What are the most important mods you can do to a car, and why is it:

This is how I feel about the

>weight reduction
meme

>he doesn't do weight enlargement

Don't worry mate, got that covered.

Weight reduction isn't a meme though. Any weight reduction is always good (even moreso on rotational or unsprung mass), since it directly correlates to Newton's second law. Basically, with less weight, you need less force to accelerate forwards, backwards or sideways.

However, weight reduction has two glaring problems. First off, a proper manufacturer will already have done most of it. Second, most further weight reduction comes at great cost to comfort, refinement and NVH values.

Agreed.
The most effort I will go to for weight reduction is rims and maybe PS/AC delete.
Having said that, part two of your post is I also agree with.
The NA miata is already fairly light, what with zero to fuck all noise mitigation and thermal insulation so I'm not getting rid of AC (Summer hits 30c here with almost always 90%+ humidity all day and night) and a manual rack is hard as fuck to find.

Thus far I've only added weight by applying dynamat competitors to the firewall and trans tunnel, wrapped the headers and downpipe and added a hardtop. Even still, it's way down on the casually accepted comforts for a normal car.

>and a manual rack is hard as fuck to find.
Just convert your auto rack into manual, take it apart, clean it out, remove all the o rings and seals that are in the center of the rack that the fluid acts against, JB weld all the holes in it from the pressure lines, weld the assist valve so there's no play in the steering.
That's what I did in my volvo.

Too bad those will have the wrong ratio for a manual rack.

The single best mod you can do to a car is maintenance.

Are your brake lines in good shape? Calipers moving smoothly? Nothing loose down there? Car still goes straight when you brake?

Driven a few that have done the delete properly, i.e haven't just looped the assembly. They're fine but the ratio is still a little harsh, I'd imagine my Direzza ZII's would be moreso at low speeds.
This. Only the optional no PS miats have the manual rack and with the increased interest in them these days, pretty much impossible in NZ.

IIRC the PS rack is like a 4.3 ratio and manual is 3.8 or something.

The auto rack has a lower steering ratio which is actually better for racing and such, less input needed to get the car to do what you want.
There's very little difference between the racks though, you probably wont even notice it.
Tons of people depower their miata racks, it's a very common mod.

You got that backwards, the power racks have a lower ratio, not higher, which is good.

>save maybe 2hp of engine load
>save maybe 30 pounds of weight
>lose power steering
>slightly improve steering feel
Why do people do this?

>Why do people believe that vastly different cars can be generalised to need specific things upgraded, no matter the design rationale behind them? Makes no sense from an engineering standpoint.

>E-except weight reduction! Weight reduction is always good no matter what!

Power steering is shit, you don't need it.
I care about weight in my car, I've stripped probably 350lbs out of it
Also less clutter in your engine bay which is nice when you're working on it.

Trust me to get the ratio the wrong way around.

In any case, I've just bled the cunting thing with fully synthetic PS fluid and added a small inline cooler to stop it boiling over.

will probably try the delete next time I need to fix something, replacing the crankshaft was enough tender loving care for a while.

>RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE
Jesus do you daily that?

>No matter what
Those posters clearly stated the opposite is true for the most part.

How can it rattle if there's nothing left to rattle?

becuz racekar bro

>from an engineering standpoint.
Trying to imply you have any engineering knowledge.

All this so you can spin out at 10mph instead of 5mph?

Weighs around 2600lbs, less than basically any car being made today.

So it weighs more than a miata that actually has an interior and probably twice the HP?

>twice the HP
Stock engine made around 110hp, this one isn't stock tho, it's got a V8 in it

>it's another mrcummy embarasses himself episode

I bet it still gets lower laptimes than a stock miata, even with someone that can actually drive behind the wheel

>Put an LS in it
>brain works too slowly to steer correctly
>makes it a fucking rattletrap droning ronery driver car
>presumably has shit tires on it despite at least tripling the power

Yea but only faggots drive Mazdas

It's like having a pie eating contest, and someone wins by sucking the judges dick

Good thing I also have a miata to drive around
The tires were less than a week old when I recorded that video lol
Too much tire makes a car boring.

