Automobile Enthusiasm: What's it mean to you?

[firelizard]

This stuff.. it made sense, and I don't think a soul here would disagree.

I know I don't. I agree completely that being an enthusiast is about appreciating all aspects, not just looking to get acceptance, or impress people. Impressing peopleis fun though, when it's because of something you did, not something you copied, or something someone else told you would make you cool.

I'm pretty sure not just gay people are elitists though.

This stuff? You make it obvious that you miss the point entirely. No one ever said the cost of wheels was important in any way.
It's the fact that you support the replica industry that we don't like.

There are people who think that whoever spends the most wins, no matter how tasteless. Whether they buy real or fake, the money based attitude is the worst problem.

[M.Burroughs]

I fully understand not supporting the "replica" market... But then that brings up the same argument in a different context, for example;

A 69 Camaro.

If you had $40k to spend today, you could literally build a BRAND NEW 69 camaro "replica" piece by piece with "replica" shit.

Hell I cant say shit. I have a set of Rays wheels in my garage, and with the exception of my civic, every turbo part I have ever bought as been name brand shit.

As much as everyone hates it, these "replica" markets are a LARGE part of the aftermarket. For example, the domestic version of Rota...The Bullit/03 cobra/Saleen/Cobra R/ZR1/SS/Z06 wheels that are made in different offsets, and different finishes...

Okay, you're stating these things, but what is the point you are making?

[Vegas13]

For me, being an auto enthusiast is being able to appreciate the time, money, effort, and thought people put into their rides whether the vehicle is my cup of tea or not..

this pretty much sums it up entirely for me.and the joy of sharing what you created. whether people like it or not


i didnt think this thread would turn into a real vs fake thread

[LronSigh]

I think the point of this thread was to stop bashing the shit out of new members, in an attempt to keep this community positive, and in turn, create a desirable forum to join and take part in.

I'm part of a local car club forum in my hometown, yet, I rarely post, and rarely go to meets. Here's the reason: if you don't think like them, or follow and agree with their trend, then you're bashed to high heaven. The majority of the members there are followers of the high post-count, seasoned members, and jump on whatever band wagon is riding through the thread in order to maintain their position in the clique. It is a clique, and if you disagree or have a different point of view, you're outcast, and in turn, the community dies. All that forum is now, is an e-hangout for that tight-knit group of people. No new members, few new posts, and it's in ruin.

[andybob]

Just read through the 5 pages and this thread is pretty intense. Here is what Auto Enthusiasm is to me:

I grew up always interested in cars. As a kid, I was in the garage with my dad learning about cars because there was nothing else to do. I would get Lego's as a kid and use the pieces to build cars instead of what was on the box.

About 2 and a half years ago, my dad was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. Luckily, it was in its earliest stages and was easily overcomes with radiation and chemo, but I learned a lot from the old man at this time. He no longer was conservative after this. If there was something he wanted to do, he did it, because you never know when you will get another chance. I took this to heart and decided to apply it to what I wanted to do with my life.

A semester later in school, I dropped out and moved back home to go to a Auto school. I came to the realization that I'll never have the nicest house or some of the nicest things, but I knew I would enjoy what I did day in and day out. Working on cars.

I'm now just about done with school, and I will have a degree in Auto Body. Along the way, I have become friends with a close group of kids that I think are all car enthusiasts. Myself and another friend are big into slammed cars, I have another friend that is into Jeeps, one into VW's, and one into Neon's (not sure why, be he loves the fucking things), but in the end, we all have something in common:

Taking whatever it is we have and making it our own.

Its about making sacrifices so we can buy car parts instead of other things we may need/want. Its about being in the garage all weekend long fixing, fabricating, and doing whatever else. An enthusiast to me is taking what you have, and making it your own piece of work.

I'm not a supporter of fake/counterfeit parts though. When I bought the first set of wheels for my car, I was uneducated on wheels, and now own a set of wheels I regret buying. That's besides the point though, I thought it should be said however because of this ongoing argument.

