Polluted by Flamers

[cccivic]

You know what I hate about this sub-culture? It's the fact that it's polluted with so many flamers. I've been a big fan of import tuning for close to ten years now. I can remember when it was “underground”. Now that Hollywood has made it a fad, this is what I've noticed.

There are four categories of tuners.

First ,are the obsessively rich kind that spend ungodly amounts of money tuning their cars, because to them, it's all about being on top nomatter what.

Second: These are the ones that rag on anyone that's not up to their “par”. You know, the ones whose parents just paid of their car for them while they spent their paychecks on tuning. The ones that think that anything less than two cams is a POS. One word: rotary.

Third, are the real hobbyists. These are the one's that do it with a passion no matter what their income level; the ones that do it within their means; that are always willing to help and advise others.

And last, are the ones that will bolt an aluminum wing and a 4 four inch exhaust tip onto anything with wheels. I won't elaborate on this. You know who you are.

I don't want anyone to read this the wrong way. It's not about rotaries vs. cylinders. Hell, it's not even about cars.

It's about respect. It's about the foundation of this whole industry; the fact that one with limited means could take a decent car and improve it's performance while maintaining its reliability. I'm currently tuning my D series. By some standards, I'm lacking a cam. Ask me if I give a sh*t.

It's not about having a ricer racer. So when you happen to see my altezza's glowing brightly at a stop light, don't rev up on me and assume I'm going to race you. I'm not a street racer and neither is my car. I enjoy my driving privleges and I have no interest in killing innocent people.

To me, it's not about beating anyone's B series or rotary. It's about working with what I have and adding what I can afford to have a car that looks and performs better than what it did the day it rolled off the lot, and most importantly, the pure enjoyment and satisfaction of doing it.

My biggest competitor is me. Which category do you belong to?

[Loud n Low]

good post.. and there is NOTHING wrong with the D series.. even better when you race a b series and beat it (track).

[ChaosJT]

cccivic, dude what you posted is how I feel completely. I would say I fit in the category of hobbyist. I love the hobby, but being married and having bills doesn't exactly give me the funds I need to have to do everything I want to my car. So I save, then upgrade, then I save some more, then I upgrade again.

[Ricochet]

If you work with what you have to make your car look and perform better, why did you jump on the altezza bandwagon and expect to not get revved on by other people?

I place you in the catagory of being a ricer, but not thinking you are one. Me, I think one clean mod done correctly is better than 5 ricer mods i.e. altezzas/neons/muffler tip/etc.. There's nothing wrong with having a D-series engine unless you start slapping this kind of crap on your car instead of working to make the thing faster. For the ~$200 you spent on the lights you could have bought/installed a lightweight crank pulley for about 7-10 hp. That's more respectable imo.

[mycivic]

Where should I belong? Ricer?

I love cars...I would love to race (but not on the streets). I just dont have the time to do it because of work and bills to pay too. I want to mod my car...but in the near future when money isnt tight. And last but not the least...my car is BONE STOCK.

Does that put me in the RICER category?

[Ricochet]

No way man. Zero mods are better than ricer mods.

[mycivic]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

No way man. Zero mods are better than ricer mods.

Well thats good to know.

Only thing I bought for my car were floor mats from "Pep Boys".

[NOBU-SAN]

But I'm on lunch and have some time to waste, so I'll play along.

IMO, Ricers are people that add bullshit "mods" to a car to make it look fast, but don't actually do anything for performance. Gay? Definitely.
Ricco's right, no mods are better than rice mods. They're worse than useless, they're misleading.

As for the other types of people, of course there are far more than four as you've seen since the first post.

D-series engines rock. Fuck what you heard. Tell the ricer-GTR Si-I look faster than a Ferrari is- type of bamas that they should take their b-series bolt ons, and go race a GT Stang. They ain't really fast, but they got one cam, and run 14 flat with an AT. Two words for those folk, "Holler back".

NOBU

[cccivic]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

If you work with what you have to make your car look and perform better, why did you jump on the altezza bandwagon and expect to not get revved on by other people?

