Power & Mods - what's the reality!?
05 April 2016, 10:54 PM
#31
The reality is, under the right circumstances you can be had or at least have something with way less power but being very well driven stick to your bumper like glue or even be unable to pass it if it's in front, just because the conditions don't favour what you're driving.
At the end of the day I tend to have more fun in cars with less power, also find the more power the less usable it becomes, fine if you just want to blast past people, but that tends to get old pretty quickly.
Even when I go carting I'll get out there in front for a few laps then get bored and start messing around sliding about waiting for everyone to catch up again so we can have a wheel to wheel tusstle, much more interesting than just disappearing off into the sunset.
But hey what ever makes you happy.
At the end of the day I tend to have more fun in cars with less power, also find the more power the less usable it becomes, fine if you just want to blast past people, but that tends to get old pretty quickly.
Even when I go carting I'll get out there in front for a few laps then get bored and start messing around sliding about waiting for everyone to catch up again so we can have a wheel to wheel tusstle, much more interesting than just disappearing off into the sunset.
But hey what ever makes you happy.
06 April 2016, 07:53 AM
#33
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
That's a given though Banny imo. You can't get away from the fact that Subaru's can have very good power to weight ratios, especially as nearly all are tuned. It's a shame I never did any VBOX logging in any of my Scoobs (I thought I'd actually lost the unit tbh).... but then I suspect the results would have made me even more concerned (comparing against my A45). lol
For me though that's one portion of my life closed for now, however, unless you really go full hog on the power upgrade front this does appear to highlight that basic Stage 1 mods on these newer turbo cars are probably the most sensible level to tune to. Anymore and gains get smaller, costs greatly increase and risk becomes higher. Same old, same old then! Ha
Right..... where did I put that EFR turbo!
For me though that's one portion of my life closed for now, however, unless you really go full hog on the power upgrade front this does appear to highlight that basic Stage 1 mods on these newer turbo cars are probably the most sensible level to tune to. Anymore and gains get smaller, costs greatly increase and risk becomes higher. Same old, same old then! Ha
Right..... where did I put that EFR turbo!
Last edited by Shaun; 06 April 2016 at 07:54 AM.
06 April 2016, 08:24 AM
#34
That's a given though Banny imo. You can't get away from the fact that Subaru's can have very good power to weight ratios, especially as nearly all are tuned. It's a shame I never did any VBOX logging in any of my Scoobs (I thought I'd actually lost the unit tbh).... but then I suspect the results would have made me even more concerned (comparing against my A45). lol
For me though that's one portion of my life closed for now, however, unless you really go full hog on the power upgrade front this does appear to highlight that basic Stage 1 mods on these newer turbo cars are probably the most sensible level to tune to. Anymore and gains get smaller, costs greatly increase and risk becomes higher. Same old, same old then! Ha
Right..... where did I put that EFR turbo!
For me though that's one portion of my life closed for now, however, unless you really go full hog on the power upgrade front this does appear to highlight that basic Stage 1 mods on these newer turbo cars are probably the most sensible level to tune to. Anymore and gains get smaller, costs greatly increase and risk becomes higher. Same old, same old then! Ha
Right..... where did I put that EFR turbo!
As for the EFR turbo, is a lovely turbo and you should do it out of curiosity
06 April 2016, 08:50 AM
#35
It's the same old law of diminishing returns, as for remaps/ stage 1 tune, what happens when we all do that 
I suspect we're right back where we started.
The older I get the less I see the point of tuning for power as generally there's not much opportunity to use it on the road beyond the odd overtake, which seems to bring mass distain in the form of horn honking and light flashing from those being overtaken, what's that about.
I'm back in the UK at the moment driving the mrs 1.0L viva which is more than enough motor around town and sits at 80mph on the motorway with no problems, still yet to be beaten off the lights in the 0 to 30mph dash
wonder what the vbox stats to 30mph are for all these souped up motors, I suspect there's even less in it in the real world.
I'm starting to think performance cars are pretty pointless especially with all the cameras and speed traps, I'm afraid to go over the posted limit and regularly push the cruise control button on the steering wheel even at 30/40mph due to the number of specs cameras on local roads.
