These 4cyl cars are OUR genereation's afordable "muscle" cars and hotrods though. We're not in the days of leaded gas and affordable "Wedges", "Fulies", Hemis, and big block tarmac destroyers. Now a days our current cars are "high tech" hot rods and our engines of choice dont have the wonderful nicknames you all had back in the day. Our engines are an alphabet soup of numbers and letters. The new Chevy small blocks are L61's, LSJ's, LE5's, and LNF's. The hondas have their B18c, B16, and K series small blocks and the older Honda "big block" the H22. Toyota and Nissan are running 2jz and rb26dett motors respectively, both VERY high output motors.

These cars have a massive aftermarket for them and in most cases are the only thing affordable for younger generation to own and Mod. Have you checked the insurance rates for a LS1 equipped F-body for a typical 17 year old? or even a 21 year old? I can gaurantee that my insurace on my Prelude was around 120 a month and when I looked into getting even an older IROC camaro my insurance rates DOUBLED. I was 18 at the time with no tickets and no accidents.

I'm not saying your wrong but these are just a couple reasons why my generation and younger are buying these 4banger cars and modding them. Get a 1970 Camaro for 2000 and drop an engine in it. But if you want a good motor and trans the local junk yard will sell a 350 SB chevy and trans for around 3500 in running. I can get a junked 91 Civic hatch for around 1200-1000. And a b16 from a local shop with all the elcetronics for another 1200. It wil bolt into place with some aftermarket motor mounts another 100-200. And now I have a 160 horse motor in a 1800 lb car. Capable of low 14 second passes with a decent driver, it will drive me home after the races and will still get around 30-35 mpgs. Thats 2400. Just 400 more than a 1970 Camaro Shell. And for the price you pay for a bigblock or a SB 350 I can get slicks and nitrous and run low 13's and be knocking on 12's.

Plus my insurance will be for a 4cyl Enconobox. What would my insurance be for a muscle car?

These are OUR generations high tech hot rods and are going to be the staple of youth modding and next years growing trends. Its not going away. It never will. And because some don't understand it or look down on us we will always be fighting for our rights and respect on the dragstrips. All because we dump our money into a 4banger that will never run 10's without a sponsoship? It never makes sense. How many older generation people were complaining that YOU were ruining a car when you put the 6" cowl onto a Nova? Chevelle? or any other car? How many Corvette owners thought it pointless to buy a Vega and mod it by pulling the motor?

We're here. We're not leaving. We are the tuner generation and we mod cars with less than 8 cyl and we love it the same way you did when you ran your first open header v8 down the strip. We nitrous, you nitrous. We super/turbo charge, you super/turbo charge. Whats the deal? We're the same we just see different platforms with potential.

Ok I'm done! Hehehe! Like I said though. NOT saying you're wrong just trying to shed a little light on why my generation and others younger than us do the things we do!

 

Well said, dude!

 

You know why we look down at you guys and laugh our a$$es off? Its because you guys go around sayin how fast you are. "Dude I was flyin down that track" Only to do a 13 or 14!

You buy all this stuff that is so non functional like wings and ground effects that dont even work till you hit 100+ mph.

If you saved the money you spend on mods to go fast you could afford the insurance for a fast car.

No one ever said anything about my 6" cowl hood. It was functional as my carb sat way to high to use even a 4" cowl. I allmost didnt have enough when I went to a sheet metal intake with twin dominators! So my hood served a purpose unlike the rice burners that have hood scoops that dont do sqwat.

there is a ton more stuff available for a reall smal block or big block than any 4 cyl or 6 cyl as well as parts for any and all Camaros Mustangs and Corvettes.

The biggest treason I have no respect for the so called rice burner generation? Ask your budies that go to the side shows and do there friggin doughnuts and there street racing circuses where there are over 100 bystanders. Your so called generation ruined the street car scene. You cant even go crusin anymore witrhout being hasseled by the cops.

I sold all my fast cars because its not worth it anymore. Too many hassles with the law and the bad rap we old school street guys got from the rice burners.

