Where do I start?

Wassup-

I'm a 15 yr. old and don't have the widest range about the technical things in a car and how to modify them and the best way to modify a car. But at the age of 15 i don't even have my license yet. As soon as i get my license i would love to get a cool ride aslo. My dream car is a street racing car. One with supercharge, turbo, nos, body kit, intake and all those modifications in my car. But where do i start? I'd love to buy a bone stock car and do every little modification on my own and learn everything at the same time. I need help buying a car. One that would fit a young teen with lots of room for modifications and easy to modify but at the same time will transform into a beast.

Crap.. I dont even know where to start with explaining! Just read everything you can and ask questions when you cant figure it out yourself.

Crap.. I dont even know where to start with explaining! Just read everything you can and ask questions when you cant figure it out yourself.


:werd:.....

Well .... see. I want to get the best out of my car. But do you have any suggestion to which car would be the best starting project car for me. I'm thinking maybe a honda civic sedan, but then maybe there are other better cars that could become much more powerful then a civic. What do you think? What car would be best modified?

omg..... :shakehead .....please don't go import......

Get yourself a muscle car! :grinyes:

You first need to decide what you need out of your car and then your budget. Don't buy a car with the intention of modding it without first knowing what you are trying to mod it into.

Since it will be your first car - learn how to drive well (takes experience) before even trying to get involved in any type of race. You'll just be setting yourself and someone else up to get injured or worse.

Not to say that you should get a nice car if you can afford one, but don't get carried away with all the techno babble about turbos, superchargers (note that you will never use both on the same car at the same time) NOS and the rest of it. Get a feel for the road - for all you know, you may change your mind and become an off-roader or rally racer and all this street racing car will be moot.

I am more of an import kind of guy. I would like my ride with low down with body kit and everything. I understand that because it's my first car I don't want to do to much to it adding supercharge or turbo. Not even close to NOS, althought i would love my car to have that just to shot it in sometime here or there. Although i love import cars im not that kind of a racer type. I just want the looks and feel. Adding intake and exhaust are the first steps that i have in my so far. My budget is around 7000. I have all these plans that i would love to do to my future car. But can someone give me any just a few suggestions to what car i should start out with? Maybe on that is light weight that will become a monster on the street. I mean i'm not going to add all the modifications to my car at once. but work on my car slow over a long period of time mayb one or two years.

Hands down.. best car EVER...

1988 Pontiac Fiero GT

I'm so not kidding.








Ok, I am.


Something lightweight... and to learn how to drive with and to build up into a 'street monster'. Hmm I don't know about the rest of you guys but i'm thinking like a 1990 Honda Civic DX hatchback. Not the worlds fastest thing, but its a good base to learn from. Then when you're ready for more power, motor swap!

Maybe a WRX= Quick fun car with good power potential
GTI VR6/or 1.8T= Little cheaper
Audi A4= they look real mean with the right body kit
Sentra= cheap some are fast
Mustang 5.0= Cheap,fast, huge power potential. With your budget probably one of your best bets.

vietxxxtasy i was just like you when i was 15... all about gettin a FAT ride and maxin it out and what not. trust me you might think that you can get a lil nipper or somthin like that and supe it up real easy. its not i thought that as soon as i got my license i would get a hella nice car and be the "monster" out on the street... no doesnt happen. its not like you can just hop in a 12 second car and go flyin down the track(and by the way im not tryin to be mean but its the truth)racing takes TIME to learn how to do but hey good luck with your first car

and the cars i could suggest for a first:
1 like they said would be a lil hatch
2 theres a maxima(dont know which model and what not) that can be made pretty fast
3 if your goin for looks too an integra or prelude is nice

but its up to you just go out and find what you like

Well, I'm not an import kinda guy, but since hats what your into, thats cool. For power, looks, budget, etc...get an integra or prelude. But make sure there vtech, if not your better getting something else, because even if there non-vtech you could still make em fast with engine swap and more mods than you would need with a vtech. If you get a good condition vtech integra or prelude for bout 3500-5500, an ptabout 1000-2000 o mods in it. You could easilly have a mid 13 second car,if you can drive it right. Trust me, I've done it! Good luck, and enjoy.

