"A £30k car can never be made as good as a £100k one"

[wizard]

Ok, this I think is quite an interesting topic....

 

A few friends of mine and I are having a debate about this. We all have different performance cars.

 

To keep things simple, let's keep the focus on the 350 / 370z.

 

No matter how much money is thrown at a zed, it can never be as good (overall) as a GT3 / GT-R / Ferrari / whatever, so why do we bother modding them?

 

Is it not a wiser to save your pennies and wait until you can afford a better car? - Taking into account the fact we all know you will never get the thousands you spend on your zed. Discuss!

 

(I say this while placing some orders on some aftermarket parts I want for the zed lol)

[aidan]

BUT....you'd still mod what ever car you got. I know, I've done it. Promised the misses that there would be no need to mod it....and after a few months, its starts. What to do??

[veilside z]

cars modded to your own specification, depending in the extent of the mods can equal the looks of the higher value vehicles, not forgetting the fun of doing it. most higher end cars can only be modified so far with whats available.

[Keyser]

Individuality is one good reason,

 

It's not like performance cars don't depreciate as well even though I agree you never get your money back on mods.

[rabbitstew]

For me its a case of not trying to make a 30k car as "good" as 100k one, but making it "different" from the run of the mill norm and personalising it to my own taste.

[bamdc2]

Totally agree with above, making it your own with mods.

 

Performance wise, I dunno I saw this youtube video where in Japan there was a supercharged (and god knows what else) 350z that had coilovers, slicks all stripped out etc etc and it totally destroyed a GTR. The amount of mods you can do is crazy, in its basic form a car is just a shell at the end of the day and you can do whatever to it within reason.

Edited June 13, 2013 by bamdc2

[Haymaker]

Well I guess I kind of a agree and see what your saying that a £30k car modded will never be as good at a £100k car, although this is debateable. I don't see how people can see modding a car is pointless because the reality is the majority of people will never be able to afford a £100k car so we just do the best we can with what we have.

[spursmaddave]

I always look at mods this way, they are for me to enjoy and if I buy decent stuff and look after it then it will have a residual value so I almost always keep old parts if I can

[cs2000]

Define "As Good" and you have your answer.

 

As Good in speed - yes, quite possibly

As Good in having a racing pedigree- Ferrari 360 Yes, Vauxhall Vectra No

As Goos in Luxory - Quute probably not

 

Its all about the definaition of the question really.

[KyleR]

Put it this way, no matter much money someone puts into a 350z I'll never want that car as much as a GTR.

[AMT]

I'd still rather have an Aston Martin.... (I'd keep the Z though...just for kicks ). You could make the Zed as fast, possibly even faster than some really expensive stuff, but the effort etc... and it won't look near as good. The zeds curvy but you still think low slung sports car... park it next to a Vanquish (which mines has been..)...and you'll see what expensive sports car looks like lol

Edited June 13, 2013 by AMT

[SimonPG]

I would never spend £5k modding a £5k car, I may however spend £5k modding a 40k car.. if I could afford the 40k car in the first place!

[LRF4N]

Lots of people modify cars but not to make them look like theyre worth 3 times the value or to look better than a Ferrari. If you do there's something wrong with you

 

Plus avoiding modding won't necessarily give you the funds to buy a Ferrari

 

As mentioned the majority of people won't own a car worth 100k so theres nothing wrong with personalising a cheaper car to your own taste or as a hobby

 

[keiran D]

the fun for me is researching and sourcing parts, followed by the enjoyment i get from spending time fitting them. then you get the experience of feeling or seeing the differences made.

 

so nothing to do with trying to make it more like an expensive car for me.

[Ekona]

There is no perfect car for me, so all I do is buy one that's close then modify until it's as close to perfection as time and budget allows. Then I sell up and start all over again.

 

It's always more sensible to save and buy the ultimate car rather than throw your money up the wall with mods, but that's just not fun

[Jetpilot]

I agree with a familiar trend in the answers, my mods individualize my car and i enjoy not driving a standard car.

 

I would also agree with the definition of what is "good", could i make my 350z quicker than a lot of hyper cars, yes, would it be "overall" as good, no.

 

But if i had GTR money, would i want one, no, i think they are ugly and massive and do nothing for me, would i prefer to put a GTR engine and box in my 350 with that money, without doubt.

 

There are not many cars i lust after beyond complete exotica, Zondas for example, the only semi affordable car that floats my boat is the Gallardo.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Jetpilot

[Neilp]

Wizard u need to go in zmanalex's car then! I'm sure I've passed a few ferrari's r35's, sagaris' and lambos in it

[wizard]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Interesting comments....

 

For me, it's the love affair that you have with the car. Mines been going on 5 years now. And at today's prices, I could have bought 3 350z's and a chunk of change with the monies I've spent purely on mods alone.

 

I like the whole process of trial and error and over time making the car better and better, seeing it develop like a small child.

 

However, it has been a lot of headache and uphill struggle as well. Then when I drive to somewhere like the ring and see GT3s everywhere that are already prepped from the factory zapping past me, I think "why bother?". Seeing that video of the 991 GT3 gave me that same feeling again.

