Snowbound (or "introducing my new car")
12-03-2006, 07:56 PM
#1
Moof
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Snowbound (or "introducing my new car")
back in high school i had a 1990 Nissan 300ZX. while it had a catback, CAI, and aftermarket speakers it was largely stock. i had grand plans for it, but hadn't the means to accomplish them. in retrospect, this was probably a good thing.
fast forward a bunch of years -- past college, past a murky year before grad school, past a SUV or two -- into the recent past. while i had and still have only nominal income as a grad student (from freelancing as a trumpet player mainly), i was finally old and responsible enough in the eyes of the powers that be to qualify for non-insane car insurance rates. thus i decided last year to withdraw some money from investments, get a fun car, and mod it as i'd longed to do back in high school.
in august 2005 i bought a WRX. i bought this WRX in new jersey. i live in seattle. this was the start of a crazy 23,000 mile, 13 month adventure. i bought it modded, albeit in a codgy, homebuilt way. in a fast 'n furious few months, i cleaned up the mods, redid what wasn't right, and along the way got into autocrossing. i rocked the Novice class but then was whipped thoroughly this way and that in Street Mod.
along the way my WRX broke down. a lot. the idle was unpredictable for a while, then the car completely died, requiring a month in the shop (and beaucoup $$$) to fix. the dashboard lighting would flicker on and off on occasion. oh yeah, and the car would throw weird misfire codes, at least until i took off the ill-advised combination of a lightweight flywheel along with underdriven, lightweight pulleys.
so it was with obvious pleasure that i brought my car home from its second trip to PDX Tuning this past September: i had just gotten water injection installed, the car had put down 297 whp, and generally was running like a champ. next season i was going to scrimp somehow and come up with big wheels and bigger R-comps to put up half a fight in Street Mod. i was excited -- this was the best the car had run the whole time i'd owned it.
at the same time i had reservations, however. after all that'd been done to it, it was still a WRX. what do i mean by that? it still had turbo lag. it still had a high center of gravity. it still had McPherson struts and the associated poor camber curve. sure, it was fast, but at what price? (answer: ride quality and noise, thanks to coilovers; and monetary -- parts, installation, and dyno time aren't cheap, repair bills entirely aside.)
because of the above, i was distraught but not overly so when i crashed my WRX. although it was unpleasant, took up more time and effort than i care to think of, and is not an experience i would care to repeat, it actually worked out pretty well: i had wisely purchased additional insurance coverage for the modifications to the car, and that coverage along with a generous valuation made it possible to recover most of the money i'd put into the car to that point. essentially, i was given a fresh start, which isn't too common in this world of instant depreciation and lowball valuations.
with my ideals of < 3000 lb curb weight, double wishbones up front, and no turbo lag established, i solicited input from the autocross crowd. i then test drove every car i could think of, 23 in all... and to bring a long story short, this is what i ended up with, a 2004 Mazda RX-8. it's still under warranty so please no "engine recall! lol" type asshattery, please.
why an RX-8? let me refresh your memory: jeremy clarkson thinks it runs on double cream. i think it's a beautifully balanced car, with just enough practicality to be liveable, a car with which i'll be happy in stock form.
yes, my modding days are over -- give me a nicer car to start with rather than a blank slate. the practicalities of suspension design, maintenance (will the dealer work on your modded car? mine wouldn't...), insurance, and reliability are often not considered by swap-happy teenagers, but are important nonetheless.
(oh, and yes, i did get stuck after shooting these photos. i rocked the car out/took a different line out of the snow and crept away in shame. the car will have snow tires on it to replace the stock summer models before next weekend, have no fear.)
the photos:
congrats to anyone who actually read all of the text.
fast forward a bunch of years -- past college, past a murky year before grad school, past a SUV or two -- into the recent past. while i had and still have only nominal income as a grad student (from freelancing as a trumpet player mainly), i was finally old and responsible enough in the eyes of the powers that be to qualify for non-insane car insurance rates. thus i decided last year to withdraw some money from investments, get a fun car, and mod it as i'd longed to do back in high school.
in august 2005 i bought a WRX. i bought this WRX in new jersey. i live in seattle. this was the start of a crazy 23,000 mile, 13 month adventure. i bought it modded, albeit in a codgy, homebuilt way. in a fast 'n furious few months, i cleaned up the mods, redid what wasn't right, and along the way got into autocrossing. i rocked the Novice class but then was whipped thoroughly this way and that in Street Mod.
along the way my WRX broke down. a lot. the idle was unpredictable for a while, then the car completely died, requiring a month in the shop (and beaucoup $$$) to fix. the dashboard lighting would flicker on and off on occasion. oh yeah, and the car would throw weird misfire codes, at least until i took off the ill-advised combination of a lightweight flywheel along with underdriven, lightweight pulleys.
so it was with obvious pleasure that i brought my car home from its second trip to PDX Tuning this past September: i had just gotten water injection installed, the car had put down 297 whp, and generally was running like a champ. next season i was going to scrimp somehow and come up with big wheels and bigger R-comps to put up half a fight in Street Mod. i was excited -- this was the best the car had run the whole time i'd owned it.
