[John]

In the past several years, there has been more and more of a trend to hang all kinds of 'accessories' on economy cars like Honda Civics and other similar models, apparently with an eye to making them look like they can go fast. I'm talking about the low-profile tires, lowering kits, hang-glider-sized fins and fake performance badges you see on so many small foreign cars now. The modifications, especially the wheels - look like they are worth as much as the rest of the car. Is this a culture in and of itself? I see people of all races driving these things. Maybe I am wrong to differentiate them from regular low-riders, but it seems like a different sort of motif. Having just watched (and laughed my butt off) at The Fast and the Furious, I just wanted to post this question.

User Detail :  

Name : John, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 31, City : San Antonio, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Editor, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Daimon]

I welcome your question and know I can answer it. Take a 1992 Civic. It came with less than 106 hp in the DX model. Now, take that car, buy an engine from Japan for the Acura Integra and put it in. Bam, you have 170 hp at the flick of the foot. Call it the muscle car of the '90s. We grew up with Honda, Nissan and Toyota, and these are our muscle cars. We can express ourselves through our cars and at the same time enjoy ourselves by trying to have the nicest car of the bunch.

As for The Fast and the Furious, I was upset when I saw it because it was a cold misrepresentation of what the import lifestyle is. I guess Hollywood will do anything for money.

As for the big wings and fake badges, those are usually people who can't afford to get some real quality stuff, so they try to fake looking or being fast. In reality, a wing that looks like a parkbench will slow you down, but in an actual race (I mean real, on a track) like what they do overseas with these cars, it is a necessity to combat the high speeds.

User Detail :  

Name : Daimon, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : West indian/OK, I'm black, Religion : Christian, Age : 22, City : Silver Spring, State : MD Country : United States, Occupation : IT - Student, Social class : Middle class, 

[Matt-C21987]

This is pretty much its own subculture - or possibly several different subcultures that look similar. You've got one group that may have a few performance modifications and a lot of cosmetic work. This seems to me like it's mostly a fashion statement, kind of like the lowriders. In my opinion, The Fast and the Furious was meant to pander to this crowd. The movie had enough technical goofs that I sometimes laughed uncontrollably at scenes that were meant to be serious. Then you've got the serious racers who would do things like switch engines, put turbochargers on non-turbocharged cars, etc. Their cars may or may not have cosmetic enhancements - the wheels and tires are common, but not necessarily wings or loud graphics. They sometimes mingle with the fashion statement crowd, but some don't get along with those people very well. The various import subcultures have sometimes cross-pollinated with the lowrider crowd. The results could be something like a Sentra with tiny wire wheels, diamond velor upholstery and a huge wing and exhaust tip. There's even a group of various import and domestic owners that's kind of leading a backlash against the tackier of the fashion scene. These people have put up a fair number of websites like ricecop.com (where, acting as fashion police, they issue prank tickets to people for excessive exhaust tip diameter and the like) or riceboypage.com.

User Detail :  

Name : Matt-C21987, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Oxford, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rick29874]

With the demise of the muscle car, there is little that guys can do to actually modify the engines. The cosmetic changes you mention may be worth more than the car itself, but they are modifications that can be done piecemeal so as not to overwhelm the budget all at once.

User Detail :  

Name : Rick29874, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Max21862]

It seems that the big push toward modified imports is that it can be done cheaply, and the same effect can be acheived in the same manner as one would with a souped-up 1966 Ford Mustang. Think about it: imports typically get better gas mileage than the old V8's of yesteryear. Parts are widely available for imports at a cheap price. Imports are easy to modify. As for value down the road, I think the 'modified import' trend is simply that: a trend. Look at the movie The Fast And The Furious. It takes a look at a psuedo-sub culture that is growing. It's fun for the 16 - 30 age bracket; personally, I'd rather have the '66 Mustang.

User Detail :  

Name : Max21862, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 26, City : Nashville, State : TN Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, 

[Rick29905]

I see a lot of this in the San Francisco Bay Area. I thought it was an Asian fad, as 99 percent of the time the driver is a young Asian male. Also, I noticed most of the time an oversized muffler. I believe that is a way to compensate for an inferiority complex.

User Detail :  

Name : Rick29905, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Catholic, Age : 40, City : Piedmont, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Sherman]

Those small modified import cars are actually as fast as they look. Once the engine is modified, they can outperform many of those muscle cars out there. The thing is, it's harder and takes more time and is more fun, and more challenging to modify these cars than to buy one that's already fast. As far as the so-called fake badges are concerned, those are mostly sponsors who will give you free or discounted parts for letting them display their logo on your car. Sometimes people who own custom shops will also put their logo on their own car to advertise their shop.

User Detail :  

Name : Sherman, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 34, City : Richmond, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Contractor, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, 

[Dan27134]

These cars are commonly referred to as 'Rice Rockets,' which is somewhat of a racist dig at their (Japanese) imported origin, but it is in the lexicon of American Automobile Culture nonetheless. Basically, because they are economy cars, they are often a teenager's first car, and therefore it's all they have to work with. I wouldn't call these cars 'fast' or 'powerful,' although I may grant them 'spry' or 'zippy.' Keep in mind that unless the thing has nitrous oxide tanks, any 5.0 Mustang completely stock will waste one any day.

User Detail :  

Name : Dan27134, Gender : M, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 23, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Future Social Scientist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Angelica]

the whole import scene started a while back even before fast and the furious came out someone up above said something about an asian fad, i believe so.. well i guess and grew on to many more people, the import scene is very popular where im from no matter what sex you are there are more and more girls hookin up there cars and looking pretty tight...at 1st i thought it was really stupid puttin in all your money to make your car look nice..a.k.a 'all show no go' and you coulda bought yourself a better lookin car but whatever...thanks to my ex boyfrend i am not into the import scence my self, dont hate on us...we just like messin w/ our rides...

User Detail :  

Name : Angelica, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 18, City : lexington park, State : MD Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Tristen24900]

I know very little about cars but would a tiny car have an advantage as it wouldnt be as heavy as a larger 'sports' car if they both had similar engines??

User Detail :  

Name : Tristen24900, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 18, City : Nowhere, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Timmy24601]

The reason people mod imported cars I'm afraid is because they are so much better than the rubbish that comes out of detroit these days. American car manufacturers havent made a decent car for at least fifteen years. Asian and european cars have the advantages of being fast without using gallons of fuel and also they can be steered which is rare for an american car these days which generally look more like boats!!!

User Detail :  

Name : Timmy24601, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, 

[seki]

Funny you mention that the modifications look almost as expensive as the car. It might be because we're oceans apart, but here I find that modifications tend to look less authentic. You don't find all that many highly polished chrome wheels around, for example, because they simply look fake (and they never, ever match the car, no matter what). In terms of making them *look* fast, or actually *making* them fast (depending on the individuals' budget), I'm glad I'm not pouring my savings into a financial 'black-hole'. Besides which, the highest speed limit I know of in this country (besides the Northern Territory) is 110kmph... go figure, not to mention the price of fuel is sky-rocketing to the point of absurdity. The question of 'just *where* does all the money come from to pay for it all' suddenly springs to mind.

User Detail :  

Name : seki, Gender : M, Race : asian/european, Age : 21, City : Brisbane, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : marketing & publications, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Author]

Posts