Well, I'm not an import kinda guy, but since hats what your into, thats cool. For power, looks, budget, etc...get an integra or prelude. But make sure there vtech, if not your better getting something else, because even if there non-vtech you could still make em fast with engine swap and more mods than you would need with a vtech. If you get a good condition vtech integra or prelude for bout 3500-5500, an ptabout 1000-2000 o mods in it. You could easilly have a mid 13 second car,if you can drive it right. Trust me, I've done it! Good luck, and enjoy.

you've done it before but spell vtec wrong not once, but 4 times :nono:

Thanks everyone for replying to my thread. I wouldn't mind getting more suggestion on what car to start working on and any other suggestions like basic mods to the car.

The most important mod to any car is the nut behind the steering wheel ( :lol2: I crack myself up)

Seriously, learning to drive it right will make more difference than anything. And to learn right, you need to spend time at a dragstrip with real timing lights, or an auto-x where you can really push your limits. Then if you must, take your skills back to the street.

Go and check out insurance companies too. When i got my license first i wanted to have a Camaro. I found one and checked out insurance. $4000+ a year !!! wtf.. the car wasn't even worth that much. I'd be pretty much working to drive around :( My friend wanted to insure a bellveder (however you spell it) $5000 for liability only.. so check with the insurance companies and even see if they let you mod. If you mod your car and don't tell them. They don't have to cover you, well some companies don't have too. That meansyou can be stuck with a hefty bill. I suggest you drive your parents car for a few years. Get use to driving and understand the road. Then you can decide whether or not you want a fast car or not. I drive a caprice, which is a 16.7 (or so)second car and i find it has a lot of power to the pedal.

Also, take any driving course you can, it can chop down insurance. It would of saved me $1440 if i was to get the camaro and insure it.

Do what I did to start out. Basically a simulator before you get to real thing. Go to www.howstuffworks.com. Then go to automotive, type in vtec. Read all. Type in Clutch, read all. Type in rotary, read all, type in V4, read all. Get to know some stuff, and in that time, go to ebay, look up cars you like the look of ((You can have a 10 second car, but if your not happy in it and don't like the looks it's crap)) Look at the engines on ebay, how many Liters is it? What? don't know what liters are? www.howstuffworks.com Look up = Liters in automotive.

Then a good place to learn about engine mods is seriously www.nittoracing.com, download it, get your civic, and just do engine mods, learn the game, read about each mod you do. Why it gains horsepower, etc etc. Next step, get a damn car and go nuts. And don't forget to earn those insurance rates while your still young. Don't get yourself killed, but have some fun and learn.

You have time before you get your license so get to reading. If you start reading and find out it's boring, maybe street racing isn't for you and you probably just want a good car to drive around in that looks sick. Which isn't a bad thing. Good luck man, and welcome to AF.

i say do research 1st....but me being biased....i say get a 88-91 civic/crx just as a starter car and learn from there b/c the aftermarket is huge, can pick one up reletively cheap, and there is a ton of information out there......if u want a challenge...i say get something different and not that common on the streets...mabey a subaru wrx or rs

1. type in V4, read all. Get to know some stuff,

2. Then a good place to learn about engine mods is seriously www.nittoracing.com, download it, get your civic, and just do engine mods, learn the game, read about each mod you do. Why it gains horsepower, etc etc. .




1. might wanna try to type in inline 4 if you want to find something about import motors cause i doubt reading about a boat motor is gonna help your situation any.

2. any game where you can run a 200 shot of nitrous, 30 psi of boost, and run a 8.3 sec 1/4 mile in a full street civic is not a reliable source of info, but it does show you the different parts of a motor.


also you aren't gonna have a 10 second car with 7g's(unless you get a lot of freebies) i say get a 5th gen hatch with a gsr motor already put in and then spend the rest of the money on makin it look nice, then start saving to get money to work on it. that way you have a pretty fast car that looks nice while your broke. and if you wanna learn how to swap a motor then you could just save the 3500 bux you would spend on the motor and just pull it out and put it back in :icon16:

To get a 10 sec. car how much do you think i would have to invest in my car. And what specific engine mods do you recommend and things you wouldn't recommend. I am practically start from scratch but have read up on lots of book but not the labor part like installation and all that. Do you have any suggestions? Is it difficult to learn how to mod an engine? Seems like this automotive forum is a great resource and i can learn a great deal from it. But do you think it's enough?

