WHY Us Vs. THEM???

[Mikelly]

Guys, We have grown a bit over the last few years and we've gained a membership of folks from all over the planet... I want to touch base on a few things since we have drifted a bit from the origins of HybridZ.

 

For some time now the issue of Ricers and others less worthy of a HybridZ has arrisen. Usually this topic includes disparaging remarks about someone whose personal taste in their car isn't what our vision might want it to be. Is this that bad?

 

Rewind to a time back in 1998 when the Likes of Pete Paraska, Owen, Dan Porter, Myself and others were getting verbally pummeled over on other Zcar sites and news groups... Because we were different, or our cars SUCKED, or because we were destroying a name, and ruining a legends heritage. Some of those old battles still sting. Yet here we are today sharing LARGE CHUNKS of technical data with those that would thumb their noses at some of our creations...

 

Now lets fast forward to the present... Kids all over are taking their favorite cars and pushing the envelopes of performance, style, and yes, sometimes taste in the name of hotroding. Yes, Hotroding. One thing I've learned in dealing with the Honda set as of late is that they are no less passionate, and just as cash strapped to go fast as the rest of us. Reality is that most of these kids love what they do, and the fact that they are learning to do it makes them want to do even more... Even if it is just a simple cold air intake or cool looking plug wires... they did it themselves.

 

We came here and formed our own little "Private Idaho" for a reason... One, brought out of necessity, more than want. We were forced out of conventional circles... yet lately it seems those circles are starting to revolve around our own little oasis. How Ironic!

 

A good friend of mine has a saying, to belittle is to Be Little... Next time you see a "ricer" reving his motor at an imaginary adversary, smile and think back to when you did such things... The sport is growing, changing before our eyes... But it will come full circle... and regardless of your preferences, the import scene is making a huge impact on our aftermarket, allowing many more options than we had just a few years ago... We should embrace this opportunity to make good of the motivation coming out of the industry, and put it to good use.

 

Remember where we came from lads, lest we be doomed to return there again !

 

Chin up!

Mike

[CruxGNZ]

Well said .

 

!M!

[pparaska]

Mike, you ever seen that movie? It's a trip!

 

Yeah, I grew up with cars over twenty years ago. Jacked up in the rear with big tires to make it look like a drag car. We were pretty unsophisticated, we didn't think too far past that. My buds couldn't understand that I wanted to LOWER my 70 Camaro for handling purposes, when they had air shocks. Oh well. I'd be given a ride in Shelby Mustangs and the handling thing just STUCK with me.

 

I look at those that just do the glitz stuff as no different than the guys 20 years ago that had a 6 cylinder Dart and put big tires on the rear, little skinny ones up front, and air shocks to jack it up in the rear.

 

Times changes, but people mature the same way .

[ZR8ED]

Your absolutely right on guys!

 

I may not like some peoples ideas of a "ride", but I do appreciate guys modding all sorts of cars..yes even Cavaliers, Corollas, Ford Focus' etc...heck even a Pacer...hmm did I just say that?

 

But it sure would be a boring world if we all drove a Mustang or Camaro now wouldn't it?

 

Though I do still get a chuckle everytime time a civic loaded with young guys revs me a light! I remember the days driving a Pontiac firefly for a chicken restaurant, and reving some guy in a GN!!

he chuckled, and we proceeded to race anyways! hehe good sport!

 

Its all about fun, and enjoying something you have modded to suit yourself.

 

I too still get burned once in a while for brutalizing a classis sports gt. Its my car, and I've built it the way I like it..too bad for them!

[Guest polarity]

Well said. I figured I'd add in my $.02

 

The reason I actually LIKE (yes I said LIKE) some of the ricer community, they are very inventive. I didn't know you could make an entire dash out of maple leaves. (not literally).. It can be very interesting to see what these guys come up with. Alot of the things I've decided to do with my car I've only seen on some of the 'ricer' cars. Like fiberglass interior. I actually like the way it looks on cars, personal taste I guess.

 

Anyway, as stated very well said. Thanks Mike

 

Billy

[Mike C]

Good thoughts. But no matter how benevolent we get, I'm still going to poke fun at the ones over the top! But I ALWAYS appreciate a well executed, thoughtfully constructed car, regardless of it's origins.

 

I'm with you Pete on handling, I was building Pro-Touring in the 80's! So it's not exactly a new phenomena.

 

Even Dodge is poking fun at its heritage with the guys in the Duster in the "Gotta' Hemi" commercial. I don't know where they found those guys, but don't they just scream 70's Mopar?

