I've found the most awful car blog ever
#13
I see what you're saying. Ricers have never been interesting to me, and I've always laughed at them. They're mostly slow and hilarious, but at least kids outgrow them and then move on most of the time. I actually have a special knack for finding local ricers for sale on CL and posting about them here. There have been intensely giggle-icious crapboxes with bodykits, and I think I've covered quite a few of them.
Being young and (now) an owner of a big fat American car (the other car that my dad and I share for driving around the city is Corolla), I have a problem with what I believe the mindset is behind the people behind the wheels of these cars. They think because they put a fart can on the muffler and a K&N filter under the hood they rule the road and that because you haven't bolted useless parts to your car you know absolutely nothing about driving. These are also the same types who think that V-Tec=Turbo and that Corollas are born from the magical hands of TRD component engineers. Just more stupidity passing as exclusive information that I have to deal with.
#14
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From: Indianapolis, IN
There'* a local performance shop here in Indianapolis that caters mostly to imports. They've got everything from actual turbos and aftermarket ignition management to air intake ducts that sharply go from one size to another for better acoustics. The owner of the shop has a Maserati Quattroporte with a few tweaks here and there, and his business partner has an early 90s Nissan Sentra with a turbocharged 2.0L 4-banger that runs high 11s or low 12s. Their cars are daily drivers.
I sometimes go to the two or so weekly parking lot get-togethers of the local car club, and I see tons of ridiculous cars. Mostly, there'* a sharp contrast between people who actually know what they're doing and people who don't know anything. There'* a late 80s 2-door Civic hatchback that'* turbocharged and runs in the 10s. It'* a daily driver with actually a pretty complete interior and various creature comforts within reason. Also, there are a few Ferd Focus cars that absolutely suck and just have loads of speakers for blasting some very loud Dave Matthews Band music.
For the most part, you shouldn't assume that all ricers only have an intake and a fart can. There are almost as many ricers that will beat your car as there are ricers that you can mow down. One good rule of thumb is that more than one color on one car means you're going to win the race unless the owner of the other car is mentally distraught in some way.
If only they weren't so tiny and farty, I think most people wouldn't feel so turned off by ricers. I definitely have a hard time relating to the style that drives such paint jobs and exhaust tones.
I sometimes go to the two or so weekly parking lot get-togethers of the local car club, and I see tons of ridiculous cars. Mostly, there'* a sharp contrast between people who actually know what they're doing and people who don't know anything. There'* a late 80s 2-door Civic hatchback that'* turbocharged and runs in the 10s. It'* a daily driver with actually a pretty complete interior and various creature comforts within reason. Also, there are a few Ferd Focus cars that absolutely suck and just have loads of speakers for blasting some very loud Dave Matthews Band music.
For the most part, you shouldn't assume that all ricers only have an intake and a fart can. There are almost as many ricers that will beat your car as there are ricers that you can mow down. One good rule of thumb is that more than one color on one car means you're going to win the race unless the owner of the other car is mentally distraught in some way.
If only they weren't so tiny and farty, I think most people wouldn't feel so turned off by ricers. I definitely have a hard time relating to the style that drives such paint jobs and exhaust tones.
#16
My complaining seems to have eclipsed that I know that there are people who know what they are doing. And yes, I agree with your observations about color consistency on panels, but I will have to say that there are many people who might have mental distress in my parts, as most ricers have doors and fenders that are of different colors than the rest of the vehicle. I wouldn't be so condescending to the culture if so many ***** in honda civics with loud exhausts pulled up to me and my all stock 18 year old corolla (yes, stock in the sense that it occasionally breaks down because parts are rotting because they were in there since they were put in by factory workers) and I have beaten them off of green lights) I can't help but laughing at the amount of times thats happened. Not to say I haven't seen some whacked out Impalas (I need to take pics of the one I saw yesterday, if I see it again), or the myriad of 90'* Lesabres with painted brakes (yes, including the rear drum brakes) and expensive rims (I guess thats leading into donk territory)...
#17
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From: Indianapolis, IN
Do it! Do it now!
Good stuff so far. I was pretty sure you didn't want to drop entirely the possibility of an educated ricer, but I had to check. And I actually forgot momentarily about all those nasty-looking American cars with huge wheels and ridiculous paint jobs.
My complaining seems to have eclipsed that I know that there are people who know what they are doing. And yes, I agree with your observations about color consistency on panels, but I will have to say that there are many people who might have mental distress in my parts, as most ricers have doors and fenders that are of different colors than the rest of the vehicle. I wouldn't be so condescending to the culture if so many ***** in honda civics with loud exhausts pulled up to me and my all stock 18 year old corolla (yes, stock in the sense that it occasionally breaks down because parts are rotting because they were in there since they were put in by factory workers) and I have beaten them off of green lights) I can't help but laughing at the amount of times thats happened. Not to say I haven't seen some whacked out Impalas (I need to take pics of the one I saw yesterday, if I see it again), or the myriad of 90'* Lesabres with painted brakes (yes, including the rear drum brakes) and expensive rims (I guess thats leading into donk territory)...
#18
Yes, the most recent trend in the American Car desecration culture is sticking Impala SS badges on 1990'* Chevy Caprices and putting gross wheels on them. I feel so bad for those poor vehicle'* transmissions. This is about as bad as those people who put M3 badges on BMW 318'*.
#19
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From: Indianapolis, IN
I was just about to go to rideyourpimp.com to get more content and make fun of it, but then I realized I'm in a computer lab on a college campus. I wouldn't want a classmate to catch me looking at ricers and think I'm serious. That site is dangerous!