I was a guest at a semiluxury/semiperformance oriented/usually a sedan club of america event recently and was super unimpressed with some of the people's attitudes. I made the mistake of complimenting a guy with an e36, he asked what I drove and proceeded to tell me my is300 was a store brand facsimile of his, and that lexus did a "reasonable job on the knock off". I don't get the arrogance it would take to say that to someone who complimented your car. I was met with this type of attitude by several people at this event, wtf? I've been involved in motorsport since I was a baby and typically have met cool people at these type of events, is this the vibe I should expect at ---cca events?

Whats the difference between (insert premium sport luxury brand here) and a porcupine?

On a porcupine the prick is on the outside.

Probably depends on the type of event. If it's a #%CCA track day, it would probably be a little less douchey, because more cars entered brings per-entrant costs down a bit.

If it's more of a social-type event, then yes, your Lexus sucks and you are a boil on the ass of the world.

The event was an hpde.

Flight Service wrote: On a porcupine the prick is on the inside.

Maybe when it comes to cannibalistic porcupines. The ones I've seen have the pricks on the outside.

In reply to sesto elemento:

So, I guess the lesson learned is that there will always be someone in any group that is an shiny happy person.

I tend to talk those types of people in to a corner. Many times I find that the type of person the OP describes is new to a HPDE. It as as if they are at some sort of car race or something and are very defensive of there ride.

Where as those that have been at it a while don't care. And are friendly helpful people. Most don't care what they are driving and will compliment your ride.

sesto elemento wrote: I was a guest at a semiluxury/semiperformance oriented/usually a sedan club of america event recently and was super unimpressed with some of the people's attitudes. I made the mistake of complimenting a guy with an e36, he asked what I drove and proceeded to tell me my is300 was a store brand facsimile of his, and that lexus did a "reasonable job on the knock off". I don't get the arrogance it would take to say that to someone who complimented your car. I was met with this type of attitude by several people at this event, wtf? I've been involved in motorsport since I was a baby and typically have met cool people at these type of events, is this the vibe I should expect at ---cca events?

I hope you cut at least one faster lap than that shiny happy person.

Also, you should have pointed out that the Toyota/Lexus I6 engine is more of a copy of a M-B engine, and pointed out how Toyota/Lexus always pick the best German technology to copy and refine.

Yeah, it's not a very good knock off of the E36. The interior plastic doesn't degrade nearly fast enough.

Oh yeah, you do forget over time.

I used to be a member of that particular club....and what you experienced is why I used to be there. Truthfully they are not all that way, but enough are to ruin the experience.

I've been in a lot of clubs and it was probably the worst for that type of behavior.

Just because someone likes cars does not mean they are nice people, but you could say that about any two possible groups.

It's been my experience that the manufacturer specific clubs tend to really suffer from that type of attitude due to severe confirmation bias. I'm not saying that all are bad, as I've heard a lot of good things about PCA, but the Mazda and Toyota clubs in my area are insufferable. Generally in the more diverse populations like NASA and SCCA that attitude gets beaten out pretty quick.

Also see:

Android is better than IOS.
Playstation sucks XBox is better.
And Harvard is better than Yale.

Any marque-specific club can attract truly special individuals.

Being faster is the best revenge.

Since they can't admit that your car is better than theirs, it forces them to consider just how awful they are at driving.

Will wrote: Being faster is the best revenge.

I like that a lot.

The0retical wrote: It's been my experience that the manufacturer specific clubs tend to really suffer from that type of attitude due to severe confirmation bias. I'm not saying that all are bad, as I've heard a lot of good things about PCA, but the Mazda and Toyota clubs in my area are insufferable. Generally in the more diverse populations like NASA and SCCA that attitude gets beaten out pretty quick.

The local Mazda group is okay. Online is pretty good too.

However, if you want a douchey hive of scum and villainy, go visit an Evolution forum. After ten minutes, you'll have zero sympathy for how they have to suffer with Mitsubishi crapitude. The part that gets is me is how they eat their own - Evo uber Alles. Step one in upgrading a Ralliart is to buy an Evo, apparently.

sesto elemento wrote: I've been involved in motorsport since I was a baby and typically have met cool people at these type of events, is this the vibe I should expect at ---cca events?

The ___CCA HPDE events I instruct or race at are usually some of the most laid back people... Dickishness happens in the noob section sometimes at any event but the hardcore guys are over the "cars" thing. They have realized by event 20 or so... the car is a tool to be used until dead then replaced. Any tool from Hyundai to Ferrari fails to impress until someone hoons in it :)

Flat out...in the rain. :)

I find most "car clubs" are full of ego strokers.

The_Jed wrote: Flat out...in the rain. :)

berkeley yeah! Or, atleast sideways. The long wheelbase guys can really show off when it gets slick. Where is etifosi in that 300' long station wagon?

In my experience, any hobby has "that guy" lurking around. Unfortunately, they usually tend to be the most outspoken. Just out of college, I built scale models for a while and started going to a model club (yep, it was every bit as geeky as you are imagining). The first time I ever brought something, there was a particular shiny happy person who was pointing, snickering, you name it. I almost didn't go back, but some of the stuff other people brought was pretty good, and I actually learned some new techniques during the tutorials and, except for shiny happy, enjoyed myself. I stuck around long enough to realize most of the people there were pretty decent . . . and everyone thought "that guy" was a shiny happy person.

In reply to sesto elemento:

The answer is:

Stick with GRM events were everyone is cool!

Waiting to be proved wrong and that GRM events have the same "types" show up.

There's one in every crowd.

The thing that surprised me was not "that guy" it was that there were more that guys than not that guys. It was a weird group that seemed elitist and snobby. That has never been something I've run into at a track day, or any racing event.

Ran into something similar on the local Cars & Coffee Facebook group.

In person they are pretty cool folks so I'll show up every once in a while.

On FB, there's a couple that are just shiny happy people. Specifically there's one guy who owns a bunch of exotics and likes to use them as extensions for his hootus. I called him out once for oiling the track when his lotus 111 sprang a leak from the oil cooler. Basically I questioned his intelligence since he drove most of the track after he discovered the leak. Ruining the session and the track for his fellow competitors. He was not pleased and neither was his wife who jumped into the mix for some reason.

So yeah, car people are a mixed bag, especially when they are in cliques and you're the FNG.