how to spend my hard earned money

[bubaru21]

ok i am looking to to upgrade my legacy. i am deciding between swapping in a new motor or making a super handling almost rally car. i am asking your opinions on this. this will not be all done at the same time. i will be piecing this together unless i do the swap then it will be done in one shot.

[Wiscon_Mark]

mmm...try your hand at suspension first gets my vote. A swap is not something to be entered lightly. I'm still scared about all that wiring.

[ivwarrior]

I voted for suspension upgrade. Swapping in a lot more power in a car without the suspension to handle it isn't a good idea. Do suspension and brake upgrades, then think about an engine swap.

[bubaru21]

that is exactly what i was thinking myself and leaning towards. what is the point of power if you cant control it.

[GrassyKnoll]

Me wants STI :D

[Huffer]

4th option - Evolution Driving School.

[sheepdog]

Everyone guess what I voted for :lol: :lol:

[Wiscon_Mark]

4th option - Evolution Driving School.

Poll tampered with :grin:

[scottzg]

driving school gmv. There's plenty of fun to be had with the stock suspension, and more power is kind of like the car equivalent of a gucci watch.

[Plays_with_Toys]

if you have enough money for a swap, don't spend any money, except maybe a few hundred to tide you over, and keep saving for a bug eye/blob eye WRX. Then you'll have better suspension and a faster, newer car in the end.

[2.5GT]

Driving School.

Doing all those things to your car does you no good if you can't handle the car :wink:

[rougeben83]

What do you want to do? Get a nicer car/have a car to tinker with/drive it hard?

I picked driving school; nothing will make you appreciate your car as a machine, make you a better driver, and make you faster bar-none. Plus, you can transfer that upgrade to any other car that you drive in

:wink:

Actually, driving schools aren't that expensive if you just want to get your feet wet, you can start with some autocross schools that SCCA regions hold annualy; I went to a NWOR one and paid $25 to autocross the car all the day long and to have experienced guys walk the course and ride with you and teach you the basics of car control and line.

[bubaru21]

do you have any numbers or locations? i have thought about this as well. but would it be better to maybe do some tinker on the car then go to driving school instead of learning the car on stock then mod it and have a different feel and response.

[sheepdog]

Learn to drive a slow car fast. Then drive a fast car.

I'd be partial to an engine swap, but driving school would also be cool.

[scottzg]

but would it be better to maybe do some tinker on the car then go to driving school instead of learning the car on stock then mod it and have a different feel and response.

Better to learn to be fast on the stock car. You know that while it's set up to be a little mild, it won't have any bad manners. Once you are confident with the stock car, you can make more educated changes. A good driver can learn a totally new car 'well enough' in about 10 minutes.

[Plays_with_Toys]

^Heheh... I'm still trying to figure out my rear sway bar upgrade. It made the car feel totally different. Its so much more planted on the dry pavement, but the car has a huge tendency now to plow straight and understeer in the slick, and then the second it gets going the back end goes around (scares you for a second that the car is slipping out on a wet road as if it were covered in snow). A big learning curve going from 13mm-18mm.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Actually, it'd be 12mm to 18mm, Dan ;)

[sheepdog]

oh noes!

[GrassyKnoll]

In terms of driving school, I'd recommend Tim O'Neil. Supposedly one of the best rally schools that there is. Ive seen them several times in Car and Driver and Tim O'Neil was one of the best rally drivers of his time.

Very expensive, however, unbeatable experience.

www.team-oneil.com (http://www.team-oneil.com)

[rougeben83]

In terms of driving school, I'd recommend Tim O'Neil. Supposedly one of the best rally schools that there is. Ive seen them several times in Car and Driver and Tim O'Neil was one of the best rally drivers of his time.

Very expensive, however, unbeatable experience.

www.team-oneil.com (http://www.team-oneil.com)

Yeah, that's one of the things I'm saving up for, but really, I would just go out to whatever local events you have in your area (see myautoevents.com) and see what's going on.

Even though you won't have formal instructions, you have experienced guys there to talk to you (you'll find a lot of them are very helpful, especially if you tell them you're a newbie), and it's always seattime, seattime, seattime, that will pay the most dividends to make you faster, so just get out there and actually do it.

What driving schools and seat-time will give you is that innate sense of knowing what's going on with the car, and being able to push it to it's limits without going over it. That's what separates the fast drivers from the ones that crash and burn. So whatever upgrade you do to your car later on, you will be better able to understand how it affects the car's balance and be more able drive it faster because of it.

I'm running a 22mm rsb w/ the stock 19mm in the front; in the dirt , a little scandinavian flick will get the car to start rotating, and a stab of the gas will finish it off. On the autocross, I found it too be *too* oversteer-ish. I need to tune more understeer into it w/ tire pressures to keep the back end planted in the tight switchbacks. On the slaloms though, it's an absolute blast.

[outbackmike]

Its a really hard decision,simply because you could use all of the above options.
Engine/suspension are very good options,and driving school is something mandatory if you are planning on driving like your seat is on fire. but!if you have an option to save some more and move to a newer WRX then i think its the better decision Save the money for a newer car,take some driving courses, and then do what ever you want to the suspension/engine.


That’s my humble opinion.

[GrassyKnoll]

Its a really hard decision,simply because you could use all of the above options.
Engine/suspension are very good options,and driving school is something mandatory if you are planning on driving like your seat is on fire. but!if you have an option to save some more and move to a newer WRX then i think its the better decision Save the money for a newer car,take some driving courses, and then do what ever you want to the suspension/engine.


That’s my humble opinion.

+1

[rougeben83]

Its a really hard decision,simply because you could use all of the above options.
Engine/suspension are very good options,and driving school is something mandatory if you are planning on driving like your seat is on fire. but!if you have an option to save some more and move to a newer WRX then i think its the better decision Save the money for a newer car,take some driving courses, and then do what ever you want to the suspension/engine.


That’s my humble opinion.

Lol, if you take me as an example, I pretty much addressed every aspect of the car's performance and I did it for around 2-3k, most of the parts installed myself.

Granted, it's by no means an uber fast car but I took a hollistic approach to changing things on the car (from engine, brakes, suspension, heck I've even got wrx seats in there), and I had plenty of money left over for autocrosses and rallycrosses. Fun stuff.

[Perdue]

suspension, then swap. Power is nothing without control. And don't get a new car...trust me. I should've listened to Roger (hating truck payment and newer vehicle insurance).

[Huffer]

And don't get a new car...trust me. I should've listened to Roger (hating truck payment and newer vehicle insurance).

Never too late to sell it before you end up with negative equity - get a cheap used car/truck, and keep saving.

[rougeben83]

The best value for a car is to buy one 1-2 years old. You won't take the initial hit of depreciation (something like 30-40% from the first year alone), but the car won't be too old as it would have any problems and/or neglinence of maintenance by the previous owner wouldn't be such a huge factor.

[GrassyKnoll]

Yea, I'm looking for an '05 STi with ~35k miles in the spring.