Phantom Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 JSM, Having gone through the initial driving phase of two sons I'd really recommend against letting your son drive a 280Z for his first car. It has no side impact, no air bags, the structure is not designed to force the engine to go underneath the driver in a frontal impact. Bottom line - It's not safe enough for a novice driver. I learned from my first son who was in a 10 car pile-up (not his fault - he was in the middle of the pack and got stopped in time only to get rear-ended and driven into the car in from of him). He was in an '83 Sentra and it was accordianed. The only spot in the car that wasn't crushed was the drivers seat area but he was still buggered up. I put the younger son in a Bronco II which he totalled at 30 mph on a rain slick street. In that one, though, no one was hurt. Buy him an old truck or SUV until he gets some experience and use the 280Z as a father-son project as he's learning to survive on the streets. He'll have a better understanding of the car and more survival instincts to keep him on planet earth if he gets it a year or two after he starts driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Just don't tell him "the tornado" is nothing more than a restrictor and he will soon install it becaue of market hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I had a 62vw bug as my first car with a stock 1200. funny thing is, up to about 50mph it would BEAT most stock civics. they accelerated pretty decently up to 50, then fell on their face. don't have to worry about speeding tickets either. you're lucky to see 70mph in it haha. That's what I'm getting at! The car when driven correctly will move out O.K. No speed records being set, and not a danger to anybody else on the road, but it will keep up with traffic. My 69 beetle would do 75, just like VW said...but I found if I skipped a valve adjustment and let the valves go tight I could do 90...the education began. What you need is something that when wrung out will get to 50-65 reasonably quickly, yet not go much faster. Modern cars, alas, will do that. I mean Turbo Sprint, Geo Metro....eh...kinda small with all the SUV's out there IMO. The Beetle and old Bus was the perfect car to drive for me. Like stated above, no threat of speeding tickets (unless I was going 35 in a 25...) and really not enough top speed potential to get any serious tickets on the freeway (at the time Michigan still only gave 1 point for speeds above 55, and below 75 as that was the former speed limit...thank you national speed limit.) I learned a lot of valuable lessons driving and maintaining those VW's. I learned I HAVE to take care of my car, or it will not take care of me. I learned I HAVE to do procedures properly and not take short cuts or something WILL go wrong later. It kept me 'safe' while at the same time educating me on how to work on vehicles. That was just as important to learning to drive. To this day I find myself driving in 2nd gear to 25-30mph, not shifting out of third before 45, and not going into overdrive till well above 55. All left over from 'The Idiot Manual' explaining to me that if I shifted up too early, the engine WILL overheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 It's either a Z or small pickup. What is bad about a pickup is he can pile kids in the back. Major, no, no in my book. Three Words: "Hard Tonneau Cover" The Pickup will probably be more 'safe' along the lines of 'more inertia and higher driver's position'... If you see him buying carpet padding and scrounding carpet remnants you can bet something else is going on under the Tonneau Cover than moving sacks of concrete for your sidewalk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildky Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 educate the boy on driving, get him involved in autocross, not only is a a good safe outlet it'll actually teach him to control the car, how to regain control when that back end steps out on an expansion joint on an onramp in the rain.. power has nothign to do with the kid finding trouble or hurting himself, I knwo I found plenty of trouble in my 80 hp escort, and I had plenty of friends with low no power cars, we still did stupid things, also if the kid is involved in the build, and has his own time and money invested in it, he's more likely to protect it, I knwo kids who would purposely abuse a nice free car that was given to them because they wanted something cooler, after all the parents have unlimited resources right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmaster Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 thats exactly how I was when I got my first car for free....I abused the sh** out of it till the transmission went out. I bout my z, and the only thing I have done in it is to see how much it will take before the back of the car starts to slide..In dry conditions, and in wet. and I haven't done anything else in it after all I built it, and its my baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyZ Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I think that (in bold below) is a bad idea - putting someone who has no experience in a 4000lb vehicle than can't turn or brake. Sure, he's protected, but what about my protection from him when I'm sitting at a light in my Z or coming around a turn on my motorcycle (if I get to ride again thanks to a 18yr old in a little BMW). JSM,Having gone through the initial driving phase of two sons I'd really recommend against letting your son drive a 280Z for his first car. It has no side impact, no air bags, the structure is not designed to force the engine to go underneath the driver in a frontal impact. Bottom line - It's not safe enough for a novice driver. I learned from my first son who was in a 10 car pile-up (not his fault - he was in the middle of the pack and got stopped in time only to get rear-ended and driven into the car in from of him). He was in an '83 Sentra and it was accordianed. The only spot in the car that wasn't crushed was the drivers seat area but he was still buggered up. I put the younger son in a Bronco II which he totalled at 30 mph on a rain slick street. In that one, though, no one was hurt. Buy him an old truck or SUV until he gets some experience and use the 280Z as a father-son project as he's learning to survive on the streets. He'll have a better understanding of the car and more survival instincts to keep him on planet earth if he gets it a year or two after he starts driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Great