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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Prepare for my rant...

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June 8, 2010 11:10 a.m. SilverFleet Reader

I started reading GRM when some friends started telling me about the Challenge and how the mag covers just about any car I'd be interested in, from V8 powered craziness to quirky imports with DIY fuel injection with junkyard turbos bolted on. And they praise the DIY guys, which I identify with, because I'm a DIY guy.

Then, I went to the Challenge last year, met other readers, met staff, and had a great time. I actually joined up on here either on the way down there or at the hotel in my room.

I still hang out on many other boards (NASIOC, 78TA, Trans Am Country, etc) and I still participate. I've voiced my opinion on NASIOC before about some of the trends, only to be flamed for "offending their lifestyle". I just can't see how this stretched tire, slammed stretch and poke trend is even safe! I just figured this board would be a refuge from all the trendy garbage that goes on elsewhere, like the Hellaflush trend, new age rat rod stuff, etc. that I have zero interest in. I like functionality, and I'm a strong believer that looking good and being functional can co-exist.

If I want to look somewhat ridiculous and gawdy, I just hop in my 1979 Trans Am with the screaming chicken on the hood, the shaker dancing around, and the fat BFG Radial T/A's sticking out. But at least it's somewhat functional, being that it has a built .060-over Pontiac 400 and the WS6 package.
June 8, 2010 6:45 p.m. Jensenman SuperDork

I stick with my Britmobiles in no small part because the fart can yO crowd just don't know what to make of them.

I could care less if someone wants to make their mad tyte E36 M3 look like it was caught in some kind of explosion in a poor taste factory. I don't care if somebody wants to stick a blower on a big block Chevy, drop it in a chromed and polished T Bucket and then back that up (?) with a dropped straight front axle, a poorly designed four link and big n' littles. Or if they build an overchromed long bike that wouldn't handle if you held a gun to it. That's their business.

Untill that poorly designed and laid out pile of E36 M3 nails me due to a combination of their desire for style over substance and poor driving. Now it IS my business. I refuse to make a vehicle dangerous to operate in the name of 'style'. If that makes me a member of the snotty sporty car crowd, guilty as charged.
June 8, 2010 8:51 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork
June 8, 2010 10:52 p.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

turboswede wrote:

EvanB wrote:

I think that is the sticker the student or beginner drivers have to put on their car in Japan. So apparently people thought it was "JDM tyte yo" to put it on their cars.

Certainly fit their driving "skillz" Yo!

Aw, ya beat me to it. And yes, it is the Japanese version of the "learner" plates you see in England.

I think the Australian ones are yellow with a black "L", but Luke or somebody would have to confirm that.

IIRC, Sony's "Gran Turismo" series of videogames would display the JDM Learner plate symbol for races you could enter without a license, and that's how they became known with "that crowd".
June 8, 2010 11:22 p.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

Chris_V wrote:

YOu knolw what< I'v ecome to expect a lot of these comments from the sports car crowd. i'ts been that way forever. Apparently the ONLY reason to modify a car from stock is to make it faster or handle better. And the only valid way is to spend money on name brand parts that have been proven on the track. becaeu building a road race car is the only valid form of automotive expression. Custom cars are something to be ridiculed, denigrated and shat on.

Chris, I don't have a problem with Customs, I really don't. It's just that a lot of the guys doing this kind of stuff to cars think they're building a Custom..when they're really not.

A lot of the cars I see at Custom shows are amazing pieces of engineering and design. The car as art? I've seen it, I believe in it, and I think it's beautiful. But how many of those masterpieces are daily drivers? The people who drive those cars know that there are compromises that must be made when operating such a machine in public. A lot of the people pretending they can build a Custom without doing their stinking homework first think they'll still be able to thrash the thing through traffic at high speed with no problems. Folks like that are who I (and I hope the other "sportscar guys" here) am talking about.

Aren't guys like that the same kind of "poseurs" to the Custom scene that the "..what's the biggest exhaust and most expensive coilover kit you have?.." guys are to the "sportscar guys"?

I'm not "flaming" ya, dude..you have a valid concern. But so do I. There's a reason the serious Low-Rider, Donk, and Dub crowd don't try to push their cars through traffic at 80mph. And I respect them for it. OTOH, I've seen a few guys with the "stretched tire" look try to keep up with me through the North Georgia mountains. Scary stuff.
June 8, 2010 11:38 p.m. SilverFleet Reader

friedgreencorrado wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

YOu knolw what< I'v ecome to expect a lot of these comments from the sports car crowd. i'ts been that way forever. Apparently the ONLY reason to modify a car from stock is to make it faster or handle better. And the only valid way is to spend money on name brand parts that have been proven on the track. becaeu building a road race car is the only valid form of automotive expression. Custom cars are something to be ridiculed, denigrated and shat on.

Chris, I don't have a problem with Customs, I really don't. It's just that a lot of the guys doing this kind of stuff to cars think they're building a Custom..when they're really not.

A lot of the cars I see at Custom shows are amazing pieces of engineering and design. The car as art? I've seen it, I believe in it, and I think it's beautiful. But how many of those masterpieces are daily drivers? The people who drive those cars know that there are compromises that must be made when operating such a machine in public. A lot of the people pretending they can build a Custom without doing their stinking homework first think they'll still be able to thrash the thing through traffic at high speed with no problems. Folks like that are who I (and I hope the other "sportscar guys" here) am talking about.

Aren't guys like that the same kind of "poseurs" to the Custom scene that the "..what's the biggest exhaust and most expensive coilover kit you have?.." guys are to the "sportscar guys"?

I'm not "flaming" ya, dude..you have a valid concern. But so do I. There's a reason the serious Low-Rider, Donk, and Dub crowd don't try to push their cars through traffic at 80mph. And I respect them for it. OTOH, I've seen a few guys with the "stretched tire" look try to keep up with me through the North Georgia mountains. Scary stuff.

This sums up what I'm trying to say as well. Custom cars, old style rat rods, street rods, and even lowriders take a ton of work and engineering to complete, and they serve a purpose. They look cool, and that's cool with me! Stretching tires on wheels so they don't rub, changing suspension settings to stupidly unsafe settings to fit wheels on a car that have no business being on that car at all, and then driving on that dangerous setup when there's other cars on the road is not cool with me. I have no clue how these guys have valid inspection stickers.
June 9, 2010 4:27 a.m. Luke SuperDork

friedgreencorrado wrote:

I think the Australian ones are yellow with a black "L", but Luke or somebody would have to confirm that.

That is indeed correct.
June 9, 2010 10:44 a.m. SilverFleet Reader

Don't they have the sticker system in New Jersey now? I remember reading that a few years ago.

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