You guys think your fast. Your fast when you have to get an NHRA license to drive your car at the track. Those licenses arnt passed out. There is a physical and a driving test witnessed by a NHRA official and two licensed NHRA drivers. Six passes down the track. Last two need to be 9.99 or faster.

I have one, #7372! Do You?

No disrespect to you personally just to the rice burner scene!

 

I can agree with you on the non-functional parts, such as rear spoilers on a FWD vehicle and body kits, but did you ever stop to think that may be what some people LIKE? I'm more into the muscle cars myself, but to sit there and judge people on their personal tastes is, IMO, flat out bigotry. Just because they don't like what you like does not make it wrong.

And the cop thing, well that's just BS. Cops have been hassling fast-car owners since before the tuner scene. It's been a long time coming. I'll also agree that some people in my generation are just idiotic, and bring more cops' attentions toward racers, but you cannot argue that there are some in your generation that do it as well. That's EVERY generation. There's always bad apples in every bunch, and that is undeniable.

 

The cop thing is not BS! We used to be able to go out street racing out in the boonies where there wasnt any traffic with no problems. Yes the cops would come by but to watch not hassel us. Now you get a couple hot street cars parked in a parking lot and you get hassled like you just committed murder or something. There searching your car for drugs, booze, illegal car parts, or stolen parts. Hell we have or had a police dept that ran one of the hottest 67 fastback mustangs around on Fri and Sat. nights.

Why the crackdown? Its because of the kids that have been killed by these stupid side shows and the street races with 200-400 people crowds. The gangs, drugs, and booze that shows up.

It isnt the real street racers in there 1st gen or 2nd gen camaros runnin alcohol or running big blowers. No big block injected Mustangs with 16" wide slicks full cages and chutes mounted out the back! Nope!

What youll see is the Civic's, Corrola's, BMW's, and Accura's. Sportin there type R badges that dont even come close to runnin a type R.

When I still had my Big Block 70 just a couple years ago we would go out racin way out in the hills. Yeah the Sheriffs would come racin in on us but wouldnt bust us. They just tell us to leave.

They dont mind the old school stuff that is low key but if its a side show you can expect your car to be towed to the impound!

If I was to build a HHR to run the streets. It wouldnt be a 4 cyl. Id drop in a 472 Small block with a TH400 tranny running a 9" rear end. Yeah there would be allot of sheet metal work but I think it could be done!

Remember the old Vega station wagons running small blocks and big blocks?

 

In the non functional parts area you are referring to "ricers" and not a true "tuner" enthusiast. Those guys get on my nerves as well. There is not one thing done to my HHR that is a NON functional part. As well as all my vehicles. An intake, header, and exhaust. The 20's are the only aesthectic part of my HHR. Although they do have sticky Z rated tires for improved handling. The headlights are TRUE HID retro fit and I can gaurantee that they light up more than ANYTHING on the market for the HHR and DO NOT produce glare.

Your assault is on RICERS and not the TUNERS. There is a HUGE differnece. We, out car club, look down on these ricers as do everyone else. Just make an educated opinion if you're going to make one and take into account how many people acutally TRY to make their cars faster and NOT add the big wings. Take a look again and show me where my HHR has a big wing and nasty body kit. Can you? Nope cause its not there. They make them. But they're not on my ride.

My Prelude ran a best of 13.2 at a track with street tires on a all motor setup. No nitrous, no blowers. IF I had the means and money to make a SUB 10 second car I would. But alas, my lack of funding prevents me from doing so. Therefore I must sit back and mod what is available to me with my daily driven HHR.

I'm not assaulting you with insults and negative energy. Not picking on what you are driving or have driven. Just trying to shed a little light onto the people in the Tuner scene that actually WANT to make their cars something to be proud of and not some Fast and Furious rip offs that make noise and go nowhere.

 

Indeed! I would love to do something like this in mine:



But like en0oNmAI said, until I get the dough and resources to do something like this,or straight up trade it in, I'm stuck with the little 4-banger.

