Imports are funny

I was browsing through an import mag at the grocery store today.

It had tech articles. I read two about a Scion TC and a CRX Si.

They dyno'd stock, after intake, after exhaust, and after a header.

The Scion put down like 117 hp or something stock and the CRX was like 78 hp. After the $300 dollar intakes, $700 exhausts, and $400 header, they made like 8 more whp.

And all of my friends that have imports wonder why I chose a domestic. Because if I spend $1400 on parts I will gain more than 8-14 rear wheel hp.

**** for $60.00 for a pulley you can pick up 10 rwhp. Intake for $200 and its another 8 or so. Exhaust you'll gain about another 10. I thought SC stuff was expensive, guess not. Just the headers and blower upgrades. If you do the bolt ons first though when money and time allows you get good results for the price compared to the imports.

Not really a fair compairision here. Those are NA engines and of course you're not going to see the same results(apples to oranges compairision). I personaly know of import mods on boosted engines that produce far more results on those engines for less than $50 than you can get on any SC for $100's more in money.
Personaly I just do not get all the import bashing that goes on here.
Sure this is a SC club but why all the hatered towards the imports?

It's not that I hate the cars, well I wouldn't buy one, but I hate the teenagers that drive them. They talk funny, dress funny, and always want to race or fight. Plus they just make fools out of themselves by not knowing how to make a car visually appealing.

And I couldn't justify spending $300 on an intake to gain 2.4 whp. Sorry I'd leave it alone, and put the $300 in the bank, or go upgrade my PC or something.

Then again, I think a lot of them buy cars they see on TV or in movies and think they are cool. They don't research the car or how much it will cost to make it fast since most are slow as hell to start out with.

I researched before I bought my SC's. I knew they are heavier but they do respond well to mods. I also liked the style and the fact its american made, rear wheel drive, seats 5, and has a manual transmission, and an abundance of torque. It was a no brainer for me.

My next car I want is a GN. I've been researching these and they are unbelievably easy to get into the 11's for cheap. Problem is finding one thats in my budget.

If I had the displeasure of owning another 4-cyl car the number one reason would be daily driver thats good on gas. If I modified it, I'd try to do it as cheap as I could. But I don't want an import. I support our american economy. No japanese car is going to park in my driveway.

European cars are nice, and although technically imports, I have owned and will own another one. They are not just cheesy crap like the jap cars. They are probably the best built cars on the market.

Well now I can understand where you're coming from, but I would pose this to you. Your experiance with that group of people is not representative of the entire import scene. Those people are more or less hot rod posers and there everywhere, including here and there's alot of them that own US iron as well.
We had them in the early 70's even when there was'nt as many import cars here in the US and they did'nt own imports either.
I'm old but I still remember when I was a teenager and things werent so different then in regard to the generation gap. Grown ups thought we were crazy and from another planet as well.

But you get a group of young "import" enthusiasts together and bad things are bound to happen. This is very sad that this is the future generation of america's leaders.

They got kicked out of carlisle and asked not to return. Any time you get muscle cars hanging out in a parking lot with the hoods up you get looks, but usually the cops leave us alone. If we go race, we are discreet about it.

Imports gather and someone always has to drive recklessly in the parking lot attracting attention, they argue and fight with each other. And when they go race, 80 of them have to follow. Then they wonder why the cops keep a tight watch on them.

I thought it was maybe just the area I was in. I moved to Virginia, and its the same here. They drive crazy, fight, do burnouts in parking lots, yank the e-brake, etc.. One guy hit a tree in a parking lot, what a moron. Then the cops tell us all to go home. Even though the domestics keep to ourselves except making fun of the rice as it goes by.

Seriously, I could not feel masculine driving a neon green Civic w/ clear tail lights, an aluminum wing, and a 5" exhaust tip on an 1 7/8" exhaust pipe that sounds like my weed trimmer. Let alone then have the balls to hit on a pretty girl and think she was going to dig my car.

To each his own, I don't mind a nice modified car. What I don't like is pointless wings on fwd cars, loud raspy mufflers, and crazy driving in a parking lot where cars are parked and people are standing.

What goes through the heads of these kids?

Even back in the 70's the only imports that would even be decently quick were the Datsuns, the rest were junky gas savers. And atleast people back then didn't paint them ugly colors, put stickers all over them, bolt on huge wings, loud mufflers, and try to think they had a race car.