[Synlubes]

I look at those that just do the glitz stuff as no different than the guys 20 years ago that had a 6 cylinder Dart and put big tires on the rear, little skinny ones up front, and air shocks to jack it up in the rear. Times changes, but people mature the same way .

 

HEY, I had a 6 cly dart with big tires 20 years ago. And it was ugly too !

 

If I was 20 years younger, I`d be souping up a Honda (I guess).

Gosh, wish I was 20 years younger. . .

[pparaska]

So did I. But by that time I was a few years into college and didn't do anything to it but maintenance. I liked the 76 Cutlass I replaced it with much better - more power and better handling - by a bit.

 

I'm glad I have more than a few hundred bucks these days to spend on buying a daliy driver!

 

I had a 6 cyl 68 Nova that I put a hopped up 327 in (out of the wrecked 70 Camaro). Talk about a death trap!

[Guest zfan]

Well put guys and 20 years ago I was a young broke parent driving a well um a Ford pinto..talk about crap. Wanna race, hell you had to get out and push it up the hills Bicycles could of kicked my butt

 

Mike

[PETEW]

Yeah, there are definitely some cheesey cars that I have owned back in the day. But as time went on and the jobs got better so did the cars. I am really anxious to get my Z on the road, but I want to do it right. None of that band aid fixing I did in my past. Kids haven't changed it's only the cars.

[Z-Dreamer]

Hm... well folks I've got mixed feelings on this one.

 

First, I'm a firm believer of "to each his own" or "whatever turns your crank" philosophy when it comes to "vehicles and stuff".

 

But is that what we are talking about here?

 

Example: I was in H.S. in the late Seventies and my first car, thanks to my step-dad, was a 67 Pontiac GTO. Yes a "classic muscle car" and yes the first thing I did was to mount 15X10 Five Spoke Craigers with N50 MT's on the rear!

 

But remember, I had a 67 GTO equipped with a 400ci Ram Air, TH 400 and a 12 Bolt with 3.55's! I can still smell the smoke from the tires! Note: I never revved imaginary opponents.

 

NOT, I repeat NOT a "Econo-Box wantaba with ground effects, custom wheels and a 4 inch fart pipe"! (Owner claims it does 10's in the quarter) :malebitchslap:

 

What I'm attempting to say is that what my generation did was for Real Performance, not the appearance of performance.

 

I thought that was what HybridZ was all about? Performance first, like my generation, real performance!

 

Today's youth have it "ass-backwards" and that's because they don't have performance cars to begin with! A Honda CRX is a performance car?

 

Yes, IF you apply enough money it could be fast, but hell, if funds permitted I could build the worlds fastest "Briggs and Stratten" lawn mower and beat them! But after its all said and done what do you have? Come on say it, that's right a lawn mower. Same difference folks!

 

By the way, the performance crowd in Japan don't run Honda's and such. No, they run Skylines and Supra's. Real performance cars... Think about it.

 

Well I've said my bit, flame me if you want, but I had to vent...

 

Mark

[denny411]

I`ll have to disagree here. What most of us did 20yrs ago was what we could afford to do. I personally was lucky to have gas money, let alone HP mod money.

example, my alternator went out and I had to charge my battery everyday for 2 months and run with only my parking lights at night(unless there was oncoming traffic)until I could afford a USED one.

 

What confuses me about the younger crowd is how much they spend to look good when that money could better be spent on "real" performance parts.

 

Oh well, To each his/her own. My .02

[VRJoe]

What concerns me most about the "ricer" movement is the bad information and attitude they seem to propagate. I agree that there are some of these kids who are modern day "hot rodders" and they deserve all the credit they can get. I've seen some well done cars that would be classed as "ricers", but there seems to be an attitude that is far from what we seem to embody here. The Compact Car show at Carlisle has been cancelled due to the behavior of some of the people in attendance. That is the attitude and behavior the concerns me.

 

I don't think this is a place for "ricer" bashing, but some of the misguided things they do are humorous.

 

- Joe

[Moridin]

These Hondas and such or the way to go when you have little money want some speed. I do agree, many kids have given them a bad name. I was talking to my neighbor the other day (he's in his sixties) and he was reminiscing about his teenage days as a hotrodder. His take was how guns have changed the atmosphere. They used to go out and run on the street for fun. Yeah, there was the grudge match every once and a while, and the fight ever so often, but all you came home with was a broken nose. Now, there are few places for the kids to go. Most places are over run with residential housing, and businesses. I have to drive roughly an hour to go to any track. Imagine some of these kids that having nothing within hours of them, what else are they going to do?

