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My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

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Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#181

Post by rootusrootus »

cgyvbunji wrote: post #30

I had a coworker who one day showed up to work, pointed out the window and said look I bought a midlife crisis car very matter-of-factly, and I will never understand this. You don't need to do anything, nobody is making you do this.

Probably just joking around, not serious. I said the same thing when I bought my Camaro years ago. The only better choice would have been a Corvette. If you are 40+, every second comment will have some form of mid-life crisis slant to it, so you just run with it as the joke.

But the truth is that many of us have been buying such irresponsible sports cars for our entire lives, it didn't start in mid-life ;-)

I almost ... almost bought a hat with a fake mullet sewn in just for when I was driving the Camaro, all for the lulz. Some people don't take themselves too seriously, and I'm definitely in that camp.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#182

Post by jerlam »

lapetitejort wrote: post #8

My ongoing midlife crisis vehicle swerves in a different direction: I bought a 1988 Nishiki 1207 at a yard sale for $40. Mostly stock save for a new seat. With the wheels out of true, the stickers plastered over with garbage, the brakes loose, the front tire visibly cracking, the rear cassette visibly rusted, and the rack mounts stripped, the bike needs some work. I am motivated to finally really learn bike maintenan…

Riding on a wheel you have built from parts is a joyous thing.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#183

Post by b40d-48b2-979e »

lnsru wrote: post #14

Love my Model Y. Looks boring, tons of stuff can be packed and still comparable acceleration to not that old BMW M3. And no smell and no noise. Fantastic car.

Too bad the handling is shit. It's too heavy. This is why I kept my motorcycle for when I want to have fun on the road.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#184

Post by ggreer »

4d4m wrote: post #77

I wish everyone complaining about other people’s choices here were forced to also post the make/model of the very boring cars the commenter drives. People complaining about others mods are doing it out of insecurity… do you point out loud clothes and styling choices of your coworkers too?

I agree with those comments and my vehicles are a 1990 Mazda Miata that I fixed up[1] & and a Model 3 Performance. The Model 3 looks boring, but is ridiculously fast. The Miata has the stock engine, intake, & exhaust, so it's not loud. It's not fast, but it's very fun to drive.

I don't care about loud clothes because they don't wake me or my family up at night, or interrupt a conversation during a walk, or hurt my ears while I'm waiting to cross the street.

1. https://geoff.greer.fm/miata/

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#185

Post by rootusrootus »

unregistereddev wrote: post #60
cgyvbunji wrote: post #30

I had a coworker who one day showed up to work, pointed out the window and said look I bought a midlife crisis car very matter-of-factly, and I will never understand this. You don't need to do anything, nobody is making you do this.

I've wanted a Porsche my entire life. Doesn't have to be a track monster - actually, I'd prefer a lower-powered one. I want the handling of a Boxster, but a truly fast car is only fun on the track. When I was young, I couldn't justify the cost. Now that I'm a bit older I could afford it, but I can't spare the time for a hobby. With kids still in child seats, I had to stick with a practical car. When I'm 50? The kids…

> I want the handling of a Boxster, but a truly fast car is only fun on the track.

This is so true. A while back I had a sixth generation Camaro SS 1LE. The handling was sublime. Think 1.5 scale Miata. Cornered on rails, begged to be driven faster, faster. And 455hp on tap, it was definitely no slouch. But when I took it out to the rural twisty roads for some fun, I found that I would be entering corners at 80+ mph if I wanted to make it do any work. That is categorically a bad idea in all regards, there is so much energy in play at that speed that one unexpected patch of gravel can end your existence. Loved the car, but to drive it safely meant never going past 2/10 of it's ability except on track days.