I place you in the catagory of being a ricer, but not thinking you are one. Me, I think one clean mod done correctly is better than 5 ricer mods i.e. altezzas/neons/muffler tip/etc.. There's nothing wrong with having a D-series engine unless you start slapping this kind of crap on your car instead of working to make the thing faster. For the ~$200 you spent on the lights you could have bought/installed a lightweight crank pulley for about 7-10 hp. That's more respectable imo.

Actually I have a CAI installed and a cat-back exhaust, and just added the 17" wheels today. I'll be adding headers and a a hi-flo cat this week. My goal is to make my engine more efficient, thus regaining it's full "stock" potential, i.e. fuel efficiency, faster, etc., so I think I'm on the right track. I got the altezzas to replace the crappy looking stock taillights. So try not to read between the lines. Obviously, I failed to read the fine print that read "reserved for street racers only".

I don't do neons and I don't do screw-on exhaust tips. I also don't do bandwagons either, but unfortunately, when you do something that's already the trend, you're automatically on a bandwagon in other peoples eyes. And by that rationale, we're all on someone else's bandwagon, because I'm pretty certain none of us here "invented" any trends. That however, goes with the territory, nomatter what you're into. Maybe I can bring back Chuck Taylors or something.

The lightweight crank pulley sounds great. I'll put it on my list. With my current mods, my "grocery-getter" is already driving noticebly better, and my 17" wheels have been such an improvement on the ride quality (and they look great - shame on me). Now I get to the grocery store a little faster. For that 1.5 miles to and from work, my car is much more fun to drive. Mission pretty much accomplished. The flamers can think what they want.

[GScivic7]

so you have altezzas and will be buying headerS for your car. IMO stockers>altezzas and getting the 17" rims probably just canceled out, if not negatively effected the CAI and exhaust mods that you just did. It'll make the car handle better, having bigger wheels and a wider tire, but you're car is probably just as fast as it was in complete stock form now. BTW: smaller tire sidewalls reduce ride quality and usually the aggressive tread patterns associated with performance tires give more road noise. You may think you're getting to the store faster, but you're not really. The butt dyno means nothing.

BTW: how is #1 and #3 any different? Just because someone has more money to spend on their car than you makes them not a real enthusiast? I know plenty of people who make bank and drop every dime into their car and they are some of the coolest people in the world. Not only that, I end up learning more from them because they can afford the mods that the rest of us can't and I end up learning about them.

[MexSiR]

Hahahah...I wouldnt belong to any of those categories. I would like a car that looks fast, for example dropped, nice 17s or 18 inch rims, a nice wing, some lips, some underglows without being able too see the tube. But under the hood having it be a beast. I street race very oftenly and risk my life, I have a car that looks kinda fast and is kinda fast (not so much). Having a pimp looking car that is fast is the best IMO.

Everyone should do anything with their car. Altezzas aluminium wings vinyls (which i dont like) are all acceptable in my eyes, im not a hater. You are being called a ricer? but you like your car...who cares, you bought it and worked for you mods so who cars. No matter if really stupid people say its GAY.

[gunnmen01]

i eventually want to build another car that will fit in groups 3 and 4.... kinda ricey to fool peeps.... and ungodly fast to destroy them all.......


gunnmen01

[littlen21]

i agree with mexsir if you do mods to ur car that look good u should just like it and not be worried about what others think of it. any body could prolly critize one persons car just becasue of one thing that isn't totally race or a little rice.

[cccivic]

Originally Posted by littlen21

i agree with mexsir if you do mods to ur car that look good u should just like it and not be worried about what others think of it. any body could prolly critize one persons car just becasue of one thing that isn't totally race or a little rice.

You're right; I do agree. I do like my car. I like what it is and where I'm going with it. As with anything, everything is to be criticized. It's only natural. Hollywood has a way of fooking up things for everyone, and all of a sudden, it becomes a standard. I don't really care what anyone else thinks because I'm not here for blessings and consent; I just wanted to share and opinion.

But based on the other feedbacks, this is what I have gathered; unless your car makes the cover of Import Tuner, EVERYONE is a ricer.

[GScivic7]

Originally Posted by cccivic

But based on the other feedbacks, this is what I have gathered; unless your car makes the cover of Import Tuner, EVERYONE is a ricer.

you are really ignorant aren't you. Most of us hate the glitzy cars on the covers of magazines because they have gaudy ass paint jobs, the altezza taillights, the rims that are too big for the car