One more thing I think I'd like to say that makes me even more of an enthusiast, I am not 100% brand loyal. I've grown up liking Ford's, but I'm not going to dis a nice Chevy just because it's a Chevy. Take for example, I drive a Kia. Yes, a fucking Kia. I get a shit ton of slack for this, but I enjoy it because I have made it my own. Yes its not complete yet, but when you dis someone else's car because of who manufactured it, your not a true enthusiast in my mind.

I think I have rambled on enough, and I probably won't make a lot of sense to some people, but the TL;DR version is an enthusiast to me is someone who takes something and makes it their own, no matter what the hell it is.

[Lt. Dangle]

Okay, you're stating these things, but what is the point you are making?

Okay, taking a look at that again, that was really just useless banter in that second post, forgive me, I was ripped.

Now for the redemption, and explanation.

I am on the fence with knock off/fake parts. Just to make that clear. I believe that within a certain context, knockoff parts are fully acceptable, and in another they are absolutely ridiculous. I feel that products such as Rota's, XSpower, etc are BLATANT, lower quality RIPOFF'S of legit quality parts. Fuck that...to an extent.

Okay for example;
(Hypothetically)Some fucking baller goes out and gets a Lexus IS-F, drops it on some jank ass coilover sleeve shit from ebay, and throws a set of Rota grids on it, in the correct offset, the car looks GREAT, and gets compliments everywhere. FAGGOT. Why, you may ask?

Because with a car of that caliber, you should strive to have parts of the utmost fucking quality on your shit, of course.

Another example;
(Not condoning or bashing this) Some 16 year aspires to drift and daily drive an s13 hatch, and is on a tight budget. He goes out and buys some dece tension rods, whiteline sways, throws a set of emusa coilovers on his shit, and a set of crazy offset P45R Rotas, rolls the fenders with a baseball bat, welds the diff, and zipties up the front bumper. Well that shit is trendy and gay in my opinion, but I think he mad the correct choice. Why, you may ask?

Because this is a fucking daily driver that a 16 year old is going to beat the balls off of, and go try and drift on the weekend or whenever he gets the chance. Does he have the budget to buy real Nismo LM GT4's? Fuck no. Would it be wise for he (or even you) go out and risk chunking one of those REAL wheels on a curb, or some shit? Hell fucking no.

I feel that in no way, shape, or form should these knock off parts EVER try to be passed off for the real shit, and when I do catch people doing this shit, it irks the fuck out of me, and I let them know. Same way I feel about duckbills (EG), Honda front lips, 180sx aero kits, etc, etc...

I personally had a couple cars a few years ago, that were polar opposites of each other (one of which I still own);

Civic hatchback, it was my "stracecar" I threw it together with ducktape and bubblegum, and went and had fun with it. The LS motor had 254k when I dropped it in, and the trans had 180k. Turbo kit consisted of a blox manifold, ebay turbo, ebay I/c, turbonetics wg, ebay bov, ebay piping, dsm450's, etc. I had $800 in the WHOLE CAR. There were 3 5 gallon buckets of bondo slathered about the body. I threw a fake lip, fake duckbill, and some cheapo ebay coilovers on it. Big deal it was a piece of shit and deserved nothing better than junk parts. It was open dp, gutted, smelled like shit, leaked fluids, and was an absolute blast. Hot pink del sol fat 5's sprayed without cleaning the wheels, just for shits and giggles. It was purpose built to be a fast steaming pile of shit, and ended up trapping 108mph on 8psi.

On the other hand;

I have a 97 Probe GTS, that has a shaved front bumper, shaved emblems, Molded corksport lip, and a $3000 Army green paintjob, cf hood, and is turbo'ed. Am I going to use some janky turbo shit on that car, of course not, it's a car of a different caliber. Tial 38mm, Precision SC61 (Now a gt3582r), Megasquirt engine management, DEFI gauges, Ksport coilovers, tubular rear control arms, Aeromotive fuel system, Solid AWR mounts, and a set of oldschool Rays sebring zeiger5 wheels. So basically fuck no, I'm not going to use faggot rota wheels, I'm going to use legit shit.

I mean really, who doesn't want to have a 99si with a fresh paint job, and a real airwalker or bys bumper, real jdm lighting, etc...

