Rice burners

[cobrapower]

I want to know what the fascination with civics is? What sense of logic is there in buying a 15,000-20,000 dollar civic, dropping upwards of 30-40k into it, and adding an expensive body kit to turn it into a sportscar? Personally, if i had that kind of money, i could do just as well, without nitrous, in a nice american sportscar. Even a german car! Give me a break, i dont see the logic in all that.

[Kossy]

Well its great because you put all that money in, and it depreciates the value of the car, so come time to settle it, because you have fiddled with the carefully calculated manufacturer settings, more likely than not uglyfied it and more likely than not drove it very hard you actually lose money!

I dont see what you are complaining about.

[GTS25t]

I think it is a phenomenon localised in Northern America. Here in Aus. ppl do tart up their Civics and other hot hatches but very few will commit to the levels you are discussing there. Thanks to the local obsession with V8s and the healthy grey-import of Japanese performance cars, we don't seem to have the "civic/honda plague" that many Americans report of.

I too do not understand the fascination some ppl have with tarting up front-drive hatch-backs. Some of them are decent, especially the ones that have money spent on lsds, uprated braking and proper suspension work, but most just fit a crappy exhaust system and spend the rest of the money on a body kit, paint job, decals, gauges and lights.

I guess to these ppl, their car is a reflection of their image. They want everyone to think they are the real-deal but under the superficial top layers they got nothing.

[cobrapower]

Well its great because you put all that money in, and it depreciates the value of the car, so come time to settle it, because you have fiddled with the carefully calculated manufacturer settings, more likely than not uglyfied it and more likely than not drove it very hard you actually lose money!

That was the most confusing post ive read. You see nothing wrong with "uglifying" a car, and wasting money so you can sell the car for even less than its worth. Ill stick to my big V-8s thank you very much. At least those cars have a true soul, not some shaky facade and garbagey crap underneath. All throttle no bottle baby!

[NISMO SR20VETT]

Because theres like no respecatble american cars. Its not just civics people will mod. I personaly like Nissans. American cars are pretty much oversized, overrated, and pos cars that only somone with the IQ of a texan would like. European cars are the best but the jdm definetly comes second. Anyone can take a 8 liter engine put it in a rwd car with big tires and have a car the does good 1/4 mile times. But when you do the same with 2 litres or around that, then the car should be respected. Im not saying i support these jackasses that drop no2 into civics and get aesthetic changes, im just saying you american only guys should give credit were credit is due. Cause you guys have your posers too.

[Egg Nog]

Well sure you can argue about technology, but there's still loads of import tuners who care a lot about pure engine power. So, what better way to do it than a naturally aspirated V8? I don't consider myself biased - I love European, Japanese, and American cars - but I must one thing: As long as you get the power that you want, who cares how you get it? It just tends to be cheaper if you go the route of transplanting a bigger engine.

What really pisses me off is when people of with huge prejudices go shooting their mouths off about other countries' cars and engines being "inferior". I'm sick of hearing "Japanese engines are no good because they're too small" or the commonly heard "V8s are inferior because they just are". What a load of bull Every engine is designed to suit the car that it's built for. A dragster V8 is made for (take a wild guess) raw power and enough torque to counter-rotate a small planet. 2 litre Japanese economy car engines are made for just that - economy - and if you ask me, they do it better than any other manufacturers. It's hard to beat the efficiency and reliability of these little technological engines.

But anyway, you get my point. People who want to modify their car to have raw, sporty power can take whatever route they want. The cheapest, most gainful route, however, would be a massive engine

Each to his own.

[Kossy]

Originally posted by cobrapower
That was the most confusing post ive read. You see nothing wrong with "uglifying" a car, and wasting money so you can sell the car for even less than its worth. Ill stick to my big V-8s thank you very much. At least those cars have a true soul, not some shaky facade and garbagey crap underneath. All throttle no bottle baby!

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sarcasm

[cobrapower]

. European cars are the best but the jdm definetly comes second. Anyone can take a 8 liter engine put it in a rwd car with big tires and have a car the does good 1/4 mile times. But when you do the same with 2 litres or around that, then the car should be respected.

First of all let me point out that i did not say that i dont respect someone that can take a car with a 2 liter disp. and make it go fast, i have a lot of respect for them, my point is that if you buy a car you should have a purpose behind it. On top of all this what are you smoking when you say that the U. S. has no good cars? Need i start naming cars for you, i..e. the Cobra, Viper, Corvette,and GT40(which broke the domiation of the ferraris at Le Mans). Not to mention the current GTS series domination by Saleen, and the C-5 corvette. I may have my bias toward american cars, but dont simply dismiss them as something that someone with an IQ of a "texan" would buy. Cause guess what, id buy these cars, and i would bet that i have at least 30 IQ points on you, and that is being generous. I never said i disliked Euro cars either, personally some of my favorites are European, namely the Lotus 340R. Lets try evaluating the facts before dismissing powerful racing vehicles please!

