Performance vs Looks - Which do you prefer?

Burks · **Posted:** July 26th, 2008, 11:05 am

An age old battle since Fast and the Furious came out.

Would you rather have your car based more on performance or looks?

For me, it's all about the speed. Those body kits and park benches may make your car look fast, but all they do is slow you down! FINALLY received my custom long tube header (two years of waiting.....) that will go on next summer. The thing is a beast! I'll have to beat the firewall back a good 3" to clear but it'll be worth it. Dodge Neon with long tube header, ported intake manifold (by me

), and Crane 18 cams - GOOD LORD! Should be mid to low 13's by next summer and still 100% streetable.....on 89 octane.

The above is only if I don't buy another car by then, which I might. 2004 Dodge Neon R/T with a Magnum engine. Pretty slow car right? Well not when the SRT-4 turbo bolts directly up to it. :twisted:

$100 out of the junkyard for the entire system. A 16 second car down to 13's for dirt cheap. w00t w00t. Don't even have to touch the pistons, compression is just fine for low boost.

I have a Wings West body kit for my Neon but never put it on (test fit only). It will go on when I have an engine to back up the looks. Until then.....

RICE RICE BABY!

Ezcal · **Posted:** July 26th, 2008, 12:34 pm

Well, I'm not much of a mechanic, but I'd prefer a crappy looking car that can go insanely fast over a good looking car that is just average in terms of speed.

That being said... It would all go out the window if I got the Corvette I've always wanted.

H K · **Posted:** July 27th, 2008, 2:00 am

Peugeot 205 + 197mph = Win.

Performance.

Megaandrew69 · **Posted:** July 27th, 2008, 9:26 am

I like a car that sounds good, none of that change muffler and keep everything else stock which sounds crap

Also one that looks alright and isn't slow, pretty much i'm speaking of my car

Animal · **Posted:** July 27th, 2008, 4:48 pm

Performance! Whats the point of owning a pimped out car but it can barely go above 60mp.h.? Body kits and the like often times only weigh the car down, making it slower. Spoilers are the only body mod exception. They give the car better aerodynamics, which often times makes it faster.

Megaandrew69 · **Posted:** July 27th, 2008, 9:36 pm

Actually the spoiler doesn't have much of an effect until going at VERY high speeds...

A spoiler weighs something and therefore slows it down, it doesn't create better aero dynamics. It makes air push down on it instead of gliding passed which slows it down even more.

A spoiler is there so the back of the car gets pushed down while going at high speeds to maintain and improve traction of the rear wheels, that's why there are front lips to improve traction at the front wheels. If there is no spoiler or lip the car can weigh less, but at high very high speeds spoilers and lips improve traction.

There could be two sides to this i guess, someone could say a spoiler improves traction and therefore improves acceleration, but the spoiler does nothing until you are going at high speeds so in that case the spoiler does nothing

But once you are at high speeds the spoiler might give a slight improvement, this is for when you are taking corners or turning at all.

Hi im Zach · **Posted:** July 28th, 2008, 2:39 pm

Yeah when I get my car it'll be like.... performance all the way.. The only visual thing really I'd get was lighter rims and maybe a new paintjob depending on the color that comes on the car and what color I think looks better on the car.

Burks · **Posted:** July 28th, 2008, 2:52 pm

Spoilers are useless on 99% of the cars out there, especially these "performance" Civics and crap. Tune the cars suspension if you want traction, not add an ugly park bench that also adds weight.

Also, who needs traction on a FWD car in the REAR for a drag race? uh...

Mackerel · **Posted:** July 28th, 2008, 9:29 pm

Sleepers, so performance. As long as the body is clean I can't go past an all original look.

bartoron · **Posted:** August 4th, 2008, 6:24 am

Both are important, but I honestly care more about look than performance when it comes to cars. I don't need a car that can go 0-60 MPH in 5 seconds, and while looks aren't a huge deal, I'd rather not have a car that's incredibly ugly.

The123king · **Posted:** August 21st, 2008, 4:20 am

I'm a big classics fan, so really looks > performance.

Especially when we're talking about Chevy Bel Air's =P~

Rory · **Posted:** August 22nd, 2008, 2:48 am

Performance, I've yet to see a car ugly enough to be Un-roadworthy IMO.

Animal · **Posted:** August 28th, 2008, 8:03 pm

I wanna see what would happen if you shoved a Ferrari engine into a Small sub-compact car.
For example, a ugly 1980's hatchback that can do 200mph. Am i right?

H K · **Posted:** August 29th, 2008, 5:27 am

Theanimal wrote:

I wanna see what would happen if you shoved a Ferrari engine into a Small sub-compact car.
For example, a ugly 1980's hatchback that can do 200mph. Am i right?

Not quite, hell, it would be fast. Thats providing it was fitted correctly, otherwise your car would epicly fail. But it;s more than just the engine that makes Ferraris go 200mph+. But if somebody were to do that, it would be... AMAZING!

Killerred005 · **Posted:** October 16th, 2008, 6:17 pm

Well, I tend to go for a bit of both, but tend to weigh in on the looks the most. I find that it's more pleasant that way.

Tokuman · **Posted:** October 31st, 2008, 5:27 pm

A lot of people say my T-bird is a whack, knock off mustang. Last person with a v6 mustang who said that felt pretty bad in front of his boys...

I like the muscle looks of a mustang better than my tbird.. stock performance is worse on a tbird even with the 4.6, but people who only look at looks are awed with my tbird smokes their camaro or the del sol from this summer =P

Burks · **Posted:** November 10th, 2008, 2:39 pm

TheGame wrote:

I wanna see what would happen if you shoved a Ferrari engine into a Small sub-compact car.
For example, a ugly 1980's hatchback that can do 200mph. Am i right?

I've seen a supercharged 454 in a Chevy Cavalier. Ran something like low 9's in the quarter mile, and still needed to be tuned.

Cool car. Too bad you couldn't see a darn thing from the drivers seat. Engine block 75% of the windshield!

Tokuman · **Posted:** November 10th, 2008, 4:45 pm

The Game, are you talking about the mustang hatchbacks? A lot of people pour incredible amount of money into them.

I guess I like a mix of performance+comfort+looks. I guess that's one of the big reasons I bought my car. It's got the 4.6, it's got a sporty appearance(tho the mustang is sexier), and it's got all of the luxry features you'd see on a lexus.

Also a big reason I got it is because mustangs are FAR more common. I know of only 2-3 people in my town driving a Tbird, and mine's the only 4.6 equiped.

Performance vs Looks - Which do you prefer?

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