As paths of car ownership pile on the years, a certain level of maturity in respect to modification is often achieved. For instance, coilovers may be an easy way of dialing in ride height, but don’t expect cheap units to ride well. However, that doesn’t mean vehicles can’t be improved. For lifelong tinkerers, there’s always something to do, something to optimize, something to tweak. Today we’re asking about the modifications on your must-do list, or the minor annoyances you’d wish to improve on.
I’ll give you an example. While I wouldn’t really want to change anything about my Boxster, I can tell you right away what I would change about BMW 325i — I would give it a limited-slip differential.
Before my 325i, I had a 2004 Infiniti G35 sedan with the six-speed manual transmission, notable because 2004 was the year the viscous limited-slip differential came to the manual sedans. Now, viscous limited-slip differentials are inherently flawed because spirited use can overheat the special silicone fluid inside, leading to a substantial loss in effectiveness. However, a viscous limited-slip differential still beats the brakes off of an open differential when it comes to regulating wheel speed differences.
Although my 325i is brilliant to drive, there are conditions in which a limited-slip differential would be nice. A helical unit wouldn’t sacrifice everyday manners in pursuit of performance optimization, and it would be a relatively easy thing to install. So yeah, that’s one thing I’d change about my car. What would you change about yours? Perhaps there’s a modification you’re craving, or a factory option you feel you’re missing. Whatever the case, I’d love to hear about it.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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My Honda Clarity PHEV comes with a 7.5 gallon gas tank, of which only 6.5 gallons is used for range calculations. I do a weekly long trip where I charge the EV battery before going, and again before heading back. Because the trip is time-sensitive, and out where fuel stations are far between, I have to stop and top off, and then fill again when I get home.
An extra 2 gallons of gasoline in the Honda Clarity PHEV tank would make a big difference to me because I could do the entire round trip without stopping for fuel.
A pretty small complaint, really, but the range between fueling stops is rather short.
I drive a 2017 VW GTI with the DSG “automated manual” transmission, and the only time I don’t wish it was a proper stick shift is when I’m stuck in traffic.
It’s not that the DSG is bad. But from 1991 until I bought this car in mid-2020, I had owned nothing but manual transmission cars, and I miss that sense of control, that sense of really driving a car instead of just being transported by it. Paddle shifters aren’t the same!
Why did I buy it? When I was looking for a used GTI, I wanted a certified used model with a decent warranty (because, you know, Volkswagen). There were no stick-shift models that fit this criteria within 250 miles, but the local dealer had a pristine low-mileage DSG for a price I couldn’t pass up on…so that’s what happened.
I had a 2018 VW Golf R with the DSG “dual clutch” transmission which is the same as in your 2017 GTI, except 7 speed instead of 6. The DSG can be used fully automatic or manually shifted. While I agree the paddle shifters are not the same as full manual shifting, I always had the shift lever in the right detent, which is basically fully manual shifting; push forward for a higher gear, pull back for a lower gear using a console mounted shift lever just as you would with a manual transmission. 40,000 manually shifted miles all without the need to depress a clutch pedal, which was especially useful in heavy traffic such as I used to drive in. Now I am driving a 2022 Audi S5 Sportback which has an 8 speed ZF slushbox, but I drive it the same way, using the shift lever in the manual setting.
Yeah, I know…but I still prefer the detailed control you get from a clutch pedal instead of a computer trying to figure out what you want to do. Sometimes, when dealing with inclines (such as parking on my driveway or in, say, a San Francisco neighborhood), the computer just says “uh, I dunno” and suddenly I’m in a freewheel/neutral situation I never asked for.
The size of this admittedly minor annoyance shows how well my ’88 LTD Crown Victoria suits me: The mirror placement. Specifically, the outside mirrors. When the Panthers were introduced in ’79 they had two choices: aero mirrors at the leading edge of the windows, for cars without swiveling vent windows, and square formal mirrors quite a bit farther back, for cars that did. Later all cars got the formal mirrors, and you have to move your head to get a good view. If my car had the vent windows I could accept this flaw, but alas.
Mazda 5- the power from the 2.5 is fine, but a taller 6th gear would be nice to drop the rpms on the highway. Even though the 6th great is a big improvement over the 5 speeds in 2010 and earlier models, it’s still 3000 rpm at about 75 mph. Hopefully that’d improve highway mileage slightly too… 28 isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t mind more. Oh, and a bit more sound deadening
RX8- probably just more power. It’s fun the way it is with very short gearing, but an extra 50 to 100 hp would be a blast
Wish my Jeep XJ had the Selec Trac instead of Command Trac. But it’s a popular swap, and someday I’m gonna do it.
