First, I am not 100% if this topic has ever been discussed but I am reading more and more to learn my car before I take on the direction of my car.

In the meantime, one huge variable determines my goals end. $$

"You have to pay to play!"

I am a baller on a budget and not well off like others. Hopefully soon enough but that is another story! As everyone knows, you have to pay to play. Heading to the track, first the car obviously needs to be mechanically sound. Purchasing a used vehicle requires that standard to be upheld and that cost $$.

Next, needs the proper setup; extra set of race capable brake pads and rotors, appropriate tires, wheels, suspension, gas, EXPENSES to atleast be competitive. It's cool to go out on your street setup but your going to be that guy that people say you can't drive but in actuality it's just your setup.

So at what point did you find yourself looking at your variables and decide the direction of your vehicle? Show car, DD with simple mods, TA, TT, AutoX, Rally, etc

I am just up in the air about dumping the money to get my car into TA status vs weekend warrior.

This is not an argument thread. Respect other's opinions/posts and understand not everyone is the same.

 

I dont have the car yet, but being that i'm on the same boat as you "baller on a budget" My car is going to be a 10 mile a day DD while she will stay in the garage on the weekends for me to drive my Prius. And occasional Weekend drives meets with mild mods to follow. I sold my old car to buy an evolution. Thats what i did with my old car so i'll do the same with this new(to me) car.
I wish i could AutoX, but yet. I have to establish a solid car. haha!

 

One of the biggest things you have to think about is:
#1 Can you afford the downtime on your car if it breaks at the track?
#2 Do you have the money to fix a major breakdown if it occurs, and will this cause me to lose my job since I don't have another DD and need this to get to work.

Perfect example. I have 2 evos, one is my X and one is my 8. My 8 recently had engine failure, its not sitting, until I get the motivation to rebuild it, I am ok with that because it is not my daily driver, it was a weekend warrior used for track and spirited driving.

My X is also a garage queen, rarely gets driven, however less modified, so if I needed a car for a day I could drive it, no biggy.

I drive a car through my work, so I don't really ever have to worry about transportation.

So basically what I'm getting at is, if the car is your DD and you need it for work, everyday life, I would do some simple mods personally and enjoy the vehicle, and maybe do light tracking. But if you have a DD/beater to drive and downtime isn't an issue, then build it and track it, and know that if a breakdown occurs you will be ok while you rebuild.

 

All around killer something like I had, actually it was perfect.

 

Good question to ask myself! I do have a DD and my vehicle is a weekend warrior with hopes of doing some road courses. At this time, I do not have the additional funds if it ****s the bed and I doubt my wife would like hearing I need to replace the engine.

I just purchased the vehicle about 2 months ago so this is going to be my weekend warrior until I am ready to change directions. I was just contemplating my situation as we can see many examples on here going from their DD to ShowCar to AutoX to all out Track Car. At this point, I am at step 1 and want to hear those in the next few phases!

 

My evo was a drag, autoX, time attack and show car but it will take alot of money to make it reliable for a daily driver.

 

My car is my year-round DD and I run track days/time attack in the summer. I have a set of wheels with snow tires and my stock BBS' with sticky street rubber for summer and track use. I use stock pads/rotors in winter and my race brake setup for the whole summer.

 

I made my recent IX MR purchase with the full intent of it being a DD. I will probably do few minor things in the beginning to make it mine, but that won't happen anytime soon.

When I break and mod it, I'm going to shoot for 300whp with an Ivey tune and drive it worry free

I miss that angry DSM feel so much. Picking EVO up Tuesday

 

^ahhhh STUPID ECLIPSE BREAKING DOWN EVERY TIME I TURNED IT ON! HOW I MISS BEING YOUNG, BROKE with A F*CKED UP DSM leaving me stranded!

Raptord - what suspension do you have (just read your sig)? Any worries of breakdown? Are you running competitively against comparable vehicles or "higher end" vehicles with your setup?