Or for a 240 guy, yeah you definitely want to have your REAL K's aero or Q's aero, or REAL s15 headlights in a conversion, of course.

I just feel that these knockoff parts IN THEORY, are alright, if you use them for the intended purpose, and dont try to pass them off, but with the impressionable youth, seeing an ad for rotas in super street, or finding xspower/godspeed on ebay, which lead them to believe that they can hack some shit together, and pass it off as the real thing, or legit parts.

It's a niche market, all the brokedicks, ricers, youngins, etc LOVE that shit, and I do see where you're coming from, however these kind of things are what separate the real enthusiasts from the faggots.

I feel that all these parts have their own setting. I can only hope that all these younger folks, can learn that.

I hope that helps explain my "stance" (yeah I did) on fake ass parts, a little clearer.

Oh, and back to the automotive culture.

The "new generation" (which to me, are the 16/17/18 yr olds) around me at least, are a bunch of fucking poopdicks. They hack shit together and think things are WAY nicer/faster than they really are. It's trying at times. These kids just think that the knowledge is going to fall in their lap, and they are going to have absolute rocketships built with shit parts. Well sonny boy...go fuck yourself.

To be honest, I'm kinda "new" to the stance thing (within the last 2-3 years), but I dig it, making shit fit and look dope. I was brought up with much heavier of a streetracing and dragstrip background, going racing basically every weekend. These kids now just want to invite their coolest friends down to a parking lot, and beat their dick off in front of all the riceboys that think that kids shit is ill. Then they want to get on the forums and act like they are the big dick daddy from cincinnati, well that's not the case. They need to come out and get schooled by the "og's", and maybe they would shut the fuck up and learn something.

Another thing I wanted to touch on, is brand loyalty (cars, like honda boys, nissan boys, etc). Whoever is "brand loyal" like that can go to the kitchen, grab a soup ladle and eat my fucking ass. These kids that think that k20's are the end all be all of performance, can choke on a cock. 20 years before the K's, Nissan had SR's and RB's. Toyota had the 3sgte, mazda had the rotary, while honda was shitting out b16's. Shibby.

It goes both ways too, whether it's a nissan kid ****** on hondas, toyota dude ****** on nissan, etc. People need to learn to appreciate shit for what the fuck it is. Domestic dudes are some of the worst too. Ls1's are badass, so are 4v terminators. Why the fuck argue, they both make power, and have tons of potential.

For example, probe guys fucking **** hondas...wonder what they thought of me, when I owned this an 01 GTS celica with bolt-ons, the shit turbo civic, the probe, and a notchback carbureted mustang with a cage and sticky tires all at once...I just get tired of hearing peoples wiener cleaners balbbering off how one certain motor is king shit of turd mountain, or how the eg hatch is the end all be-all of performance. Fuck you. I'm "eclectic" or diverse I guess, cause I can appreciate EVERYTHING. If you have a fucking fast Ford festiva, that has some dope wheels on it, fucking righteous. If you have some fucking bodykitted shaved handle, molded everything fiberglassed dash that has a paint job that resembles what a bag of m&m's and skittles having an orgy looks like, with 84 tv's in the motherfucker...cool. Lots of time, and work.


Whew. Now that i'm done with that rant, I'll go ahead and throw something out there. Diversify yourself motherfuckers. Instead of sticking to the info/media that you are spoon fed, go find something fucking cool. Go watch two lane black top and the hollywood knights, maybe american graffiti, or bullitt. Vanishing point or Shakotan boogie. Yeah, thats the shit that gets my blood pumping. Smell some nitromethane, and watch an old front engined rail dragster make a full pas. Sketchy as shit. That's what I think draws any car guy, even from a young age, the noise, the thrill, and excitement. And then you get into your first street race, or get a car sideways that first time...and you feel it...the edge, where you feel like you're about to lose control and everything is about to go to shit. That's what I'm in it for.

Racing on a 2 lane backroad with 2 torque steering street tire cars in 30 degree weather, getting so sketchy to the point you are literally shaking 10 minutes after you shut the car off. And you almost don't even want to get back in it, but you can't resist. Yeah, that's what the car "scene" should be about, but no we have faggots getting on forums, or at car meets coming up and ****** on your shit for no fucking reason, when they probably drive some mommy and daddy bought wiggermobile.


