Do we drop the most $ for our cars?
 

I was talking with a friend of mine about this the other day. Do we as a group for the most part drop the most $ into our cars compared to M3, STI, EVO, S2K.. etc owners?

You answered your own question in your sig.... :-D

what is that a 3 rotor 3 turbo setup? :jump:

yup with a stock ast lol

I think for the most part, the rotary community does spend a lot more money in mods. You can speculate that there are few reasons why:

1. Our cars are older and we don't have to worry about voiding warranties.
2. FDs, for the most part are not daily drivers, opens up a lot opinions mod-wise.
3. If you've done your research before you buy, you realize these cars are money pits in more ways than one. So you accept that you're going to spend money.

-Scott

Honestly, even 3-rotor conversions are chump change compared to what I see guys dropping to mod Corvetres, Vipers, Porsche's, and Mercedes. Maybe it's alot compared to EVO's and S2K's, but go check out the "package" prices on Lingenfelter's, or Hennessy's sites.

yea the lingenfelter upgrade is 49,000 for only 725 horse plus the cost of the car!!!

That signature is awesome...very inspirational!

You get a lot of bang for the buck when modding a turbo rotary. Something as simple as an exhaust nets you much more HP than the same mod on a piston car. I feel that prices for RX7 performance parts are fair compared to other makes when you consider the HP delivered for that mod.

If you're talking maintenance, the maintenance on either of my FDs was less than the amount of money I spent maintaining my reasonably new BMW. If I add up depreciation and maintenance costs over the 3 years I owned the car it would add up to the cost of a mint low mileage FD. It was a bittersweet day when that car was sold...

the mod cost of a rotary equals the mod cost of a porsche 996. as far as gains go, you don't get dick-all for power on a non-turbo porsche, on a 996TT you gain as you would in ways similar to a rotary turbo i would say.

the difference is in maintenence. FD owners would double the maintenence costs of a watercooled 911. That is, unless you're FD is in just spectactular shape for whatever reason(a feat which costs quite a bit of money on its own :) ).

and incase someone desides to ask if its worth it: YES!

the money i see these kids putting into their STI's makes my fd feel like chump change :P so yea, i don't feel so bad lol

Now that is very debatable. :)

Back on topic....

no way parts for cars like nsx or m3's are much more expensive that for our fd's

the performance parts for BMW's are very expensive,for exhaust and intake when i had my M coupe was over $1200

haha..fair enuff..just going based one what i've paid in the past :)

996C2 maintenance costs: nothing but oil changes and scraped front lips

996TT: ditto plus spark plugs

RX-7: random shit hither and thither...not too bad...but still more than ususal.

having never owned an STi or other JDM car i can't compare to those.

back to the OP's original topic

cheers

but that's about the same if not less than the same mods for our cars, assuming you're talking about a full exhaust system. You could easily drop that much money on a quality dp, hi flow cat and cat back without even getting into the intakes which aren't all that cheap themselves. I think the mods we do to our cars dictates the amount we spend. Up until you get into the ecu and fuel the bolt ons arent bank busters and can significantly increase your power. and depending on how hard and how often you drive your car, maintenance costs can be really low or insanely high.

Working in a shop, I see people dump more money into their POS beater Land Cruisers or other pieces of junk than I've put into building my 88 N/A and 93 TT combined.

There's no way that even authentic RE Amemiya parts rival the price of the top of the line German counterparts.

TechArt, RUF, AMG...

There's no prices posted on some of those sites. I could get a single, v-mount, & wheels for the price of an "aero kit"

My exhaust/intake setup cost me WAY more than $1,200.

I agree, you have to look at it this way too...

You're modding a fairly common (back in 93-95 in the U.S.) production car, they made well over 10,000 of theses things.

When you compare that to the price of a GT3, or a LF Vette, etc... it's obviously cheaper/easier to get parts for.

For what the rx7 is, I think we drop a good chunk of money, but nowhere close to other vehicles in it's class.

I suppose a comparable vehicle for price would be a 3000GT VR-4, those can get expensive as well.

You could also look at it as a ratio of mods to the cost of the car....

RX7 10-15k for the car, you can figure you do at least that, if not more in mods, going through engines if you keep it, and regular maintenance. So 15k/20k on car price/mods.

Then look at a Porche, my friend had 911GT2 a few years back. He paid 144k for the car at the time. Did all stage 3 everything and he quoted about 768hp to the wheels.... sucker was fast. But those mods cost him nearly 40k. So 144k/40k.

I guy that might have the answer to this would be Elliot at turblown. I saw a couple of exotic cars at his shop. He had a lambo on the lift, and a few fd's as well. I am sure he knows the price these people pay for mods on their lambo.

Anyway enough of my ranting... just with any car... if you want fast, you gotta pay to play. I don't think the rx7 is that much considering what u get for the price u pay.

I agree.

However exotics like TechArt, Gemballa, Kleeman, Novitech, Imola etc are all way more expensive. I know that F430 Coilovers from novi are 13,500! The Aero package from hamman for the M5 is 11,500 for a halfass diffuser, skirts, lowering springs, front lip and some other exterior goodies.

But I'm talking about in relation to whose on par with us such as STi's an Evo's etc...

Well, you did also list the M3 which is basically in the same category as the M5 (heck most of the E46 guys routinely spend $4-5k on just wheels). I think that's what throwing everyone off. You would have probably been better off saying something like "other tuner cars" to help narrow things down.

That would lend more accuracy to it, or even a ratio

using the Porsche example:

144/40k
vs
Rx-7
13/20k

I don't think 90s vintage DSM parts are as much as ours, and v8 parts definitely aren't.

However the newer models like the STIs and the EVOs are probably shelling out some pretty good dough because they're newer cars. Then there's the IS300/LS/GS/Supra crowd...

Comparing the rx7 to the evo/sti might be difficult as the rx7 has been out in the US for years. They've been turbocharging these things since the 80's. The sti/evo however have only been in the U.S. for 6-7 years? If that?

So you're taking 20+ years of turbo designs and experience for the 13b, and comparing it to a car that hasn't been around as long.

But hop on the evo forums and check it out. You'll see guys throwing GT42r's on the evo's and doing similar things. It really is difficult to say... and you're trying to average this group of people.

If you asking if average joe with an rx7 spends as much as average joe with an evo or sti, then sure. It all depends on taste. Some people enjoy stock and reliability mods, some like it bone stock, some like slightly modded and some like heavy modded. Personally, I like both... simple and extravagant.

The comparison is very difficult because you've got such a huge variable of comparison. It's like comparing RE-Amemiya to Wide Open Throttle Motorsports... or APEXi vs Jeggs... it's all about what you want, and how much you're willing to spend to do it. Anybody could save money if they took the time to design things or be a bit creative.

I think the aftermarket has evolved to a point that didn't exist in 1993. How many people are making 400whp? I'll bet that 15 years ago (or more) 400whp would cost at least twice as much as it does now. A wideband in your car for your daily drive to work? only if your last name is andretti!