Here is a question for you all.

[Scottie]

Now I've done it in the past and I've learnt from my experience. I understand that all people have to learn from their own experience and all that.

Reading several posts of late on members wanting their cars to go faster. Yes a re map but this changing engine components inter coolers manifolds etc etc.

So the question is why?

[Craig]

you haven't really asked a question there. You have just asked why? why what? Why people mod their cars? Well I think you know more than most.!!! :lol: Or why people want their car to go a bit quicker? Cos maybe they do ;) Some may just want it to be a bit more pokey thro the gears without going above the speed limit, or they want a bit more noise... :thumbs up:


I also don't see intercoolers and manifolds as engine components. Cams, heads etc, well yes I would see that as engine components.

[Scottie]

Modding the car to make it look different from others yes I agree with. Looking back I can't honestly tell you why I agreed to the engine mods on my Cooper S. I wish I hadn't. I think the JCW is the most you want from a Mini and it keeps a the of smoothness to the engine.

I remember when I was younger my late dear dad told me when buying a car always make sure the interior is good the outside you can make better if you want a car to go faster then what it can at the moment then buy a car that was built to go faster.

[Craig]

I am no going to make big changes.. The manifold is more for the noise than anything else and the intercooler purely to so the engine runs a bit cooler. Not thinking about remapping, maybe just a resetting of the ecu to make it learn :thumbs up:

any I have a few wee tweeks to make the car look a bit different (cannae wait to get my new wheels on in April !) ;)

[AndyP & Lenore]

Fi, I think it's a balance for most folk. I know what your Dad was saying... "if you want a car to go faster, buy a faster car". But sometimes, it's much cheaper to buy a slower car and mod to make it faster. Some folk will say it's better value for money going down the aftermarket modding route. And that all leaves more cash to bling up the inside if that's what folk want to do.

A.

[Sheilz]

I totally get what Fi is saying though I think I also understand the buzz some may get from modding engines. I do remember though a challenge on TG where they'd to get a Renault Megane (I think) round a track faster than its fastest lap. One of the things they tried was remapping. On next lap the car was slower than it had been! JC did pass comment about how lots of people did that and mostly were wasting their time. I'm not saying he was right or wrong coz I don't know. I think personally I'd be worried that I wasn't setting myself up to have a duff car some way down the line, you know by making the car too highly strung. Anyway some folk could mod the life out of their car and they still wouldn't be able to drive as fast as others who've done very little to their cars. I can think of someone not that far from here who'd be able to drive rings round most people with an S modded out of its existence.

[Forbes]

I totally get what Fi is saying though I think I also understand the buzz some may get from modding engines. I do remember though a challenge on TG where they'd to get a Renault Megane (I think) round a track faster than its fastest lap. One of the things they tried was remapping. On next lap the car was slower than it had been! JC did pass comment about how lots of people did that and mostly were wasting their time. I'm not saying he was right or wrong coz I don't know. I think personally I'd be worried that I wasn't setting myself up to have a duff car some way down the line, you know by making the car too highly strung. Anyway some folk could mod the life out of their car and they still wouldn't be able to drive as fast as others who've done very little to their cars. I can think of someone not that far from here who'd be able to drive rings round most people with an S modded out of its existence.

Then again though the Avantime was never going to beat the Evo? (Memory blank) There is limits, though you can throw money at it - you need to be reasonable.

[Sheilz]

Then again though the Avantime was never going to beat the Evo? (Memory blank) There is limits, though you can throw money at it - you need to be reasonable.

The show I watched was a family car rather than a fast street car. Pretty sure it was a renault. The most successful thing they did to get the extra speed from it was to strip out the extra weight from the interior. The remap for that particular car was pointless. Spending a lot of dosh on that stuff is ok since I'd think folk would only spend what they have
From time to time I've let my mind wander down the road of doing things to my car but a reality check tells me it would be a complete waste of money since I'd still take X amount of time to get to Y. I still think who's driving is more relevant than hp under the bonnet. A fairly obvious example of that would be getting Mr B to take Dougall to whereever with myself say borrowing Alan's little beast. Mr B would probably be on his way back before I even got there. But most important thing about the whole modding thing is if it makes you happy then what's the harm.

[Forbes]

The show I watched was a family car rather than a fast street car. Pretty sure it was a renault. The most successful thing they did to get the extra speed from it was to strip out the extra weight from the interior. The remap for that particular car was pointless. Spending a lot of dosh on that stuff is ok since I'd think folk would only spend what they have
From time to time I've let my mind wander down the road of doing things to my car but a reality check tells me it would be a complete waste of money since I'd still take X amount of time to get to Y. I still think who's driving is more relevant than hp under the bonnet. A fairly obvious example of that would be getting Mr B to take Dougall to whereever with myself say borrowing Alan's little beast. Mr B would probably be on his way back before I even got there. But most important thing about the whole modding thing is if it makes you happy then what's the harm.

