turBRO240

iTrader: (1)

+20

Bren85

I'd like to say have him start out with an FB or an FC, but it sounds like you've already started the project. Almost any 16 year old with a sports car is going to attempt to see the car's potential.. Heck, I know I did. If your brother is about to start driving, especially an FD, have him start reading the forums and generally being on the site. I started driving and coming to this site a year ago and I have to admit, I've been influenced by the general older crowd here to not drive like an idiot.

Get him on the site.

james81

I am 16, and I just got my FD for my first car too, I think it's an awesome car, and my personal view - take him to a few track schools or let him drive cars hard before he tries it on the streets, and in an FD. I agree fully with giving a well performing car because it is much safer to go round any corner, fast or slow, in good handling car, like an FD, rather something that wil break traction and send him spinning.

Also, get him involved in the build so he appreciates it more and understands whats happening when he puts his foot down.

I drove my Dad's cars around tracks for a long time, and he is known as "The V8 Man", so they were all insane fast V8's, and I learned a lot!
Let him be able to drive a car hard on the track before he tries it on the road.

Just my, well that's like 50cents worth,not only 2cents.

Super77

Dave,

Allow me to sound like a crotchety old man, because I am one. Looking at 53 this September. THIS IS A REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA!! Even if you just do the reliability mods, its still a bad idea.

I don't care if your younger brother goes to church Wednesday and Sunday, volunteers at the local rest home, works two jobs and gets straight As on his report card, and is an eagle scout....he is still 16!!

This reminds me of the dad who told me he was doing a ground up restoration of a 1960's Shelby Cobra Mustang with a 427 c.i. engine. He went to to tell me it was a high school graduation gift for his son and that he was changing out the rear end gears to make it go faster!! GEEZ, just put a gun to the kids head and pull the trigger.

To much power, not enough experience.

If you must do this, then go with the minimum reliability mods and put the rest of the money into a good driving school, like Summit Point, Virginia.

Steve

Super77

FDTT19

ummm...while the FD is an excellent handling car for those that have experience driving it, it is a car that if you don't know how to drive, you will spin out fairly easily; especially with the sequential set up.

littlered1.3

well guys my brother is a calm relaxed kid. hes just a couple of years to a full ride for football. hes a smart kid and very responsible. basical i told him when my parents got him this car that i would break his neck if he wrecked this car. i know the fd population is getting slim. and its very slim in my area. i thinks theres maybe 3 or 4 within a a couple of hours of me. but i would like to try to get him into auto xing, but i afraid that if i do then he'll get to ballsy and try to do this stuff on the street. yall think i should wait about a year or so to let him get use to the car before i try that or should i get him into it now and help him become a better driver?

Hitokiri_Gensai

iTrader: (2)

this i can attest to personally, as i said before, ive been there, young and not a bad driver per se just not expecting the power behind the FD, and not experienced in handling the car. Threw me into a corner way too hard and i spun out into a concrete wall. Did more than 10k in damage.

Copeland

iTrader: (42)

Maybe I sound like everyone else, but just make sure he can drive before you let him loose by himself. I know a 16 year old that can drive good, but only because his parents taught him how to drive hard so he would know what to do under a bad circumstance. His car wasn't nearly as fast as a FD though...

DarkLikePoe

Contradictory statements. If your brother is a chill kid, he won't get "too ballsy" on the street, autocross or not. If he is, on the other hand, like MOST high-school drivers, you're right about him getting overconfident can you should have considered that before you started putting the car together for him.

Hm... are you considering letting your brother GET USED to the FD on the street? Autocrossing teaches you to handle your car, and he'll need that in the kind of snap decisions you have to make when other people are being dumbasses on the road.

Look, only you know your brother well enough to make this call. You're cool for hooking him up, but what kind of response did you expect from the FD community, really?

littlered1.3

i can say the same the older crowd on here definatly helps. thanks guys for giving us younger crowd advise and help. we realy do appreciate it.

TheRxForSpeed

Have you ever driven past a high school when the kids got out school it's a scary sight. Avoided at all costs. I didn't get my FD until 20, started learning how to drive on a F250 powerstroke diesel pickup truck, then my dads v6 fiero. Next was his Lt4 400hp v8 swapped Fiero, then a 240sx i was building for a rb25 swap. Got sick of the 240 and the hassle with the rb swap and bought my 7. I have yet to get any tickets, never been pulled over and all my family members and friends rely on me as transportation because I am one of the safest drivers around. I save the crazy **** for the track or deserted roads of the country.

littlered1.3

well basically i think that if my brother steps up to the plate and shows that he can learn to appreciate the car then maybe i would let him get in my race car for a practice session ( EVENTUALY ) but thats my whole goal here is to make him a better driver but teaching him to be responsible enough to respect the car

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

There are basically three kinds of 16yo's who drive this car.
1) likes the car and gets someone to buy it for them.
2) loves the car and saves their money to afford it
3) someone buys it for them

Group 2 usually learns enough to respect the car and take care of it, and with so much stake invested they tend to drive defensively and make effort to learn more and actively improve as drivers. We tend to see the Group 2's around here since it takes involvement to be on this forum. Group 1 and 3 inevitably show off to their friends or make a mistake and end up killing someone or smashing into a tree. This car loves to go fast. It takes some restraint to drive it responsibly.

I wish I could say I'm making this up, but it's a scene that's been replayed a lot. You can't make someone respect or care. In my experience, if someone respects my point of view but doesn't hold that idea with the same level of importance, they'll only follow my advice when I'm around.