>LITERALLY put worse tires on purpose
>AT LEAST TRIPLED THE HP
>too much tire to drive safely makes a car boring
What is wrong with furfags?

It had the stock motor and was not stripped out at that time

Also the 205/45/16s are wider than the stock 185s

>cannot control a car with power steering and low power
>removes power steering and triples the power
>removes everything that reduces NVH because muh racekar
Please post more pictures of your cave I'm fucking dying here dude

Hey, autists also drive mazdas, and they aren't gay just because they don't like your gross 3d roasties.

How does power steering help you control a car?
Have you ever driven a car with no power steering?
When you're at speed there's no difference.

If you took all the time and money spent on your "muh no fucks given" volvo and put it towards the miata and learning to drive you would be a competitive race driver in a competitive car by now

How is it a no-fucks given volvo?
I buffed the paint and put nice wheels on it, I care a lot about keeping the car good looking and nice.
Also I didn't put much money at all into it, when you have a welder and can make custom shit you don't have to spend tons of money on aftermarket parts, you just make them yourself.

With your reaction time, you need to be able to wrench the wheel to correct oversteer without having to fight the car.

>mfw houses like that would sell for 1mil+ in sydney

Having power steering or not is irrelevant once you leave a parking lot.

Looks nice

Volvo's used to get cucked in racing here in the 80's because they used to rip the shit out of everything else and they still thrashed everything

So theirs nothing wrong with racing Volvo's

> having only 130hp in an engine you could get 340hp on stock internals
> knowing that if you head on a jap car, Volvo will win

he doesn't race though

waste of a good car desu

Racing is too expensive, rather just build a race car and drive it on the road.

>>suspension
>>tires
>>brakes
>In that order
But that's wrong, you idiot.

Tires is first and foremost. Then depending on the car it's brakes and suspension.

>driver
>tires
>suspension
>brakes

fixed

Tires
Brakes
Exhaust/airflow
Suspension

at 5mph you sure as hell will feel the effects tho

The most important mod is driving lessons. Followed by "what's actually wrong with it", i.e., if the brakes overheat brake upgrade, if the car is too high smaller tires and wheels (and NOT lower the suspension), if the car can't corner well check the alignment (camber, toe, castor bushings), if the suspension bottoms out then mod it (usually springs, dampers and bumpstops - anti-roll bars tend to be already stiff), if not enough acceleration then more power, if not using it as regular car then weight reduction, lowering the CG, and adding downforce.

>What are the most important mods

In the Fate of the Furious, you learned at the beginning of the movie what the most important thing was.

>EL 4-2-1 Header + Tune
>Tires
>Suspension

t. Toyobaru owner

>No matter what

That's called having Faith.

Faith is the attitude of "no matter what".

>But that's wrong

Prove it.

>driver

This.

Doesn't matter what car you drive if you can't drive.

>exhaust over suspension
Stancefag detected.

The poor man's turbo?

>driver
>individual attention

Sounds about right.

Gallo 24

Cold air intake
High air flow exhaust
Coilovers that prioritize smoothness over #hellaflush
Lightweight wheels
Summer tires
Carbon fiber panels

These are better than just doing massive work on your engine, and can make any car pleasant to drive

Is this the most VatoZone post on the board.

Brakes, tires, cooling and reliability engine mods, suspension, more power

Cant go fast if you can't stop fast every time
Cant go fast or brake the fastest without good tires
Dont want overheating and other problems when going fast

I'd put tires before brakes, unless you're planning on taking it to the track where reducing brake fade is more important.
Most stock brake setups can lock up the wheels with minimal effort.

Don't you want to avoid lock?

Yeah, but my point is bigger brakes won't result in more stopping power compared to stock. Braking is limited by traction, so better tires on stock brakes will produce a better result than stock tires on bigger brakes.

>so better tires on stock brakes will produce a better result than stock tires on bigger brakes.
Shid, good point. Actually informative post on Veeky Forums.

The tires are the first point of contact and control between your car and the road.

If you have stock tires, or a low quality 'performance' branded road tire on your car then usually you'll be able to break traction before you reach the limits of what your car's brakes and suspension can handle.

