Car modification philosophy

[Mr nanotech]

So for some time my car has been off the road now. I've dríven it a few times over the last 2 months but it's going to be off the road until probably christmas. I'm not going into detail with it but for those of you who don't know, I have a 1990 na6 which has gone through several different 'fashion' choices and modifications over the 5 or so years I've owned the car. It's been normally aspirated, supercharged and soon to be turbo.
Over the time the car has been off the road and since owning a 'daily driver' car, I've started questioning what I want out of my car and ultimately my motoring enthusiasm/passion. I guess in a sense I've been finding myself. I've come to the realisation that as we grow, change, and ultimately mature as people; we follow a similar path with our passions too.

I'm not trying to make some sort of profound point here or anything, more sharing my thoughts. When I first started to modify my mx5, I didn't really know what I was after. I made many mistakes and found a lot out through trial and error what works and what... well, what doesn't work. Like growing up.

Going back to the time I've spent without my mx5 on the road, I've begun to lose interest in external modifications like aero, wheels, ride height and wheel fit etc. Have many of you felt similar to this before? I'm dying to go back to the basics again. Appropriate ride height, practicality and functionality. To a degree I've lost a lot of interest in the car itself.
I guess what I'm finding is that I feel a yearning for experiences rather than objects. Looks and so on are feeling less and less relevant to what I want out of a car.

I should probably add that I'm at work on nightshift as I type this so I apologise if this isn't the most coherent thread on cartalk right now. My current modification route is aimed now at creating experiences like this.



Something to handle the mountains and torquey enough to pull out of corners on the straight aways without going down the route of excess power and noise. Something quiet and subtle that doesn't have to draw attention and say "Look at me and look at my car", because there is a bond we have with our cars and I'm sick of showing my metal wife off to the world. It's time to become a better listener and appreciate her, create experiences I can look back on and remember.
Some of my fondest memories with my little red POS are flying through the mountains on the way to Marysville. Just me and my car together bonding.

I don't really know what kind of point I'm trying to make here but has anyone felt something similar to this?

[Black_Penguin]

I've mostly kept to the vision I had for my car when I first got it, a few de-tours here and there but mostly the same.
The vision I had for my car was something I could drive to work everyday, have some fun with in the hills, have a lot of fun with on a track and with a wash and polish still look good for a car show. All on a fairly limited budget.
I feel I've hit all of those points and while its nothing ground breaking I can still look at it and proudly say yes that is "My" car.

[Magpie]

In my youth cars did not interest me, however motorbikes (2 stroke road bikes) was another story. The MX5 was an accident and a combination of disposable income and a desire to do something different, hence the natural aspirated and not following the path taken by others.

When it comes back it will just be dríven, enjoyed, serviced and not modified. If and when it gets defected I will make the decision to either get it emissions tested or turned track only. However as long as I drive within the laws on the road getting pulled over risk is reduced, plus avoiding targeted events like Winternats etc will reduce the risk further.

[Apu]

Interesting you posted Ben's FD which was stolen very recently. As a bit of background, he had a very modded Evo in Singapore, and when he moved to Melbourne, he wanted something different.

I went through similar phases in my 20+ years of driving - from wanting brands to aesthetics. I'm much more interested in well made, value for money outcomes for the car now, and therefore extracting what I can from the car...rather than slave for or be a slave to, the car.

Part of this also has to do with competing demands - family, kids, house, renovations and a whole range of other activities. As resources get stretched and you get time poor, you develop a clarity around what is important and what you need to do.

[Patrick Bramston]

Name another car worth about $10,000 that can have 200 RWHP , out handle anything on wheels and still look fabulous after 20 years. This car is supercharged and fully engineered.Plus you can put the top down or buy a hard top if you want a coupe.

[Mr nanotech]

Should probably add, sorry for the shameless photo steal. I saw it in the thread posted that it was stolen and that photo brought all this up.

[Jeo]

You already know my thoughts on the subject Josh but for those who are interested, yes, stuff changes, you'll be fine.

My car has been through a couple of phases and even now when I see some cool looking flares or side skirts, I have to stop and think to myself that it's just not necessary. I know I'm not even close to the limits of my car yet so even if there's something that could make the car go faster, I don't care until my talents are at least approaching what the car is capable of. It is sad sometimes because I do enjoy stuffing around in the garage fitting new parts and playing with the car, but again, it's not needed. I guess that's really the biggest difference between me now and me five years ago, a different perspective on what's "necessary".

[22Silver]

My philosophy is that, if it makes me go "haha dude, this is awesome, come take a look!" Then I usually think it's worth doing
I have a bit of a thing for 'neat' stuff.. Like watches that are powered by normal day to day arm movements, precision sports pistols, and all their moving parts, guitars, amps, etc.
I can never leave well enough alone, all my guitars have extra switches, new pickups, my amps all have hand built extension cabs and so forth, I learned how to strip and clean a gun before I ever shot one, wound up in trouble for practicing chemistry at home in year 11 for the science fair.. Anything that moves, changes or otherwise serves a purpose, and has predictable and repeatable results really tickles my fun centre.