Don't listen to the movies Kid... a 10 second machine is incredibly fast. It'll cost more than your $7000 to get to the 10's with your knowledge. They're aren't very streetable either. So just aim your goals a little lower for now... just go out and learn the ways of the road. WE cannot stress that enough. WE don't need a little 'Johnny' racer who think's he's hot shit out there and getting US in trouble or killed... If you kill me, I'll be severly pissed off.

Anywho, Just pick a car that you like and go from there, 99% of the time there's aftermarket support for it. Meaning whatever you end up with you'll have the chance to add go-fast parts.

I suggest one of the first things you need to buy, is a repair manual for whatever car you buy. A Hayne's or Chilton will work fine. Use those to learn how to do basic maintenance on your car if you don't have somebody around who can. This will give you the basic knowledge and workings of your motor... hopefully.

If you've got questions, ask somebody. Either here on Online or don't hesitate to take a trip to a local mechanic.

:werd: ahhhhh!!! my mom was just watching tv on speed vision and they were doin some road car racing and she was like "hey look a skyline gtr" and then i turn to look at the tv and saw it run right into the side of a mountain. front end is all messed up :crying: i think it was a r33. if ya'll are watching tv right now turn it to speed, lots of really nice cars racing on the street and crashing, i'm now watching a cobra R racing :naughty:

I am overly impressed with everyone that has replied so far. I could have swore that this thread would hav started one of the biggest flames in the history of AF.

anyways my :2cents: is just look at some different cars (Test Drive them) and see what you like and you can afford. I used to think that I really wanted an Integra or something along those lines but eventually I decided on a mustang because it is already fast and fun (at least to me) and I can afford insurance. If you want something that looks nice then find cars that you think look good or that you can find a body kit for that you like ect. ect.

Buy a third gen. F-body, they never break down..........ever. :grinno:

But seriously, first look at your pocketbook, you said you have around $7,000 to buy a car with. That could make a pretty good downpayment on a car or it could be enough to buy you an older car like an 88 Civic or something of that nature.

The last thing you need to be worrying about right now is racing, end of story, get that out of your head. Being 15 you don't know much about driving in the first place.`

:werd: ... :iagree: with devil u shouldnt be thinkin about racing right now... and u shouldnt be worrying about a 10sec car.... u dont even have a car yet

I hae to say it, well not really, but I have a good option for you. Unfortunatly it is not an import. Recently I found a car for sale in Florida. It is a 1990 Chrysler LeBaron GTC. He says it is in perfect condition just needs a paint job and all he wants is about $2,000.

There are many upsides to this car. Stock it is making about 205HP and 225 ft/lbs of torque from a 2.2L turbo charged and intercooled 4 cylinder. It also comes with a Getrag forged five speed, perfect for racing. The car gets great gas mileage when you don't have your foot in the gas all the time but can get up and move when you need it to. Also insurance is great. I was paying about $90 per month for full coverage because insurance companies consider it to be a luxery car. On top of it all with about $2,000 in mods you can easily be in the 12s in the 1/4 mile.

As you can tell from my sig I am partial to the 1989 and 1990 LeBaron GTC. I think they are great cars. However you might not want to get one because it may be more power than you can handle juts starting out.

Just one suggestion.

Well of course i know i am very young to be racing. See i'm not really into racing. I never raced before. Except on nitto racing. Any how.... I'd like to think of this as a project. I just want to know technical side about cars and what makes them go fast. And i want that first hand experience by modifying my ride. At the same time i learn a lot about cars. Now the reason I put up this thread is to ask everyone's opinion on what car i should start out with to modify at a budget of $7000. That's all. I'm not a race but i love the looks and feel of imports.