Anyways, yeah i'm a long winded loud mouth fuckface. And I'm out like a boner in sweatpants. I will contribute more nonsense jibberish banter at a later date. It's a celebration bishes.

[benz88]

Bravo. LOL

[benz88]

Okay, but Longchamp XR4Z were made by Speed Star Co.

If what you say it correct, then the XR4S would be newer than the XR4Z...weird...

WhiteStripes - I think the BeeRacings look better as well, for the same reasons.

ah speed star co. right. Then ssr took over and changed them or something, i forget.

[M.Burroughs]

Okay,


*snip*



bishes.

The primary thing you're missing is that the cheap wheels Mr. 240-Drifter rides on don't have to be reps. There are cheap non-replica wheels out there, simple as that. In no way does that justify the replica market.

The cheap wheel market? Sure. But I've been supporting that all day long.

[Lt. Dangle]

Holler Burroughs.

That's really what I'm kind of advocating I guess. Just rota comes to mind first for cheap aftermarket wheels, but yeah, mb motoring, and a few other companies out there make some dope shit, actually my dude has an S13 coupe/sil front, (my old SC61), on some mb battles with pulled/ rolled rears and overs in the front and they look ill.

I'm picking up what you're putting down, and do agree.

[M.Burroughs]

*thumbs up*

[NegativeCamber]

jesus, that whole post reeks of "youngin" with all the profanity and derogatory slang. learn to express yourself better.

[Lukey]

swearing at things makes them work

[Stephen]

Let me precursor this with a " i have never bought a set of reps in my life, nor do i like them." I think the real wheels are more satisfying, complete a car, and usually can be found for about any budget if you put a little love into them.

But, as a business(marketing) student, employee at a law firm, with a mom who is a corporate & copyright lawyer of numerous years, there are a few distinctions i feel should be made. This is, for better or for worse, just how capitlism works. Companies, like BBS, decide they want to offer "more for more", positioning themselves high in the market. As part of that, they accept from the get go, that there will be companies underneath it aiming to overcut them by a price advantage. However, as those companies are concerned with razor thin margins, they have little in R&D, where reps come in. "stolen property" if you will. Because of this, those companies do not progress and break new ground, using simplified, cheaper poorer, older technology to keep costs down. BBS and the like however, do innovate, and create, and expand, creating product differentiation (more for more) as the rep companies can not compete with quality, technology, etc. The design is stolen, but they are 2 distinctly different products for 2 distinct market segments.

The market BBS is aimed towards, more often then not, are not the people seeing how cheap they can get a set of rotas with federals mounted at the local tire shop. These people simply aren't worth the time and effort of BBS given their business model. This leaves an opening in the market, rep companies come in. It's just how it goes. They are more concerned with the rep from BMW who wants to order 300,000 sets of wheels for a production run, or Mr. silk shirt who needs custom spec brand new LMs for his cologne-stained yellow GT3.

In fact, catering to people like many of us on here probably are (would be) losses for BBS. So if one were to truly play devil's advocate, don't bother until you're Mr. Silk Shirt.

As far as intellectual property, a lot of what BBS does is beyond how cool the wheel looks, and how cool the wheel looks is the only thing that is really challenged by cheap imitations. Furthermore, a lot of the designs come in specs that aren't available anymore, or aren't the right size/pcd. Again, the company can make these, but decided against it, leaving a gap in the market. BBS easily could release a super low end brand of wheels that rehashes the old desings in a cheap casting process. But they don't, because thats not where they are positioned. Was ferrari up in arms when people slapped testarossa vents on their civics?

And, i promise you, BBS really doesn't care that you just bought a 300$ set of curbed up Rs's. They have already made that sale, and unless you're sending them back to BBS, that ship has sailed.






I don't mean to offend anyone, but these are points that seem left out in the many, many rep debates on here. Also its late, so if it doesnt make sense, i apologize

[hypercrush]

well said Stephen, im in agreement with alot of your points there