
How might these changes impact the usability, legality, and reliability of the car?
Would the modifications be easily reversible should the car need to be serviced, sold, or traded?
Is the car leased or owned?
After tallying these points, you can make an informed decision on your car’s fate, including the following possible outcomes:
Further explore modifying your current car, if the pros outweigh the cons, and you either
Hope to make your current car cooler than anything you can buy.
Want to fix up your current car to your level of satisfaction for less money than you can buy a car that will make you happy.
If the tally of relevant considerations just does not balance out, it might be wise to write the idea off and either
Get the car that will truly make you happy when you can afford it.
Be happy with what you already have.