 

Mine is a DD. 60+ miles a day, mostly highway. I've owned an S4, GSR, IS300, turbo Civic Si with an ITR motor, several DSMs, and a MazdaSpeed3. The IX MR is, hands down, the most fun car I've ever had. I typically go through cars like I go through underwear, until I got my EVO. I've only had it a year, prior owner was a great guy who took excellent care of it. It's still on the factory clutch at 87k miles. I don't think it's ever been launched.

I picked mine up with intake, exhaust, MBC, and a tune for 330 awhp. I've added subtle, but very noticeable upgrades. Perrin rear sway - easy install, great results, really neutralizes the car IMO. HTA71 upgrade with the 84mm cover from FP. It's everything the stock turbo should be. Lightning fast spool and capable of 400 awhp+ on 93 octane. ETS 3.5 "wide" FMIC, really solid piece. S1/S2 cam combo, brilliant stuff. No loss of drivability down low and 20-25+ gains up top. Tephra V7 and ECU Boost, soon to become SD from TSCOMPUSA. I love ECU boost, there are no two ways about it. Gear to gear control, easily control boost spikes (read: tranny crushing torque). Self-tuned so far. I've added 1250cc injectors in case I ever want to try out some corn, and I have a Jay Racing 340 pump. Even at 423 awhp on VD, I'm only at 51% IDC. I'll take that.

If you're going to ball on a budget with these cars, you have to set aside either a LOT of time learning to tune, or you need to set aside money to have someone tune you. Set a goal - mine was 425 awhp and I'm not going above that. The jump from 425 awhp to 500+ in a IX MR is an expensive proposition and, frankly, I think that will ruin everything I love about the car. It's responsive as hell, quick enough to get out of just about anyone's way (and even make a certain e96 M3 look like a joke...), but still manages low 20's on the highway MPG.

I just added a SpoolinUp CoP system last night and got back from my first drive with it on and, once again, subtle but noticeable changes. So far, I am beyond smitten with my car, just wish I could figure out a few squeaks in the dash and I'd be even happier!

 

Garage queen lol

 

I agree with this statement very much, you need to know what you want out of the car and how much power or what your goals are with the vehicle. My don't ever expect to build my evo 8 more than 450hp, I don't track too much, and don't ever plan on making it a full race car. I just want a reliable driving garage queen. lol.

 

I a set amount of money put off to the side in case anything happens....being that I have 2 cars. I'm allowed down time. It hurts, but definitely doable. As far as a goal? It's not much. It's all bolt ons with a tune. Those are my set plans. Haha...

 

I got the car with the intent to just build a fun street car... it kind of got away from me and is now a TT1/TT2 caged Time Trial car with built motor/trans/suspension, and Hoosiers. You can check my sig to see exactly how far my "fun street car" has gone.

 

welll i'am gonna put my two cents down, i bought my evo when I was 17(yea paid every cent out of my pocket) I always had a decent job. anyways It was my daily driver, first thing I bought for it was a blow off valve then after that it was money for it every week almost. Well I built a 500hp evo DD thousands and thousands of dollars sunk into it. I use to alwys do sumtin to it or sumting "had to be better", my point think of what you xpect from your evo. Always have in mind that whatever you do either DD or showcar is gonna be extremly expensive. And trust me no one in this forum drives a stock evo, because is addictive puting money into it. So if you decide to buy a mean DD be aware that sumthing will always break even if is all properly done, because everything has limits, and it usually happens when you least can afford it, trust me, and I did all the work myself to save money. Now if you have a show car, are you really gonna drive it everyday? Or flip out when someone dings your door at the market? All am saying is be really sure you want an Evo, and then have a savings account for it. Don't get me wrong I still love my evo I've had it for 7 years, but guess what. it has bin collecting dust in my garage for the last year. But good luck with everything and is a really fun car, but at the end thats all it is, a car.