accepting reality might make owning and modifying a performance car more enjoyable

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
I recently had a long discussion with a couple local guys about making potential engine swaps,
various drive train component selection, cost and time involved.
most newer guys in this hobby seem to think that building a car with an extra 100-150 plus hp ,
will instantly give them impressive performance, yet I find it amazing, that they seem totally oblivious that you'll also need,
larger brakes, better tires, suspension mods, better cooling,some knowledge related to tuning and programing and diagnosing potential problems,
a good many more tools than they start out with, a place to work on the car, and it certainly helps to have a few knowledgeable friends,
and in many cases extensive durability related mods like a larger oil pan, oil coolers, etc.
the vast majority of the guys Ive ever known , modify existing cars,
and almost all existing production street cars are considerably heavier than a purpose built race car will be!
starting out with a street car body, and trying to maintain a street legal daily driver, as your performance car,
puts you at a considerable disadvantage if you intend to be the local race track hero!
now there are exceptions
,to the ridiculously overweight street performance cars,

most of us start out modifying.
there are huge advantages in starting with significantly lighter cars ,
that are basically weekend toys we don,t need to depend on for transportation.
like the T-bucket and cobra kit cars ETC.
that can be built with the stronger drive trains, larger engines, larger brakes, stronger transmission,higher power to weight ratios, better cooling etc.:like:
but that tends to require planning the build in detail, and most guys I know are rather content to swap performance parts onto or modify the street driven car they use for daily transportation, which severely limits the options in components they can reasonably select and use, available to them.
Id point out a few facts
(1) your very unlikely to ever have the fastest car in your area for very long, simply because
technology is constantly improving, newer components, can improve performance.
someone else will always have more time and cash to invest in the project,

no one has unlimited cash and resources.
(2)most people follow proven trends, very few people have the skills and
technical knowledge,
to fabricate EFFECTIVELY BETTER AND UNIQUE FUNCTIONAL parts from scratch.

yes you can build a kick ass, mustang, camaro ,corvette, nova or gto, etc.
but its going to be based on and always saddled with a considerably heavier than ideal frame, suspension and body .
designed for street driving, and customer comfort and passenger safety.

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A fool and his money will soon part when they know nothing of what they seek.
 
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