At 17 i had 7K US saved up for my Z28. I earned every dollar, worked my *** off.

 

I got my z when I was 17 after hitting a deer in my 92 grand am. It was totalled and insurance didn't do anything for it. I didn't have enough for my Z so my grandpa fronted the money for it and I made payments to him monthly. Then, I got to stop paying for it as a grad present when I finished HS.

 

Sweet deal!

 

...
Nope, he became the typical, in debt american.

 

Yea man, don't listen to em. I got mine when I was 15 and I'm not some "rich *****" like people seem to think young kids w/ hotrods are. Actually, most of my peers who said things like this were driving crappy little sedans that were new and cost 2 to 3 times what my car cost but their parents didn't trust them enough to get them a fast car.

Save your cash and do a lot of research before sinking money into anything. The more you learn about your car and the upgrades for it, the less likely you are to waste money on something unnecessary. Start with the small things and the appearance mods so you turn heads, then as you gain some more experience, you can start working on the performance.

Also, make sure to park far away from everyone else in the student lot because their are some horrible drivers in highschool parking lots!

 

I'm mad that a 15 year old has a LS1.

Finish paying it off. If in some freak force of nature you wreck that thing and total it, atleast you'll know you didnt waste the money modding it before the actual car was payed for.

You'd hate pulling off all that aftermarket stuff and trying to resell it for 60% what you payed.

 

He's 16 now.

 

I'm not mad. I just think a good performance driving school would be a great way for anyone new to a performance car to get used to them and know how to handle them. What good is HP if you can't put it down to the car's best ability?

I've been driving for 20 years and I know that these cars can get away from you in the drop of a hat. It helps to know how to react to keep them under control or better yet how to not ever lose control.

Actually, I plan on going to a performance driving coarse this spring for kicks and tips. Its hard to beat track time in your car w/one on one instructions coming from a professional setting next to you.

So I stand by my recommendation. Do the driver mod first!

 

Unless I'm mistaken, you have to be 21 or 25 to participate in most performance driving schools. Or at least 18.

I honestly think the best advice is probably what his parents want him to do: pay the car off. I'm 22, and although I've never damaged the Z28 in any way (or SS since I don't drive it), I still have ran over a curb in a parking garage while making a turn onto the ramp going down. If I had aftermarket wheels and low profile rubber, I would have damaged the wheel, but luckily I have the good 'ole salad shooters on it still.

I drive the Corolla most often these days, and just the other day I scraped one of the hubcaps while parallel parking. Accidents happen, and it's a smarter idea to get the car paid off and get some years of experience driving the car before modding it IMO. I wouldn't change the wheels or add ground effects for a few months/years. These are things you can damage easily as an inexperienced driver. Heck, most 40 year old guys have sheared their front RS ground effect off.

 

No, there are some that focus on young drivers.

 

a performance driving class sounds like fun