Aimless meanderings about performance, and what non-Porsche folks are up to
06-24-2001, 11:43 PM
#16
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As I said in my first post, I don't have anything against Japanese cars. And I know some of them are real fast. They are wonderful appliances. I just can't see pouring my heart (and money) into one. Sorry if that offends some people here.
I have been considering an idea for awhile: designing and building a car myself. I would, of course, need to steal the engine/running gear out of a mass produced vehicle, but I could build the frame, body, etc. myself. Steal a windshield from one automaker here, a steering box from another there... stitch it all together and have a one of a kind vehicle. The idea is very intriguing to me: the only constraint is time. I have drawings... sometimes in staff meetings I begin to sketch the frame design and suspension geometry...
If I didn't have so many other projects and interests, I would do it. Hell, I almost did do it, but decided a Porsche was the next best thing when I realized I didn't have the time.
In the end, I'll bet most people who slam their cars are really wanting to do that, on some level: have a vehicle that isn't mass produced, anonymous, boring, regulation issue.
I just think it makes sense to start with something out of the ordinary if you're going to express yourself in that way. But, to each his own...
~cheers~
Thaddeus
I have been considering an idea for awhile: designing and building a car myself. I would, of course, need to steal the engine/running gear out of a mass produced vehicle, but I could build the frame, body, etc. myself. Steal a windshield from one automaker here, a steering box from another there... stitch it all together and have a one of a kind vehicle. The idea is very intriguing to me: the only constraint is time. I have drawings... sometimes in staff meetings I begin to sketch the frame design and suspension geometry...
If I didn't have so many other projects and interests, I would do it. Hell, I almost did do it, but decided a Porsche was the next best thing when I realized I didn't have the time.In the end, I'll bet most people who slam their cars are really wanting to do that, on some level: have a vehicle that isn't mass produced, anonymous, boring, regulation issue.
I just think it makes sense to start with something out of the ordinary if you're going to express yourself in that way. But, to each his own...
~cheers~
Thaddeus
06-25-2001, 01:37 AM
#17
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Home made car? check out:
http://www.tappauto.com/
got to "performance Projects", then: CT1
This is HAND-MADE car using a rear-engine VR6 set-up, it's ugly as sin, but it's blisteringly fast and ranks top 3 at our Solo II events.
Unbelievable, to see it accelerate on nitrous!
I can't begin to wonder what a supercharger or turbo would do!
Fun!
http://www.tappauto.com/
got to "performance Projects", then: CT1
This is HAND-MADE car using a rear-engine VR6 set-up, it's ugly as sin, but it's blisteringly fast and ranks top 3 at our Solo II events.
Unbelievable, to see it accelerate on nitrous!
I can't begin to wonder what a supercharger or turbo would do!
Fun!
06-25-2001, 08:11 AM
#18
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I wonder how it handles?
Building a proper suspension would be the hardest part...
That, and getting the government to let me license it and drive it on the road. I already contacted the DMV and while it seems possible to do, they couldn't tell me how. They told me to look online and of course there was nothing there.
Oh well...
Thaddeus
Building a proper suspension would be the hardest part...
That, and getting the government to let me license it and drive it on the road. I already contacted the DMV and while it seems possible to do, they couldn't tell me how. They told me to look online and of course there was nothing there.
Oh well...
Thaddeus
06-25-2001, 08:14 AM
#19
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I apologize for the disjointed quality of the reply above. I was thinking so hard about the design of my proposed car I didn't really complete the thoughts... 
What I meant to say is, when I was researching the issues surrounding building my own car (not that other fellow's), licensing it for street use looked like it might be a problem...
Cheers
Thaddeus
What I meant to say is, when I was researching the issues surrounding building my own car (not that other fellow's), licensing it for street use looked like it might be a problem...
Cheers
Thaddeus
06-25-2001, 10:22 AM
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I hvae to agree with Thaddeus that the uniqueness of a car can be infititly important. When in the market for a new car I am NOT looking for something that you see everywhere, I don't want another Nissan Altima or Chevy Impala, I see enough of those every day (or those damn BMW 3 series, even if they are sweet cars). I want a car with personality, even if it is a little rough around the edges and requires some TLC. I live in the city, I drive my Specialized (mountain bike) to work. If I'm in the car I am either out to have a fun time driving around in a high performance well maintained vehicle, or I'm going to the grocery store because I can't carry all that stuff back on my bike 
. To end my rambling, uniqueness is key, and maybe that is what the guys modifying their civics are trying to get to, maybe their means only allowed them to buy a civic, and they need to to be reliable as a daily driver, but they have the innate desire to stand out from the crowd of civics that we see on the street. The problem is taste, it seems, can't be taught
. To end my rambling, uniqueness is key, and maybe that is what the guys modifying their civics are trying to get to, maybe their means only allowed them to buy a civic, and they need to to be reliable as a daily driver, but they have the innate desire to stand out from the crowd of civics that we see on the street. The problem is taste, it seems, can't be taught
06-25-2001, 10:37 AM
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About the "CT-1"...
I was amazed how well this ridiculous little car handled! Totally neutral, spectacular 4-wheel drifts, incredibly pointable.
Chris did an amazing job for a first attempt!
I was amazed how well this ridiculous little car handled! Totally neutral, spectacular 4-wheel drifts, incredibly pointable.
Chris did an amazing job for a first attempt!
06-25-2001, 01:23 PM
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I second that... 
Did anyone see that new rice movie, the fast and the furious yet? I am curious how it is, as I have always had a taste for rice (not the bleached kind...whole grain baby), blasphemous as that may sound.
What do I have to say about the topic at hand...hmmm...I think that if you are all show (45 pound 20" chrome wheels, mega-fart pipe, ridonculous body kit, humoungeous rear wing, etc.) you are definitely rice. That is where a lot of the money is made for the advertisers in those jap-tuner mags (ever seen a girl with a rice car that actually has any performance enhancing stuff done to it?), so you are going to see every other ad be for some useless image enhancing item, because most kids who are into rice are not really into performance.
But when you get smoked by a 12 second turbo civic at a stop light (this happened in my friend's integra) that looks completely stock except for a NACA duct in the hood, buldging tires on 15" integra wheels, tastefully lowered, 3" exhaust tip (appropriate size for the tubing), with a bone stock paint job, you realize what is and isn't rice.
The writing in sport compact car is actually pretty good, as it almost always deals with enhancing performance, not looks, all though that is what most of the ads are for. A much better jap tuner magazine is turbo.
Got work to do...later all.
Did anyone see that new rice movie, the fast and the furious yet? I am curious how it is, as I have always had a taste for rice (not the bleached kind...whole grain baby), blasphemous as that may sound.
What do I have to say about the topic at hand...hmmm...I think that if you are all show (45 pound 20" chrome wheels, mega-fart pipe, ridonculous body kit, humoungeous rear wing, etc.) you are definitely rice. That is where a lot of the money is made for the advertisers in those jap-tuner mags (ever seen a girl with a rice car that actually has any performance enhancing stuff done to it?), so you are going to see every other ad be for some useless image enhancing item, because most kids who are into rice are not really into performance.
But when you get smoked by a 12 second turbo civic at a stop light (this happened in my friend's integra) that looks completely stock except for a NACA duct in the hood, buldging tires on 15" integra wheels, tastefully lowered, 3" exhaust tip (appropriate size for the tubing), with a bone stock paint job, you realize what is and isn't rice.
The writing in sport compact car is actually pretty good, as it almost always deals with enhancing performance, not looks, all though that is what most of the ads are for. A much better jap tuner magazine is turbo.
Got work to do...later all.