As others have said, providing you look at it as a hobby and dont expect to recoup any money when you sell then it's all good. Can anyone say it's a waste of money? No more than they can say someone drinking/betting/trainspotting/model railway making/etc is a waste for the people who enjoy that. 

I agree too, but it can be tricky.  There's no way my 330mm 6 pots are going to fit under 14" steels

True. Though I don't consider rims and important original feature since you change them about as often as you change socks.  My merc has had six sets in the ~28 months I've owned it.

I don't have a problem with people wasting spending money on modding  (a better description than tuning as most are modded rather than tuned) cars, as long as in the process they do not effectively destroy a "future classic" in the process, effectively removing the possibility of future enthusiasts experiencing it.

 

A classic example of this lies in the world of Motorcycles. In the 1960's 2 "classic" British bikes destroyed like this in their hundreds were Triumphs and Nortons. Triumphs had the reputation for fast engines, Nortons for good handling frames & forks. Answer to the best of both worlds was to fit a Bonneville engine in a Featherbed frame to produce a Triton.

(Similar hybrids such as Tribsas and Vintons were also done)

Although a well crafted example is in fact a Classic in its own right, rather like chav modded cars many of the hybrid conversions were actually very badly bodged together and the end results were often worse than the originals anyway.

 

As a result it is now damned difficult to find original-ish examples of the 2 makes (and in truth the Norton engines and Triumph frames which were junked in the process were not actually that bad)

I just hope the same thing doesn't happen to todays cars.

I would absolutely LUV to own an unmolested Cossy Escort/ Sierra/ Focus 

 

 

 

 It is difficult but they are out there. Cost mind.

 

 

 This thread could be turned upside down in that with the very rare exception (fastidious old timers, shambling hoarders aside) if it weren't for modders many 'classics' would have followed their bredrin to the scrappies. You will go a long, looooooooooooooooooooong way to find an original Mk2 Golf, but the fact so many survive is because people who have a passion, an interest and the cash to invest keep them alive. Same for the 86F/C Polos. There aren't nearly the same amount of Fiestas and Novas around and they'd have outsold them tens to one. Modders keep alive the breeds that otherwise would have died out. I know I keep referring to the same examples but they are my staple. There are those just as taken with Vauxhalls, Fords and not to mention the Jap stuff. 

 Those willing to take on a money pit ensure that there are opportunities for tomorrow's generation to know what a car without PAS, electric everything, MP3 interface, electronic nannies is like. A lot may lie in the land of personal taste, but modders put more back than split rims and 6x9s.

imho, car modication meets a basic darwinian human need to improve ****

 

I struggle with putting up with something that doesn't work as well as it should

My maths is rubbish but i worked it by total cost of car with mods 19k divided by 11 years ownership= £1,727.27 divided by 365 days £4.73  not 4.7 pence as i said above lol!

That's the method I used too. Well, except that by sheer bone-headedness I used numbers for my car...

I guess it depends on what the Tuning / Mods are. I tend to try and ensure that any I do can be returned to stock if required.

 

Hence a garage full of stock suspension and stock cat-back system.

 

Just because a car has been modified doesn't mean that it has been ragged either - most of us take better care of servicing requirements and the bodywork then a non-modified motor - yes there are as always exceptions.

 

Anyway for most of us it is a hobby anyway.

Tuning isn't a waste of money. After all the person who is modding their car knows what it will cost because the people who have the parts or do the remap, will ask them for money So the owner knows exactly how much it will cost and so can make the informed decision to have the work done. Most of the peeps on here seem to know the possible downside to uprating power on their engines without doing other request work to compliment this and again that's their choice.

