The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[Outlier]

DSM's, honestly man I disagree. The Evo is absolutely 1000% better than any of the DSM's, but the DSM's unreliability and relatively low numbers in turbo AWD production wouldn't have kept it alive regardless. As it is, they've basically become unicorns that are collected by DSM hoarders. If not for the Evo, though, I suspect we'd have seen a lot more from the 3000GT VR4's. They are bothersome to work on, not unlike a 300ZXTT, but they're a fantastic platform if one is willing to overcome the decades of perpetuated derp found in its respective community.

Man, if that's not the truth for the DSM community as a whole.

240SX's are an ocean of drift missile cars with the occasional and rare clean example. I had a '89 S13 fastback and I loved it - another car I wish I hadn't sold. A K-motor would be fantastic in an S13, too.

I had a 98 with a SR swap and bolt-ons for 3 years that I loved dearly. Unfortunately that car was cursed. I had 4-5 different occasions of people either pulling out in front of me, running into the back of me, or backing into it in a parking lot. I ended up letting it go for cheap.

Dude, honestly I see it exactly the opposite - most new cars are utterly boring to me and I can't imagine why I'd spend $40k+ on a 'meh' car when there's a used car market full of GT500's, Z06's, E46 M3's, RS4's, AMG's, etc in the mid 20k range or less.

Excluding Ford and GM I just don't see the tuning potential in much anymore unless you have deep pockets; everybody has upped their game and there's just not as much left on the table.

[Outlier]

Yeah, I know that's a thing (basically have to do it for timing belt/water pump jobs, etc.) I never quite got comfortable with that, and left those larger jobs to the pros. In the case of the crank position sensor I was lamenting, I don't think it would have helped much anyway. I was working on an '02 A4 1.8T, so it was longitudinally mounted, not transverse mounted like the FWD VW applications of that engine - the CPS was more than halfway back toward the firewall and low on the block on the driver's side of the engine. Ramps or a lift and access from the bottom would have been easier for sure.

Now that I think about it I do believe there was a little more room in the Passat models of that vintage compared to your A4.

[El Cid]

Still miss my MkIV Supra. Did most of the mods myself or with help from a buddy. The Air Force auto shops were invaluable. A lift was $3 an hour and they had every tool you could possibly need.

[RevolverRob]

Coyote V8's, though - now you're talking! Honestly, I'd only go with an 11-14 if you absolutely had to have a live rear axle. The S550 is such a massive improvement in every other way, including the strength of the stock engine, that for a daily-driven Girlfriend-friendly hotrod I'd take the S550 and never look back.
For an SC, Whipple is the way to go. Fantastic kit that is easy to install and they've got very good tuning packages to match their product. Having worked on hundreds of cars with aftermarket superchargers, I'd only go with a centrifugal on a Corvette or similar car that made a twin screw impossible for some kind of packaging reason, and Whipple makes by far my favorite and most trouble-free twin screw design in my experience.

I'd also avoid thinking in terms of boost pressure. Boost pressure is relative to the compressor involved so comparing 10psi on a Vortech V1 vs 10 psi on a Whipple AX175 vs 10 psi on a Borg Warner 9180 EFR turbo are all substantially different things and while they'll make somewhat similar hp, it would be folly to assume that boost pressure is commensurate with engine abuse or overall HP level. A properly tuned 11-12psi is 1000 times safer and less dangerous AND more powerful than 6psi on a shit tune.

But yes, Coyote plus Whipple is a good time! Coyote plus an Armageddon Turbo setup is even better, especially with a built engine, but that gets spendy quick.

Also, Hellcats are overrated. They make the HP advertised but they're such big ass sluggish boats that the ~640whp they make stock feels like a ~525whp Mustang or Vette. Which isn't any kind of slouch, but I'd much prefer a ~675whp Whipple'd S550 Mustang or ECS Novi 1200 equipped Z06.

The only reason I'd consider the 11-14 cars is that you get into the Coyote for ~6-10k less. When building on the cheap, that's plenty of cash for extra things, like a Whipple Kit. You may leave a little bit on the table in terms of rear suspension and traction ability, but eh, you're on a budget.

That said, if I wanted to go buy something off the lot to drive, take it to a shop, and make 1000 hp tomorrow - a brand new Mustang GT with the track pack would probably be my choice. But if I'm going to go buy something new off the lot and leave it stock - Civic Type R, GT350R, 911 Carrera GTS - Depending on the budget.

[Doc_Glock]

Kids MINI started making clunking noises when one side of suspension rises. I thought it was the sway bar end links. Replacing them was easy peasy, but didn't solve the issue. Now I think it is the sway bar to frame bushings which you would think easy to replace, but they actually require removing a front suspension subframe and lower control arms to get to the bolts for the yoke. So, you may as well replace the front control arm bushings while going after the bar to frame bushings.

At this point, things are getting mechanically a bit beyond what I want to do in the garage without air tools. I think I could do it but it would be an adventure and probably take me 8-12 hours. Getting the bushings on the control arms sounds like a PITA requiring a press as well.

Should I go for it or pay a pro?

[RevolverRob]

In today’s world I don’t replace bushings if avoidable. Given how cheap control arms are in general, it’s easier and faster than trying to press out old ones.

[OlongJohnson]

Regarding all the talk about what cars are interesting, I said it earlier in the thread, but I think the E36/E46 will stick around awhile as a chassis. It's in the place where almost all of them are more expensive to keep as a nice daily driver than to just buy a newer BMW, so the cars are cheap to buy. The engines are expensive to modify and a PITA to work on, and if something goes seriously wrong with a motor, it totals the car. On the other hand, the chassis keep on going. They're RWD, well-developed, exceptionally easy to drive around turns, and you can fit pretty much any engine that can be installed north-south and not need the oil pump to be in the same place as the steering rack: SBF, LS, xUZ, JZ, K, etc. Even a turbo BP would have potential in a very lightweight "less is more" build, and the fact that they have space for an inline six means a V-8 with forward-mounted turbos is possible. So find one with a rough interior, part out what you don't need, and start painting your canvas.

As mentioned above, people who want a nice street car with late-model amenities and niceness plus tons of power are looking elsewhere, but I view them as a better option at this point for a RWD track toy than just about anything else.

[theJanitor]

My neighbor just showed up with a new Audi A4, when I asked where his E46 M3 was, he said, "It was just too expensive to use as a daily driver. It just costs so much to fix"

[olstyn]

My neighbor just showed up with a new Audi A4, when I asked where his E46 M3 was, he said, "It was just too expensive to use as a daily driver. It just costs so much to fix"

Yeah, I don't have any experience with BMWs, but Audis are not what I would call cheap to fix, and I expect the costs are quite similar, if not exactly equivalent. Your neighbor will find out if he keeps the A4 long enough.

That said, I do miss my A4 when I'm not cursing its memory - it was quite nice to drive and to be in. It was just the too-frequent parts failures and the associated expenses that drove me nuts. I kept thinking I'd at least put a tune on it to wake it up a bit, but whenever I thought I had the spare $500 or so, the car would break, and suddenly I no longer had a spare $500. Rinse and repeat for basically the entire time I owned it.

[OlongJohnson]

My neighbor just showed up with a new Audi A4, when I asked where his E46 M3 was, he said, "It was just too expensive to use as a daily driver. It just costs so much to fix"

Everyone I know who had one ended up in that place. It's like all the friends who stopped skateboarding as teenagers because they were tired of being hurt all the time.