Rice rockets and gas guzzlers.

Guys,

No offense, but you're going about this the wrong way. If you want a nice little 4CYL FWD car, and you want a sleeaper of a Buick that will SUPRISE just about everything you encounter ('cept maybe my Turbo minivan...), then do what I did...

Take one 1986 Skyhawk Turbo T, add some 50 series tires and nice wheels (no 20s or anything like that), bolt on a Holset HX25 turbo and a big IC and a 2.5" exhaust through a race magnum. Not loud, not ricey, but hey! Mid 14s at 10psi on street tires anyone?

Jason

 

Nothing beats American MUSCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

True.

Steve

 

Well here's the thing...I live in a major city. There are 'car clubs' around, and I'm sure some of them are actually populated by car guys, but when i see one of these club cars, with a sticker that covers the entire top half of the windsheild (no joke) or the whole rear window (again, no joke), it tends to stand out, and I notice what the car is and how the driver drives it. This doesn't mean only some members of some local clubs drive these cars, but they stand out more.

1) these clubs tend to really flaunt their membership. It's so in-yer-face it's a bit sickening
2) they tend to drive like jerks
3) when and if I (rarely) talk to these guys, they talk about mods, which tend to includ subwoofers and amps. I've got those things, too- in my living room. I consider a "mod" to be a larger throttle body, not a bit of stereo equipment.
4) when they talk about their "mods", they tend to include the cost of stereo equipment...ok, 15K in mods, but 10 of it's in the stereo and 5 of it's in the rims and tires! Which means you've got a stock car with an aftermarket radio and expensive wheels, to me. I say, "I spent over 5K on my engine" and they reply with, yeah, I got that in my stereo.
5) When I reply that I have mild "mods" which include higher compression pistons, 12 bolt positraction, and a street/strip distributor, they tend to look at me like I'm speakin' French. They reply with, "you gotta get bigger wheels!". No, no I don't. I need better heads and a new cam.
6) i go to auto parts stores, and I can clearly remember aisles devoted to performance parts...manifolds, tachs, distributors, cams....and now these aisles are replaced by, and I'm not kidding, aisles with names like "appearance performance" and "visual performance"
7) I've worked with carbon fiber for years...it doesn't belong on gearshift handles, steering wheels, or, for the luva GOD on an instrument panel- that stuff's conductive!!
8) when I pass a mid '90s hatchback on the road, I don't give one dead rat butt...but when they pull up next to me, they want to race. Sometimes if the guy seems to be on a goof, I'll floor it for a second, but usually, everyone seems to want to race, like we're on some grudge match showdown at high noon. Hey buddy! There IS NO you and me! We have no history!
9) Those exhaust tips...for Gosh sakes, what's with the exhaust tips?!?! I know a guy with a Stealth TT who needs an exhaust and is reluctant to get it done because he's worried the sound from his real performance exhaust will sound too much like these awful coffee cans...and I really can't blame him. It seems like these exhaust tips try to sound like a big V8, if you ask me...I've never heard a muscle car with a tinny exhaust, that tries to replicate an I-4's sound.
10) the guys that have real performance oriented imports find these things I've listed above just as sickening, more often than not.


I know that the car culture today revolves around the cars readily
available today, but I can't see how stickers of a little boy peeing on another brand's logo helps performance.

 

I don't get why they put that kind of stuff on their cars. It actually hurts performance. The body kits and wings add weight to the car and those mufflers reduce horsepower by about 20. If I was ever going to have a ricer I would put a turbo on it from Precision and not waste money on wings or body kits. When did looks become more important than performance. Lee Shephard must be spinning in his grave. The Buick GSCA modo is "Going Fast With Class" and I feel that we do that. But these clowns are going slow with class, well not much class either considering the way they are around other people cars. They talk about how their cars make more noise than any car around but that noise really sounds like someone farting in a jar. I was reading a magazine about the ways of the ricer owners and how they do things. There were points like Us: Installing a full cage after breaking into the 10's. Them: Installing a cage for more places to mount gauges. Us: Keeping a low profile and letting e.t.'s tell the story. Them: Hoping the body kit will disract anyone from discussing e.t.'s. Also has anyone seen the items they have to make horsepower. They spend 4000 dollars on a supercharger that makes 75 horsepower. A 6-71 makes 300 horsepower and its 2500 dollars. I just hope these import owners get smarter someday.

Steve

 

Re: Re: Rice rockets and gas guzzlers.

Well, as owning a 66 Skylark and 77 Trans AM plus a 95 Sonoma.

I feel as if I have respect for each class. My truck is I guess what you can call mildly euroed out. It is lowered 3", Has 17 " CenterLine Rims, a 40 series Flowmaster Exhaust (Cat cut out), and a performance clutch in it. I have the club sticker on my windshield, with other grafics. I have a 262 V-6 in it that is hopefully going to be rebuilt to suit twin turbos. (Had wing on bed cover but took it off)(You can see my truck with wing at link in my signiture)

Plus what is better than vibrating the car next, in front, and behind me with my subwoofer set up. It is so much fun to see the other people roll up there windows thinking they can escape the vibration.

Anyway lets get to the point. This is the technology of today, and it is just kids being kids. I should know, I'm 20. I'm sure when you were kids the adults hated the things that you did to your cars. It is call growing up in different eras. Luckly for me I also grew up around muscle cars, and that is what comes first to me. But my truck is also very fun to drive. Plus it is what the girls like. Awwwww...yes the girls.

 

oh, yeah...almost forgot.

If they want to go slow then let them and quit complaining. Who gives a rats butt, let them think they are fast, let me think my truck is fast. I would rather think that my truck is slow. Then I will not get any more speeding tickets. (Have 3 already)(Plus 3 warnings for noise pollution):grin:

 

So annoying other people is cool?

This is what I don't get. Why is blasting someone out with your stereo fun? I've tried really hard to think if I or my friends did anything like this when we were 20 but I honestly can't remember anything. Our goal was to have fast cars. Sure, there were those with the airshocks and glasspacs but we all thought these guys to be idiots. Their cars were loud and tacky and slow. Much like the imports of today. Yeh, we street raced but the trick to having a good street racing scene was to not attract the attention of the police or the community. We also tried to be as safe as possible. Out of the way places and eighth mile runs were the rule. Nobody wanted to get hurt and we certainly didn't want to hurt someone else. We also didn't want to get caught.

Don't get me wrong, by 20 I was into punk rock and yeh, I stood out but I wasn't bothering anyone else and I didn't go around blasting "the damned" for three city blocks. It was my thing and I didn't fell the need to force it on others. Like I've said before, I understand why people have these cars today and that's fine for them but why the need to annoy those around you with it?o No: The cars don't bother me so much as the additudes of so many of their owners who seem to think their fart pipes, stereos, and poor driving habits make them cool because it bothers other people. What? Do they think they're some kind of modern day rebel biker gang or something? Give me a break ou:

 

Why?

msc66 said:

:grin:

 

Re: So annoying other people is cool?

This is what I call the "I'm the most important person in the world syndrome". They are showing you, themselves, and anyone who's looking that "they own you" and are better than you are in some way. Appearance is King and as long as they make their statement loud enough and rudely enough, they are the "winners". This is directly proportionate to the attitude that says, "it's not my problem". As they would say, Nuff said.