 

When I had my Vette ('95 LT1) rarely would I not be "challenged" informally at a stop light by some ricer revving his motor and the almost standard equipment fart can muffler. Now, I'm going to make a distinction here: When I use the term "ricer" I refer to the kids that watched Fast 'n Furious too many times, then went out and "sticker-charged" their import or domestic 4 cyl car by doing a body kit, park bench style rear spoiler wing, and the ever popular fart can muffler, maybe a type R badge for good measure. But left the engine untouched. That, to me, is a ricer. I refer to a tuner as a serious enthusiast who builds his 4 cyl or 6 cyl engine and drivetrain to backup any "go-fast" appearance mods. I'm going to say that enoonmai is a tuner and that he refers to in his post as what I term tuners-- just like we were with our V8's, but they're working with 4 and 6 cyl. As long as anyone puts the effort out to do it right.. to be all go and maybe some show INSTEAD of all show and NO go, I respect them. Today's generation of hot rodders is all. But not the idiot ricers, out there throwing a park bench wing on their Kia, finding the nearest parking lot and trying to practice "drifting". FWIW I've seen plenty of domestic rice, Cavalier's mainly, with wings and fart cans but nothing to back it up.

As for the ricers that often challenged my Vette, I never bit. The stop light derby wasn't and isn't my gig. Okay, once I bit, but it was a tuner, a worthy opponent and I let my inner child take over since there was no traffic and it was fairly rural. It was a Toyota MR2 Turbo, a 1993, one of the cool looking ones (look like mini Ferraris) before Toyota screwed up the design... I remember because we pulled off in a lot and chatted after, and checked out each others cars. I put about two car lengths on him from the launch but he was slowly reeling me in, very slowly before we shut down. My Vette ran low 13's, this kid surprised me, because I knew that gen of MR2's, if a factory turbo model, ran low 14's stock and he looked bone stock. Proof of a genuine tuner-- spent his time on the engine instead of body kits.

 

Thank you Lone Ranger.

This is exactly what we try to overcome. These kind of over generalizations based on little known factual information on the difference between Tuner and Ricer.

Some of these ricer kids go to our local track and talk smack all night. We line up and even though my HHR is no asphault shredding terror I kill these guys by several car lengths. Our strip does a "midnight madness" where there are no timeslips. Its ran like the show pinks and you just line up and race the other guy. To date my best run is still a 16.9. Nothing to write home about. But my kill list is something I am very proud of. I have beat a couple late model V6 Mustangs, all sorts of ricers, stayed door to door with a Fox Body 5.0 with a few mods, and some decently fast diesel Dodges. I haven't gotten a decent launch at the strip and the last time the midnight madness went on I got really good at launching my underpower FWD econo-wagon. I was thoroughly impressed with my HHR. I get nods from the guys at the tech inspection for running what I have. And all this while rolling on 20" wheels that weigh almost as much as the car does!

 

Hey dont get me wrong tuner cars are cool! I like your HHR its nice. I love my HHR. Im just saying that I feel its a waist of money to pour it into aomething like a tuner car when you can get more bang for your buck with old school.

You get more response with less money. Proof in point. The picture below is a 472ci small block. It runs 950hp no nitrous, blower, or turbo. Its old school design. Yes its very expensive but no one makes anything like it using the current motors out of production. The LS1 or the LS7 cant compete. No o0ne makes the parts to get that kind of hp out of a tuner motor. To make that hp would take alot of prototype parts that would make the motor in the 75k-100k range.

You can put a blower on a stock LS1 and get about 500hp after that they go boom boom. Seen it. I worked as a mechanic in a race shop where we specialized in Camaros and Corvettes. We did a ton of computer tunes and alot of race stuff but ya just couldnt get anywhere close to the old school.

If spending a ton of cash to get a few ponies floats your boat, have a blast. You just cant convince me that its worth it!

This 472 below goes for 27K.