Pose vs Power...

[RhysQ]

hey all,

i just thought it would be good to start up a thread to get the views on what people would spend their money on first - looks or performance.

tell us your views, previous experiences, and future plans (including costs) etc.

if you feel like it, post some pics up of what you've done or want to do.

Cheers,

Rhys

[99gti]

I keep saying powah!!! But I still find myself spending money on astheitc touches like tail lights, wheels, new seats, hood extesnion, clear indicators etc. etc. etc.

Next on the list for me is rear valance and then doing the last part of my exhaust getting ready for bigger turbo

[VW GTI]

The only looks thing I would pay for is wheels. Possibly an OEM bodykit.

I go purely for performance, because you don't drive the outside of the car.

Only other thing I've spent money on is my number plate, which is more because it was available for resale when I was browsing.

[Blitzen]

I have repainted my bonnet, and added personalised plates, but they are the only things I am adding in the looks department...Everything else I am doing to my Pogo is going to be performance related...I really want to keep it as a sleeper, and keep people wondering.

[gareth_oau]

thats a tricky question to answer, i'd say a balance of both.

for example, my FPV has got 6 pot Brembos on 355mm discs. the braking is phenomenal, but they look sooooooo good too. Fortunately they were standard on the car, coz I could never afford to put those on afterwards)

I will always try to buy a car with the looks already, and then spend more on performance.

Ive just acquired an 8L S3, which is completely stock in the looks department, but fortunately its a great looking car in std form, so doesnt need any visual enhancement.

i'm also fortunate that my good friend Daniel the previous owner has spent big bucks to get it up to circa 250Kw

the only visual enhancement I could probably justify are wheels, but so far ive always managed to buy cars with great wheels already and the S3 has some reasonable 17's which I can live with for a while

[The_Hawk]

I would like to say I'm about performance, and given the money I would get the supercharger over new wheels...

y mods so far have been CAI, strut brace, coilovers and exhaust work.

At the same time I have painted the calipers, got new headlights, new head unit (which matches the interior better) and added the sub box + new boot lighting.

I think there is always going to be context. For example painting brake calipers is pose, but it's cheap and easy, which leads to my next point. It's also a question of your disposable income. Maybe you do some performance mods but it goes fast enough or handles well enough so you want it to look good. Mind you there is a fairly big thick line between a new body kit to compliment your car and $20k worth lights and fibreglass attached to a stock Excel.

[WEDEL.1]

I try not to spend any money on them at all. Cars are a huge users of money just to keep them going so I spend most money just to keep them looking nice and keep them standard. Running two cars is NOT cheap!

I found out a long time ago that performance mods was money down the drain when it came to trade-in time.

The Green T4 is still a testament to this. When I had it valued several years ago (on a new Polo), the assessor walked around the back of the van, read the badges, looked in the red book, then applied all those details into $$$$. They did not take into account the seat/bed conversion, the floor, fog lights, armrests, cruise control, colour coding etc. All that was a gift to them, which THEY would then use to sell the car.

To have a chance of keeping the money you spend on a car, you need to sell privately, and hope someone will come all who will appreciate the work & money you have put into it.

I have learned to buy cars that I like in standard condition or that will do a specific job FOR me. The T4 takes us on holidays that are cheaper than staying in motels/hotels/cabins and will take us off road. The Polo is very fuel efficient and easy for Julia to drive to go shopping, picking up the Grand Children from school etc. With the way fuel prices are going, its the best compromise.

Maris

[RhysQ]

I try not to spend any money on them at all. Cars are a huge users of money just to keep them going so I spend most money just to keep them looking nice and keep them standard. Running two cars is NOT cheap!

I found out a long time ago that performance mods was money down the drain when it came to trade-in time.

The Green T4 is still a testament to this. When I had it valued several years ago (on a new Polo), the assessor walked around the back of the van, read the badges, looked in the red book, then applied all those details into $$$$. They did not take into account the seat/bed conversion, the floor, fog lights, armrests, cruise control, colour coding etc. All that was a gift to them, which THEY would then use to sell the car.

To have a chance of keeping the money you spend on a car, you need to sell privately, and hope someone will come all who will appreciate the work & money you have put into it.

I have learned to buy cars that I like in standard condition or that will do a specific job FOR me. The T4 takes us on holidays that are cheaper than staying in motels/hotels/cabins and will take us off road. The Polo is very fuel efficient and easy for Julia to drive to go shopping, picking up the Grand Children from school etc. With the way fuel prices are going, its the best compromise.

Maris

in saying that Maris, you did paint your wheels black ......poser

i suppose people have different views on the matter and for me personally, it's quite even, if anything, i'm slightly leaning towards the aesthetic side of things. power is a great thing, however, there is nothing better than the surprised look on the face of a luxury performance car driver (see signature below).

i was lucky to buy my Polo GTI as it is ($24,490) with the black bonnet, leather trim, 17's, dark tint, APR chip, aftermarket headunit. the only thing i've put on since purchase was a BOV to hold boost better (which proved a treat on my dyno day results).

i feel that for my Polo, the next steps are to install the APR engine mount to help stop wheel hop and get the power down, and some new tyres. the car has got too much power for its setup at the moment so it would be stupid to spend more on power first.

from there i'm turning to aesthetics with planning to colour code the lower skirting, paint the roof black, and then gloss my b pillars and side mirror plastics.

COME ON TAX RETURN!!

Cheers,
Rhys

[naughty]

well in all honesty - where i live the performance aspects would get you into trouble - and im not going to waste too much money making the car look much better besides on changing the wheels to give it a bit of an individual identity

besides for that i suppose i dont use the car enough to warrant doing too much of work on it - only thing ive customised besides the wheels is the audio system

maybe i might do the ECU remap though to regain the performance ive lost due to having around 150kg's worth of audio equipment in the trunk - so i should go back to just around better than stock performance - not sure if id need to upgrade the brakes any if i do the remap though - and i think lowering the car would be counterproductive on the bad roads i drive on - so yeah maybe only just the ECU remap when the warranty on the car is close to being over

[gareth_oau]

I found out a long time ago that performance mods was money down the drain when it came to trade-in time.

Maris

People often tell me thats cars are a waste of money, a terrible investment, and why do i spend all that money on a car, then more enhancing it.

my reply? - Last time you drank a bottle of wine, what was it worth when you pi55ed it down the toilet afterwards? NIL!! you bought it coz you wanted to drink it, not invest it (perhaps excluding an old Penfolds Grange from this argument!)

I'm not worried about the resale amount as much as the sheer erotic pleasure I get from owning it and using it.

true, a bottle of wine costs a lot less, but the principle is the same