Should I still be in love?!?

T

thaikim

mmm... rice
Ok so the modding bug has got me bad... But I'm getting frustrated with the P5. I still find myself staring at her from differnet angles and I absolutely love the way she looks, I just wish she had more power. To me it's like having a super hott girlfriend who's lame in the sack. (yupnope)

I've come to the turning point where I'm debating whether it's worth putting more money into her or just gettin another car. I'd love to go turbo and that was my plan, but I keep hearing about all the hardships dealing with our engines that result in blown motors/trannies and it's starting to sound like I'm gonna be asking for trouble.

Unfortunately there's no other car within reason that really gets me excited... I absolutely love hatches and small wagons for some reason but every other one I can think of either looks like crap or holds no interest. Sure I love the Audi A3 but thats a little pricey, I don't like the look on the Mazda3 (too bulky) although the new MS3 sounds like pure awsomeness.

Basically when it all boils down I don't wanna be a little ricer because I invest in my P5 and it still has more show then go... I'm tired of people coming up to me and saying "wow that's a nice car, is it fast??" and then I just shake my head in shame. Like I said before it's like guys coming up and saying "Damn your girlfriend is hott I bet she's a freak in bed." and then you can do nothing but shake your head in shame. (sad2)

Ok I'm done ranting... but basically is she worth dumping more $$ into?? opinions??

thanks (stash)
 
That was the cross roads I came to and I traded it in. After a dyno-day, it was a wakeup call that the P5 wasn't for me. It's a great looking car, and has all the right moves, but that motor was so uninspiring to rev.

On the otherhand, there are a few modded P5's that are quick, although I have yet to see one in person. It's a hard choice, I still have a soft spot in my heart for P5's as the "girlfriend" that never really worked out. Time to grow up, one way or the other. Make sure you look at the financial picture as well and don't make an emotional decision.
 
No..don't bother. Get a new car with better potential or keep this as a daily driver and get a cheap older car and make that as a project.
 
I'm in the same boat. Greatly dissapointed with the power. Everything else is perfect.

I took my header off, didn't like the loss of low end torque...

Took the intake off, didn't like the loudness without added power...

I'm back to stock loving her the way she is. Much less frustrating than always trying to squeeze another .5hp out of her.
 
thrasher said:
I'm in the same boat. Greatly dissapointed with the power. Everything else is perfect.

I took my header off, didn't like the loss of low end torque...

Took the intake off, didn't like the loudness without added power...

I'm back to stock loving her the way she is. Much less frustrating than always trying to squeeze another .5hp out of her.
Click to expand...
haha, i did the same thing. I tried to give away my i/h/e for FREE if the just give me stock parts. Didn't happen. I did find a stock intake though, it was nice, more torque and it was nice and quiet.
 
Well..I'm pretty happy with the way mine turned out. I'm pretty much done with the modding. I have a place to save up for and new furniture. The way I look at it...you can't just be slapping things onto the car without planning. Planning everything step by step is what makes modding much easier and more fun. You can enjoy the benefits of your mods instead of parking the car because its not running. Some of the cars I see on here spend more time in the shop than on the road. Also..do not get power greedy. That's when people get discouraged with their cars because s*** break and they can't afford to fix it.
 
yea basically I'd like to get to that point where I can be satisfied with her and not have the urge to mod, but so far i'm not there yet... the main reason I haven't gone turbo was for that exact reason what good is the car gonna do me if she's sittin in a shop somewhere waiting to get rebuilt.
 
Replica said:
haha, i did the same thing. I tried to give away my i/h/e for FREE if the just give me stock parts. Didn't happen. I did find a stock intake though, it was nice, more torque and it was nice and quiet.
Click to expand...

I am amazed at how happy I am with it back to stock. It was getting loud with the header & intake, but with no noticable gain in HP.

I like how quiet it is again, and the torque is back down low where I can actually use it in traffic instead of winding her up like a civic.

I really wish there was a small supercharger, would be perfect for driving in the city where most of us spend 99% of our time. We don't all spend the entire week running autoX.
 
thaikim said:
yea basically I'd like to get to that point where I can be satisfied with her and not have the urge to mod, but so far i'm not there yet... the main reason I haven't gone turbo was for that exact reason what good is the car gonna do me if she's sittin in a shop somewhere waiting to get rebuilt.
Click to expand...
Turboing a car is alot of work. I was so paranoid with one of my older cars that I boosted. Every morning I'd check the fuel pressure, check all the lines, I dunno. Maybe I was obsessive compulsive.

Boosting the daily driver = Not a great idea.
thrasher said:
I am amazed at how happy I am with it back to stock. It was getting loud with the header & intake, but with no noticable gain in HP.

I like how quiet it is again, and the torque is back down low where I can actually use it in traffic instead of winding her up like a civic.

I really wish there was a small supercharger, would be perfect for driving in the city where most of us spend 99% of our time. We don't all spend the entire week running autoX.
Click to expand...
It was alot funner stock. The torque down low makes you feel like a champ when you carve through traffic.
 