O and by the way, im sorry Kossy, i was a little tired when i read that post. I see what you are talking about.

[Nash]

FYI, nobody with a civic puts $30,000 into their car, and if they did, you wouldn't be calling them rice.

What is it with stuck up, narrow-minded American car fans bitching about the way people(mostly kids) like to modifiy THEIR cars with THEIR money, and THEIR tastes?

When you can't afford a $20,000 Camaro SS, you buy a $7,000 Civic. Most civic drivers go for looks, not speed.

I understand why some people might be mad, because a lot of these kids shoot off their mouths. But the truth is, you have a lot more American fans shooting off their mouths, then import fans. The Americans don't like the fact that the Import scene is huge, and attracts much more attention from the teens.

[kennyknoxville]

Originally posted by cobrapower
I want to know what the fascination with civics is? What sense of logic is there in buying a 15,000-20,000 dollar civic, dropping upwards of 30-40k into it, and adding an expensive body kit to turn it into a sportscar? Personally, if i had that kind of money, i could do just as well, without nitrous, in a nice american sportscar. Even a german car! Give me a break, i dont see the logic in all that.

youre numbers are all wrong. unless some kids parents are buying them the car, usually tuners will go for a dirt cheap older civic. by the time the kids put in the amount of money he could have used to buy a mustang svt from the factory, hes got a car thats fully customized on the outside and under the hood, and possibly show worthy. a lot of ricers do the modifications on their own which is rewarding by itself. plus, money is a possible factor. not everyone can finance for a 30,000$ car, but with a used (reliable) import, you get to the next mod when you can. theres also a huge fanbase for imports, which means theres a lot of support for people who have questions. personally, i dont get the ricer fascination either; actually i should say that i dont take part in the scene. but this post is me using my ability to empathize and make subjective observations. if youve got curmudgiony, closed-minded misconceptions you just cant keep to yourself, at least get your facts straight lest you dont come off as some joyless chevrolet fanboy.

[NISMO SR20VETT]

Originally posted by cobrapower
Need i start naming cars for you, i..e. the Cobra, Viper, Corvette,and GT40(which broke the domiation of the ferraris at Le Mans). Not to mention the current GTS series domination by Saleen, and the C-5 corvette. I

Like I said before anyone can take a huge engine and put it in rwd car. But when the car is getting like 60 hp per liter, i don't care about it. As far as i care its only 10 hp more a liter then a mustang. The corvette and the cobra are nice cars. But the mustang cobra had a solid rear axle up to at least this year (i don't know if they fixed it this year). And the old cobra is well, old. The corvette Z06 is a respectable american car because it is not marketed the same as the classless viper or not as expensive as a saleen or gt40. American cars a just all around behind. Behind it technology (still using pushrods?! the hell is wrong with you people?) Cams were inveted how long ago by duesenberg? Even if the viper is faster, i would take a NSX or even an s2000. And youve got 30 iq over me? Then why do you like american cars? If youre such a high genius you should be able to understand 8 liters is way to big and deserves not respect.

[Egg Nog]

Originally posted by NISMO SR20VETT
And youve got 30 iq over me? Then why do you like american cars? If youre such a high genius you should be able to understand 8 liters is way to big and deserves not respect.

Christ! Did anybody read my post? This is exactly the type of blatant ignorance that I was referring to! He's obviously got a higher IQ than you, as he can see through biases and isn't closed-minded about the automotive world. Your arguments are full of holes. Now, go read my last post!

Here's a question: What's a good reason not to like American cars? So what if they use large pushrod V8s? How is 8 litres by any means "too big"? I don't even see how a lack of an overhead camshaft is inferior... if you look at the engines, despite be "technologically behind", they still get similar milage compared to "high tech" Japanese V8s, equal power, and more torque. So what's the big deal? If they accomplish the same thing (or more, for that matter), what difference does it make how they get there?

Without a limit on displacement (a la Formula 1 - 3500cc) then the whole deal about hp/l is completely irrelevent.

So, before you call me closed-minded and an idiot just because I respect large displacement engines, go read my last post.

CobraPower... You're welcome

[kennyknoxville]

Originally posted by Egg Nog
You're welcome

for what?

[cobrapower]

And Egg Nog just furthers my point, if American cars are so poorly built and out of date, then why do they do so well against the japanese imports? If it takes technology to make an import race on par with an american car, then why waste the money on upgrading, when you can just as easily get what you want on a car that is still stock. If you want to spend the money on those little cars, then go ahead. I was just wondering what sense of logic was behind putting all that money in to get the same results as an american car.

[Egg Nog]

Originally posted by kennyknoxville
for what?

Sorry, I shouldn't have included you when I said that... I was really just backing up CobraPower. I just deleted your name from that sentence...