It was only natural that I did the same to a car, as soon as I could afford it. Sometimes I think it's better to make mistakes, realize it's a mistake, and then fix it, than it is to have an expert say 'don't do that' and then spend the next however long wondering why, and what would happen.

That being said.. I'm slowly learning that maybe a better philosophy is..
"If it breaks, don't replace, upgrade", and "If you're going to do it, do it right, the first time round"
Also... "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure"

Also, Jeo- who cares what is necessary?
You have a cheeseburger, for example. Food is necessary to survive of course. The thing is, you LOVE tomato sauce, which has very little to no nutritional value.. Completely unnecessary. Do you put the sauce on anyway? Damn right you do!

[itrungs]

I've come to the same conclusion as you have. After going through my first na6, I didn't have any real direction for it. I modified it without even focusing on things like driver control and skill. I had no idea of how little I actually knew about proper driving.

So I sold it, started afresh with my NA8 and focused on things like enjoying the whole driving experience. Keeping it simple and clean allows you to enjoy it a whole lot more. If its overly modified, you'll just look at it and think its a money pit.

I started to push the car more to learn more about car control, and since the power output is stock, its not going to end in tears.

[Jeo]

Also, Jeo- who cares what is necessary?

Maybe necessary isn't the right word, but it's close enough. I guess what I mean by necessary was five years ago, you're damn right I needed a carbon bonnet with a giant vent, now, probably not so much. Hardparking was fun, and still is I guess, but driving is more fun. Then as a continuation of that though, I'm not a big fan of pushing through the mountains at a great pace anymore either. I'd much rather go to a track, run all day at 10/10ths and know that when I do come off, I'm not going to hit anything. There's big scary things like trees and other cars on pubic roads, and driving at 7/10ths to make sure you don't hit stuff just isn't as fun anymore.

[Rocky]

Is the 'ability to put your car on a track on the weekend' the deciding factor in terms of the long-term view?
A lot of guys mod their cars when young but lose interest over time (probably as work/family concerns take over - also with their $$$ implications)
I could imagine however that IF you had the option of getting on to a track on weekends that maybe you would retain an interest in modifications.
I've never been anywhere close to a track so my sports cars have always had to be purely road use - and for that, OE makes sense.
Even now I sometimes think it would be nice to have a bit more grunt, but then I realise there is nowhere to drive to take advantage of it.
Anyhow the nature of an MX5 is that it feels like you are going a lot faster than you are.

[toppertee]

RACE IT, BREAK IT, FIX IT!
Enough said

[stilletto_rebel]

I've spent my limited resources in other ways than modifying the car. Yes, I know I have modified it, but only to make it more economical, so that I can afford to use it as an everyday drive. But what I have concentrated on is improving myself rather than the car; driver training. The Army paid for a lot of my driver training, but I've also spent a fair chunk of change becoming (in the UK) an Advanced Driver. I also shared a dedicated track car with another driver/mechanic and learnt lots on how to properly race (we were always middle of the pack - but we never had an off that totalled the car. Not many drivers can say that after a couple of seasons).

A comment made by Cheyne after the High Country Run on Saturday exemplifies all of the above; (something along the lines of) I was surprised at your pace considering you're running on road tyres.

[Okibi]

MX-5s from the factory are a great reliable package.

Once we start to modify we usually make compromises.

eg.
Bigger exhaust = more power but can also drone and become annoying
Stiffer shocks = better on the track but rough on the street
.. the list is "long but distinguished".

Making more power reduces the reliability of engine/cooling/gearbox and diff.

Also the more you modify the more you learn the your cars idiosyncrasies, if you hear a little rattle or squeak you start analysing what the cause could be.

With less knowledge and experience perhaps you would have just ignored the squeak and enjoyed driving more.

As with most performance modifications you eventually hit a plateau where to get better performance, the car needs to make the transition from a street car (with nice stuff like aircon and stereos) to a race car, "adding lightness".

There's also the Po Po factor, a well maintained stock car is 100% legit, once you start to modify you run the risk of Police attention and/or voiding your insurance.

The more time and effort you spend modifying the car the more you become attached to it, so the more you'll stress leaving it in a carpark where it could become scratched or pilfered.

Also people need new challenges, there's only so much MX-5 you can live and breath, read, post, re-read, give the same reply, read, wonder why they didnt search first and so on. Sometimes you just need to move on and find a new challenge. - I really miss some of the characters we've had on the forum but I understand that life goes on and peoples priorities change.

[OurCognitiveSurplus]

I just want my car to be a decent daily drive that is also 'trackable'. Obviously a bone stock MX5 is trackable, so there's not that much to do. I think breathing mods and quality coilovers don't compromise the car that much. For instance, with coilovers, you've got the usual 'cheap, faster, more comfortable - choose two' or whatever thing to worry about. I don't think the Ohlins make the car worse in anyway, you just have to pay for it. I'm happy to do that. Roll bar is an obvious choice for the track, even if we don't know just how effective it is.

I'm not interested in a lot more power because I think the hassels in terms of cost and legality are far greater than the benefits, which are usually limited by crazy road rules in any case.

In terms of looks, I don't know. I think in large part what we think looks cool is a function of what is useful on the track. For instance, I think RPF1 wheels look awesome, but that's probably just because I know how light they are.