Since this is a “wish” list, how about an XJ or other simple old 4×4 with all the structural parts and panels made of 304 stainless? No more worries of winter road salt turning it to Swiss cheese.
As for my summer 80s rides, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Wish my Prius had about 100k fewer miles on it so I wouldn’t need to buy a new one any time soon.
How many does it have? What concerns you most as potentially limiting its longevity?
155k. I’m not saying it is going to blow up tomorrow, but lower mileage would be good. I need to replace my wife’s car first, and cars aren’t cheap.
The 3rd Gen Prius does have a tendency to blow head gaskets as you get closer to 200k. I might need to refresh the suspension soon based on some tire wear I’ve seen. Needing to service the traction battery gets more likely as you get up in years/mileage. Stuff like that.
Overall I have few complaints about the car for what I use it for.
I’m at 147k with my 2012 Prius v as well. I got the EGR preventatively cleaned out a few thousand miles ago, but I also dread the rumors about the head gaskets.
So hard to tell what the actual rate of that happening is versus everyone who’s had it happen reporting it.
I just hope that if it happens to me, it happens before I replace the hybrid battery.
2009 Mercedes-Benz CLK350 (W209) Convertible.
The COMAND system is about useless – I wish it were updatable to current standards, including the ability to send location info to the system by text or bluetooth.
I also wish it had Bluetooth standard, like the earlier cars. Yeah, it was deleted for 2009 for cost-cutting issues.
I wish it had parking sensors – I’ve crunched (and repaired) the rear bumper more than once due to backing into things.
I wish the leather were more durable – particularly the steering wheel.
I also wish it had lower mileage and was therefore in better condition – I hate that I’ve put so many miles on it due to being my daily driver.
I don’t understand why the six-cylinder version of the LCI E39 wagon (in the US) was the 525i instead of the 530i. I’m pretty sure price was the stated reason at the time, but the small six is just so poorly matched to the heavy wagon body—it’s slow, and the gas mileage is lousy because the engine has to work so hard.
Lucky for me, the M54B25 and M54B30 engines are very closely related, sharing all engine accessories but the airbox and exhaust, and using the same ECU, so it’s one of the most straightforward swaps out there. And I just happen to have an ugly but mechanically healthy 530i sedan parked in front of my house….
Not just my car, but all cars: an increase from the top of the seat cushion to the top of the door frame. My spine is as flexible as a glass rod, so getting in/out of cars generally involves dragging the top of my head across the bottom of the rubber door seals. Even in cars with 8-way adjustable seats, I can’t lower them enough to comfortably get in an out.
I believe rollover safety requirements have made things worse. Look at a 90s Cadillac, and the door cut line goes slightly into the roof, affording an extra inch or so of head clearance. You don’t see that now.
One thing I really liked about my 03 Infiniti is that you could set the driver seat to automatically move to the farthest-back position for getting in and out, and upon closing the door, the seat returned to its last position. My 12 year newer Volvo doesn’t have that feature (that I know of).
My 1995 f150 straight six manual has the narrowest power band of any vehicle I have ever driven. I don’t know if it’s inherent to the Ford 300, or if it’s inherent to the EFI system on these, or if mine just kinda runs bad, but it starts to make usable torque about 1500rpm and is unhappy sustaining engine speeds above 2000rpm. It makes good power to ~3500, but you can’t cruise at more than 2000rpm or it gets loud, gets hot, and gets 10mpg(not exaggerating). My Jeep/AMC straight sixes are both happier at higher rpm and produce lower torque.
This pickup also has stupid gearing, with a big gap from 3rd to 4th(so I have to rev out 3rd significantly higher than any other gear) but a small gap from 4th to 5th. Considering how little horsepower it has and how narrow the power band is, it could use 6+ closely spaced gears but it has 5 unevenly and sometimes widely spaced gears.
I wish that my car said Porsche on the rear deck lid instead of Chevrolet
where is a JC Whitney catalog when a person needs one? geeeesh
Probably a good thing jc Whitney catalogs are a thing of the past. Now that I have an adult job and my own money, I would for sure have a barefoot gas pedal and a light up naked lady hood ornament.
I wish my 2013 Mazda5 had the 2.5L Skyactive engine. They had it in the Mazda 3 at the time, and I thought I had it in my car. Nope. Mazda was too small to invest in a popular niche car. It would have given me 23 more HP and significantly better gas mileage.
Really? Is yours not US market? My understanding was that all the 2012+ US Mazda 5’s had the 2.5 only, while 2010 and earlier had the 2.3 only – basically the biggest N/A engine available in the Mazda 3
It’s a 2.5, but only 157hp and gets the fuel economy of a 2000’s design (29mpg highway) Skyactiv is 185hp and 38mpg on the highway.
The engine and trans was at end of life for the design on my car.
