tarting yr wheels up

[sss]

the other day i had the great pleasure in seeing a vauxhall astra being driven by a young lad, it had a spoiler on the back that resembled something off a boeing 747.

now i have to say i thought he looked a bit of a twit, but thats my opinion. but if the car needed to have it would vauxhall not have added it themselves?

who has added extras to there wheels?

[Bluebottle]

I added a couple of "extras" to my first car (not icluding stereo) It had nasty vynal seats so I added covers, I also added a rear window heater. I've never added cosmetic extras to a production car, my Granada dosn't even have alloys!!

[woodyracing]

who wants to drive a factory standard car anyway?
they make em quiet and slow and with standard cheap and often boring parts. thats why theres a huge industry out there to tart up ya motor.

my XR2i has blue rear light clusters (correct colours shine through) and blue oval side repeaters instead of those orange square jobs.

and of all the custom fiestas out there, ive not seen any the same as mine

[Mackmot]

Thats sad. Why not just buy something nice in the first place.

[woodyracing]

cant think of anything better for the price and which is as practical. anyway im selling it now

[Maisie]

Why not buy something nice, and then add some individual touches? Not everyone wants a samey box. I spent £8 on my custom vehicle - for that price I could have got something brand new rather than a 10 year old car, but I wouldn't have anything that meant as much to me or as special

[woodyracing]

£8 ?? blimey!

[Maisie]

D'OH! Meant £8k!

[Dick Spanner]

£8, what a rip off. I was given my first car free (the clutch needed work) it was a rear engined sport's coupe. Sadly it was made in Czekoslovakia not Germany. I limited the mod's to a sack of cement in the boot (at the front) to improve front end grip. It worked, kind of.

[Maisie]

[garcon]

Noooooooooooooo! You've got to keep the weight out of the boot (at the front) - I heard of some guy in a... erm... similar rear engined coupe (would hate to give the game away to those who haven't sussed yet ) who accidentally drove it over a cliff edge. The weight in the rear swung the car round in midflight so it hit the deck rear first - and he survived!

Besides, who wants to balance out the weight when you can have so much pendulum swinging fun on wet roundabouts?

Back to the topic ... What I totally fail to comprehend is people who spend £2-3k on a Corsa, then spend £7-8k tarting it up to such an extreme that - even if they want to - they'll never be able to sell it. Ok - personalisation is good, but there are limits. Nothing wrong with the £100 or so woody's spent on his XR2 - and being a Scooby fan (and now reborn owner - wahey!!! ) I know all about after market mods and the boundaries of taste

For now, the only mod my new WRX sport wagon is a WR Sport back box - £175 makes it sound like I've spent £000's...

[woodyracing]

Originally posted by garcon
Nothing wrong with the £100 or so woody's spent on his XR2

£100? i wish! those rear clusters cost £150 and I havent even mentioned the engine mods or security systems

[Lee Janotta]

I've added nothing to my car (aside from the fluids which keep leaking out)!

In fact, bits fall off every time I slam the door!

http://www.beaterz.com is great for a laugh.

[Maisie]

Beware of any car that needs a sunstrip stating make and model before you can identify what the hell it was before some boy racer got his mitts on it.

[garcon]

Originally posted by woodyracing
£100? i wish! those rear clusters cost £150 and I havent even mentioned the engine mods or security systems

Ah. Right. Nothing wrong with the £400 or so you originally admitted to, then

As for the rest... so how much have you spent??

By the way, as a driver of a thoroughly (almost) bog standard WRX, there's one thing I love more than anything else about highly modded Corsas, Fiestas, Escorts, Astras, Saxos etc. etc. and the way they always seem to want to have a go -

watching them eat my dust...

[woodyracing]

hmm i dont remember quoting £400 for anything.
my festa has all stage 1 tuning mods, next step (which im not going to do) would be cams and port flows etc, after that it would go to pistons/crankshafts/flywheel etc etc.

I saw an add in the Autotrader the other week for a festa like mine with 170bhp (bummer, mines only 150)

a WRX is in a different league, but one day a 300bhp turbo Nova might surprise you

[touringlegend]

Your engine mods and security systems are actually beneficial to the car woody - having the amount of plastic from legoland stuck on though is just stupid in my opinion, though I will mod certain areas that are worth it and make the car a better handling one.

[Dick Spanner]

Can't help thinking a 300bhp Nova would surprise it's owner as the engine ripped itself free and made a bid for freedom.

Garcon, I used to own a Scooby Legacy turbo to which my only mod was a thick layer of dirt (purely to increase the stealth factor you understand ) and I too was guilty of hot hatch baiting.

My Czekoslovakian sport's coupe must have been way over modded when you consider that the car was free, the £15 cement bag made an infinite increase to the car's value as did putting petrol in. (Adopt Rolf Harris voice) Can you guess what it was yet?

[woodyracing]

touringlegend, some parts were fitted to change the looks (the blue lights) as I dont like the standard red rear lenses. IMO my car looks much better than standard orange/red light Fiestas.

My engine mods have increased power from 120 to 150bhp.
The brakes have been uprated accordingly with ventend/cross drilled and grooved disks and Mintex pads.

The clutch has been uprated to a quick release (and stronger) type to stop the extra power slipping away.

The suspension is already very stiff, it could be stiffer and lower - but I didnt fancy forking out £600 for a set of coilovers to be fitted.

Id say the mods are a definate improvement to the car, even faster would be better though.
So the costmetic mods are only a small fraction of whats been done.
Anyway I did most of the mods 3 years ago so my tastes and idea have changed now. hmm wheres my Porsche

[ss_collins]

woody - go to a circuit and ask about car setup - or even better go to a road rally and see what the quick boys do to thiers. stiff suspension is not alway the way to go.

I've not added much to my golf - bar some inner lamps for rallying, a potti, some 14 inch wheels (to impove ground clearance - Every little helps and the most effective thing. A decent set of tarmac tyres - Colway inters, car modders a good set of tyres will make your car far better without stupid flashing neon.

£400 I picked up a prototype sports car for £40! and it needs maybe £30 of parts to restore it. No-one else in the world has one quite like it. and its chassis was only produced in numbers under 35.

Fiesta - mods, woody I hate to say it but a modded car with - blue lights, big exhausts, lowered make the driver look like a total prat.

[touringlegend]

I'd still be in favour of smoked/coloured rear lights, it's the snowploughs on the front bumper I don't get...

[woodyracing]

Originally posted by ss_collins
Fiesta - mods, woody I hate to say it but a modded car with - blue lights, big exhausts, lowered make the driver look like a total prat.

not everyone thinks that. most red/orange rear lights look so dull.
I must admit im growing out of modified hot hatches, Id rather have a sportscar even if its a 5 year old Japanese car.

[fast95pony]

just remember...Loud pipes saves lives !!

[woodyracing]

i agree with that, modern cars are so damn quiet you can't hear them coming.

[Bluebottle]

Originally posted by fast95pony
just remember...Loud pipes saves lives !!

I second that, for bikes and cars!