Hi all

had a discussion today with a guy at work who has a mk4 golf gti extremely modded performance wise etc. brakes..exhaust..engine..suspension etc.

he's pretty much like me (except 10 yrs older) always trying to find new stuff to do to his car to improve it..

anyway saw him today in a completely standard golf gti.. didnt even realise it was him..

turns out over the weekend, he has returned his car back to standard, including a remap back to standard.

so it is now just bog standard, even standard exhaust etc.

and he is saying it is cracking to drive and he is enjoying it loads more!

he says hislook on modifying may have changed.. he's not sure whether it was worth it.. to have a loud decatted car with stiff supesntion and white wheels that are a nightmare to clean etc.

when he could have bought a faster better car.. (although this car was impressive)

discuss.. what do you think of modding? could you live with standard? do you regret the money spent? is subtle mods the way forward? i.e. upgrades from newer imprezas rather than aftermarkit bits?

just got me thinking..discuss with your life experiences.. i'm only 21..cant have experienced as mucha s you oldies on here

 

I would love a fairly standard looking Scooby but with decent power.

 

yeah standard wheels stabndard everything, just a nice 270 bhp will be good.. suppose there not much unmolestard standard evrsions around?

apart from some jap imports that come in at grade 4, maybe when im older ill settle for a standard scooby

i think with trackdays and the like in mind it changes the way you look at your car.. if its just a road car, youd look at it differently and say is it worth it

 

I kept mine totally standard for the first three years, but over the last three have added what I believe subtle mods, ones that I think car should have left the factory like imo.

Nothing wrong with modding scoobs just prefer mine that way.

 

I have on order a white type r and I have ask the company to find me a bog standard unmodified example as I intend to keep it more or less standard.......famous last words I hear you all say.

My last Impreza, I sent a small fortune and although it did make the car faster on the twistes and looked better so the money spent actually did something, I don't think I shall be doing the same again mod wise.

Remember that Top Gear episode where they tried to make a renault avantime V6 as fast as an Evo in which they got within 10 or so seconds. Then they summed up that you are better to by a faster car to start off with.

 

It's all about doing the right mods that generate demonstrable gains in the real word....and the last bit is critical. Too many people just bung things on blindly or on the back of dubious claims and end up making things worse!

 

I have always kept my performance cars standard and like to see older classics in their original form from the factory such as the 205 GTI, 106 GTI, GT Turbo, WRX and STI to name but a few.

If I were to do anything it would be something easily reversable such as a drop in filter, different tyres, or a performance exhaust keeping the standard one in case I wanted to swap it back.

I see nothing wrong with modding, each to their own, and I find it interesting seeing what mods and power gains people achieive.

my philosophy is that the impreza is a Fantastic car in standard format, if it ain't broke why try and fix it! but maybe i'm just getting old!

 

modding is all good fun. Personally i dont get the big bodykit mods n inside n stuff. more performance i think. clearly some subtle styling mods are good tho.

 

Fella at work has a totally standard Blobeye WRX. 5 years old only done 22000 miles. Drove it other day (first time Ive driven a standard one) and was suprised how slow it felt. If thats the way they feel from the factory I think Ill stick to modifying

 

A car is a personal thing and if you feel the need to change it in any way IE mods then do it. At the end of the day if you are happy with the mod then that's all that counts.
Saying that I think that some mods seem to be 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Then there's the cost some parts are well over priced for what you are getting in the real world and I don't think it puts any value on the cars price when you come to sell if anything it probably devalues it.

 

You won't get the money back from the mods when you come to sell. Even if you take the mods off and sell separately, they will still be sold off at a loss.

 

I spent lots of money on my old car with white wheels spoilers and other stuff and once I'd finished I looked at a pick soon after I bought it and wish I'd left it alone - or at least spent in the right areas.

I could have bought a 350HP scoob with 6 speed box the full works but I just felt it was too modded for me. I bought the best I could find and aimed to get a limited or rare model. It does have some mods but all of them have been done for a reason. I intend to carry this trend on - ish

 

I'm a great believer in buying the car you want, rather than buying a car you don't want and changing it in an attempt to transform it into the car you really wanted in the first place - if that makes any sense?

From what I see, there is an industry which has been built up around some very dubious claims .... but, of course, non Engineers haven't a hope in hell of seeing through the blatant hype.

With a modified 500 BHP you simply arrive at the back of the next traffic queue a few seconds before I do, but I overtake you when your engine has blown up!

When it comes to selling the car that resembles very little of the original, you will struggle to get a call, struggle to get a decent price, struggle to convince a buyer that you have not thrashed it to within an inch of it's life! Again, the standard car seller beats you to the bank, with more money too.

And, to cap it all off, what do you think you look like while driving down the street? No the word they are shouting is not COOL!!!!

Keep it standard, keep your money, keep your dignity and your pride

That's my personal opinion on the subject.

 

To chav or not to chav that is the question.

Subtle mods are fine, as are performance upgrades, but big tacky body kits are a no-no.

 

I think that if you buy a rare top-spec performance model of any car (not just a Subaru), you are best off keeping it standard: the manufacturer would probably have thrown all the best bits out of their performance parts bin at it anyway. That way you'll get best money for it when the time comes.

If you have one of the more popular models, then who cares what you do with it? On BBC Breakfast this morning, there was a guy with an old MR2. He claimed to have spent 16 grand on it, but I would be surprised if he would get more than a couple of grand for it if he put it up for sale.