[LiamR]

The answer to this is simple, answer yourselves honestly this question and all will become clear....... If you won 100k and spent that on a GT3 / GT-R / Ferrari / Aston whatever I'm sure that we would all thoroughly love said car for approx 1 month, however the thing inside us that makes us who we are as enthusiasts would start thinking, researching and low and behold sooner or later start reading/looking at ways in which to mod said car. Someone will always have a modded supercar and the option will always be there so we covet this, embrace it and dont (really) mind what the costs are. It is ours to make unique and personal to us whether it be for bragging rights or just the love of individuality. The cost is irrelevant at this point, you own a 10k Zed you dont care throwing a few grand at it as it gives you the joy and satisfaction you desire for making it your own, the same would be said if you could actually justify spending 100k on a car, the modding costs would be in parralel to the modding affliction. I have been doing this as many of you have to varying extents for years, ever since owning my first car- a 1979 canary yellow mk1 fiesta when I was 20 which cost me 150 quid and I will continue until I am so old I can no longer legally drive, its in our blood.

[ddcboyle]

The main reason I wouldnt buy a gtr is the cost difference. Everything in a gtr is more expensive to fix, maintain or modify than a 350z.

 

Plus, Im fan of fast and furious and wanted my own style of that. So its sone pride in modifying ur car to how you want it to look. With your spare cash you saved from not buying a ferrari

[NeilMH]

Most of the mods I have done have been to solve an "issue".....I can't remember doing any purely for looks. So I have only spent money on things like SS exhaust (it was falling to bits) or Uprev (smoother power delivery) or Caterham Anti-Cavitation tank (oil frothing issues with K series being wrong way round), Elise S1 uprated shift cabling (crap gearchange) etc, etc, etc.

 

So..if I could buy a better car I would...but I can't... so I won't. I think it's quite hard (probably not impossible though if you have the skill levels) to match the £100k car with mods to another. Their 100k manufacturer's development/research budget is somewhat bigger than mine.

[rtbiscuit]

some manufactures don't like it if you mod their cars, i've heard of manfuactures contacting sellers of modded cars on autotrader to complain about what they did to their cars and undo it.

[BulletMagnet]

So you can do this?

Edited June 14, 2013 by BulletMagnet

[ddcboyle]

So you can do this?

 

Hes definetly got one of those electric superchargers in there

[Fernandofan08]

I think its abit of silly statement really. I mean, if your spending £100,000 on a car say a GTR, you will naturally have the car with the optional extra's you want, accessories you want. So where do you go from there with a GTR or Ferrari?

 

From my knowledge, its very hard and/or very expensive to modify a Ferrari or a GTR. But on the other hand take a 350z, its much more accesible, there are more parts and things you can do to modify it. I dont believe many of us would modify a car to make it like £100,000 car. I believe we modify a car to our taste, to how we would like it to be, to look and stand, to be the colour, the be changed to our acquired taste. Many Ferrari's etc are custom tailored to the buyer with optional extras and so forth. Its about putting your own spin on the car, your own mark. Realistically nobody is expecting a 350z to beat a Ferrari (just like I dont expect my RX8 to beat a 350z). Its about being the proud owner of a car that you live and you want to make it different, your own. Often its about improving on a base line. Fine tuning handling, smoother power delivery, improving engine performance. Optimising the vehicle. Something which on many £100,000 cars you cant do because its mostly at its limit anyway.

 

On a more general basis, I often wonder if said cars like Ferrari's or GTR's are worth the money. £100,000 for a car which most of the time you will never be able to utilise on a public road. At that cost I wouldnt want to take it to a track either, so really, what makes say a GTR £30,000 more than a 350z? Yeah its faster, yeah it has a brilliant onboard computer system, but what is that speed going to do on a public road? The computer system im sure you can put a Nexus tablet into the car like half the RX8 guys have done and they have a system that's cost them about £500 and does all the reading etc that the GTR system does.

 

So really, what makes it £30k more? The design and planning? Manufacturing? To me, I dont see it. It could be a design marvel, but I dont see a £30,000 difference in design. Same with Ferrari, I know they use THE best materials and manufacturing etc, but aside from the badge and prestige, I dont really see a point in such high price tags for cars like that. The fact that 350z's 2nd hand are between £5k-£13k mostly, and what you get for your money far outweighs many vehicles on the road, similar to my RX8 with a rebuild for £3500, you can buy a 2007 Citroen C2 more expensive than that. Running costs aside, its a weird world regarding cars and their values.

 

End of the day, spending 100k on a car might get you some looks and admiration, but when you cant utilise 80% of the performance in the car anyway, what is the point? is there really £90,000 difference between a well looked after 350z and say a brand new GTR or £50k difference to a second hand one? To me, never in a million years.

 

It might be better made, but not £40k-£90k better made. So really, a £30k car doesnt NEED to be made better than a £100k car, because on public roads and some fun track day flirting, theres not £70,000 between the two vehicles in any way shape or form in my eyes.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Fernandofan08