I just want to know technical side about cars and what makes them go fast. And i want that first hand experience by modifying my ride.
And what makes you think you'll be able to do that? Just grab a wrench and get to work? "Modifying" anything that gives you real performance is going to cost you, a lot. For example, my little cat-back exhaust for the S-10, $680 bucks for installation, a bigger mass-air-flow sensor which was probably not even worth it, $200 bucks, headers $580 , a supercharger would cost me $3,000 bucks, an intercooler to keep the supercharger cool is another $1,000. Beefier camshafts probably would cost me up to $800, a new 350hp 5.7L V8 for my Firebird costs $2500, that doesn't even have all the parts to actually make the engine start, and the money just keeps piling up.

Soon enough you'll find yourself spending thousands of dollars into a machine that you later think isn't even worth it.

At the same time i learn a lot about cars. Now the reason I put up this thread is to ask everyone's opinion on what car i should start out with to modify at a budget of $7000. That's all. I'm not a race but i love the looks and feel of imports.
Look just get a car that you like don't ask us for our opinions. "What car should I buy?" is constantly asked here and it does nothing more then bring arguments and piss us off.

What do you mean by the "feel" of imports?

i love the looks and feel of imports.

hmm, you dont have a licence, so you liek to feel the imports? i mean, who goes around feeling up cars? ;-)

anyways like many before said, dont come here and ask us what you should blow your wad on. we dont know you, dont know all of your driving traits, even if john force came ehre and asked for a suggestion, i wouldnt be sure what to tell him.

like said by someone before, read, read and read, learn and make your own decision. answers on the board are merley opinions, and most people dislike, or like cars based on experiences theyve had with them, and not every car is perfect.

also being 15, dont worry about getting your fast car. i thought the same thing when i was younger, i wanted a 3rd gen camaro, what did i buy instead? a sunbird. it was the second car i could actually call my own (first was a dodge daytona) and ive since worked on my standard driving skills. now yes next summer i am more perforamance car, but for a first car, you could get say a 90 economy/2dr for about the same price as a mid 80's sports car that obviousl has been bagged at least once in its lifetime. i mean who buys a sportscar not to drive it quick once in a wile. anyways, off topic here.

bottom line is, you dont need that sporty car to start with, i know its "hip fo shizzle" to have that nice car, but stick with something mild till you learn how to drive better.

you've done it before but spell vtec wrong not once, but 4 times :nono:

I have never owned an Integra nor a Prelude. I was just comparing the top trim, compared to base models, and the difference mods would make. Like I have a Probe GT, and the mods helped more than a 4-cyl automatic probe. And, since hes an import guy, i thought an integra or prelude VTEC, would be good.

learn to drive then get back to us.

i say something with air bags and not very much power to start.

don't over-power urself...ur only going to either hurt urself or a nice car...(or someone else)

if u want an import great (it IS a good starting point considering the low power/torque and good safety features), and u could work up to a monster V8 after that. :2cents:

EDIT: i do agree w/ the rest...read up online an get a haynes manual so u can do little things like changing ur oil an doing ur own tune-ups.

these things may seem small, but u've got to start somewhere don't u?

How long ago were you all 15? 40 years ago? Longer? Geeze guys.

"Hey you 15 year old! Don't be young and stupid! Be mature like a 30 year old! I mean really... your so stupid, asking a car question on a car forum!"

I wish I had 7k to spend when I was 15. He wants a bad car that goes fast and looks good, who can blame him. Help him out, show some quater mile times. Good ad-ons. Cost vs. Effectice vs. Pure looks, etc etc.

I think your 15 year old selfs would kick your own butts for being so dull, boring, and mean.

As for the guy wanting the info. Maybe you should look at Eclipse GSX for that much. If you LOOK a lot you could probably find one for cheaper then 7k, then you could mod it, maybe throw some turbo mods. Not many things strike fear into N/A cars then a nice blow off valve Pssshhuuuu.

I'm sorry, I think that came out wrong and as a flame. I really didn't mean it to be, see, I learned this lesson a long time ago.

I was helping my friend coach AYSO soccer legue, a bunch of 8-9 year olds in fact. And they were being really obnoxious and loud, I asked my friend who had been doing this for awhile and lived with them ((Young kids)) what we should do. He said nothing really, they're 8, thats what 8 year olds do.

And well, 15 year olds wanna drive fast and look good. They don't think about down the line or death. 15 year olds shouldn't.

