cvjoint
Well-Known Member
I think I've reached the pinnacle of jadedness with this hobby. Ever since I got a swap in January I've been observing parts failing and inferior labor besides pouring more and more money in the car.
Let's see some of the aspects of car tuning:
*Mechanic makes no use of a torque wrench, this makes for lots of these scenarios: nuts are sometimes hand tightened, sit there in one thread, bolts break in the engine block, xthreading occurs etc.
*Aftermarket parts are of inferior quality on average due to no quality control, or cheapness on the part of the owner: wheels are more prone to bending, shocks have poor valving that is inconsistent and prone to leaking, lack of heat treatment and special coatings on engine parts such as bolts and pistons, camshafts break in two, manifolds crack, heat shields are almost nonexistent
*Wires are not custom cut or terminated properly, we see a move to electrical tape and butt connectors
*additional electrical accessories are added on existing lines causing excess draw and wear
*parts just don't fit right: lip kits, engine mounts, piston domes too high,
*decrease in reliability: 'boost'-on the fly adjustment between high power/high risk and low power/reliability, higher risk of hydro lock by changing to CAI unless properly safeguarded, higher wear on valveterrain with head builds
*decrease in safety, removal of airbags to save weight, carbon fiber hoods without proper restraints that can fly in your face, improper mounting of seats, batteries with no strap downs
*attempting all of this in a country with a puritanical background and little leniency, worst of all California where flatulence will soon be illegal
Before you go on and demonize me know that I've been though most with my first and only car - the 6th gen that I've had for lots of years now. This is simply my realization of the hobby after all this time and money tied into it. I'm very much guilty of the same ****ty labor as the mechanics that I've paid over the years, but at least I don't claim to be one.
Realizations:
**Superficial grasp of the cost of tuning. Tuning is not a cheaper way to build an automobile, if it is cheaper you are skipping steps, see the above on spending time to torque things down to spec, spending the extra money to get at least OEM quality materials, keep an eye on reliability and safety. We hear these stories of shops doing turbo builds from ground up in a couple of days...that's just not right. Swaps done on $10 dollars with a screwdriver... The truth is tuning is more expensive than buying similar performance, think that most mechanics and owners are not top notch engineers, we are not more efficient than a group of Honda engineers mass producing a fleet of cars.
**Obsession with numbers. I mean time slips, dyno graphs, list of parts. Any experienced enthusiast should be more interested in feel, making the right compromises, usability, and more comprehensive testing reports. Time slips do very little to encompass performance, a stripped down Accord, with no spare, interior, passenger seat, and donuts on the rear is still just a stock Accord regardless if the slip reads better. Dynos are first tools for comparison and tuning and far last for bragging. A car is only as good as it's weakest link, more emphasis should be on smart tuning, or balanced modification rather than rounding up a long list of parts. There are many instances of 600whp on 205 section tire drive wheels or fwd cars, what logic does that have. Not enough emphasis is placed on upgrading cooling, breaking, improving power delivery and traction. I think a more mature take on performance evaluation is due. Stock cars are great compromise cars, they are nearly unbeatable performance wise if you take a moment to really evaluate it's performance in more than fractions of spec sheets. Which takes me to my final point:
The redemption:
Tuning is only good at a few things:
1. You are stuck with the same car. See the last Transporter movie where the bracelet blows up.
2. You want to be unique, this is just as often bad as it is good.
3. The car you want is not sold anywhere else. You can be an odd fellow that enjoys your kidneys shattering due to stiff suspensions and race motor mounts. You like to hear the cam shifting design kick your rpm needle senseless. You are more risk loving and can't cope with the thousands of pounds new cars add on to safeguard your ankles with sensitive touch airbags, illuminating areas of the car you have no need for, on board systems that tell you how to drive or call your mother in the event you refuse to be driven.
For everything else there is a stock car that will have a better value and make less compromises. So...tune accordingly.
Let's see some of the aspects of car tuning:
*Mechanic makes no use of a torque wrench, this makes for lots of these scenarios: nuts are sometimes hand tightened, sit there in one thread, bolts break in the engine block, xthreading occurs etc.
*Aftermarket parts are of inferior quality on average due to no quality control, or cheapness on the part of the owner: wheels are more prone to bending, shocks have poor valving that is inconsistent and prone to leaking, lack of heat treatment and special coatings on engine parts such as bolts and pistons, camshafts break in two, manifolds crack, heat shields are almost nonexistent
*Wires are not custom cut or terminated properly, we see a move to electrical tape and butt connectors
*additional electrical accessories are added on existing lines causing excess draw and wear
*parts just don't fit right: lip kits, engine mounts, piston domes too high,
*decrease in reliability: 'boost'-on the fly adjustment between high power/high risk and low power/reliability, higher risk of hydro lock by changing to CAI unless properly safeguarded, higher wear on valveterrain with head builds
*decrease in safety, removal of airbags to save weight, carbon fiber hoods without proper restraints that can fly in your face, improper mounting of seats, batteries with no strap downs
*attempting all of this in a country with a puritanical background and little leniency, worst of all California where flatulence will soon be illegal
Before you go on and demonize me know that I've been though most with my first and only car - the 6th gen that I've had for lots of years now. This is simply my realization of the hobby after all this time and money tied into it. I'm very much guilty of the same ****ty labor as the mechanics that I've paid over the years, but at least I don't claim to be one.
Realizations:
**Superficial grasp of the cost of tuning. Tuning is not a cheaper way to build an automobile, if it is cheaper you are skipping steps, see the above on spending time to torque things down to spec, spending the extra money to get at least OEM quality materials, keep an eye on reliability and safety. We hear these stories of shops doing turbo builds from ground up in a couple of days...that's just not right. Swaps done on $10 dollars with a screwdriver... The truth is tuning is more expensive than buying similar performance, think that most mechanics and owners are not top notch engineers, we are not more efficient than a group of Honda engineers mass producing a fleet of cars.
**Obsession with numbers. I mean time slips, dyno graphs, list of parts. Any experienced enthusiast should be more interested in feel, making the right compromises, usability, and more comprehensive testing reports. Time slips do very little to encompass performance, a stripped down Accord, with no spare, interior, passenger seat, and donuts on the rear is still just a stock Accord regardless if the slip reads better. Dynos are first tools for comparison and tuning and far last for bragging. A car is only as good as it's weakest link, more emphasis should be on smart tuning, or balanced modification rather than rounding up a long list of parts. There are many instances of 600whp on 205 section tire drive wheels or fwd cars, what logic does that have. Not enough emphasis is placed on upgrading cooling, breaking, improving power delivery and traction. I think a more mature take on performance evaluation is due. Stock cars are great compromise cars, they are nearly unbeatable performance wise if you take a moment to really evaluate it's performance in more than fractions of spec sheets. Which takes me to my final point:
The redemption:
Tuning is only good at a few things:
1. You are stuck with the same car. See the last Transporter movie where the bracelet blows up.
2. You want to be unique, this is just as often bad as it is good.
3. The car you want is not sold anywhere else. You can be an odd fellow that enjoys your kidneys shattering due to stiff suspensions and race motor mounts. You like to hear the cam shifting design kick your rpm needle senseless. You are more risk loving and can't cope with the thousands of pounds new cars add on to safeguard your ankles with sensitive touch airbags, illuminating areas of the car you have no need for, on board systems that tell you how to drive or call your mother in the event you refuse to be driven.
For everything else there is a stock car that will have a better value and make less compromises. So...tune accordingly.
