“The tint is illegal,” he told me, “but I’ve never gotten pulled over for it.” I was standing in a freezing-cold garage looking at a blacked out 2011 Nissan 370Z. It crouched so low to the ground that preschoolers could play leapfrog over it. Its marriage prospects had been improved by the addition of a top mount turbo. Decals on the windshield subtly asked you if you had noticed that it wasn’t stock.

I felt an uncomfortably guilty thrill.

I was there because my own project car, a troubled Mitsubishi Evo X, had been , and driving my ancient Camaro for work was becoming increasingly problematic. Ignoring the new-car recommendations from my peers, I instead invested days of my life digging through mod and boost forums instead.

Fact: Mitsubishi Evolution owners don’t like to leave their cars stock. Maggie Stiefvater, who…

After hours spent corresponding with individuals hidden behind screen handles like nastyevoman and fairladyfck, I had found this promising specimen on forums. It still had the 3.7-liter V6, but its single owner had sent it to Florida for VSR’s spendy top mount single turbo setup—P6266 turbo, Tial Q BOV, Deatschwerks injectors, Precision intercooler, on and on. The list sounded great when it was someone else’s money paying for the build. The list sounded better when it ended with the phrase “550 WHP.”

But once I was actually standing looking at someone else’s finished build, my feelings were… decidedly complicated. It felt like I had told people I was going to foster a child but was instead considering adopting a 22-year-old college graduate with an apartment in Hoboken. Well, probably not Hoboken, not with those wheels. Trenton.

But still. It had already powered through diapers and puberty and SATs. It didn’t need me.

is a novelist, musician, car enthusiast and occasional rally driver based in Virginia. She’s more badass than you are.