Now this is an import that is serious. No big wing, no stickers all over, no wild paint. I'd like it if more people were into going fast rather than looking fast.

www.zwartec.com/zwarteccomputers/v12secruns.wmv

well i used to think the same until my cousing got a 96 civic with a 2000 front end 17" wheels 4 wheels disc conversion , CF hood , for 2000dlls without engine , then the got a b18 for 600dlls , let me tell your a lil car with a lil engine that thing is fast , i think it should run like 14's , for like 400dlls more he could get a b22 and should run 13's.

oh and girls dig them imports alot more than any girl would dig a SC , its the hip stuff , and if you didnt know **** about car it would be cool.

besides i kinda undersand why people get spoilers and such and never touch the engine , becuase its cheaper that way and you get much more looks get dave neiberts car its car with over 20000dlls invested on it , ge tin on the street and spank a few vettes and evos and it wont be a fast t bird it will be a slow vette or slow evo. now get a honda civic investe the same 20000 in exterior mods , and most people will say damn that a cool car.


too bad i like more the HP than looks.

I understand what you're saying Scott but we had the exact same thing back in the old days, thats why hot rodding back then was percieved as being so evil. There's bad apples in every bunch and I can point out many examples of the same behavour in US iron owners, but I think you would agree that its not representative of all of us.
Dislike the inmature actions of of people all you like but dislikeing a group of cars just because a small group of the people that owns those cars act inmature in many ways is just as silly as the way they act.
The cars do not make them act like they do. The stupid stuff in there heads makes them act that way.

I'm not disagreeing that they can be made fast. I'm saying the typical rice boy is a moron.

There are a few guys out there who will swap motors just like us muscle car guys do. Hopefully most of them keep the cars looking good. Nice paint jobs and a nice set of wheels go a long way without the wings and stickers and hideous body kits.

Still I choose not to like imports. Do I hate them.... well maybe. I wouldn't own one, and I don't want one parked in my driveway. I made my friend Jimmy park his Protege in the street but I let my buddy Adam park his Nova SS in my driveway along with my friend Mike's Corvette and my friend Ryan's SC.

I gotta give Jimmy hell everytime I see him.

Only time his Mazda was in my driveway I was doing the brakes and it had to sit there for 3 days while we waited on calipers from Japan. Need I say more.

Scott Long said:

It's not that I hate the cars, well I wouldn't buy one, but I hate the teenagers that drive them. They talk funny, dress funny, and always want to race or fight. Plus they just make fools out of themselves by not knowing how to make a car visually appealing.

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"The more things change the more they stay the same" I heard that a time or two in my life and I'm sure you have heard it at least once. I remember just after highschool my friend Kenny built a hot 350 and Turbo 350 tranny and dropped it in a new at the time 92' full size chevy. He would street race on Rankin and Westheimer in Houston (infamous drag spots here been going on since the 70's from what I understand). He had a hothead freind that I can remember knocking people out since we were in 5-6 grade. Anyway to make a long story short I found a tailgate out back between the common area between the installation shop I worked at and the body shop next to it. I asked about the tailgate since it had 3 bullet holes in it and I knew it came from Kenny's truck (Light Purple, small town). Turns out the hothead punched another racer after a dispute over money after a race (seems Kenny was the winner), his (punchee) friend got a pistol everyone took off and the truck got pelted with 9mm bullets.

I am sure that a lot of people older than me can think of other situations. It's same song second verse.

Don't spend time on posers man they have always been around. Some of them are out for trouble.

Jeff

Scott there are several big time players in the US iron high perf aftermaket that is now very active in the import hot rodding scene. They have hooked up with serious import owners(not the goof balls you talk about) which is a very fast growing group. They tell me that segment of the import scene heavily reminds them of the early US hot rodding scene and they are very happy to be involved with them. Thats why there's more serious high perf parts made for them than there are SC parts.
You just pointed out that there are 2 different segments to the import scene yourself, so surely you can now see that you used a wide brush in your original post. I understand where you're coming from but idiots are everywhere in the world and there's examples to be seen in every aspect of life not just hot rod wanna be's.
We can only hope these people grow up sometime in there lives.

If I had a manufacturing facility I'd make parts for imports too. Their money is green.

And in my first post I was just thinking it was funny how to gain that little bit of power you would have to spend $1400 and then every ricer in the parking lot at Circuit City would be all jealous of your new iceman intake. "You better not race bobby, he has that new intake, header, and exhaust on his crx...." "oh no now he runs low 17's!"

J57ltr said:

"The more things change the more they stay the same" I heard that a time or two in my life and I'm sure you have heard it at least once. I remember just after highschool my friend Kenny built a hot 350 and Turbo 350 tranny and dropped it in a new at the time 92' full size chevy. He would street race on Rankin and Westheimer in Houston (infamous drag spots here been going on since the 70's from what I understand). He had a hothead freind that I can remember knocking people out since we were in 5-6 grade. Anyway to make a long story short I found a tailgate out back between the common area between the installation shop I worked at and the body shop next to it. I asked about the tailgate since it had 3 bullet holes in it and I knew it came from Kenny's truck (Light Purple, small town). Turns out the hothead punched another racer after a dispute over money after a race (seems Kenny was the winner), his (punchee) friend got a pistol everyone took off and the truck got pelted with 9mm bullets.

I am sure that a lot of people older than me can think of other situations. It's same song second verse.