 

I agree, but that's the same with anything in life; you have to sort to wheat from the chaff. If you don't possess the knowledge to do it, you consult someone trustworthy who does!

Subaru made an excellent car, it can be improved and well modified to make it even better, but one has to take an intelligent approach: just chucking things at it at random without knowing what parts do or having a "game-plan" will likely make the car worse, cost one a small fortune and could end up doing a lot of damage.

Good example is suspension: I've seen people going around with ruinously lowered cars that will have no bump absorption whatsoever and would, therefore, be significantly compromised (i.e. slower) on UK roads. It's the same with coil overs etc. Some people still seem to be under the impression that the stiffer the springs the better: no, no, no! certainly not for road use! Getting things like that wrong can ruin one's enjoyment of the car! Get it right, however, and you relaize something else quickly:

Subaru didn't make the Impreza as well as it could: it made it as well as it could to a budget. The enlightened can rectify this!

 

unless it is a dedicated track car for motorsport, I think there should be some differentiation between track cars and road cars in your arguement

 

Its the same question in many different car scenes. With VW's I remember when the early MK3's came out. A lot of people were buying second hand MK1's as they had lost a lot of value. All the MK1's were getting lowered, tuned, smoothed etc etc now years on a standard MK1 is the holy grail.
Its becoming the same with scoobs, a totally clean standard impreza of a K plate would be a star find.
I do mod, Not so much the looks of the car but power and handling I like to mess about with.
In an ideal world I would be able to buy two of the same cars, keep one as a mint standard and the other as a play thing mod'd car.

If I buy a P1 next I will want to keep it standard, if I get an MY09 I will want to change it, I think cars gain respect from there owners as they get older.

 

I'd like to able to but a Porsche GT3(?), but a 400 bhp Scoob with better brakes and suspension is about £50,000 cheaper.

Will do for me !

dunx

 

I think its a question of age, when a car is reasonably new, people like to "make them stand out" as they all look the same, but when the car becomes old, people look at modded old cars as thrashed and messed up.

Old standard cars that look 100% mint, as if they had just been delivered, always look awesome IMO.

i used to have this debate every day when i had my scooby, i would look out the window at work and think " **** me i wish i had of left the thing alone" and then when i actually drove the car home i would think "**** me this things awesome"

it was the same, every single day, for maybe the past 6 months!
now that its gone, i am kinda happy that i am not constantly getting sucked into the "modding game" as it never seams to end!

 

lol so true the above post, you'll mod the car and think why have i spent the money on it, then when you get in and drive it you think wow now i know why i spent it

 

That's the real danger: you can go on and on and on!

 

I have spent literally £10'000's modifying cars over 2 decades.

not anymore- can't be arsed, its too time consuming.

never recover a penny back either really-- i.e that big £3K stereo- well its worth chuff all at the end of the day- those fancy rims-- nah........... that paint job....... well its so last year..........

Critically, modern cars are now so good and so fast- for pence to buy- its not like modifying and upgrading a car 20 years ago- that if you didn't sort brakes/handling- nobbish driving was probably going to kill you.

I bought a 2004 wrx sl sportwagen from subaru several years ago.

it is 100% stock as a rock and I can't see any point changing it. day to day I cannot possiby use the power and speed it can give me.

also being absolute top spec- there is nothing I can add to the car.

cosmetically a few changes might be nice- but honestly, I'm not 18 and I couldn't give a toss about it.

 

Visually mine has (just) got a rear diffuser & OZ alloys, the rest in Subaru supplied, except on the performance side, where I've concentrated my efforts.

dunx

 

I like to see cars, no matter what the make/model (older the better) standard externally with perhaps the exeption of a s/s exhaust system.
I believe that most cars, 'out of the box' are to some degree 'restricted' to suit the laws of their country of origin, usually by way of breathing(hence the exeption of s/s exhaust)/fueling or mapping. So to achive the full potential of the vehicle a little fettling is imho acceptable.
But that is the difference, releasing what is already there as opposed to 'heavily' modding with bigger this 'n' that and spending ££££'s that you will never see again. Apart from servicing/running costs, my Scoobs had about £600 spent on mods and i don't intend on doing anymore. Its not like putting an extension on your house, where at the end of the day you will turn a profit.
I have never bought a modded motor for the simple reason that i cant understand why, someone would chuck a shed load of dosh at a motor and then knowingly sell for a loss
Anyhoo all IMHO, no offence to anyone

 

over the 6 years i had my scoob, i spent 13k on it it lmfao

its quite scary when you step back and give yourself a shake

i had fun along the way mind

 

Am very tempted to facelift my 93 Type RA and add an STI high level spoiler but would that ruin it? it would look nicer but its the first RA model made would facelifting effect the value of it???

 

IMO yes. Or at least it would put people off because there would be questions as to why its had a face lift (ie accident). I'm not keen on the pre- facelift look but to change it could devalue the car. At least if you do change it keep the OE parts and make any future buyers fully aware of why its been changed.

I'm seriously considering an FMIC but not keen on altering the look of the car.

 

It would ruin the originality/autheticity for me, but prob not for you.
And if you were to sell, I would question when looking at the ad, 'how is it one of the 1st yet has facelift, prangged perhaps? Nah i'll leave that one'

 

to be honest a scoob is fast enough for the road in standard form and probably more fun because its easier to get to the limits of the cars capability and feel like you are really driving it.

I have more fun on the road in my 2.0 focus with 130 odd bhp than my wagon with well over 350\350 (well it did have before I blew it up )...on track however the wagon comes into its own.