Yea I mean I'm not really a track guy who's obsessed with time slips I'd just like a little more zoom-zoom for daily driving... I wish they had made more engine options for the P5 like a MSP5 would have been nice
 
one thing that might help you to deside -- is, do you owe money on the car? if its not that much -- then sometimes its ok to go ahead and rebuild. but if you owe more than you like-- then dont mod it untill your happy or you make up your mind---

i've always wanted more power -- but why rebuild a car i bought brand new -- why waste all the parts that arent wore out yet. so i drive the piss out of all 99hp that i have :)
 
Yea your absolutely right bones, I still owe some on her I'll just wait until she's paid for.... and then either trade her in or boost the pants off her
 
Man, I know I am only 20....but I don't find it "fun" anymore going fast. I'd rather just mod it look and sound nice. I wasted to much time from 15 to 20 modding my other cars and throwing them to waste.
 
Sticking feathers up your ass does not make you a chicken.
Same can be said for the P5, nothing is going to make it a fast car. Its not.
Best you can do is add some mild power via $3500 for a turbo kit which will lower your reliability all around.
Or trade her in for something you like with more punch.

The other question to ask is how fast is fast enough?
Even with the STi I wanted more, so what was the point of even having the STi to not be satesfied?.
 
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It's funny, but with all the different car BBSs that I have posted on, this question has always come up. My last car was a BMW 540, so I was on bimmerforums all the time. On there it was, "My 525/535/540 etc isn't fast enough, should I save for a turbo or SC kit, or just buy an M5?" Universally, the answer is no to modding it, just doesn't ad up.

If you turbo a P5, you go from slow to quick, but still not fast. You're out $3k or so, but you also probably at least lost that much in your resale value. Also, your reliability will likely go to $hit, because you'll have the hassle of getting engine management sorted out, then deal with the fact that your car has quite a bit more HP than it was designed for. It's inevitable, stuff will break or wear out at a faster rate. On top of all that, the rest of the car is stock. Where most faster cars come with upgraded suspension, brakes, etc, you will have to spend extra cash to upgrade that stuff. So in the end, you have a car that still isn't fast, worth less than when you started, and will require more maintenance and repairs. The moral of the story? It's tough to out-engineer the manufacturer.

Obviously that's a broad generalization, you could go with an MSP turbo kit, which would be largely plug and play, but you still would probably lose some reliability. Probably the best idea would be to keep the P5 as a fun daily driver, because it's excellent in that capacity. Save up $5k or so and buy a fun second car, because there's a long list of cars that are decently fast and very moddable in that range. So now you have the P5, which will still make you smile and get you to work every day, and a fast car that you don't have to worry about relying on, you can mod to your heart's content.
 
mazda_pro5_2nr said:
Man, I know I am only 20....but I don't find it "fun" anymore going fast. I'd rather just mod it look and sound nice. I wasted to much time from 15 to 20 modding my other cars and throwing them to waste.
Click to expand...

Im 23, and have come to the conclusion that I would take a nice car, that handles well, visually appeals to me, and sounds good over a car that is fast and lacks any one of those other things. Without boost modding is more for making your car stand out and appeal to your taste vs actual performance.

I personally love the fact that my buddies all drive subies, pay out the ass for insurance, have tickets, and spend thousands on mods for their cars, and my stock suspensioned 3 can pull away through the windies. (03wrx 05wrx and 05forrester) However anything on a straight road leaves me in the rear view pretty horribly.
 
you know it all boils down to your taste on how fast and how comfortable you are with the power you will gain. but the most criteria is "money" you can do a lot if you have the money. but my goal for the p5 is just to be able to tackle the mountains/hills with no lag or in other words have a hard time going up the hills. thats all. i would love to do more with my precious ,spacious lil wagon but i am not financially fit to shower her with gifts and gadgets.
 
onewhippedpuppy said:
It's funny, but with all the different car BBSs that I have posted on, this question has always come up. My last car was a BMW 540, so I was on bimmerforums all the time. On there it was, "My 525/535/540 etc isn't fast enough, should I save for a turbo or SC kit, or just buy an M5?" Universally, the answer is no to modding it, just doesn't ad up.

If you turbo a P5, you go from slow to quick, but still not fast. You're out $3k or so, but you also probably at least lost that much in your resale value. Also, your reliability will likely go to $hit, because you'll have the hassle of getting engine management sorted out, then deal with the fact that your car has quite a bit more HP than it was designed for. It's inevitable, stuff will break or wear out at a faster rate. On top of all that, the rest of the car is stock. Where most faster cars come with upgraded suspension, brakes, etc, you will have to spend extra cash to upgrade that stuff. So in the end, you have a car that still isn't fast, worth less than when you started, and will require more maintenance and repairs. The moral of the story? It's tough to out-engineer the manufacturer.

Obviously that's a broad generalization, you could go with an MSP turbo kit, which would be largely plug and play, but you still would probably lose some reliability. Probably the best idea would be to keep the P5 as a fun daily driver, because it's excellent in that capacity. Save up $5k or so and buy a fun second car, because there's a long list of cars that are decently fast and very moddable in that range. So now you have the P5, which will still make you smile and get you to work every day, and a fast car that you don't have to worry about relying on, you can mod to your heart's content.
Click to expand...

You nailed it; good to have you around.

I came to the same conclusion after roughly $1000 in bolt-ons yielded 12 - 15 whp on my P5. So I did the next logical thing ... I added an MSP to my stable (Jeez - a good used one costs the same as a built block, full turbo setup, ems and a set of wheels). Proteges have issues - all can be addressed. The downside is that it takes a great deal more effort (and $$$). At the end of the day, you are blazing your own trail and you're off the radar with the thieves and the highway patrol and thus, the insurance companies.
 
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