Ah, yea, I missed the skyactive part. That would be nice… The 2.5 power is perfectly adequate, but more power and efficiency would always be nice
I find the power of my 2010 2.3 Mazda 5 perfectly adequate, even when hauling a full load. If anything I’d be willing to sacrifice some power for much better gas mileage.
Other than the obvious first step of get GOOD tires and brake pads, first off, that any car comes with anything other than Ohlins suspension is baffling… Last project car purchase (my current one) it even beat the car here as far as shipping goes! You also nailed my other gripe with most cars, an open differential. Especially on AWD cars this upsets me as you basically have a 1 wheel drive car limited by the weakest tire potentially making it worse than Fwd or Rwd. (BTW the viscous diff from a G37 looks identical as far as casing to the open diff in an is300. Hopefully in the spring / summer when I don’t need it operational I’ll switch it out to using a CD00A trans + diff from that car. I much prefer a torsen, but as this one came with the donor car may as well try it out first.)
As far as gripes go, and even though this is considered a feature, I don’t like the gauge cluster in the is300. Markings every 20mph and only a dot every 10mph.
My WRX did not come with the gage binnacle on the dash. Who buys a freakin’ Rex without a boost gauge??
my issue is that the repo units I see uniformly are reviewed as poor quality—and real ones are thin on the ground & pricey 22years out.
2014 Volkswagen GTI – DSG transmission, I drive in manual mode most of the time and use the gear shift knob more often than the paddle shifters (habit from many years driving an actual manual). Generally this all works great… except for those rare times when I put it in automatic mode, and then forget I’m in automatic mode, push forward on the knob to upshift and… shift into neutral. Usually in the middle of an intersection when I really would like to get moving and instead the engine is racing and I’m waiting for the automatic clutch to re-engage so I can proceed. Wish there was a neutral lockout, or an offset in the shifter movement… something that made the shift to neutral less easy!
2015 Subaru Forester XT – I would change the accelerator pedal response. Its way too touchy, almost impossible to achieve a smooth comfortable start from a full stop. Options are standing still or warp speed.
My dad’s 2014 Sienna is like that. “Why does a minivan need 250 horsepower, and why is all of it immediately delivered when the pedal goes down a half-inch?”
Meanwhile my Prius v has 3 selectable pedal sensitivities, “extra squishy” (Eco mode), “squishy” (normal mode), “typical ICE car” (PWR mode).
Oh, this is actually the perfect question.
I would give anything for the NA MX5 to be a fixed coupe and not a convertible with a plastic lid strapped to it. That’s it, plain and simple, the coupe concept is absolutely perfect in design, I just wish they’d released them for the NA, I’m glad the NB finally got the coupe, but it’s just not the same.
I’ve always wondered about that top. Tell me more about it – does it just latch on at the front and back? Is it heavy or just unwieldy?
It has two slide latches at the rear, the two chrome lumps you’ll see in photos of them, they just hook over some fancy bolts, the front latches attach exactly the same as the soft top, there are also two additional side latches of the same style as the front which mount near the seatbelts, however a lot of people don’t use them because they’re only installed on cars that were delivered with the hard top.
The top isn’t a bad weight or size really, I can remove and install them by myself without too much stress. The extra head room, insulation from weather and road noise and the significantly improved rear visibility make running a hard top an absolute no brainer for me. If a coupe had been an option, I’d never have bought a convertible.
Fascinating. I had a girlfriend whom I convinced to buy an NA, mostly b/c I wanted to drive it, which I did all the time. Her father (owned a Sunbeam Tiger!) would always go on about “shoulda gotten a hardtop, that’s the only way to go.”
But we broke up, she totaled the car (I went to the junkyard before it was relinquished to get her plates and pried off the trunk emblem for her as a souvenir), but I’ve always wondered what they were like. Cheers!
Chevy Bolt – almost perfect daily driver but the cheap ass suspension is horribly crashy at low speed. I’d pay good money for independent rear suspension on that thing.
Honda s2000 – heated seats. Yes I’m old, get off my lawn.
I promise the GM suspension tuning is more of an issue than any inherent limitations of twist beam suspension.
My old 2004 cavalier actually rode quite nice with the twist beam rear. It was a bit underdamped and had absolutely no sway bars, but the ride was smooth.
If you’ve ever ridden in an old luxury land barge, you know that “primitive” or “outdated” suspension styles can ride extremely smooth.
Old GM cars with the pillowback seats!
I don’t consider myself old, but heated seats are a must in any car I purchase.
5th Gen 4Runner. I love the whole thing warts and all because when trouble comes, I’ll be driving a slow white truck with only four gears right out of it. My only wish is that it had lower hips and taller windows — it’s like driving a stormtrooper helmet.