As compared to (much longer ago) a 2.5RS that I had back when they were cool (pre-WRX days in the US) and you could fling that thing around with no regards to propriety, and it was fun because it didn't have much power, didn't have that much actual capability, but it was relatively light and very communicative. Much better choice if you're not going for track days.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#186

Post by andrewchilds »

thewebguyd wrote: post #150
jerlam wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of the mods make the car worse in everyday environments, outside of a pristine track. After I got into my friend's modded-out car, we had to slow to walking speeds to exit the parking lot because it would bottom out on the curb cut. The same happens with speed bumps. Large rims get damaged on potholes that a normal tire and rim combo would just shrug off. Add a few years to your life and you don't want to crawl…

I see this all the time where I live. People doing their grocery shopping in their super stanced out civic, having to find a route around the speed bumps because they literally can't go over them without high centering. Yeah, it looks sick. But it's completely impractical for daily driving, and quite frankly you are putting both yourself and others at risk the moment you blow a tire going 80 on the freeway and lose c…

> it looks sick

Personally I'll take a sedan or wagon with ample ground clearance any day: https://images.classic.com/vehicles/559a40ae72662e1ac71d2286...

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#187

Post by caconym_ »

ElectronCharge wrote: post #158
caconym_ wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who cares? Static skidpad performance has very little to do with how engaging a car is to drive, and engagement is what somebody buying a GRC (or a GR86, or a Miata, etc.) is looking for.

One is an objective measurement, the other is a completely subjective judgement. As they say, there's no accounting for taste...

I mean, engagement aside, you are really just showing your ignorance here if you think skid pad max G is a useful metric to capture real world cornering performance except in extremely broad strokes.

If you want an objective measurement that will usefully speak to how these cars feel to drive vs. each other, check out how much they weigh!

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#188

Post by caconym_ »

rootusrootus wrote: post #163
caconym_ wrote: post #51

Lots of weird judgment and smugness in this thread. This guy bought a fun car that he's excited about? Well obviously he's POOR and IMMATURE because if he was RICH and OLD he would buy an ELECTRIC CAR that's WAY FASTER (in a straight line) and doesn't make nasty noises and smells!!! what an idiot!!! I'm all for cracking down on excessively loud and stinky cars, but the GR Corolla is not that loud, and it has modern e…

> Lots of weird judgment and smugness in this thread. This guy bought a fun car that he's excited about? Well obviously he's POOR and IMMATURE because if he was RICH and OLD he would buy an ELECTRIC CAR that's WAY FASTER (in a straight line) and doesn't make nasty noises and smells!!! what an idiot!!! As someone who happens to drive an electric car that is wicked fast (and not just in a straight line...), I'm not sur…

> I'm not sure why you'd suggest that the weird judgement and smugness is directed only at guys driving gas cars.

Because that's what's happening in this thread?

I have no problem with EVs or NPC style cars, or really any kind of car except those that are excessively large and heavy to the point that people sharing roads with them are placed in significant danger. I own a CR-V hybrid as a family hauler and it's fantastic in that role despite being boring as fuck. Sometimes boring is good.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#189

Post by phil21 »

ambicapter wrote: post #103
nadermx wrote: post #84

Man, he nails it when he talks about that car culture era. I bought myself a 300zx twin turbo as my first car back then. The experiences I had driving around in that thing were amazing. Also though, was short lived. Was young and stupid, wrapped it around a tree shortlty after, never viewed driving the same.

So, how many "experiences" did you really have, if you crashed it shortly after?

When you're young and dumb and full of energy, you can get a whole lot of experiences accomplished in the space of a single summer.

Re: My midlife crisis Corolla is fast, furious, and modded

#190

Post by caconym_ »

pmontra wrote: post #142
caconym_ wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people want to roast this guy for installing annoying aftermarket noisemakers then I will not try to stop them. I mean to address the (plenty of) more generic comments like this one: --- A GR Corolla goes 0-60 in 4.9 - 5.4sec. My unexotic stock electric does 0-60 in around 4.8sec, +/-. So the same performance that requires a stupid amount of wasted energy as heat and noise can be had from stock electric, with a co…

Do you mean a real Land Cruiser, like the ones that can cross deserts? I'm with you.

Land Cruisers are great! If this guy wants a Land Cruiser then he should get one. His interest in Land Cruisers is not my issue with his comment.
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