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1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
coachsteve,
Sorry for the late post, but I've been mulling over whether to respond since I haven't actually done the mods yet. The upgrades are around the corner, though, and I've done a LOT of research. Since I saw no opposing opinion to the aerophiles, I decided to post!
I'm in the same boat as you, except w/a '99 9-5lpt. I think your '00 is a better base to start from, but both can be successful. I think more people stateside are beginning to tackle this type of upgrade, but information has been tough to get, because these upgrades are only now becoming more common as the 9-5's age. These upgrades have been more common in europe, and there have been several people on this board who have given me LOTS of helpful advice, and I owe them all thanx. the information is becoming easier to find, too.
When I bought the '99 earlier this year, there were almost no used aero's on the market yet, and they were 'big' dollars when compared to the older, base models which were depreciated significantly. The few aeros which were available were running $12-20K more (almost DOUBLE a what a base '99 9-5 model was going for). Granted, the '99 models took a particularly hard hit on the depreciation.
This extreme difference in cost will change as time goes by, but the base models hit the market in '98, and the aero's weren't around until into '00, so some of it was just a function of the availability of older base lpt models.
But the differentiation in price gives a LOT of headroom for saving money by upgrading. I think you "can" come close to an aero for a lot less money. You can go w/oem aero parts or aftermarket. Some of this depends on how extreme you want to go. In europe, you can get the whole sport chassis upgrade as a kit, not true here.
Yes, the aero fans will be offended. It won't necessarily be an aero. But, if you take some time, you can decide how far you want to go. Post for people who "have" done this; I've talked to several, and my comfort level has gone up with doing the modifications. Even some of the suspension modifications will go a LONG way toward improving the handling of the early models. I'll be rolling the dice on which parts I'm going to try swapping out later this month, and will post then.
I'm trying to balance cost of parts and labor to my percieved (Wild assed guess based on lots of various information of various vagueness from far too many sources!). Some of the changes I will probably do just because the suspension will already be apart and so the nominal cost of the additional changes is relatively low.
I've not heard anyone do much but rave about the results of ANY chassis or suspension upgrade on the early models because they are so softly sprung and damped.
I've also had the benefit of driving several aero's and lpt's of all the model years with variations of swapped components (ie 17" and 18" wheels, springs, bushings, eibach kit, brakes,etc). They *all* make an improvement, whether done alone or in conjunction with others.
Personally, I think the '02 and '03's are much improved over the earlier years, for both the aero and the lpt model (yeah,linear ;-)) But the early models were woefully undersprung, and I've driven lots of them.
And there will be a cost/performance benefit to weigh. But I think the opportunity cost is not so bad if you just do it, even if you are paying labor. All of the points of the aero fans may be accurate, but not necessarily valid when you are separating large differences in final performance.
For example, the aeros have upgraded brakes. I'm just about to need brake pads all around and front rotors (closing on 100K on the ORIGINAL brakes/rotors primarily due to the P.O.'s moderate and mostly highway driving habits). So this is a good time to upgrade, and I WILL price that upgrade out. But I think the original brakes do a pretty good job, frankly. I've not overdriven or had fade problems with them once in the last 15K miles, and even if I put in an ecu upgrade, my driving habits won't change much in terms of trying to anticipate traffic, avoiding tailgating, shifting down, etc. I already drive as fast as I would with the aero or upgrades, too, as I'm more often limited by the fear of tickets and the safety of myself and others than I am by the car's capabilities. So my hunch is I'll try to source rotors and greenstuff pads and be glad I don't have to clean my wheels every time I look at them!
The old saying that 80% of results from 20% of the changes may well resonate here, and I think it might even be a higher percentage - sorry purists ;-)
good luck with your project!
matthew
posted by 141.154.51...
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