Well, pretty much all manual cars, and all cars for that matter – floor mounted accelerator pedal goddammit!
I never knew until I got one, Many of the “swing” mounted ones have either the wrong placement, or weird travel distance, when you have to “walk” your heel to adjust or just use the entire foor like an ape
Driven plenty of vehicles both ways…… I don’t think that matters, at all, and other factors are 100x more important. The worst throttle I have ever used was floor hinged.
2024 Dodge Hornet R/T+
I must be the only one in the nation who loves the car and has had 0 issues (though admittedly I only have 6k miles on the odometer).
HOWEVER, this vehicle would be my 4th Mopar product. This also happens to be the only vehicle I’ve ever driven that doesn’t give you the ability to switch media inputs on the steering wheel. Want to switch from AM to FM, XM, or Android Auto? Can’t do it from the wheel. Instead, you need to hit between 2 and 5 different buttons (depending on what menu you’re already in) on the touchscreen to to flip frequency.
Otherwise, I think this is the best new product Mopar has pushed out in years, and that is a hill I will happily die on.
Are you 11 years old? I have never driven a car remotely new enough to have the ability to switch media inputs on the steering wheel.
Oh, come on. My newest car is 22 years old now, but society has moved on in a couple decades
Yeah, but how new do cars have to be to switch media inputs from the steering wheel? If he’s never driven one that can, he must not have ever driven a car that wasn’t made in the last 8 years.
16 + 8= 24
i was just reacting to the 11yo insult: seemed uncalled for as if implying he was born with a silver spoon.
just me I guess
Obviously I was exaggerating, it just I have literally never heard of a 24 year old who has only ever driven brand new cars.
I was able to change media inputs from the steering wheel of my modestly priced Pontiac in 2008. It’s not a new thing.
Yeah I have it on my 2012 and 2013 cars that are not fancy.
Yeah, any Pontiac or Buick since the late 90s from say, W-body up is likely to have it, and it’s possible every one of his Chrysler products had it too.
Heading into the late 2000s it was pretty common on say, any given midsize car a step or two above base trim to have it.
My parents’ 2010 Ford Flex could do that, as can my 2012 Prius v. I’m sure there’s older examples, too.
If it’s a feature you like and use, I can understand how its absence would be a bummer.
Given the coverage I’ve seen, it is nice to hear someone is having a positive experience with one
I don’t think my VW has it come to think of it, but I’m at a point I’m usually on BT/Carplay so it may be I’ve just forgotten. But I would notice the same thing on past cars, especially when there would be FM1 and FM2 for different presets and I’d flip the media source and the presets. I don’t think I could name more than 6 radio stations now since some have changed, eesh.
But on the same note for steering wheel controls I came to really appreciate the ‘mute’ button my Optima had – quicker to hit that instead of turning down the volume or finding ‘pause’ on the screen.
For my Solara convertible, the main thing would be a semi-automomous driving mode for stop and go traffic.
Knowing that’s not going to happen, the alternative is air conditioned seats. Those are doable; it’s just a matter of whether I want to make the investment.
Thankfully the other glaring issue of the lack of a decent infotainment system was easily resolved with a new stereo head unit.
In an ideal world my Mazda CX-5 would have a Mazda5 body with CX-5 running gear and dashboard. The rear seat is a black hole and it’s poorly packaged compared to the Tardis like Mazda5.
On a practical level fog lights and dedicated wheels for the winter tires.
I also want a headache rack and helper springs for my pickup.
The ’95 Miata needs about 40 more horsepower. The 2013 Kia Soul… needs about 40 more horsepower.
One more thing about the Miata. The horn buttons are in a perfectly logical place near the rim of the steering wheel. On the Kia, it’s a more standard center horn button with infotainment/cruise control buttons on the spokes. I switch between the cars pretty frequently and I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve punched the airbag at an idiot while driving the Miata or changed the XM channel at another idiot while driving the Kia.
Old girlfriend of mine had a VW Cabrio that had a gauge setup not that dissimilar to that of my Ford Focus. Except that the speedo and tach locations were reversed, with the VW habit of displaying rpms in 2 digits x 100 format, not the more common 1 x 1000.
I’ll admit I’d sometimes get momentarily confused at how fast I was going when I’d drive ’em back to back.
Not my personal car, but I rented a 2020 Mercedes GLA 250 from Alamo last week. Maybe I’d get used to it if I owned the car but I absolutely hated that the cruise control doesn’t operate in the way I’ve always seen in other cars I’ve driven. Instead, it’s operated by a lever on the same side of the steering wheel as the turn signals. I lost count of the times I turned the cruise control on or off while attempting to signal a turn. If I never did get used to it, I’d regard it as a hazard.