thread thus far. I personally think there's no point in restricting the engine, just leave it. Make the car safe in other areas like brakes, suspension, etc though for sure. I also agree the S30 isn't the safest car to be in an accident in, but it's also going to be a bit more agile than a SUV and with just minimual training should be pretty hard to loose control of. I'm personally very glad I got much of my teenage street racing ideas worked out of my head long before I had my license. I've been working on cars since I knew what a socket wrench was and never looked back. By 13 I was attending races at the drag stip and occasionaly going out to street raced. By 14 I was going to street races semi-often. That didn't last long. Why? Because I'm smart. If you've taught your son to have half a brain and think for himself he'll figure it out. It only takes seeing so many people caught, hurt, or even worse until you get the idea across that being an idiot is it's own punishment and being around idiots can be hazardous to your own health. This is the worst part about sharing the road... I suggest being the one getting him into cars showing him what motorsports are really about. Don't let some other kid be that person in his life. If you let that happen you're banking on some other kid's intelligence to keep him safe. Other than basic "don't street race" type advice I'd suggest making sure he understands traffic prediction and how to read drivers. I'm personally always watching out for drivers I'm with when I'm not driving. I find it amazing the night and day difference in overall drive quality when you're with someone who pays attention to traffic and can predict people's movements. 9/10 you should be able to predict a blinker on the freeway before people actually turn it on. Understand those types of dynamics of driving are what will lead to him being a SAFE driver in any circumstance. Weather it be driving at 10/10ths at an auto X, or commuting at 70mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I had a 1996 S-10 4cyl as my first vehicle. Very turd like in speed, but a good truck all around. Took my abuse fabulously! That said, I got t-boned in it and walked away. Get something safe for sure! Best of luck! Evan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 a crude way of doing it is take the cap off, pull one, or two of the pins out of it. unplug an injector or two and see what happens. or put an msd box behind the glove box. set the rpm limit to 3k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Jeff i say leave the car alone. and focus on getting it running correctly. My frist car was a 97 ford ranger with a 4 banger manual. i maxxed it out. it went 93mph. my second car well van was a 88 ford econoline 150. maxed out at 110ish if i recall correctly. Ive maxed out every car my parents gave me to drive. and i would of gotten into as much trouble with a slower car. If you make it slow enough to not speed on the interstate that doesnt mean he wont speed in town. and by that time you will probably have slowed the car down enough to where its unsafe. IDK how many times i have used acceleration to get out of getting hit. Here is the sure fire way to keep him driving at a reasonable speed if you can. 1. start off paying his insurance. but have it in writing with him that if he gets a ticket or in a wreck that he has to take over the insurance after that or has to pay the difference. 2. if he gets a ticket. take the car away for a month. make him walk. take the bus. It will make him appreciate what he has. You get the idea. I also like the idea of getting him into autocross. Both of you do it and it can be a father son activity you can do and you both can battle it out for the best times. I always raced motorcross growing up and it was a great day the time i passed my dad in a race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Oh yea. After the first ticket I lost the car privilege for 2 weeks. The second time 2 months. That worked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I just remembered something. You can buy small chips that will record data on OBD2 cars, so anything 96' or newer you could record his every move. Granted he could always take the car out without your knowing and unplug it... It wouldn't be something to control his actions, just a way to monitor him if you trust him to keep the device in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowlerMonkey Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 Get tires that have good wet weather performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted May 26, 2008 Author Share Posted May 26, 2008 Again, thanks guys for all the advice. I'm getting the feeling he REALLY wants a Celica. A few of you mentioned Autocross. Any ideas in where in Central Florida this takes place? Is this part of SCCA? Does anyone know the age restriction? I'm thinking you must at least be 15 w/ a driving permit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyZ Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 Again, thanks guys for all the advice. I'm getting the feeling he REALLY wants a Celica. Ah... you didn't mention your son is a girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slow_Old_Car Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 No hurting himself with that thing, its my understanding that they have a very small range of performance in the RPM and are otherwise a wind up toy the rest of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 My gosh it's hard to believe a year has almost gone by. Thanks again everyone for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Get him involved in Auto-X and give him an outlet for his speed, and he will soon realize that playing around on the street is really just a joke by comparison. Once they hit 9 or 10/10'ths on the track they will realize most you could ever do on the street with other cars is so mundane by comparison that it 'isn't even worth it'---I know that is what did it for me! This path worked for me as well, and I fully intend for my children to have some track time when they turn 16, just so they can get some perspective and a place to get out those aggressive tenancies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris556452 Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 My gosh it's hard to believe a year has almost gone by. Thanks again everyone for your input. So is he driving yet? If so, what did you end up getting him? -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.