miwitte

Hey guys I have been kicking around putting a A&A kit on my 2002 M2 coupe for a while doing research on here. The car have almost 90K miles on it never had a issue just looking for something much faster. I had a stupid fast C6 Z06 before this and I really want something as fast or faster.

Figure the A&A kit would get me there. I can get the A&A kit installed and tuned for about 6500, would want headers and exhaust so another 2k or so. Balancer, upgraded PS bracket, new valve springs, seals valve train stuff another 1K. so now I am probably 10K. My car is probably worth 14-15 so with 10K of parts its still only a 19K car with all those miles. And Ill probably need a clutch too in short time.

As much as I love to wrench at this point in my life I travel every week and really have no time to do that I just want to get in and have fun so putting this package together will get expensive quick if I have someone do the wrenching. I figure if I can get 15k for my car and use the other 10K I have allocated to do this supercharger upgrade that puts me at 25k or so which gives me a nice low mile C5 with a supercharger completely done with all kinks worked out.

So would you do it again if you couldn't wrench it yourself?

4DRUSH

If you like your current car, put the calculator away.

Milan

If I had to do it again I would buy a GTR

This platform is not that great for anything over 800 whp. The ROI at that point is basically nothing and aside from 1/4 mile Corvettes are underperformers in other types of straight line racing

danieloneil01

ROI and performance parts don't go together.

ajrothm

If I had to do it again....I wouldn't.

Not worth the headache and expense..

The first $10k you spend to do the initial "build" is just the start of it... Your $19k car will be a $50k+ car in 2-3 years, yet it will be worth $15k.

Honestly I'd do a H/C/I setup, make 450 rwhp and beat on the car for 100k miles... You won't be doing that with forced induction.

All that being said, an A&A or ECS kit both work great and will make you some good power...until "it" begins..

Good luck.

StealthFRC

My favorite setup was
A&a t trim 3.6 pulley
Kooks headers
Corsa catback
Rxt clutch
Ecs diff brace

That was the most realiable fun setup I had now it's just gone to far and exactly what ^^^ said. If I were to do it again I would buy a car already done no doubt. Just make sure to check everything over very well.

Forcedvert

I would probably look for a done car if I could do it again, I thought I could do it in stages and have car to drive while I upgrade. Well as it turned out because I do not do my own work, not only would I have saved money I also would have saved time, Evan if I was super picky.

Good luck

gotjuice?

I would do it again. I collected parts for a couple of years. Then did the complete build at one time. It was only down for one month. Really no issues after the build. I do all my own work so that made a big difference. Good luck with your decision.

Forcedvert

To op ......Key words " own work"

If I did do it all again .....I would do anything that could be done in my own garrage myself for sure!

SC is a lot of fun

Good luck

miwitte

I'm not attached to car to me it's just a driver to have fun with not my pride and joy that I spend weekends polishing. Been down that path with a a couple of 442's I restored they just ended up in garage they were too nice to drive. I figure I can get something real nice for low to mid 20's probably a vert was looking to get one again I missed my 442 vert. The removable roof is ok but it's not a vert. Also open to a z06 with a charger.

nullpointer

At first I responded but missed the "So would you do it again if you couldn't wrench it yourself?"

No, if I couldn't wrench on my own car I wouldn't do it.

rodsvet

You really can't use the supercharger on the street. At least in my case it makes too much power and the traction problem makes it dangerous if you don't pay a lot of attention. That being said, I would do it all over again in a heart beat!!! Rod

Chicago1

I really loved building my car even have a huge thread on it. Was it a pain in the ***?sure...money thrown away that could of been used for something much better? yup...Wanna give up sometimes and say **** this pos? yup...Would i do it again..? hells yeah..BUT since I have this one my next one will be already modded..I can say i built this one..

95rtturbo

Agreed - I would not do it again. My setup is pretty tame compared to most (T Trim, stock heads / cam, etc), 640 WHP on pure pump. Even with sticky R888s, traction is hard to come by until illegal speeds, unless conditions are just right (temperature, road conditions, etc).

However, I also daily drive my car (unless snow / ice obviously), and am no mechanic, so that definitely enters into the equation. I typically drive very conservatively though, so hopefully my setup will last a decent amount of time. I have no plans to increase power with this car - I am done!

I do miss being able to hammer it in 1st and 2nd gear, and be in complete control of the car, even with pedestrian RE760 sport tires (bolt on, with 386 WHP).

Having said this, I would not buy a built car either. I prefer to purchase a stock, or near stock car, owned by someone I feel doesn't beat on the car. My car had 2800 miles when I bought it 3 and a half years ago - has 21K on it now, and 1K on the supercharger setup.

xtream1

You still haven't touched cooling, brakes, suspension, tuning, etc...that $10k that you speak of is only an entry fee and just the beginning to get a properly worked out system.


Best thing is to find one already built with relatively low miles, built similar to what you want, and add the $10k to straighten out missing/incomplete items.

skydiven4fun

With pretty much what everyone else said, I hope you have an extensive collection of tools and know how to use them, but it's a lot of fun and headaches along the way.

kromberg

GOOD GOD NO!!! As others have said or implied, once you get to a certain point there is no turning back. If I where to do it again, keep the C5 stock, get a rear engine dragster, and spend about a 1/5 the cost and go faster.

Smoove

Done building big power "street cars" for myself. No use for them on the street really. Traction ISN'T an issue if you know how to apply it....it's just unuseable in a not wanting to go to jail type of way. Been there, done that. I'll be happy with a near stock ZR1 please and thank you....or I keep my tahoe and look for a GT race car...and have some REAL FUN.

to build a BIG power car...lots of time, money, and sincere dedication. Not easy...

Forcedvert

Because I hired out all labor and only bought new stuff ,,,,I hate to say it but I would be 20g ahead if I bought someone's "done" car.

actually more....... but I refuse to add up the bills!

miwitte

So my issue is time. I can wrench I am actually very good at it have built many motors, frame up resto's for almost the last 40 years. The amount of time for me to install headers, exhaust, valvetrain upgrades and the A&A it would Christmas. I travel a lot now and when I am home my wife doesn't want to see me under a car she saw that for 20+ years building my 442's. The fun of the build is great but I have been there done that a dozen times with other cars.

For the 10-12K delta between what I can easily sell my car and buy a nice low mileage built car is almost a no brainer. Hell I can almost get a C6 with a charger for high 20K's