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Well let's take my new Civic Coupe. Would I mod it out if it was my only ride and was being realisitic in terms of time/money spent? No. However, I do have my Civic modded. I have HIDs, because I wanted the improved lighting for $100. And, I have a sound system in it, because I have never driven a car w/o one. As far as painting, lowering, rims etc....I don't feel the desire to. The only thing I'd want to "mod" would be all the outside noise, "road noise", coming through and the rattles...but that could have been done with dampening materials. I just don't want to spend the time. FYI the rattles are not caused by my bass or sounds...they were there already.
On the other hand, I have modded all my other cars that I've owned cash. Currently own a modded 96 caprice, dropped real low, sounds, engine mods, exhaust, interior/ext mods...and it sits in the driveway. LOL
I guess if I am making payments on a new car then there are no good reasons to mess with factory settings, other than tint and sounds.
Your 96 Chevy sounds interesting, but why is it just sitting? Have you put the Impala SS/Police car brake system or anti-sway bars on it?
Since I got my new Camry I have been thinking of adding some mods to it. My toy was an 02 Civic Si hatchback which went from a daily driver to a heavily modified little hot rod.
Since the Camry is seen mostly as a family car, I was thinking about upgrading to HID headlights & foglights, set of TRD lowering springs, 18 inch wheels. Intake/exhaust and engine mods (turbo) are optional but I'm willing to go ahead with it.
If you guys had the means, would modify/upgrade your ride?
Probably been answered, but why modify a camry? Or a civic or any modern care for that matter? Most of the modifications you mention above will do little or no performance improvements and you will simply join the embarassing league of kids with fart pipes lawnmower sounding cars that think their car is fast.
If you want to modify a car buy an old cheap fox mustang or late 70's car with a V-8 or at least a chassis that will fit a V-8. Rip the pollution stuff out, add headers a cam and heads, and get some real performance improvements and a 12 second car that will beat 99% of the cars on the street or strip, as opposed to a 15 second car that will struggle to keep up with a 6 cylinder accord.
Probably been answered, but why modify a camry? Or a civic or any modern care for that matter? Most of the modifications you mention above will do little or no performance improvements and you will simply join the embarassing league of kids with fart pipes lawnmower sounding cars that think their car is fast.
If you want to modify a car buy an old cheap fox mustang or late 70's car with a V-8 or at least a chassis that will fit a V-8. Rip the pollution stuff out, add headers a cam and heads, and get some real performance improvements and a 12 second car that will beat 99% of the cars on the street or strip, as opposed to a 15 second car that will struggle to keep up with a 6 cylinder accord.
I agree with what you are getting at but I don't think there's such thing as a cheap (meaning inexepensive) 12 second car that you can also trust as a daily driver.
Most of the guys who would modify a Camry must think (I'm guessing here) they are going to get some sound out of it, drop in some ICE and make it "look faster." That's cheap (except for the ICE maybe), and if he's happy with it, I say game on.
If I knew him, I'd tell him to buy a used S2K (the AP1s are stupid cheap now) and learn to drive in SCCA.
Beauty (and to some extent "performance") is really in the eye of the key holder.
the woman posing next to the car. here is why. that car has no sex appeal of it's own. that is why, when you see a Muscle Car event, you dont have the skanks posing next to the cars - because the cars dont need them in order to exude sex appeal. the 71 Hemi Cuda (for example) has it's own sex appeal with it's body lines and brute power.
Thats because MOST people who build/attend import shows are young and have an active sex life, whereas MOST people who attend muscle car shows suffer from prostate problems and/or erectile dysfunction, or are flat out too old to care about sex anymore. The only way to get muscle car show attendees to pop wood is to bust out the new GM Performance parts catalog or show off the sweet flame job on your new walker. That is, of course, if they remembered to take their little blue "miracle pill" beforehand.
I agree with what you are getting at but I don't think there's such thing as a cheap (meaning inexepensive) 12 second car that you can also trust as a daily driver.
Most of the guys who would modify a Camry must think (I'm guessing here) they are going to get some sound out of it, drop in some ICE and make it "look faster." That's cheap (except for the ICE maybe), and if he's happy with it, I say game on.
If I knew him, I'd tell him to buy a used S2K (the AP1s are stupid cheap now) and learn to drive in SCCA.
Beauty (and to some extent "performance") is really in the eye of the key holder.
I disagree about trusting 12 second daily drivers. I've had too many low 12 and mid to high 11 second daily drivers that it never entered my mind to not trust! In fact, my 11 second cars were always extremely dependible! Pontiac 455 and 428's, usually in a 60's Tempest, LeMans, or 67-81 Firebird/Trans Am. I've driven then for 100's of thousands of miles over the last 30 years too including to each coast and Florida, thumb of Mich., Corpus Christi Tx. It can be done, and with high teens in mpg too. My favorite? A 69 Custom S (between a tempest and a LeMans) with a 428. Solid 11.60 @ 116-117 mph car with full a/c and at 80mph got 18 mpg on 91 octane pump gas. That car and engine seen east and west coast shores and nearly everywhere in between. Finally sold it to a friend of mine to help get the money for the 61 Bubbletop Catalina I still have. He still has that Custom S too, but is middle of a frame off restoration on it. Yeah that was a very fun car!
Location: Democratic Peoples Republic of Redneckistan
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It's up to the individual really....I always do and always have because I enjoy it and on top of that,I get bored VERY easily so it's a hobby too.I shop ebay for my parts and knock on wood,I've never been screwed on there at all in over ten years.
I modify my vehicles but not much in cosmetic realm. I like to add functionality or improve upon existing features like brakes, suspension, certain engine components, monitoring systems, exterior lighting, programming... etc. Or even change things that I don't think were designed correctly in the first place! Practicality is far more important to me than looks.
I disagree about trusting 12 second daily drivers. I've had too many low 12 and mid to high 11 second daily drivers that it never entered my mind to not trust! In fact, my 11 second cars were always extremely dependible! Pontiac 455 and 428's, usually in a 60's Tempest, LeMans, or 67-81 Firebird/Trans Am. I've driven then for 100's of thousands of miles over the last 30 years too including to each coast and Florida, thumb of Mich., Corpus Christi Tx. It can be done, and with high teens in mpg too. My favorite? A 69 Custom S (between a tempest and a LeMans) with a 428. Solid 11.60 @ 116-117 mph car with full a/c and at 80mph got 18 mpg on 91 octane pump gas. That car and engine seen east and west coast shores and nearly everywhere in between. Finally sold it to a friend of mine to help get the money for the 61 Bubbletop Catalina I still have. He still has that Custom S too, but is middle of a frame off restoration on it. Yeah that was a very fun car!
Yeah but we're talking about a car that is:
- affordable
- dependable
- runs 12s
Unless you get lucky on a deal AND can wrench those cars to get 'em right, you're now in the price range that most younger folks can't touch.
I get your point, but running 12s cost some coin. I was once a huge fan of american muscle too :-)
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The only way to get muscle car show attendees to pop wood is to bust out the new GM Performance parts catalog or show off the sweet flame job on your new walker. That is, of course, if they remembered to take their little blue "miracle pill" beforehand. 