Logically, if you have better tires, you won't have to slow down as much around corners because of increased grip. This means you maintain a higher overall speed, and you can utilize your brakes and engine power better, too.

It's like optimizing any system: start with strengthening/improving your foundation and eliminating the weakest link first, then reassess what needs to be upgraded next to give the best improvement. In this case, the tires are usually the weakest link.

Then why does Veeky Forums never talk about tires.

btfo

Fair points. I concede.

>cold air intake
>straight pipe
>tyres

0
Engine
All other answers are the wrong answer

because most of Veeky Forums are idiots and the other half of bus-riders.

Because knowing about tyres means having used them before.

When I first got my rx7 it had generic chink rubber. I put up money for good pads and rotors before the tires.
Going fast with shit rubber may not be ideal but its still possible unless youre on a track and they cant handle heat. Doesnt really happen on a backroad, but brake fade is a real concern especially if going downhill.

>Logically, if you have better tires, you won't have to slow down as much around corners because of increased grip
But you will be exiting corners with a higher speed, gaining even more speed between corners, thus carrying even more speed into the next corner.. The brakes take more of a punishment.

1. Driver improvement (habits, lack of fear).
2. Driver improvement (take meth).
3. Tires.
4. Mechanical limited-slip differential.
5. Gear / Differential ratios.
6. BOOST / tune.
7. Remove catalytic converter.
...
12. Body / frame bracing / anti-roll bars.
...
52. Suspension.
...
307. Brakes.

How new are you? Tire threads pop up all the time.

About as new as if you don't reply to this your mother will die in her sleep.

>differential
>gearing

This man has a point, no one else has mentioned it yet.

>The brakes take more of a punishment.
Exactly - the brakes become the next step in your upgrade process, because the tires allowed you to reach the limits of your braking capability.

You're still going faster overall because of the improved grip from the tires.

However, if you chose to do the brakes first and left the tires stock, then you would still be limited by the lack of grip and never be able to fully utilize your upgraded braking capability.

Keep in mind that this is just a very, very general way of looking at the problem. You might have a car that already has decent tires, but the brakes are shit enough that mean upgrading them would be better for performance. The opposite case is more common, though - manufacturers have followed a trend of consistently putting bigger and better brakes on newer cars to improve safety, while preferring economical, hard-compound tires that are 'good enough' for the majority of road users, but provide better mileage and don't wear out too quickly.

I'm not saying you have to throw $1,000 semi-slicks on your old MX-5, but the best thing to do in any scenario - building a gaming computer, designing an assembly line, whatever - is eliminate the biggest bottleneck. Most of the time, it's the tires.

Also, as a side note:

Brakes are still very important. Even though I consider tires to generally be the best SINGLE upgrade, it would be silly not to at least throw on a decent set of track-ready pads and run DOT 5 or other high temperature brake fluids in your track car at the same time as you do the tires. It doesn't cost very much and can help eliminate brake fade, which is the last thing you want to have on a track car.

and you're a moron for buying in sydney.

an absolute delusional faggot. move somewhere else. don't pussy out.

>owning a car from before 1990

> POWER
> POWER
> POWER

...

90s cars a best

Best way to do weight reduction is to go to Veeky Forums

Fucking lmao, driver mods

>if the car is too high smaller tires and wheels (and NOT lower the suspension),
This will change the drive ratio slightly, and you may need to change your gears to compensate.

Lowering your car an inch or two is fine, as long as you do it right. Dont just cut the springs.

>suspension way after roll cage
nigga what.
Coilovers are way less expensive than a roll cage.

>you literally can't increase power until you upgrade everything else first meme

You don't need brembos, adjustable coilovers, and cup tires to handle bolt-ons or a moderate tune. Better pads and rotors are usually enough for brakes, and lighter wheels is a good suspension upgrade.

engine
suspension
tires
brakes

I only put it this way because changing the power output of your engine can affect its size and weight

tires are a wear item and subject to availability
brakes are for going slow unless you have good acceleration

distribution is more important
esp if your FF or RR