 

Although I do remember playing silly buggers with Shifty in his stripped out Furby. I had a BMW 123D (Stock) at the time and followed him cross country from a Mini-meet. I found I could easily keep up with him. when we chatted about the compromises and money he spent to get his Furby up to the performance level it had, it was nearly as much as my BMW. He had a car with no interior panels or sound insulation and was difficult to live with on a daily basis. Only Shifty can tell you if it was worth doing or whether he should have just bought a car like the 123D in the first place. Having said that, Shifty would probably modded the 123D to 250Bhp and chucked the satnav in to a skip to save weight

 

I do think that modding can leave you with an inferior car to one you could have bought if you had saved all the 'Mod' money up in the first place and put it to buying a ready built car with the extra performance built in. But there again, there's no fun in that for some people. Horses for courses

This is another reason to love Brisky.

 

Modifying cars is a real polarising subject which seems to give people the full marmite effect.  Yet you can come on here and read what is a pretty fair and balanced conversation on the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The downside of Brisky is that in the last 12 months I have slowly been drawn to the dark side of the marmite

 

 

I do drink, do own a snowboard? and am generally a little bit wasteful with my time/money/occasionally life. I don't feel the need to justify my spend on modding, I don't expect to see any of the money back.  I'd probably agree if i was told it was a waste of time.  But by chips, it isn't half good fun.

Your car is entirely built from parts made by the lowest bidder.

 

There is always room for a little improvement

This seems to be the topic of the day, doesn't it...?

 

I'd echo some of the thoughts on here, there's a difference between a tuning and modifying, and there's a key difference between sympathetic modifications (aka improvements) and the full Halfords/chav body kit and neon lights. I'll happily get the Yeti remapped (tomorrow!) and one of the key reasons for buying it with a 1.8TSI EA888 Audi engine was because it could be remapped, in order to release a bit more potential (or BHP and lb/ft).  I'd rather get a proper remap than pay a manufacturer even more premium...

 

The other thought is that like Tech1e just said, most cars are built down to a price. One of the best, and one of the first things I did to my MINI was to get rid of the 11.4kg wheels (that come with the optional and stupid £2500 Chili pack), and Pirelli Euforia run flat tyres.  I truly thought that the car was going to kill me on the (very wet) run home. I switched to 6.46kg OZ Racing Ultraleggeras and Uniroyal Rainsport2s. I had no hesitation in selling on the "OEM" stuff ... and if someone at a show in 15 years informs me that the car was better as standard, then he or she is clearly deranged and living in a dream world. And hasn't actually driven one.

 

Since then, and mostly for my own pleasure (and certainly to my wife's displeasure), I've replaced the suspension with adjustable stuff, so the car no longer understeers, and the brakes no longer catch fire and waggle the rear end if the car is driven enthusiastically on the track.  And yes, the engine is also a bit fruitier, mostly in the search for more torque, in-gear flexibility and better drivability.

 

I'll finish with a small anecdote: after I'd ordered the new suspension, I was planning to throw the old suspension in the shed, so I asked the mechanic to put the parts in the boot of the car after he'd installed the new stuff. Maybe he misheard me but the mechanic took the view that it was all worthless (even though it was all perfectly serviceable and he worked for BMW), so he threw it away. It was only after a few days that I realised that he was right. The old struts were awful and there was no point even lugging them home to leave them to rust in the shed.

I'm a yes and no on this. I wasted a lot of money on my first car modifying it, and looking back on it now I wish I hasn't simply for that reason. But, I did enjoy it while it lasted. With my current car, one minute I'm desperate to modify it after seeing the awesome things people on here are doing (thanks guys) and then other times I think well maybe later on I'll wish I'd saved the money. even though I know I'll enjoy doing it, especially as I've learnt from my previous mistakes!

The debate in my head continues.. Once that first order goes through, there will be no going back!

This is a wonderful example of how not to mod your car. But when your young you do daft things

Spray it yellow and call me ali G

This is a wonderful example of how not to mod your car. But when your young you do daft things

There is an up side to it, though.  You'll always be able to find it in a car park!

There is an up side to it, though.  You'll always be able to find it in a car park!

Yes........ With a crowd of people around it laughing!

Load of rubbish - if you buy a car and the first thing on your mind is "how much will I be able to sell it for later on" then you're not a car enthusiast.

