If you had 10,000$ to mod with...

[brucepick]

Civic HX, stick shift.
Probably would do a grill block and belly pan. And... synthetic fluids, nice smooth high pressure tires, ScanGauge.

Might be able to get a well worn Civic Hybrid for that money. But with the HX I'd have money left over.

Or maybe a VW Golf TDI. But I think the HX would beat it hands down as far as reliability.

[cfg83]

baddog671 -

I'd do the following to my current Saturn :

- Take a hiatus from my job to work on mods full time.
- Install Apexi or equivalent fuel controller.
- Setup removable passenger seat.
- Remove rear seats
- On board datalogging for saving OBDII trip data.
- Wind Tunnel software of some kind so that I can model aerodynamic mods.
- Belly pan
- Aero-nose job for front of car.
- Kamm-back
- Engine rebuild with : ceramic lining + http://www.somender-singh.com/ + Speed-Pro Hypereutectic Pistons (for the oil drain hole)
- Fuel Injector (Momentary?) Kill Switch
- Convert to Manual Steering
- Extra Vacuum Canister for power brake insurance on EOC.
- Racing wheel covers (retrofit over alloys)
- Engine Block Heater
- NOx Sensor (when it becomes available)

Hrmmmmmm, maybe I'd need more than $10K, .

CarloSW2

[DRW]

I'd mod my car extensively. I like the power, light weight, handling and I've learned so much about the ecu I can tackle anything with it.

Build an Miller cycle engine by recombining current parts. Find a 1.8 liter Mitsubishi Cordia engine block, which just happens to use the same stroke as the engine in my car, but it has a 5mm narrower bore. That would reduce internal friction a little, but more importantly a long stroke motor is better suited to Atkinson/Miller cycle. Use high compression pistons, 11:1 would be good, 12:1 better,
aw what the heck, it's just a daydream, so lets shoot for 13:1 compression!
Combine that block with my excellent (cough) dohc head. Get custom cams. The intake cam would have lower lift but much longer duration, like an Atkinson/Miller cycle motor. Adjustable cam gears insure years of tuning enjoyment.

I'd keep the turbo, maybe downsize it to suit the power characteristics of the homegrown Miller cycle engine. Find what works.

The next step is swapping an AWD trans and transfer case out of a 1990-1994 Eclipse/Talon/Laser (because it bolts right up). Swap in a taller 5th gear from a EVO GVR4 www.vfaq.com/mods/Trannies.html. Instead of a driveshaft going to the rear wheels, I'd keep the back wheels unpowered, remove the driveshaft, and hook up an electric motor/generator to feed power into the tranny through the transfer case output shaft. Lock the front driveaxles to the electric motor by simply welding the center diff. This would let the electric motor propel the car with the engine off and provide a slight gear reduction so the electric motor could be downsized. The engine could be uncoupled from the electric motor simply by pushing in the clutch and/or shifting to neutral.

To uncouple the electric motor from the wheels I'd need a JDM switchable tranny or transfer case. www.vfaq.com/mods/Tranny-switchable.html An electric solenoid could be attached to the plunger bolt actuator so the electric motor could be coupled/uncoupled from the wheels with an electric switch in the cabin, or by ecu control.

Or maybe I could just turbo an Insight.

[Compaq888]

take the money and move to a 3rd world country..

[samandw]

Excellent point on the Atkinson cycle DRW! The Toyota Prius has a 13.5:1 compression ratio Atkinson cycle engine, so high mechanical compression is doable. I imagine it would be very easy with a custom grind cam in a D15Z1 VTEC-E engine. I'm sure stroker kits and high-compression pistons are readily available for those engines. Lean burn with Atkinson should make for an extremely efficient combo.

[Big Dave]

I'm assuming $10 grand over the price of the vehicle.

Me? Buy a '02 4x2 diesel Excursion.

Do the "sex-change operation" and convert it to stick shift but I'd use a Tremec T-56 "Viper" transmission instead of the ZF6-650 used in Super Duties. With its huge 0.5:1 overdrive, I don't have to monkey around with the axle ratios.

I do the 3 inch/6 inch suspension slam to lower ride height. Air dam, side skirts rear fender skirts, Mooneyes and a some custom coach work to taper down the rear of the vehicle to a more modest wake area.

If I have any money left, I convert to non-aqueous coolant and get a custom-made 250 degree thermostat and a custom ground cam to make that the biggest Miller-cycle engine on the planet.

An '02 Ex in 4x2 can be had for about 30 grand. I may (the custom coach work is a wild card) may blow the 10 grand limit, but at the end of the day I have a very comfortable, useful, and safe 30 MPG SUV with about $33,000 in it.

Now, about that lottery ticket...

[boxchain]

With my existing car?

Have the head ported & polished and polished some more , crank scraper, maybe VTEC-E head swap. Low pressure turbo, built for low RPM torque. Kill switch. Lower final drive for the trans.

Body: Nice professional aero mod job with belly pan, rear wheel skirts and Kammback, maybe angle the rear in like an Insight.

Lighter wheels, half moon covers.

Electric power steering and AC.

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

Hmmm....with $10,000 I could move to Caracas, Venezuela (12 cent/gallon gasoline)? Nah, mi espanol es nicht zu gut. Und mein Deutsch ist no bueno!

Probably I'd buy another Triumph 650 TR6C (single carb 650cc vertical twin motorcycle...up to 70 mpg and nice handling). Rebuild it so it wouldn't leak. Replace EVERYTHING electrical. Pretty up the Geo. Buy my wife a cheap used minivan and buy Exxon and Autozone stock with the rest. Oh, and some beer.

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

Chevy 572 crate motor!

Would that be for the Metro?