Devil's advocate question, no negativity intended...

[Brett]

I have always liked mods but not at the expense of reliability, drivability, or ease of service. I always try to figure why manufacturers don't do certain mods as stock.

What about 4.10's...that would cost the mfgr $0, and the benefits are great. So why don't they do it? What are the downsides? If it is just fuel economy and CAFE standards (a valid reason, and NOT an excuse not to do it yourself, at least for me), well that makes sense. But is it something else? What about the plugs, thermostat, and driveshaft? What are the downsides? Hate to ask, but want to know.

[cutt]

what area are you from,ive only 2 other mm in the city.

[LincMercLover]

Only reason for the mods you have mentioned are if you have installed the Reinhart chip and are using it to it's full potiential. The chip will remove the 117MPH speed governor, however, since the origanal configuration was only designed to withstand 117MPH (and not hardly even that), there was no sence in spending the extra $$$ to pop for an all aluminum drive shaft. Now why the PI's can go 130MPH stock and the MM's can't I don't know... More than likely so there won't technically be a car like theirs that can out run them? :D Same goes for the plugs and stat. It's all a package for the chip. The chip will bump the timing, so to avoid setting off the knock sensor in the motor which will totally destroy the chips effect on the motor, you SHOULD install the colder plugs. The stat is just to keep the motor a wee bit cooler (Anyone ever thought of going 160? That was all my speed shop had...) and denser as does the octane help reduce the chance of detonation and increase the performance in the motor with the chip. Hell, I run 93 in mine and I don't even have a chip, but that's all I'll run in her! Hope this helps! I'm sure someone else, especially Dennis or Logan, will have some more insight on this. Hope to see you in a MM after your "student life!"

[SergntMac]

Why doesn't the factory offer the mods? Good question, and it's been asked a dozen times here, page back through the threads. The answer isn't simple or clear, and we'll never agree on "why."

Has to be 10,000 MM owners out there by now, but only 400 or so of us here. Is that enough yelling to cause the factory to respond to our demands? I think not. I am delighted that LM put this car together for us. In it's stock form, it's quite a unique car, that really doesn't need any modification at all. It's a blast to own and drive right out of the box, but if you want a more blast, add the Reinhart package. It's all good stuff, inexpensive, easy to add to the stock MM, and without any downside. But, don't read that to say that LM screwed up. There may be 9600 MM owners thinking you're nuts.

[Brett]

cutt- I am in New Orleans uptown/ Oak street right off of Carrolton
LincMercLover- only 18 more months to go before the MM. My wife is not so crazy about it though....

[LincMercLover]

Bah... it's not like you're marrying another woman... Oh wait, yah you are! :D ;)

[cutt]

i'm from n.o. east close to bullard only mm around.