Should I mod my Challenger or leave it stock? Some people are hard core "modders" and don't even need to ask that question. Some would like a few choice mods, and then there are others who feel that it is best to keep it stock.
There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to mod or not: Will the mods void the warranty? Will the mods adversly affect the way the car drives? Will the mods hurt the resale value of the car? These things should be considered before doing mods. I've heard over and over that you almost never get your money out of mods you've made to a car. I can understand that. Personally, I would never buy a car that was altered very far from stock. And I wouldn't touch a car that had any mods done to the engine. But that's just me.
I'm lucky enough to live near Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake, CA. For those of you who aren't familiar with this particular Bob's, they have a "Cruise Night" every Friday night. There's no telling what or who you might see on Cruise Night. Everything from restored classics to ultra modified one-of-a-kind's. I like looking at almost all of the cars, but the ones I find to be the most pleasing to my eye are the vintage or restored cars. I've seen plenty of first generation Challengers done in the "resto-mod" style, and they're fun to look at. But my favorites are the ones that look just like they did the day they left the factory. And I'm pretty sure the restored cars fetch a higher price than the customized ones.
As you can probably guess by now, I'm one of those owners who pretty much leaves the car stock. I do that for several reasons: By leaving it stock, I know the warranty will be in place in case I need it. My last Challenger was a 2010 R/T, and I had no desire to alter it except for swapping out the wheels. I just couldn't stand the look of those 20" chrome clads. My present Challenger is a new 2010 SRT, and I plan to do (almost) nothing to it except enjoy it and take very good care of it. I work with a guy who ordered a new '09 SRT 6 speed, paid cash for it and the last time I checked with him he had less than 200 miles on it. He wants it to be one of those cars 30 years from now that still has under 500 miles on the odometer. I don't see how you could enjoy owning a car that you almost never drive. I plan to drive mine as much as I want to, and take excellent care of it so that over time it will still be in very nice condition. There is one "mod" that I've done that I'll do again: I put the "rear seat delete" kit in my R/T, took it out and reinstalled the seats when I traded it in on my SRT. I plan to reuse the kit when I get around to removing my rear seats. Of course I will save my rear seats in case I ever want to put the car back to stock.
I cringe when I read posts about lowering the cars. I wouldn't do that to mine for anything. It just has to screw up the factory designed suspension dynamics. I also cringe when I read where people have installed larger/wider tires. These cars are pretty much a balanced package, and to mess with any part of that is to invite problems. I don't know how many threads I've read where someone has taken a tuning device and tried to improve the way the car runs, only to have new problems as the result. Now I'm not saying that you can't get more power out of these cars, obviously you can. But I'm not willing to sacrifice the driveability and reliability that the stock set up has to offer. And besides, 30 years from now when the companies that made the equipment to do the mods have gone out of business my stock set up will still be worth more anyway.
DougT
There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to mod or not: Will the mods void the warranty? Will the mods adversly affect the way the car drives? Will the mods hurt the resale value of the car? These things should be considered before doing mods. I've heard over and over that you almost never get your money out of mods you've made to a car. I can understand that. Personally, I would never buy a car that was altered very far from stock. And I wouldn't touch a car that had any mods done to the engine. But that's just me.
I'm lucky enough to live near Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake, CA. For those of you who aren't familiar with this particular Bob's, they have a "Cruise Night" every Friday night. There's no telling what or who you might see on Cruise Night. Everything from restored classics to ultra modified one-of-a-kind's. I like looking at almost all of the cars, but the ones I find to be the most pleasing to my eye are the vintage or restored cars. I've seen plenty of first generation Challengers done in the "resto-mod" style, and they're fun to look at. But my favorites are the ones that look just like they did the day they left the factory. And I'm pretty sure the restored cars fetch a higher price than the customized ones.
As you can probably guess by now, I'm one of those owners who pretty much leaves the car stock. I do that for several reasons: By leaving it stock, I know the warranty will be in place in case I need it. My last Challenger was a 2010 R/T, and I had no desire to alter it except for swapping out the wheels. I just couldn't stand the look of those 20" chrome clads. My present Challenger is a new 2010 SRT, and I plan to do (almost) nothing to it except enjoy it and take very good care of it. I work with a guy who ordered a new '09 SRT 6 speed, paid cash for it and the last time I checked with him he had less than 200 miles on it. He wants it to be one of those cars 30 years from now that still has under 500 miles on the odometer. I don't see how you could enjoy owning a car that you almost never drive. I plan to drive mine as much as I want to, and take excellent care of it so that over time it will still be in very nice condition. There is one "mod" that I've done that I'll do again: I put the "rear seat delete" kit in my R/T, took it out and reinstalled the seats when I traded it in on my SRT. I plan to reuse the kit when I get around to removing my rear seats. Of course I will save my rear seats in case I ever want to put the car back to stock.
I cringe when I read posts about lowering the cars. I wouldn't do that to mine for anything. It just has to screw up the factory designed suspension dynamics. I also cringe when I read where people have installed larger/wider tires. These cars are pretty much a balanced package, and to mess with any part of that is to invite problems. I don't know how many threads I've read where someone has taken a tuning device and tried to improve the way the car runs, only to have new problems as the result. Now I'm not saying that you can't get more power out of these cars, obviously you can. But I'm not willing to sacrifice the driveability and reliability that the stock set up has to offer. And besides, 30 years from now when the companies that made the equipment to do the mods have gone out of business my stock set up will still be worth more anyway.
DougT