I think your plan would go a lot better if you bought a daily driver car and worked *with* your brother to build up an FD. Then if he's still interested in a year when it's all done, he'll have some appreciation and hopefully sufficient driving experience to keep it shiny side up.

Dave

1.3Ldreamcar

iTrader: (1)

Well +1 for the lucky 16yr old comment.

If I were you Id get him an NA 2nd gen, cause then he'll learn some things and prob wont kill himself....
if hes a 'popular' kid going to parties and such.... well chicks and boose have a tendancy of changing ppl real fast... I drove shitfaced drunk MANY times when I was that age, in the name of banging cheerleaders :S .... and that was scary in my 1st gen! lol

djseven

iTrader: (56)

Every kid is different. Some can handle the responsibility, some cant. I say reliability mods and make him put them on the car. He needs to learn to work on it himself. Atleast make him put on the downpipe, its kinda like passage for owning one of these cars. He will develop an immediate love hate relationship for hte car. Definately no midpipe and catback unless he grew up racing cars/carts or something of the like. Thats just too much car for a 16yr old.

efranklin

I got my car at 18, and it was my first performance car. Bought it with i/e drove it around for almost a year until i was completely comfortable with it, then i started to do upgrades. I suggest you let your brother drive it around in stock form until he is comfortable with it, then mod the hell out of it.

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

a very high percentage of wrecked FDs are wrecked by new drivers.

This car is just not forgiving. If he stabs the gas in a corner just a hair too early, hes off into the sticks. 50/50 balance means this car will not push through like most fwd cars. pushing is safer than oversteering.

Just build him a fwd celica and save yourself a headache.

FelixIsGod29X

iTrader: (50)

I didnt even read the thread i just read your brother is 16 and your building him a car he shouldnt be driving yet. Let him get some real experience on a track and ect before he jumps into a fast/nice FD. But if your brother is mature and a fairly good drive then good luck with the build.

littlered1.3

i mean hes race my karts a couple of times but hes definatly not a pro. but i grew up racing karts, cars whatever i could get my hands on lol. but i think thats what made me the driver i am today. but i really and thinking about putting him in my beater for a while and ill just drive my car until he gets the hang of drivin. so that way if he does wreck my beater i realy wont be hurt at all. but until that time im gona drive his car every once in a while just to keep it runnin. thanks guys for all your help.

littlered1.3

another thing is my dad knows a guy that can put a traction control system on the car for him. i think that would be a great idea. let get get some more opinions on this.

Fritz Flynn

iTrader: (263)

This car is VERY DANGEROUS for new drivers because it's really easy to drive at 70% and the car will be faster than most other cars at 90% so the driver attains a false sense of confidence. Evidentually the driver will either accelerate too hard into a corner and the car will start to push but will the regain it's balance resulting in a snap oversteer situation which is very hard for a good driver to manage much less an inexperienced driver or the driver will accelerate out of the corner too hard causing a very aggressive spin because the turbo RWD car goes from 150 hp to 200 hp in just 2500 rpms (this will usually accur in the rain).

If you care about your little bro then get him an evo or some other cool awd sports sedan and go to some autocrosses with him.

You may think I'm acting like a know it all DAD but trust me the FD is probably one of THE most wicked production cars ever made and other than the 993 it's the last car I'd buy for a young new driver.

d33

iTrader: (6)

My first car was an FB @ 15/16 years old and I personally think that was too much for me then. I coulndnt imagine having an FD

UncleDavid218

iTrader: (2)

Finally a thread I can give some perspective on. I'm 17 years old and have had my license for about 6 months. I have a 4.0GPA with all honors classes and I play Varsity Soccer, an on student council, etc. but I can still be a stupid driver, I'll admit. I put my first car (a red NA FC) into a curb and bent the control arm. Of course, I was driving under normal conditions when the car hydroplaned but that's neither here nor there. Two weeks ago I got another FC, this time a Turbo II 5 speed. Learning to drive a 5 speed has been quite the experience and getting used to the power has been, admittedly, hard and fun at the same time. I'm getting ready to put on about $1,500 in bolt ons to hopefully hit 250WHP. Is this going to be too much for me? I fear it may be. Would a 300HP FD be too much for myself or any of my friends? No doubt.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Well now that would prevent him from learning to drive well. Traction control is not necessary for an FD with stock power, IMO. This issue of traction control is a whole other argument, but adding it to a car that has none just to make it 'safer' for an unsuitable driver is ridiculous.

Another factor to put in there, for someone who comes from v8 cars: this car is sequential turbo, so you get a lag/kick when the turbos come online, and another kick at 4500rpm when the turbos go into parallel mode. This takes some getting used to, and for new drivers it's a major concern. Like Fritz was saying, going at 70% in this car is more than 90% in most cars, and if the boost kicks in when you're not expecting it, you'll lose control.

Dave

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

exactly!!

It takes a very small difference in how much throttle you apply to go from a nice smooth long turn, to turn it into "oh **** the secondary just came on!" and now the rear end is ahead of you.

The FD is NOT a beginners car.

the FD was designed to be a slightly tamed race car.

The FD is not user friendly if you are new to cars

The FD is NOT a beginners car

If your brother is willing to do it right, have him drive something FWD for a couple of years. the first time he drives in snow or inclement weather, you are going to have a totaled FD. Also, for those years, make sure he is doing every autocross event he can. The idea is to ADD the FD to your automotive collection, not make it a daily driver... especially for a young driver. he is more apt to make small mistakes... especially when tired or drowsy, which younger drivers are more prone to driving under these conditions due to not recognizing the possible ramifications. It is just an experience thing.

If you tell the FD to put you into a spin, it will listen.... whether you meat to tell it to or not.