at the same time i had reservations, however. after all that'd been done to it, it was still a WRX. what do i mean by that? it still had turbo lag. it still had a high center of gravity. it still had McPherson struts and the associated poor camber curve. sure, it was fast, but at what price? (answer: ride quality and noise, thanks to coilovers; and monetary -- parts, installation, and dyno time aren't cheap, repair bills entirely aside.)
because of the above, i was distraught but not overly so when i crashed my WRX. although it was unpleasant, took up more time and effort than i care to think of, and is not an experience i would care to repeat, it actually worked out pretty well: i had wisely purchased additional insurance coverage for the modifications to the car, and that coverage along with a generous valuation made it possible to recover most of the money i'd put into the car to that point. essentially, i was given a fresh start, which isn't too common in this world of instant depreciation and lowball valuations.
with my ideals of < 3000 lb curb weight, double wishbones up front, and no turbo lag established, i solicited input from the autocross crowd. i then test drove every car i could think of, 23 in all... and to bring a long story short, this is what i ended up with, a 2004 Mazda RX-8. it's still under warranty so please no "engine recall! lol" type asshattery, please.
why an RX-8? let me refresh your memory: jeremy clarkson thinks it runs on double cream. i think it's a beautifully balanced car, with just enough practicality to be liveable, a car with which i'll be happy in stock form.
yes, my modding days are over -- give me a nicer car to start with rather than a blank slate. the practicalities of suspension design, maintenance (will the dealer work on your modded car? mine wouldn't...), insurance, and reliability are often not considered by swap-happy teenagers, but are important nonetheless.
(oh, and yes, i did get stuck after shooting these photos. i rocked the car out/took a different line out of the snow and crept away in shame. the car will have snow tires on it to replace the stock summer models before next weekend, have no fear.)
the photos:
congrats to anyone who actually read all of the text.
12-03-2006, 08:01 PM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Quite a selection of cars there!! Welcome to the forum!!
Sorry to see what happened to the wrxy..... but all for the best nonetheless!! (as long as u were ok!!)
Pix look awesome, love the snow pix.
and modding days are NEVER over. Im sure we could convert u .......... hehehe
Sorry to see what happened to the wrxy..... but all for the best nonetheless!! (as long as u were ok!!)
Pix look awesome, love the snow pix.
and modding days are NEVER over. Im sure we could convert u .......... hehehe
12-03-2006, 08:06 PM
#3
Moof
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thanks for the welcome. yeah, it is quite the variety of cars, and often i've wondered if i'm searching for something in my selection of cars that they simply can't provide... in any case, i'm happy with the RX-8 at the moment, and in the worst case will hang onto it until the powertrain warranty expires. :D
12-03-2006, 09:28 PM
#4
Guns, God, and Country
Great, can't say I would have gotten rid of the WRX putting down all that HP but welcome to the club! I have never heard of reliability issues on a WRX putting down those numbers but maybe the guy before you dogged it enough.
And if reliability is what you are looking for then you may have picked the wrong car. Don't get me wrong, I will ride my RX8 to the end (it will be my 12 year old son's first car) but so far it has been the second most unreliable car I have owned (the first was a 93' Z28)
And if reliability is what you are looking for then you may have picked the wrong car. Don't get me wrong, I will ride my RX8 to the end (it will be my 12 year old son's first car) but so far it has been the second most unreliable car I have owned (the first was a 93' Z28)
12-03-2006, 09:34 PM
#5
Moof
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by redcivic
Great, can't say I would have gotten rid of the WRX putting down all that HP but welcome to the club! I have never heard of reliability issues on a WRX putting down those numbers but maybe the guy before you dogged it enough.
And if reliability is what you are looking for then you may have picked the wrong car. Don't get me wrong, I will ride my RX8 to the end (it will be my 12 year old son's first car) but so far it has been the second most unreliable car I have owned (the first was a 93' Z28)
And if reliability is what you are looking for then you may have picked the wrong car. Don't get me wrong, I will ride my RX8 to the end (it will be my 12 year old son's first car) but so far it has been the second most unreliable car I have owned (the first was a 93' Z28)
and even if the RX-8 isn't the most reliable, it still has 7k of bumper to bumper and 21k of powertrain warranty left...
12-03-2006, 09:52 PM
#6
Guns, God, and Country
Wow, the WRX was totalled. Did'nt look it. Oh, and your gonna need that 7k of bumper to bumper. So far I Have replaced five visors, my heater, my engine, my starter, and my door sills. I love this car so much but I am glad I bought it used, I would be pissed If I paid 30k for it like the previous owner did.
12-03-2006, 10:01 PM
#7
always filling [the c]up
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Alice, Texas
Posts: 1,267
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by MissyK
..
and modding days are NEVER over. Im sure we could convert u .......... hehehe
and modding days are NEVER over. Im sure we could convert u .......... hehehe
btw, nice choice. Welcome
12-03-2006, 11:01 PM
#10
Moof
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by redcivic
Wow, the WRX was totalled. Did'nt look it. Oh, and your gonna need that 7k of bumper to bumper. So far I Have replaced five visors, my heater, my engine, my starter, and my door sills. I love this car so much but I am glad I bought it used, I would be pissed If I paid 30k for it like the previous owner did.
Originally Posted by Tirminyl
Welcome. Nice pics, nice story, and nice spreadsheet of cars, lol.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post