 

Well, enough with that ranting, but I think this "ricer" phenomenon is just a reliving of the old hotrodding scene from years ago. It just depended what group you hung out with and personal preference that determined what you were interested in doing to a car. That is the same thing presently, but it has just exploded a little more. Sensationalized media sure does a number with things.

 

I'm not trying to insinuate that anyone is senile and old, but sometimes memories do fade and change with age.

[Mikelly]

Denny, Joe, and Mark, Go price stuff for the Honda crowd... Trust me on this... The ONLY things that are cheap and reasonably priced are the bling.... FOUR Forged pistons are gonna run us close to $600!!! I can get a set of EIGHT for almost HALF THAT! These kids are in the same exact boat we were in... A fart pipe and some cool pedals and lights and the kid is out a weeks worth of income at McDonalds... Go ahead, pick up a copy of Sport Compact Car and thumb through the pages... Get to the "REAL" go fast parts and take a look at the prices... It's the exact same thing I noticed when I used to pick up copies of Truckin' Magazine... Same thought... I can slam a mini pickup for $500. That is a "REALISTIC" goal... But for most of the import crowd, getting a car to GO fast and furious is gonna cost HUGE! Most of them can't afford to make the huge HP gains that few are actually making. That's why when I see that a guy has actually done it, and done it well, I give big kudos for the effort.

 

I'm telling you guys, and maybe you don't want to see it for what it is, but there are similarities here... MANY. And the biggest, most important point is that we're all C-A-R G-E-E-K-S.

 

Someone else commented on how boring it would be if everyone drove the same "Mustang or Camaro" or bland looking Honda Civic, or pick your import. Insurance is sky high, and I know in My 18 year old step son's case, He would LOVE to own a Mustang like his mother's. However, It would break him to pay the insurance... So he has a ...CIVIC.

 

All I'm saying is lets not look at the world with blinders on... 8)

 

Mike

[Tim240z]

Hmmm.....this little corner of the world is losing it's luster a bit!

 

Tim

[Phantom]

I still remember when I took the oil bath air cleaner off my '49 Cadillac and replaced it with a piece of oil soaked panty-hose and then replaced the 4' long muffler with a Smittys glass pack. Took my gas mileage from 6.5 to 11! My other "racer" mods were to remove the sun visor from the front, take off the 20 lb full chrome hubcaps, and put STP in the airplane style shocks that car had. That old 331ci, 160 HP V-8 would move the 4,200 lb car pretty good in second gear from 20 to 50 (It had a 4-spd hydramatic). Had a guy in a Hurst Olds want to race me once. I just pointed to the Orage styrofoam ball on my radio antenna with the blue "76" (Union 76 Gas Station) and told him that was what I did in the quarter and he didn't need to waste his time.

Later -when I got my '70 'Cuda I actually put stainless steel mudflaps on it. Why? Because they were functional and "socially acceptable" at the time. Now I've got a Z car with a Chevy V-8 in it. Just remember the basic rules. Is it in reasonably good taste even if it's not your taste, and is it well done. If so - admire it. I remember standing in my driveway a few months ago admiring an AMC Eagle the pizza delivery guy was driving. They are quite rare now and this one was in excellent, original, condition. Kid was beside himself to think that someone actually thought his old 4wd station wagon was cool.

[Owen]

Hmmm.....this little corner of the world is losing it's luster a bit!

 

Tim

 

Your taillite mod has defaced a legend!!!

To each his own, I say, just don't force it on me. But shoot me if I start

to put strobe lights and neons under the car.

 

Owen

[Guest the_dj]

I will forever be Dan Porter's #2 admirer...second of course to his honey

[dot]

I have been reading the “rules of rice†links for a while now. I fail to understand how putting down another person’s tastes in auto modifications can improve anything. Anyone who shells out hard earned cash to improve their ride has done research, at least in their own mind and are trying their best to stand out from the crowd. As a father of kids with cars I encourage instead of discourage any modification my kids or their friends bring over. It has taken me a while to adjust my mind set to new Japanese hot rod. It has been hard at times to bite my tongue when I see something really stupid. If you give them a couple of years the rides they have really do improve. They wouldn’t if the kids were constantly put down. As for the rules of rice…rules were made to be broken.

Cheers…:::Glenn