to Buy a HEAVILY modified car?

I have always been a car guy, and i always wanted a car that i could modify. In my recent search for a daily driver i found an SVT contour that i can afford that is very very heavily modified. It was built as a track day car, so the suspension, engine, and drivetrain are all built. It has a 3 litre swap, and some guys on a contour enthusiast site said it was the highest dynoed all motor contour on record. The list of modifications is in the link at the bottom of the page. It has 72k on the body, and has been raced at track events on at very least 3 ocasions. In my mind, all the parts are put on it to make it able to take the beating on the track. I would think that if it can handle itself on the track, it should be able to be used as a daily driver without breaking down more often than any other car. It has a lot of stuff done to it that i would do if i had the money. Like i said though, this wouldnt be a toy, or project car, it would have to be a daily driver. Obviously basic maintnance would be an issue. Its not like i could just go get an oil change, i think most of the local oil change technicians would be very confused. whats your opinion on the reliability of this car compared to other cars with similair mileage? keep in mind that i can talk to the original owner, the guy that built the car.

http://www.contour.org/carprofile/carprofile.php?a=display&uid=1385

I wouldn't...if it's modified it's been beat on, I don't care how well someone SAYS they took care of it.

even if this car is reliable enough to drive every day (which I doubt it is), it's modified to a point where it would be impractical and uncomfortable to drive every day.

For example, it has extremely high compression, has no cats and will be extremely loud, and has a very stiff clutch.

Heh heh heh, nice Andydg, I remember watching that play. Glad Sauerbraun got fired recently for mouthing off to the local Denver cops.

A car built for the track is meant to be driven on the track. As mentioned, its probably gonna be too uncomfortable for daily use. In addition to the clutch, imagine what the spring and shock settings are on that thing. I'm sure it's no Cadillac.

Highly modified cars rarely ever make for a goo daily driver. Generally problems would be:

*Harder to start
*More things to break
*Uncomfortable
*More maintenance (ie. expensive high end tires that will wear out faster due to softer compound but will be needed to make use of the cars performance capabilities)
*More expensive to maintain (and put gas in as it will use more and at that compression it will require premium)
*And basically when a car is modded it generally works harder putting more stress on everything. And even when things have been strengthened, they are still more likely to break under a high powered drivetrain.

Heh heh heh, nice Andydg, I remember watching that play. Glad Sauerbraun got fired recently for mouthing off to the local Denver cops.


Haha thanks...one of the few brightspots on the Bears this season has been Hester...and WTF is with Sauerbraun anyways...roid-rage?

Back on topic-SL3000gt summed it up really nicely why having a heavily modified car as a daily drive isn't ideal.