I was ready to buy a GTR on Wednesday… but it never happened. I think… (at least I feel this way today) that I’m going to keep driving AE86. A GTR is amazing… but here’s the thing with AE86. I’ve been driving AE86 over the past 8 years, believing the car was superior to all others. There were times I believed that with the right driver, and the right modifications, that the AE86 could be as fast as anything else on the right course. Of course… maybe that was just a way for me to feel good about being a poor student with a budget of only a couple thousand dollars a year (sometimes not even). After all… what were my other choices, if I was to sell AE86 and drive something else? The AE86 is a great bang for the buck, and unless I want to go cruising in a VW, or auto-x an underpowered Civic there really isn’t anything else you can buy and tweak for less than 5k. I guess there is AW, and I might have been there if the opportunity had a risen. Imagine how different things could be…
My point is… that now I’m a big older, with a lot more available as far as cash goes. I think about bigger cars that are not in the same category as AE86. I realize that in the past I was a victim of AE86 propaganda… This is an obsolete, 20 year old piece of trash..
Live axle? A chassis that breaks windshields? A stance like a truck? 100hp? How was this ever a sporty car? Truth is… I feel like I could buy a new Fit, spend a little on suspension and tires, and and up with a car that would run circles around my mildly modded AE86. Even on these entry level cars, power/weight ratio is better, and in the case of the Fit, bolt on parts will get you a chassis that works really well. Oh yeah, and I have room for five people, wicked fuel economy, AC, and I won’t feel like every drive could be my last because the car is about to crumble and fall apart.
Well… my 86 really isn’t that bad.
But… beyond cars like the Fit, are cars like the GTR. Godzilla = wow.
But… I break things. Right now… I have a spare chassis, two spare tranny’s, 3 spare heads, 5 sets of wheels, four great big stacks of tires, clutches, shocks, manifolds… all for the AE86. Over 8 years I’ve accumulated a lot. When something breaks I can usually fix it for free, or at least for very cheap. Furthermore, I know everything about my car. I know about the little patch of rust behind the rear bumpers. I know I put a new clutch in 2 months ago, but I know the shocks are 3 years old and maybe close to the end. I know the motor is old, but running alright. There are no mysteries. Even if I can sell my car and pick up a GTR for cheap, I might end up blowing my years budget on something stupid like Brake Calipers. That’d make me hate my new car.
So… I think I’ll wait a little while, and continue driving 86 until I have a real job.
My goal however, remains to be adding about 100hp, as well as various chassis tweaks that I’ve been to lazy to attack. Anthony L.s RSX is largely my motivation. This car eats up Supercars on the full road course with only some basic mods… I have the same hopes for AE86. GZE? Turbo? I don’t even want to do that much anymore. We’ll see what happens.
Anthony’s car made me realize the AE86 is seriously lacking in the cockpit area. My steering feels sloppy in comparison, and my pedals and shifter feel so spongy and gross. That’s next on my list to fix.