Adios ^^;;

Insurance !! i can't stress that enough. When you find a car you like, get a quote on it. You might find imports nice, but when you find out their sucking out $3000+ (most likely more since your beginner driver) a year you'll think their the worst things alive.

I suggest you keep your money and you just drive your parents cars. You can tune up their cars and do oil changes and everything on them. Get use to driving and find out what car you truely love. The worst thing you can do is buy the car and find out you hate it.

Also, if you just stick to your parents car. You can save your money up and buy a really really nice car.

one thing about tuning a car is that it gets very expensive....but u don't know it till u start adding up the costs :crying:

And well, 15 year olds wanna drive fast and look good. They don't think about down the line or death. 15 year olds shouldn't.

Just because they want to drive fast doesn't mean they should. It's not a good idea to put someone who has little or no experience driving in a car beyond their abilities. I know I don't have the experience to handle some cars, but at least I have enough experience to recognize that. You're giht, 15 year olds don't think about wrecking or dying, and that's the problem. They don't think "Gee, if I street race this guy, I could lose control and kill myself or someone else" they think "I'm gonna look like a bitch if I don't race this guy". I personally don't want someone driving who thinks like that, but if they must, I'd rather them in a car slow enough to minimize damage potential, or at the very least, have some track experience, which is what I suggested.

Greets,

Don't rush into things starting out. Your $7,000 budget is a good starting point to get a good import (my Del Sol was $8,000 from a private owner). I'm more familiar with Honda's, so here's my Honda advice: if you get a 3rd gen (late 1980's), buy a Civic, CRX, or Prelude. The 3rd gen Accords don't have much market for them, but Civic's, etc., have a lot from that time on and they are relatively inexpensive. Even mid-1990's Honda's aren't too expensive and have a good market for them and insurance isn't too terrible, though it will be high because you are a new driver. Take all the driving classes/courses you can. It will help lower insurance and will allow you to gain experience driving. I would also recommend learning on a manual transmission car -- once you can drive stick you can drive pretty much anything. Honda's are good on price and have great gas mileage. They last if taken care of (which can be said for most cars), but also have a good amount of perfomance market for them.

After you purchase your car, just drive it and get used to it. Put any mods off for some time down the road. Get good at driving, give yourself time to read about cars and how they work, buying a repair manual or the factory service manual for your car might be a good idea as well. And take your time with the car. That's the best way to do it -- one mod at a time, a little at a time.

My first car was a 1988 Honda Accord. Not much aftermarket for it (well, almost none really), but it was a manual and I drove it for almost six years and learned how to drive well before buying the Del Sol, which is my second car.

And stay away from APC products. :biggrin:

Anyhoo,

I am so glad i found this site. I just worded it differently on yahoo "getting started on car tune-ups", and this pops up. It's great 'cause im also 15, im totally new to this, and im exactly like this guy 'cept for the money and what car thing. i actually just have about 25 dollars, so get a job is on my to do list. let's just say i got the car and money part covered somewhere else. so, like many of you very smart, intelligent ppl, im sure, said, take it slow, which is my strategy. i want to learn as much possible to mod cars and whatnot. thus, my question, anybody know websites or any good books that have helped them learn how to mod cars or how to get started on this. i hope to one day put at least one part on a street racer. thnx for any suggestions.

Anyhoo,

I am so glad i found this site. I just worded it differently on yahoo "getting started on car tune-ups", and this pops up. It's great 'cause im also 15, im totally new to this, and im exactly like this guy 'cept for the money and what car thing. i actually just have about 25 dollars, so get a job is on my to do list. let's just say i got the car and money part covered somewhere else. so, like many of you very smart, intelligent ppl, im sure, said, take it slow, which is my strategy. i want to learn as much possible to mod cars and whatnot. thus, my question, anybody know websites or any good books that have helped them learn how to mod cars or how to get started on this. i hope to one day put at least one part on a street racer. thnx for any suggestions.

First thing you need to learn is to NOT bring up dead threads, older than 3 months old, in your 1st, 2nd, or 10,000th posts.

If it's worth it, start a new thread, in the appropriate forum.