I suspect we're right back where we started.The older I get the less I see the point of tuning for power as generally there's not much opportunity to use it on the road beyond the odd overtake, which seems to bring mass distain in the form of horn honking and light flashing from those being overtaken, what's that about.
I'm back in the UK at the moment driving the mrs 1.0L viva which is more than enough motor around town and sits at 80mph on the motorway with no problems, still yet to be beaten off the lights in the 0 to 30mph dash
wonder what the vbox stats to 30mph are for all these souped up motors, I suspect there's even less in it in the real world.I'm starting to think performance cars are pretty pointless especially with all the cameras and speed traps, I'm afraid to go over the posted limit and regularly push the cruise control button on the steering wheel even at 30/40mph due to the number of specs cameras on local roads.
06 April 2016, 09:13 AM
#36
You lot are getting too old by the sounds of it! While I agree that for 96% of the time a big power Impreza is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, it's the other 4% that makes it all worthwhile. Blowing away that smug 911 driver or enjoying a high speed late night blast down a country road still put a big smile on my face. Shallow? Of course, but it reminds me I'm still alive 
06 April 2016, 09:18 AM
#37
You lot are getting too old by the sounds of it! While I agree that for 96% of the time a big power Impreza is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, it's the other 4% that makes it all worthwhile. Blowing away that smug 911 driver or enjoying a high speed late night blast down a country road still put a big smile on my face. Shallow? Of course, but it reminds me I'm still alive
. Forgot to reply your post regarding bodybuilding earlier in this thread, it is something I have been heavily involved with for a good many years. Yes I agree to some extent it has zero application in most real world situations but however it teaches your discipline, patience, perseverance, the desire to set a goals and above all else just to better oneself physically and mentally
06 April 2016, 09:30 AM
#38
I don't think that the power really has that much to do with the fun factor, ok you get the surge as you stamp the loud pedal, but like I said, that gets old pretty quickly, for me at least and probably many others too judging by the constant quest for more.
I was the same with bikes, once you've gone up to 180mph a few times it becomes more about the twisty bits and the finesse needed to get through them, it's no different with cars and you don't need loads of power to do it, my favourite all time road bike only had 400cc and regularly dusted 1000cc bikes on road and track.
Where I live in the UK (notts close to A60) almost every direction has specs cameras, I could loose my licence in a 10min drive from my house, there's only one route that's not got them and that's full of statics and vans, so 0-30 is king around here.
I was the same with bikes, once you've gone up to 180mph a few times it becomes more about the twisty bits and the finesse needed to get through them, it's no different with cars and you don't need loads of power to do it, my favourite all time road bike only had 400cc and regularly dusted 1000cc bikes on road and track.
Where I live in the UK (notts close to A60) almost every direction has specs cameras, I could loose my licence in a 10min drive from my house, there's only one route that's not got them and that's full of statics and vans, so 0-30 is king around here.
06 April 2016, 09:59 AM
#39
Scooby Regular
I don't think that the power really has that much to do with the fun factor, ok you get the surge as you stamp the loud pedal, but like I said, that gets old pretty quickly, for me at least and probably many others too judging by the constant quest for more.
I was the same with bikes, once you've gone up to 180mph a few times it becomes more about the twisty bits and the finesse needed to get through them, it's no different with cars and you don't need loads of power to do it, my favourite all time road bike only had 400cc and regularly dusted 1000cc bikes on road and track.
Where I live in the UK (notts close to A60) almost every direction has specs cameras, I could loose my licence in a 10min drive from my house, there's only one route that's not got them and that's full of statics and vans, so 0-30 is king around here.
I was the same with bikes, once you've gone up to 180mph a few times it becomes more about the twisty bits and the finesse needed to get through them, it's no different with cars and you don't need loads of power to do it, my favourite all time road bike only had 400cc and regularly dusted 1000cc bikes on road and track.
Where I live in the UK (notts close to A60) almost every direction has specs cameras, I could loose my licence in a 10min drive from my house, there's only one route that's not got them and that's full of statics and vans, so 0-30 is king around here.