Its that whole thing, everyone just about wastes money on something. Cars, alcohol, cigarettes, clothes - It's part of life. I enjoy changing my car, and everything I have done is reversible.

[ELFMAN]

Really strange for you to ask 'Why?'... I could understand someone not interested in cars asking that, but you've had modded cars yourself, so why did YOU do it? This 'If you want to go faster, buy a faster car' is, IMHO, Bollocks. Where's the Challenge? Where's the Creativity? It's about taking something bad and making it better or taking something better and making it BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!

I've ALWAYS modified cars, or had them modified by someone who can wield spanners better than me. From the 'Richard Grant' spoiler on my Mum's Hillman Avenger to the Manifold and Intercooler added to the 210bhp JCW upgrade on my last R53 S - of course you don't NEED it, but by God it's FUN. The times I saw the look of disbelief on the drivers' faces of much more exotic and expensive machinery when my Mini '1000HLE' destroyed them away from the lights or down a decent B-Road was worth all the hassle. The wee Mini had a 95bhp 1275 engine, but they didn't know that. Of course you never get your money back on modded cars, but that's not the point. It's the thrill and the buzz you get from them when you get on to a good road - it's that ancient thing of wanting to make something work better than it did when you first got it, making it go better than a 'standard' version, it's the sound of a tuned engine as you take it up and down the gears, and the way the car sits on the road, brakes, and powers out of the next corner and the way it all comes together on that perfect run you remember for years to come and bore your mates with. But if you're lucky, your mates will know EXACTLY where you're coming from.

It's like someone asking why a Jimi Hendrix or David Gilmour guitar solo moves you to tears or makes you feel good - how do you explain it? You either get it... or you buy a Volvo.

[GCA3N]

Really strange for you to ask 'Why?'... I could understand someone not interested in cars asking that, but you've had modded cars yourself, so why did YOU do it? This 'If you want to go faster, buy a faster car' is, IMHO, Bollocks. Where's the Challenge? Where's the Creativity? It's about taking something bad and making it better or taking something better and making it BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!

I've ALWAYS modified cars, or had them modified by someone who can wield spanners better than me. From the 'Richard Grant' spoiler on my Mum's Hillman Avenger to the Manifold and Intercooler added to the 210bhp JCW upgrade on my last R53 S - of course you don't NEED it, but by God it's FUN. The times I saw the look of disbelief on the drivers' faces of much more exotic and expensive machinery when my Mini '1000HLE' destroyed them away from the lights or down a decent B-Road was worth all the hassle. The wee Mini had a 95bhp 1275 engine, but they didn't know that. Of course you never get your money back on modded cars, but that's not the point. It's the thrill and the buzz you get from them when you get on to a good road - it's that ancient thing of wanting to make something work better than it did when you first got it, making it go better than a 'standard' version, it's the sound of a tuned engine as you take it up and down the gears, and the way the car sits on the road, brakes, and powers out of the next corner and the way it all comes together on that perfect run you remember for years to come and bore your mates with. But if you're lucky, your mates will know EXACTLY where you're coming from.

It's like someone asking why a Jimi Hendrix or David Gilmour guitar solo moves you to tears or makes you feel good - how do you explain it? You either get it... or you buy a Volvo.


Have to agree on a number of points hear and as others have said I find it strange you ask. I guess at the end of the day it's down to individuality. I like puting my own touches to the car to make it my own. I think the mdding on the performance side is also the case but you get the added benefit of speed too.

Like Ben says lets be honest there are loads of better ways to spend money that on mods for your car, but for alot of people on here it's there thing it's how they want to spend their money and for most that involves a sacrifice of something.

[stoney]

well i love moding my car and before i started with the bigger mod ie the cam after i had looked at a faster car but could not aford it and also my old cam was damadged so it was going to be needed to be done any way so instead of putting a bmw cam in to the car i put a peformace cam in and then took it for a re-map as it was running bad the re map had made the jcw much smother not taken any thing away from the car its self i was thinking about a head but not 100% on it

so my reason for modding is to make it run better witch it dose it sounds better drives better
just some braces to go on and thats about it :thumbs up:

[ELFMAN]

Just to prove my point, check the newly 'Updated' Spec of my car. I was keeping it a secret, but now seems a good time to 'reveal all'. I know it's a bit 'Off the Peg' being JCW stuff - but a Mod is a Mod. It's like the Who's 'Quadrophenia' in here. It was good - now it's better. You Better, You Better, You Bet! (one for all you Who/Roger Daltrey fans).

Looking forward to seeing/Hearing the car Stoney.