Value for money mods?

[rob323]

What I did to mine and in the order I did it:
1. Made it reliable (full service, timing belts, water pump, anything else that needed attention).
2. Made it stop (decent tyres, twin piston front callipers, new 276mm front rotors, 1" master, DS2500's on the front, Lucas pads on the rear, braided lines for the hell of it).
3. Made it handle (rear sway bar, coil overs, strut tops, castor bushes, camber pins etc)
4. Made it go (full exhaust system, A spec ecu with chip, 510cc injectors, bigger turbo, more boost etc).

It scares me when people make their car go fast but can't even do one stop from 120 to 0 without brake fade.

I would also recommend doing each thing separately, that way you can find out for yourself what difference each item makes. And also if something goes wrong, it's easier to trouble shoot as opposed to doing a heap of things in one hit.

 

[CLuTZ]

All I gotta say is if you are planning on modifying your car, make sure you do it once, and do it properly

 

[mattrat]

ey pyro man i got a set of twins im selling atm
if you want em they can be yours

 

[Pyro]

Sweet advice rob.. I agree with the brakes before power for sure!

It's interesting that people have different opinions, and ways of modifying..

Thanks for the comments guys, keep em coming, giving me lots to think about!

 

[Pyro]

All I gotta say is if you are planning on modifying your car, make sure you do it once, and do it properly

By doing it properly do you mean outlay lots of money for the top of the range bits? or don't rush things / cut corners?

 

[rob323]

By doing it properly do you mean outlay lots of money for the top of the range bits? or don't rush things / cut corners?

Both.

Use quality gear that has a proven history (which may cost more than the cheaper stuff) where it matters (eg turbos - see my sig), unless you like doing things multiple times, wasting money and learning from your own mistakes .

 

[Pyro]

Yer, I've never been a fan of cheap 'china' imatations.

Would you still buy 2nd hand? eg suspension, turbos??

 

[CLuTZ]

What Rob said!

There are upgrade paths/formulas that are proven to get the most out of these cars. Alot of people upgrade certain things which arent neccessary for the level of performance they are trying to achieve.

Also make up your mind with what you want from the car and how much cash you want to put into it!

 

[Pyro]

There are lots of things that people upgrade which arent neccessary

That is the exact reason I made this thread hey! Like I've said before, daily driver thats fun to drive around corners at some speed haha!, nice and simple!

 

[rob323]

I would only buy 2nd hand shocks if they were next to brand new, or were cheap and could be rebuild. I would not buy second hand springs incase they had sagged.
2nd hand quality turbos are fine as long as you can inspect them "off the car" prior to purchase.
Exhaust manifolds and dumps are usually fine 2nd hand as long as they have no cracks.
Callipers and master cylinders are fine 2nd hand, just rebuild them before using them so that you know they are good.

Basically, quality 2nd hand stuff is usually fine, but make sure it is either from someone you really trust, or you can inspect it yourself and make sure it is "good to go" before you put it on the car.

 

[cheeks]

Where were you Rob when I was doing up my cars.. Good advice there. The best piece of advice I have: If you are reasonably handy, do it yourself! You may make a few mistakes but if you ask the right questions on forums like these, they will be minimised. I have wasted so much money on so called "experts" that I do just about everything myself. Not only do you actually learn what makes you car tick but the money you save can be used on future mods or putting a decent set of tools together..

 

[Jonson]

If you need a good Mitsu mechanic I'm offering my services for MUCH cheaper than workshop prices. Give me a pm, can pretty much do anything you need and find cheap parts for you.
Goodluck on your journey.

 

[Pyro]

Oh thanks Jonson! Aprreciate it mate i'll let you know when I need some bit and pieces!

Cheeks - can you tell me what you've done to your car, whats been worth it and what hasn't?

 

[cheeks]

The first things I did to my old car was: 3" exhaust, up the boost a bit and then new tyres/wheels. If you like to go around corners then suspension and strut braces would be next. It really depends how much money you want to spend. Up the boost and strut braces are cheap. The exhaust is a little more but is well worth it. Coilovers can be picked up for a little more and will transform the handling, especially on an older car. Good tyres will do wonders for the beast and a nice set of rims for a bit of bling never goes astray..

 

[ENGINR]

IMO you spend as much money as you can afford to spend in order to achieve what you want out of the car.

First thing I'd focus on would be intake and exhaust, decent tyres and suspension - all the time keeping in mind what your a) short term goals for the car are and b) your long term goals. Then once you get bored with that and have saved more $$$ spend it doing your "real" performance upgrades like turbo, engine, computer etc etc because that's where the cost really starts to add up and you DON'T want to skimp on crappy parts. Do it once and do it properly.