im in australia and its not hard to change gears with your left hand.i dont drive manual much but when i have its been fine.
my car: my only mod so far is blue valve stem covers and ripping apart the dash the other day to disconnect the daytime running lights. lol, it's the perfect sleeper, and nothing gonna happen but a 2 1/2 inch exhaust and cold air intake until all the warranties run out Phoenix: i agree with everyone else--mod the hell out of the car. it's a great base to work with XD
My concept of modding a car is to do it under the bonnet alone... In UK just having a nice set of wheels in your car is enough to have it nicked... Keep it under the bonnet and you're safe... Tart the car up and you'll have nothing but headaches with those tea leaves... Recently i had my stereo nicked, it didn't even have the facia on... But they still smash and grabbed it... People in uk do a lot of engine upgrades, like a Calibra 2.0l turbo engine into a Corsa... Tune the bast'd and you're left with 200bhp at the wheels... As quick as a 911 to 120mph... And of course, all under the bonnet! Just a thought.
@phoenix21 Start with some stickers. The windows look a little drab. You should spruce that a up a little.
I've never been into moddin' cars, if I turned up at work with a car modded when I was an apprentice engineer, everyone would have laughed! I agree with permiggs on this one, do it all under the bonnet & possibly tickle the suspension. I prefer to have a bigger engined car, 2 litre instead of 1.6. I laugh at "boy racers", each to their own I guess. If I modded I would want a large V8 diesel (3 or 4 litre), with a supercharger for instant kick. They are kinder to the engines than turbos. I like reliabilty over top performance. Also, you cannot over-rev a diesel due to its' governor!
How about some stripes for the sides and some hub caps until you can get some flashy rims. You might want to tint the windows as it will not only look cool but also protect your upholdstery.
god, here's how i know i'm an american for sure...my engine is considered quite small by our standards, and it's a 2.5 liter! most engines in my midwest area are 4.5 to 7 liter gas engines, or 6 to 8 liter diesels... what a waste of fuel, it seems, lol.
It's amazing the power that the Japanese can get out of a 2.0litre. I would love a 2 stroke diesel to be developed for cars, they would sound nice!
Oil Change - Men vs. Women One of our Admin’s sent this to me and I was rolling after I read it. Trust me folks, as an “older” man this is not far off at all. Oil Change - Men vs. Women Author: Digital Dave Date: 13-Feb-2006 Oil Change instructions for Women: 1) Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change. 2) Drink a cup of coffee. 3) 15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle. Money spent: Oil Change $20.00 Coffee $1.00 Total $21.00 Oil Change instructions for Men: (#28 is my FAVORITE)......BUT go in order.... 1) Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $50.00. 2) Stop by 7 - 11 and buy a case of beer, write a check f or $20, drive home. 3) Open a beer and drink it. 4) Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands. 5) Find jack stands under kid's pedal car. 6) In frustration, open another beer and drink it. 7) Place drain pan under engine. 8) Look for 9/16 box end wrench. 9) Give up and use crescent wrench. 10) Unscrew drain plug. 11) Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss. 12) Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms. Throw kitty litter on spilled oil. 13) Have another beer while watching oil drain. 14) Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench. 15) Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off. 16) Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer. 17) Buddy shows up; finish case of beer with him. Decide to finish oil change tomorrow so you can go see his new garage door opener. 18) Sunday: Skip church because "I gotta finish the oil change." Drag pan full of old oil out from underneath car. Cleverly dump oil in hole in back yard instead of taking it back to Kragen to recycle. 19) Throw kitty litter on oil spilled during step 18. 20) Beer? No, drank it all yesterday. 21) Walk to 7-11; buy beer. 22) Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface. 23) Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine. 24) Remember drain plug from step 11. 25) Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan. 26) Remember that the used oil is buried in a hole in the back yard, along with drain plug. 27) Drink beer. 28) Shovel out hole and sift oily mud for drain plug. Re-shovel oily dirt into hole. Steal sand from kids sandbox to cleverly cover oily patch of ground and avoid environmental penalties. Wash drain plug in lawnmower gas. 29) Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill. 30) Drink beer. 31) Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame. 32) Bang head on floorboards in reaction to step 31. 33) Begin cussing fit. 34) Throw stupid crescent wrench. 35) Cuss for additional 10 minutes because wrench hit bowling trophy. 36) Beer. 37) Clean up hands and forehead and bandage as required t o stop blood flow. 38) Beer. 39) Beer. 40) Dump in five fresh quarts of oil. 41) Beer. 42) Lower car from jack stands. 43) Accidentally crush remaining case of new motor oil. 44) Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during steps 23 - 43. 45) Beer. 46) Test drive car. 47) Get pulled over: arrested for driving under the influence. 48) Car gets impounded. 49) Call loving wife, make bail. 50) 12 hours later, get car from impound yard. Money spent: Parts: $50 DUI $2500.00 Impound fee $75.00 Bail $1500.00 Beer $40.00 Total - - $4,165.00 But you know the job was done right!
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt! I once serviced the Genny in our yard. T'was a 184 litre V12 Paxman Ricardo. That took some oil! The filters weighed a ton when full! V12 Deutz's were biatches (all that ducting for the air cooling!), 10litre Cummins & Cats were OK though! V16 Detroits were cool & sounded nice too!
I wouldn't know, I have absolutely no clue about American cars (Not really interested anyway, I only really like Audis or Astons!). In the UK 2litre is a big engine. What with fuel being 90pence per litre, we can't afford to run these huge petrol engines! A car to me is just a method of transport, to get me from A to B. Can't see the point in modding, a lot of money, which you will never re-coop. All this just to look "cool"! Personally, a 2.5 litre V6 TDi Audi A4, badges removed & privacy glass would do me fine. 147mph top end & 40+mpg to boot! I do not like people knowing what I have under the bonnet. My GSX-R 750 had its' cc covered up, so nobody knew what it was. I prefer subtlety.
that's why i chose the Impreza RS over a used WRX or STI...very clean-cut and unmarred by badges, graphics, stamps, or enormous wings, yet packed with everything the discerning driver wants.
Congratulations on your first car, Phoenix. It looks much better than the first one that I bought, way back when. Enjoy it.
this thread keeps changing and evolving...hmm, perhaps it has survival instincts superior to other threads? lol my first car was a 1960 chevy truck, minted in October of '59. 3 on the tree with a v-6....it actually got stolen when it was literally a pile of rust with no brakes that only would go into second gear...but it still drove XD
Cars I've owned and what time period: '87 Ford Escort , 1997-2001 '90 Honda Crx , 2001-2004 '99 Ford Escort :|, 2004-present
my first car was a mazda 323 sedan 86model i think.fairly small car and it used hardly any fuel.my mums car has a bigger engine than mine hers is 4L V6 and thats considered normal.my old mazda had a 1.5L V4 engine and the mazda i have now is 1.8L fuel injected V4.i fid that any car as lkong as its V4 1.5L is ok for the roads here as the maximun speed limited is 110kmph.i know my first mazda maxed out at 165kmph and i could maxed the one i got now at probably 200kmph but im not gonna risk it now that ive actually got a proper drivers licence.