I've also driven a 998 cc imp engined Darrian faster round Knockhill than many so called supercars that were there on the day. Go figure.
Whilst yes its fun to put owners of cars they think are quicker than you but don't realise what power you've got in their place, I'd venture its *much* more fun to do it with less in real world situations
06 April 2016, 10:17 AM
#40
I'll agree with you on this one Ditchy. One of the most "fun" cars I ever had was a highly modified 1980 1,000 cc mini I owned in the late 90's that ended up as 1098 cc with a DCOE carb, big valve head, high lift cam and obligatory Janspeed LCB exhaust with probably about 85 bhp max. Was slow by today's standards but great fun at "sane" speeds. You could drive it harder more of the time.
I've also driven a 998 cc imp engined Darrian faster round Knockhill than many so called supercars that were there on the day. Go figure.
Whilst yes its fun to put owners of cars they think are quicker than you but don't realise what power you've got in their place, I'd venture its *much* more fun to do it with less in real world situations
I've also driven a 998 cc imp engined Darrian faster round Knockhill than many so called supercars that were there on the day. Go figure.
Whilst yes its fun to put owners of cars they think are quicker than you but don't realise what power you've got in their place, I'd venture its *much* more fun to do it with less in real world situations
, I keep going back to it, but I had a hell of a lot of fun caning the crap out of the Rover 214 out in Croatia with all of 103bhp also loved my MK2 Fiesta XR2's in the 90's and doubt they had much more than the Rover power wise.On a side note tempted to swap my Isuzu Trooper for a MK1 Golf GTD out in Croatia for similar reasons, hardly use the Trooper and there's a lad that was interested in a swap with it, might have to give him 100 euro on top, but it could be fun, never owned a golf but drove a mates back in the 80's and it was fun, so I'll see if he's still got it when I get back.
06 April 2016, 11:20 AM
#41
Scooby Regular
Did the mini thing too 30 odd years ago , I keep going back to it, but I had a hell of a lot of fun caning the crap out of the Rover 214 out in Croatia with all of 103bhp also loved my MK2 Fiesta XR2's in the 90's and doubt they had much more than the Rover power wise.
On a side note tempted to swap my Isuzu Trooper for a MK1 Golf GTD out in Croatia for similar reasons, hardly use the Trooper and there's a lad that was interested in a swap with it, might have to give him 100 euro on top, but it could be fun, never owned a golf but drove a mates back in the 80's and it was fun, so I'll see if he's still got it when I get back.
, I keep going back to it, but I had a hell of a lot of fun caning the crap out of the Rover 214 out in Croatia with all of 103bhp also loved my MK2 Fiesta XR2's in the 90's and doubt they had much more than the Rover power wise.On a side note tempted to swap my Isuzu Trooper for a MK1 Golf GTD out in Croatia for similar reasons, hardly use the Trooper and there's a lad that was interested in a swap with it, might have to give him 100 euro on top, but it could be fun, never owned a golf but drove a mates back in the 80's and it was fun, so I'll see if he's still got it when I get back.
I meant late 80's
So yeah, nearly 30 years ago too
06 April 2016, 12:06 PM
#42
I agree with that 100%, my type r is useless in 99% of driving situation for me but all that matters is that 1% . Forgot to reply your post regarding bodybuilding earlier in this thread, it is something I have been heavily involved with for a good many years.
Yes I agree to some extent it has zero application in most real world situations but however it teaches your discipline, patience, perseverance, the desire to set a goals and above all else just to better oneself physically and mentally
. Forgot to reply your post regarding bodybuilding earlier in this thread, it is something I have been heavily involved with for a good many years. Yes I agree to some extent it has zero application in most real world situations but however it teaches your discipline, patience, perseverance, the desire to set a goals and above all else just to better oneself physically and mentally
I agree with you all the way regarding bodybuilding, and in fact your comments about discipline, patience etc really apply in any other activity requiring such total commitment & dedication.
And isn't this what serious car modding is all about too, satisfaction with the result of all your efforts? I'm not including the chequebook tuners in this of course, that's like having biceps and glute implants!
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