d-dave

There are many good points there, but I'm not sure how many folks here are going to be honest to god race car drivers. I think most folks are looking for a little boost on their ride to work.

Though Porting and Polishing probably isn't the best best for bupper to bumper traffic...

Good read though =)

engifineer

Good point on the wheels and tires. I personally like a good mix of performance and street, and will probably not go over 17" on this car due to the inertial consequences. If I was running an engine with 400lbs of torque I may go a little larger.. but not much. I personally do not like to go all show on a car either. I do like a moderate amount of extras mixed with the performance parts, but it varies by opinion. Definitely not a fan of body kits. I feel many of them totally disguise the look of the cars bodystyle, which doesnt makes sense since I bought the tC because I like the lines. Also, they add weight and look cheap. Most of the kits on cars that are driven very regularly end up looking like cheap plastic (they sag, move, crack, etc). Other than a totally show car, I think they are a waste of money. Granted, that is my opinion, I would not bash anyone for doing what they want with their car.

raamaudio

I hope nobody takes what I am saying as a bashing, I really mean it as constructive critisim(spelling?) Anyway, the fact is alot of money is spent advertising products that are detrimental to performance and many just do not seem to understand the difference from looking fast and being fast. The more wild your car looks, the less you get to truely enjoy driving it unless you just want to cruise up and down the street and look cool. If that is your bag go for it, if you want to look like you know something about real performance, build it fast, low in weight, simple but clean mods on the outside, then have some real fun, you get alot less attention from the cops so can do so much more

Those that understand true performance will respect you alot more than the average guy on the street that does not know better;)

The new wheels I just put on our car are not even my second or third choice for style, though they are beautiful wheels I had the same version on the last car and wanted something different. This car will be in shows so wanted something bigger in diameter, etc, etc, but when it came down to it, I just could not bring myself to lower my performance expectations by using heavier wheels(or even same weight that moves the weight further out) they are that critical to the overall performance we are after. Now that they are on the car, sure glad I resisted the temptation to do anything else.

Back in the 70's I autocrossed a 510 Datsun for a couple of years, all the faster looking cars in my class had a ton of money and mods into their cars, one in particular had 4 times the money. But, they would just buy whatever they could find and stick it on the car then come out and race. On the other hand I had a new family, wife in college, mortage, and I loved to go skiing 30+ days a year, fly fishing, shooting, etc, etc, only so much car budget available. I did my homework, consulted with racers from several disaplines, made most of the parts or adapted them, fine tuned it over the months, learned to drive it better, only did what made it faster and di not worry much about the looks(still looked rather nice for it's day;) I won 23 out of 25 events, one second and one third(third was in my wifes wagon with a few parts thrown on it, my car was to far apart to get it ready for the weekend) They guys that spent all the money would just spend more, never really consider how to properly set a car up, usually way to stiff springs, wrong tires, to much HP for the traction they could get, etc. I really tried to help them but they just did not want to listen

I stopped autocrossing because it just was not fun winning all the time, I wanted real competition. But, I had a blast driving the hell out of it every day, even in the winter, just raised it up a bit, more lights, back woods roads, gravel, dirt and asphalt, so may wonderfull memories and a few really scary close calls

Rick

jmiller20874

That's cool stuff man. I like a mixture of both style and performance personally although I'm starting to fall away from the big stereo systems and have learned to love the sweet music of the engine purring under acceleration. I'm more of a drag person and will probably fashion my car to do that mainly. I'll be sticking with a 17" wheel but probably lighter when the budget fits it. Other future plans include turbo, exhaust, coilovers, clutch, big brake kit just to make it a fun all around car. After seeing what this engine is so far capable of, I'm very excited that I got a tC. I know I made the right choice.

I know you're not big into them but check out the bodykit CreativeCompacts is creating. Real clean lines, lightweight and extremely flexible, it's a new type of fiberglass that allows it to flex without cracking at all. James(CreativeCompacts) stood on the prototype bumber until it was near flat and without a single crack.

engifineer

[quote="jmiller20874"]That's cool stuff man. I like a mixture of both style and performance personally although I'm starting to fall away from the big stereo systems and have learned to love the sweet music of the engine purring under acceleration. I'm more of a drag person and will probably fashion my car to do that mainly. I'll be sticking with a 17" wheel but probably lighter when the budget fits it. Other future plans include turbo, exhaust, coilovers, clutch, big brake kit just to make it a fun all around car. After seeing what this engine is so far capable of, I'm very excited that I got a tC. I know I made the right choice.

I know you're not big into them but check out the bodykit CreativeCompacts is creating. Real clean lines, lightweight and extremely flexible, it's a new type of fiberglass that allows it to flex without cracking at all. James(CreativeCompacts) stood on the prototype bumber until it was near flat and without a single crack.[/quote

I will admit that one looks very clean! I think the hood should maybe go. But I almost have to eat my words and say that that one is pretty nice! Still not sure if I could ever put one on, but I like the fact that it follows the lines of the car nad keeps the tC look.

chris0

uh...wow. raamaudio, you're my new guru. you and dezod.

chris