 

My car has gone from bog standard to ****ing mental in recent months - I bought it for £2000 and have probably spent about £1500 - £2000 in parts & mods over the years. I won't mention the £2000+ a year car insurance *cough*. The car is now worth ~50p and that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

 

I've spent 6 hours so far just adding studs to my exterior (I'm not finished!) and it's grueling, but it's put a lot of smiles on peoples faces and a lot of people are stopping to look twice. The arm hanging out of my boot gets a lot of positive comments from passers by and makes people laugh. I've always modded my cars to entertain the public and I measure everything in smiles (theirs and mine) not "value added or lost." Everything in this world is a waste of money - you buy something, you use it, it no longer has the value it had before (developed property excluded).

 

I get that some people aren't into car modification... I'm not into knitting... but to say it's a waste of money is basically saying that every hobby is pointless :no:

 

 

If you park your car and you don't stop to turn around and admire it... you bought the wrong one.

For me it's a hobby. I love my car. I've been tinkering with it for nearly ten years now and don't regret anything I've done. I've spent more on mods and servicing than the car cost brand new. It's not worth that much now (but about 3x more than it would be in the UK)

I love to see madly modded cars like Mr. Tactical's

This is a wonderful example of how not to mod your car. But when your young you do daft things

The Japanese call cars like this "railway trains".

The Japanese call cars like this "railway trains".

When you see some of the designs used for their trains I can see where that comes from!

 

At the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes your choice.  It wouldn't do for us all to be the same.

When you see some of the designs used for their trains I can see where that comes from!

 

At the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes your choice.  It wouldn't do for us all to be the same.

It's actually to do with the wide arches and narrow track/wheels.

Best Mk1 Fabia VRS

 

Good suspension to lose the arch gap.

312 fronts

256 rears

Possibly 17" Spiders

RARB

Panel K&N filter

Decat

Remap

Good tyres

 

I think that makes a solid stage 1 car without much wasted money. Any further modifications carry heavy financial costs and sacrifices. IMO.

I am 47 years old this year, but I certainly don't feel it. I go out for a drink with the lads and lasses from work two or three times a year and don't smoke. I spent the last 2 years modifying and tuning my Subaru Impreza WRX STI from a standard 277bhp to a 480bhp fire-breathing daily driver! I loved every minute of that journey seeing it transform and documented and photographed it every step of the way. The cost to me was irrelevant. I purchased the car for £11,500 and in the 2 years I owned it spent almost £25,000 modifying and tuning it. I made it a better driving, handling and looking car (IMHO). I sold the car about 3 weeks ago for £15,500. It went up for sale and sold within 30 mins for the asking price. No haggling. It's a hobby and most hobbies cost money. We've only got one life - LIVE IT! We all work hard most of our lives, why not enjoy the time before it's too late.

 

I've just bought a Fabia VRS SE a couple of weeks ago for my daily driver and in that couple of weeks I have already purchased a set of AP shocks & lowering springs, new front top mounts & bearings, rear bump stops, full set of Powerflex poly bushes front & rear, Whitleine RARB, EGR delete kit, LCR splitter, Team Heko wind deflectors and will be getting a stage 1 remap in a few weeks. I will be happy with that and I have a 3 year plan to buy another Subaru for my 50th birthday - but it will have to be a special car to live up to the standard I set with the last one.

 

As an example here was my engine bay when I bought the car:

And this is the finished article

 

 

Here was the standard car

 

 

This was the day it rumbled off my driveway

 

 

I love modifying & tuning cars - it isn't a waste to me

That vehicle excites me sexually

 

I love the hints of red - good effort. Looking forward to seeing your Fabia

Interesting article, and likely mostly true. It's all about perception, if skoda started offering an ecu remap upgrade, and uprated brakes and suspension kits at a dealer fit and warranty level we'd all want them, and might add value to the resale value. The problem with modding is you have no idea of the quality of the upgrades nor their effect on the reliability of the rest of the car. If resale value is important then it makes sense to fit reversible mods so that the car can be factory reset.

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