HAHA! I was the same way with the old Civic I had. It was super hush-hush to the 'rents. They are very conservative people and if there is no need for something they think its a waste. Parents are such a downer when you want to spend money on your car...especially when you in all honesty should be saving or investing it. =) http://www.bahnbrenner.com/vw_audi/c.../VW_Turbo_Kits
http://www.orz-motorsport.com/index12.html


Hereare a couple linksI found in about 2min of doing a little google search. I am not too sure on the quality of them.Others on thissite will be able to give you more insight than I.

The vr6's are tight engines. I am not too sure about the theory about the vr6 engine I think its more of a marketing ploy then anything else (kinda like the new "hemi's"). To my understanding they have a closer degree "V" which again not 100% sure but I think give more effect on the line of an inline-6 which has more torque than a traditional "V" Motor. I dunno. =) I might just be talking out the wrong part of my body on this one.

 

yeah man..its the same way with me im pretty sure my parents wont approve of getting new rims... because they have no use since i already have stock rims.
i know that i would like a turbo, but that wont happen anytime soon. if it does, it will be towards the end of college or when im out and get another car and that one becomes my project car.

and as for the vr6, im pretty sure youre right about it being hyped up more than it really is. but, its a pretty good engine imo, and its DOHC so thats a bonus...not necessarily for gas mileage lol.
and i do have a lot of torque, way more than my parents saturn. i hate that car so much. thats why it took me so long to find a car was because my parents wanted me to get a saturn and i didnt want a saturn so they let me look for a different car (thank God) so i ended up with this one after 4 months of looking.
and i can actually keep up with other cars in this one. like this morning i left early for school (i commute so there is a lot of freeway driving) and i looked in my mirror and saw some riced out car coming towards me...pretty fast...and lo and behold it was an rx7!! so i caught up with him (he was doing about 90) and i pushed him a little and we got it up to about 100 until he had to get off the freeway and then i slowed down...but i wouldnt have been able to do that had it been in a saturn.

so overall, im happy with it. just need a little more practice to where its habit and then ill be good.

 

I think some people would disagree with me on this but I would wait to get the rims. If anything do some performance stuff. If you are seriously thinking of forced induction get some new springs, heavy duty fuel pump, new ignition pack, underdrive pullies, adjustable cam gears, something discrete. That is until you get that turbo kit. If you buy an exhaust you will probably want a bigger one when you get a turbo (the header will be useless too). If you get an intake its going to be garbage as well (think like our parents with these mods). If you put rims on there is a possibility you are going to slow your car down. Say for example you have 16" rims and they weigh...i dunno 30 pounds. Even if you get a 17 or 18" that weighs 20 pounds your car will be putting less hp to the wheels. Unsprung weight is the worst because it is dead weight that is basically pulling the car (to my understanding) so getting a rim that is lighter is a good thing. However, the diameter gets bigger hence it takes more energy to turn it..even though it is lighter. Just a little food for thought.

I am not sure if I am the only one but I have a sore spot with every driver that loves to stop on your back bumper. You do not realize this much when you are driving an automatic. You notice it big time when you release that clutch and you start to roll back a tad. Hills are horrible and it never fails that I have someone on my back side. I always just grit my teeth when I have to excessively slip my clutch so that I don't hit the jerk in the car behind me.


Like I said though, you have a bad-*** car and its going to be real fun to play with I am sure. I cant wait to see what you do to it in the time to come.

 

i was going to wait until i need new tires until i start thinking about new rims... see some rims come wrapped without much additional cost, and sometimes they give them to you wrapped free if you buy say, rims that are 700$ a set.
but as for weight, i totally agree about the weight...but the main problem is that the lighter they are, the more expensive they can be...
so as for the rim thing, im waiting it out to see how it goes.
i also dont like people who come up right behind you at a stoplight. because what happens if i kill it, and then for whatever reason cant turn it back on? then they have to sit there and cant move and you get more embarassed than you already are, etc etc etc...
and ive had to turn on my emergency lights once because i was doing so bad...lol. but that was only one time. and it was night, so nobody saw my face. i tend to leave a decent amount of room between myself and the car in front of me so i can find the clutch point, start to move forward a little, etc and basically just be ready for when its time to go. it saves time IMO.
but im starting to enjoy driving stick. for a few days i was really nervous and i would dread driving, but now im not nervous and its pretty fun.

but as for beginning mods, i was thinking a cold air intake. i heard that increases hp (like, 4 at the most) and im going to need a new clutch in about a month or two i can feel mine start to slip when i floor it in third. i havent really thought through the whole mod thing for this car yet basically because its pretty decent the way it is. but thanks for your suggestions ill look into the cost and hp gain etc etc for future projects.

oh and ill post pics tomorrow my camera isnt at my house at the moment.

