import haters

hey guys

whats the deal with hating imports? i know fwd is not the ideal format for a race car, but it is the ideal format for todays' teens: cheap, relieble, and easy to tinker on. i know i know, lots of people have that image of the kid with the tennis hat on backwards and upside down so he has the same 3 foot wing on his head as he has on his car, but take the time to get get to know these kids. theyre the same kids that we were some odd years ago. theyve got a hand me down, they found speed parts for it,mixed in a little creativeness, and theyve got something cool.  i go to shadyside dragway every now and then and almost had my ass handed to me by a honda.  this asian dude, who was 16 or 17 was grinning from ear not cuz he almost beat me, but because he was hauling ass in something he built. sounds like one of us if you ask me. oh yeah, he showed me his car and i thought.........damn, he was sandbagging, he should have tore me a new one.  anyway,  i was just wondering, if we really wanted to show out, why not build a project car that can boast the same as some of those factory honda speed demons. if you dont know, honda makes a few factory stock engines that have 100hp per liter and are dead relieble. 1hp per cubic inch cant compete with that. i know i'd like to have 500 horses instead of 302 of them. anyway what about a project engine or car that can do the same naturally apirated? try it in "furburger's" firebird to be different. and use nothing but pontiac parts! can i get a hell yeah?!

                                                                      Sic5Liter

They're ugly, plastic cars that don't sound any better than my moms blender. Also, they don't make the kind of torque that sucks you into the back of the seat and make you hold on for dear life. All in all i just don't find them interesting.  I have friends that are into imports, and im ok with it, but there will always be the rivalry between buzz bombs and the pavement pounding muscle cars  

they are alot different then I was when I was younger.  When I turned 16 I got handed down a toyota camry but instead of wasting my time to make it faster i sold it and bought a monte carlo ss.  As far as being cheaper... ha  I've looked at the sport compact section of my summit racing catalog,  cheaper my ass!

Read this carefully.  I don't hate imports.  The owners are the ones with the problems, not the cars.

who cares if those imports have more horsepower per liter, we have more horsepower per car. If we made the same horsepower per liter in american muscle cars, you wouldn't want it on the street anyways, too much power for a daily driver (if there is such a thing). Imports aren't that easy to work on, ever have to change the clutch on an honda. I coulda swapped a few engines in my nova in that amount of time. Maybe if they hopped up the cars, and left the factory mufflers on, then they might be acceptable, but the sound they make is sooo damn annoying. I dont know who thought it sounded good, but they musta been a deaf and retarded. Throttle steer vs. torque steer (and the lack there of), come on, whats funner? Dont think all muscle cars are gas guzzlers either, when some plan out the drive train, they can be very fuel effecient.  

still though,

i dont think a 5oo horse 302 is too much for the street.

Hell yeah! I think the bird can do it. I've got an '85 SS Monte, a 92 GMC typhoon and have only owned American. Imports are just a new breed. You don't have to buy them, but I think we should respect them. Some amazing things have been done with them, it's just the young "wet behind the ears" crowd that have made them look and sound goofy. You can't tell me that tastless mods and fads have never been done to American cars. Sleeper is the way to go.  

thanks for opening the old "import" can of worms again.  Way to go.  

Hey, I'm a high school senior and I drive a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville which I really like. Do you hate these kind of cars too? I personally hate imports too because the kids at my school who drives the "blinged out" imports are very arrogant and thinks they are a "car god" But I know the car is completely stock so they don't pose much of a threat. My car, sadly, is completely stock too but there is no gaudy parts, it's pretty much stock in and out. It's bloody fast for its size. It can easily dust off most imports. It pulls amazily hard, easily burn rubber when you accelerate hard. I like it very much because of those reasons. I wanted a muscle car but my parents wouldn't listen so I was forced to have a FWD but I think I made a good choice.

Spedponcho

I dont think you have a bad choice. The car is a good one, prolly the 3800 motor? Makes as much power as those crappy foriegn jobs after all their modifications, prolly still more. doesn't sound anything close to a fart bomb. my parents have a 2003 grand am gt with the ram air v-6. very nice. it gets up and moves and spin them even when traction control is on. takes a few cars by surprise.  