Don't spend time on posers man they have always been around. Some of them are out for trouble.

Jeff

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You're absolutely right Jeff! I've been to more than a couple of (cough, cough) car gatherings that were completely US iron where fights reckless driving and very stupid stunts broke out. You knew that everytime everybody got together somebody was going to get stupid, it was just a given.

Scott Long said:

If I had a manufacturing facility I'd make parts for imports too. There money is green.

And in my first post I was just thinking it was funny how to gain that little bit of power you would have to spend $1400 and then every ricer in the parking lot at Circuit City would be all jealous of your new icemand intake. "You better not race bobby, he has that new intake, header, and exahaust on his crx...." "oh no now he runs low 17's!"

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Scott I'm not talking about those cheesy rip of intakes, wings and junk like that. Sure theres people out there making that crap and getting rich off of the wanna be's, by the way thats not exclusive to the imports either.
I'm talking about serious power making equipment(which I agree most of the posers do not have, US or import). The prices for those parts and services arent any higher in cost than the US car stuff they make and you get very noticable power gains from it.
I dont know of any serious hot rodder be they US or import that gets there info or bases there mods on what they read in magazines.
Magazines are all owned by mfg'er advertising be they US car orientated or import, no secret there.

Being 35..........

Now that I'm older and wiser (somewhat!!!), I remember that people said that hot rodders and racing was the Evil in us!!!

In the late 60's and early 70's, the people were told they dressed funny and were trouble. Same being said today. The hot rod market continues to evolve and change. Newer cars from the Big three are not as easy to mod and also are more expensive. The aftermarket on Toyota and Nissan and Misubishi are HUGE!!!!!


Whether it's a hot rod '63 Chevy or a Eclipse, we're all after the same thing, the love of our cars. Yes, the younger you are the easier it is to do stupid things and not think about it.

The import market actually drives the market we have now.....Yes, I love my SC's and would not buy an import (It's a personal thing...), just don't put down the guys and gals that are doing what you do on your car. The aftermarket stereo's and TV's are pretty cool, as long as not being used while driving.


Try finding parts for a Cavalier????


The other reason they are doing these cars is they are cheap and light. If my a$$ fit into a Mustang, I would have that also since it weighs only 2400 lbs. An SC is over 3,800 and the Civic is 1,700 lbs. Get it????


As long as the hot rod market stays, our cars will go up in value......Think about that.........


Don

Scott Long said:

My next car I want is a GN. I've been researching these and they are unbelievably easy to get into the 11's for cheap. Problem is finding one thats in my budget.

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Do whatever it takes to get a TR ASAP. You'll be stunned that such a POS is so much fun.

Seriously, the cars are total crap. They're everything that ruined GM in the domestic market. An SC is a thousand times the car a TR is, but that powertrain more than makes up for it. A friend bought one a few months back and it already has the MPH in the 1/4 for a high 11. A month or so ago he had it at the track and it ran a 12.91@115. The converter was so tight it didn't get any boost until after the 60' mark. That's been changed and its a different car now. We had it on some slicks for a little action this weekend and I swear it could pull the wheels on the street (it was dark) and that was on pump gas. Unfortunately the already tired tranny went away (after about ten launches on the way there, LOL!) and so it lost. Until the trans is rebuilt :evil:

I've got my eye on a couple of likely candidates now, too.

Imports

the thing that gets me about my friends that have there civics, is that they think they are so fast stock. They are so serious too. I remember last year some kid pulled up after school in his brand new civic that his parents bought him and he was sitting there reving it saying its so fast. I could have raced him in my 1995 ford windstar that i had at the time and crushed him. Its jsut rediculous everytime i think about it. I dont see how they could choose that over like a mustang which their parents would still buy them. My take on those cars are that they were designed for economy. Just my opinion but the sound of a big block and a huge cam is like music to my ears. but we all like different music.

Since I grew up in Okinawa, all I was into was the Domestic scene...Import here. I have always disliked Honda's because they were econo-boxes in Japan as well.

I dislike most of the imports here because of those damned exhausts. In Japan, when you heard that you knew something good was sliding around the corner. Here it's just a Honda with "16.25" on his driver side rear window...Like it's an accomplishment that your car is slower in the 1/4 mile than the Yugo. If I had a time like that, I wouldn't leave it to show the entire world...

Holy crap...a Scion puts down 117 WHP stock!?!?! That's pretty impressive. That's like almost 150HP at the motor. What do those car's have for an engine...sounds like easy mid 15's outta the box.

I don't care what anyone says....any sub 2.0L n/a 4 banger that's putting 117HP or better at the wheels is pretty good IMO. The Focus 2.0L (non SVT's) were getting those kinda numbers after an intake, header, exhaust, and pulley.

Maybe the Scion is the new Neon? Neons are too respected these days so it takes all the fun out of it.

Micah