Originally Posted by
rd415
I'm a firm believer in having a car that is different, I don't think I've ever owned what could be called a standard car. The closest I can think of was two cars ago a Nissan 200SX S14. It only had strut braces and a genuine leather steering wheel fitted. On my current MPS6 I have already had four different style wheels, it also has additional Mazda MPS badges on the skirts which makes it look considerably different to other MPS6. I learnt a big lesson in 1974-78 when I spent in excess of $30,000 on a HQ Holden - went extremely quick, but a pain in the backside. The heavy duty clutch and no torque at low rpm, meant clutch slip or wheelspin to get the car off the mark, overheating at idle, push rod bobbins (brass guides) lasting 1500 kilometres, premature clutch/tyre wear and about 7 mpg in the city, 12 mpg on the open road, but what a super muscle car on the open road. Paid $3000 brand new in 1974 - sold in 1979 for $7,000 - no where near the money spent on it.
Most of the time the designers get the best compromise available, modifications only alter the compomise.