I agree...Im a fan of fast...however you can get it...but also i am not a fan of arrogance...just like the middle age guys that swear they spent a bazillion dollars on their car that they never drive and its faster than yours just because its got a BBC...even if its a cruddy 402 chevelle pitted against your T-rammed 355 monza...hehe.

I dont like the imports guys that have more bumps than grumps.
The ones that have the wings and paints and ground effects with the fart can and no motor mods...fashion isnt fast guys.
expecially if its not a manual tranny car...cmon...my grandma can drive a stick.

But the guys that are dropping in the v-tecs and ecotecs and turboing them in stock trim with a little giggle juice and pushing 12's...Ive got respect for that

Ive seen those car take 10 second time slips in stock trim...ID be jealous regardless of national origin.
But some just dont look as good as others....like a cavalier vs. 3rdor 4th gen celicas...or some of the honda...they look good.

but...they still cant pull wheel stands with front wheel peel FWD.

God bless
-Shred

to the original poster:  mot of these kids(i went to school with them)  don't drive hand me downs. it's more like"daddy, can i have the new eclipse or whatever other piece of #### is coming out form japan that claims to make power but does not?  cause i have to be like everyone else and i don't ha e the balls for a real car.  

Awesome. Yup it's the 3800 V6, I wish I had a supercharger, it's the base SE model so... I like it and I'm pretty sure future girlfriends will like how roomy the car is (hint, hint). Anyway, oh god, I forgot about the fart can, they're the worst thing I have ever seen. And the worst sounding, that's coming from a deaf guy! I can't hear the muffler but I certainly can feel it when it passes me or so. I have felt a real musclecar's muffler and yes it's the best feeling. I swear these fart cans has no backpressure and is just straight through flowing. Those would wreak havoc on the valves. I believe that every car stills need some degree of backpressure or the valves won't close properly. Am I right? I can't recall the reason why we still need some backpressure. I'm considering a KN air filter intake kit from a Grand Prix and adapt it to my car and maybe a "touring" muffler, one that is better flowing but doesn't sound stupid like a import's fart can. I wish I had a digital camera so I could photograph some of the ridiculous "posers" that occupy my school's parking lot. I'll tell you about one that I despite. The kid has a 2000 or so Dodge Neon and it's red. Okay? I know it has no modifications because I illegally raced him once and the Bonnie didn't even try. Anyway, it has a black fender (accident I believe) and white primered ground effects, HUGE ones. It also has a two foot tall wing (the metal looking one) and clear lights. Has 17" rims and what looks to be a five point racing belts. Can you guys imagine that in your head how stupid he looks?  

first off the 3800 is a good motor, my brother owns a 2000 grand prix gtp. you can look into an aftermarket supercharger, the centrifical supercharger is good for horsepower but low on the torque numbers, a roots type will help you more in the low end. both can be expensive but since you will be running a supercharger you can also look into headers which can help with power. as for a meaner sound to your car i believe flowmaster makes a set of mufflers for the 3800 and if i am not mistaken so down magnaflow(not sure on that one might wanna look into it). but either way about it the car is pretty sweet, and it rides nice as hell. and in response to saying that younger kids wanna get imports for whatever reason. i dont think so. i just got back from iraq and i had people telling me just pick up some *** crap rice racer, but instead i did the right thing, bought an 85 camaro with an engine that would last a lil bit(picked it up for a grand) and had a 383 short block made ready by the local machine shop. ive befriended quite a few of the cashiers at the local oreilly's(i get the employee discount from 6 of 8 people there) and they have hooked me up with all their contacts. 2 of my brothers friends rebuild tranny and rear ends. what im saying is people may think that imports are cheaper, but domestics run tighter packs. we take care of each other and make sure that everything is done right. all im saying is, if you see rice, do like the japanese, eat em for breakfast.  

i couldnt have said it better.......i used to have a eagle talon tsi (american made baby!)and this thing freakin hauled ass!  

Being deaf must be a cursing and a blessing. U get to miss the rediculious sound of a fart can, but you miss the scream of a v-8. Anyone notice the latest trend in ricer exaust. I've seen 3 cars with two fart cans attached to a Y-pipe. Regoddamndiculous. the last guy i seen with that, i rolled the window down and puked. I still dont know if the ricers know that adding bigger rims will slow them down, and that most will never reach a speed fast enough to make the wing functional, which is an oximornic statement anyways because it would be better off attached to the hood.