"Thrifty" is a very nice way to put it. Im not good at sugar coating things. Take my dual exhaust example. Many expressed interest in seeing one offered, then the $1000 price tag scared them off. They wanted it for $500. Well that price for that quality and those materials doesnt exist unless a high quantity can be built. So lets say the exhaust makes no gains at all and thus generates little interest. Well, someone is out the money and time. Some people want to learn from others mistakes without contributing anything themselves, and i have a problem with that. I dont mind giving and receiving advice but i always try to do my fair share. If you can duplicate someones work for less fine, use their idea. But give back to the community in some other aspect, fully realizing it will cost you money, and be ok with it. At some point you will loose your personal hard earned money for the benefit of gaining knowledge for yourself and the community. I know ive done my fair share, as have others from the so called "elite" who frequently contribute here. I consider it my way of paying my dues.

I also realize everyone is not alike. For example, i would never purchase an n/a xfire unless i knew i was gonna turbo it or swap in a v8 immediately. Thats just me...i suppose im speed elite too. Others might prefer dropping the top of their n/a xfire and simply enjoying a nice day under the sun, and thats fine. However, if you are into performance you can pick up an srt6 for only a few grand more these days, and get a level of power the n/a will only achieve by spending thousands. I guess what really frustrates me is that there is so little progress on a car that is pushing 5 years old. We are experienceing the law of diminishing returns. I am tired of just pullies and intakes i want more power, and we have such a great platform to work with. Problem is there are too few owners altogether, and of those owners, even fewer willing to spend the money necessary to allow for this level of performance. I dont know about you guys but im tired of beating typical c6 vettes. I want to make lunch out of the 650hp cobras and vettes running low 11's and high 10's at high mph's. This is one of the few sports car communities where to go any faster than high 11's w/o nitrous is uncharted territory. Usually you just click on "add to cart" lol. I realize we dont own mustang's or chevy's, but hopefully there is a happy median between slow progress, and having the same people doing all the research for everyones beneift. I hope for 2010 to see our community strengthen by combining our ideas as well as our expectations for our cars and ourselves.