 

Stalling at stoplights is pretty embarrassing...I have definately had my share of that. It seems as though some days your car has more power (could be temperature of car engine or outside temp or if you are running your accessories or just all in my head???) and you just give it a little less then needed and uhh oohh. =) I would have to do some searching around for this but one of my friends has told me that if your car is at a great enough angle that there is a safety switch in the car that will not allow it to start until it is on more level ground. I am not too sure about this but if this would make things pretty interesting if stalled on a hill and have to waive cars around you so you can roll down. If you have to replace the clutch you can definately get a little stiffer clutch...while you are at it throw in a short shifter as well. I would watch getting too strong of a clutch though. A stronger clutch means your going to get a leg workout and also I think (I have never driven one to share the experience) they are more in or out..if you know what I mean. My understanding is they do not slip nearly as much so if you are a novice its going to be a jerky ride engaging and disengaging...or it might be all together anyhow...this is another question you might want to ask around for. This is something though you tell your parents well I didnt want to get the cheap one because they said the more expensive one would last much longer and since I plan on keeping the car for a while it just makes sense in the long run to pay a little more now and save money later. =)

 

actually, i like a softer clutch. i really like mine now because its easy to have a smooth start and no jerking around. but i would like a long-term clutch...well then again, who doesnt?
it would suck to stall on a hill... thats why im never driving stick in san francisco. lol.

but bmw came out with hill assist where when you take your foot off the brake when your on a hill the brake stays engaged for about 2-3 seconds while you move your foot over to the gas and start to go. definately a helpful feature.

 

Thats pretty neat about the bimmer. I had a FJ cruiser before I got my civic. It had a feature on it that say you were on a hill and you stalled out you did not have to press in the clutch to start it up again. It was a temporary by-pass of the clutch to prevent rolling back. However, this system was just made for off-roading and was not made for everyday driving. It especially was not as complex at the one you are mentioning.

A long term clutch is one you do not abuse haha! Those burnouts and lots of hills will do wonders to a poor innocent clutch. Loosing the front end of your car might be enjoyable and a crowd pleaser to a couple friends however it reeks devistation on the drivetrain.

 

omg that reminds me of a few vids ive seen of people trying to do a burnout but all the power goes to spinning the clutch and then clutch smoke comes up from around the wheelwells and theyre thinking that they are spinning their tires, when they arent...lol those are always funny to watch.

i dont plan on burning out at all because tires are pretty expensive.

but you had an fj cruiser? why?? lol why not just get a range rover or something if you want every day offroad capabilities, and comfort at the same time.

 

I like all sorts of vehicles I am not someone who just says blah this is the best car in the world and everything else is junk (although you will hear me saying that about American cars =)) I liked the fj and with the job I had in the time I had to travel some roads that were not so nice (dirt, gravel and sand) I figured once I got some miles on it I would put a bigger lift on it (I put a temporary 3" on it) get some huge tires and try to get it stuck somewhere. Those dreams came to a screaming halt when I realized the trucks were having problems with the bodys splitting over the front struts and toyota not doing anything about it. I got rid of it before I had a problem.

The truck road pretty well (even after the lift) comfort wasnt an issue). The range rover has some of the worst reliability rates of any vehicles. They are just horribly unreliable (from what consumer reports says), I never experienced one myself. The second reason why is that they are $$$ That fj cost me 27k. Try to fid a brand new range rover for that price. Now, a stripped bare bones LAND rover might be around that ball park but that FJ would far better than any of them offroad and as far as them being a little more comfortable...its a fun SUV its not supposed to be plush.

 

that is true, the rover is much more expensive.

aaand i was under the impression that they didnt break often, but now that its owned by ford i suppose it went down the toilet. what a shame.

what did you replace the fj cruiser with?