What Happened?? Because Driftcar...Somewhere along the way we missed the point...

[Corbic]

Chapter Three - Commercialization

I'm tired of hearing about it. I see it time and time again.. "knock offs ruined the scene". Seriously? I honestly don't recall HKS or Greddy ever once coming out and sponsoring a local get together and buying us Taco Bell or some shit.

People get way to uptight about this stuff. People build two types of cars -Performance and Show. This does not mean that the car is a trailer queen taken to HIN shows, nor does it mean that you're going to actually compete in SCCA/NASA events.. it just means the owner is either wanting to go-faster, handle better or wants it to look better or be more comfortable.

This just makes the whole thing a big "my wallets bigger than yours". If the goal is to lower the car to a half-inch off the ground, who cares if the kid used cut-springs, Ksport or KWs. They got the job done. A blow off valve is nothing but an overpriced $12 pressure release valve.. it does not matter in the end if it's a HKS, Greddy or whatever, it if gets the job done.

I think the over-commercialization; the overly heavy emphasis on brand is what is killing the scene. I'm tired of seeing dorky ass "street ware", stupid shirts saying "flush" or "Ninja Status Slammed" with a picture of a coil over. I want to puke every time I see a Scion add telling me how cool and street Scion is, and then I see FD with their NASCAR Scions - like WHOA I buy a Scion I can drift like Tony Stuart or whatever. Talk about bending the rules. A TC shares a chassis with a AWD available wagon in Europe.. soooooo.. we can swap a NASCAR spec V8 in it!! Shame on FD for selling out to get Toyota Sponsor money. Shame on Scion for being so "trendy".

Look at drifting, the major league commercialization and corporate politics has really killed it for me. Even local events (around here) suck anymore. $50 to buy a NOS banner that you HAVE to sport so you can pay $120 to run.. and then the ever increasing rules and regulations. Race-Suits and cages for Tandem? *Sigh*

[raz0rbladez909]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Chapter Three - Commercialization

I'm tired of hearing about it. I see it time and time again.. "knock offs ruined the scene". Seriously? I honestly don't recall HKS or Greddy ever once coming out and sponsoring a local get together and buying us Taco Bell or some shit.

Corbic I agree with everything you've said in these posts except for the bolded statement. Recently Greddy themselves actually threw an event at their headquarters in irvine for all of SoCalEvo.net where they actually bought pizza's for everyone that showed up. As well as they discounted all of their Evo products and asked for suggestions for what other products we'd like to see made for the cars. Also they have their annual Greddy garage sale where all of their parts are discounted. It makes me understand that if you show a company they have the support of enthusiasts, they will continue to bring out newer and better products. If you don't support them you can't expect them to support you. There are actually quite a few companies that do the same thing, barbecues, dyno days, get togethers. But if nobody shows up or if everyone just goes for the free shit then it doesn't help either group. Oh well thats more of the entire import scene vs just drifting but figured I'd put that out there.

[thefro526]

Corbic just laid down some serious knowledge.

I can dig it.

But back to rad drift cars:

[ericcastro]

Originally Posted by raz0rbladez909

Corbic I agree with everything you've said in these posts except for the bolded statement. Recently Greddy themselves actually threw an event at their headquarters in irvine for all of SoCalEvo.net where they actually bought pizza's for everyone that showed up. As well as they discounted all of their Evo products and asked for suggestions for what other products we'd like to see made for the cars. Also they have their annual Greddy garage sale where all of their parts are discounted. It makes me understand that if you show a company they have the support of enthusiasts, they will continue to bring out newer and better products. If you don't support them you can't expect them to support you. There are actually quite a few companies that do the same thing, barbecues, dyno days, get togethers. But if nobody shows up or if everyone just goes for the free shit then it doesn't help either group. Oh well thats more of the entire import scene vs just drifting but figured I'd put that out there.

They did that as an attempt to bucket some water out before the whole boat sinks.
Its nice to see they realize there is a need for change and are trying to adapt to the modern consumer.
Its gone from building cars with expensive parts to show off, to keeping the car on the track, maintenece, and track fees.
So the consumers money has changed direction in the last few years.

[Kingbaby]

<------going to move back to Japan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pzBOTQ843Y

i think folks like Corbic or Surfboard Castro, one day, will realize the negative impact that knockoff and poorly engineered products have on this industry.

while a product may cost X dollars to manufacture, it turns into an XXX dollar part when you take into the various other variables: amount of product to be sold, operating costs, marketing, taxes, etc.

for instance, if you dont want to pay for a greddy BOV, then dont buy it. instead, buy an OEM BOV off of an <evo> <sti> <porsche turbo> <etc> and cut costs. this is not a guarantee that the part will be cheaper, as sometimes they end up being more expensive.

its just annoying listening to people spout off about the costs of something. its an open market, there are plenty of alternatives out there. however, there is absolutely no good legal reason to copying another companies product.

edit: nevermind, spoke too soon:

Originally Posted by Corbic

I've used Circuit Sport products in the past. Absolute garbage.

The coating/paint used is shit and they will rust in front of your eyes.

[OBEEWON]

Originally Posted by Corbic

What is the Scene?

This isn't directed at anyone, more or less just a "thinking out loud" for a second -

I keep hearing and reading out the "Scene" is dead, or it's not what it used to be, and I'd like to elaborate on the way I see it, as well as get everyone's input on how they see it.

Back in the 1990's the Car Tuner scene was booming. For the first time, Imports where making as much or more power then domestics, Japanese companies where pumping out uber advanced, bad ass cars at pennies compared to their German counter parts. Kids were also inheriting Mom and Dads late 80's Hondas while baller guys where first in line to pick up a DC2 or DSM.


Chapter One -Old School

Two things happened -Gangsta-Wannabies and Fast and the Furious.

The GWs started showing up a meets, hoping to turn the thing into a street rave, blasting music, picking fights and steeling anything and everything. Even in BFE Indiana we had them damn "OC" (Osecola) kids showing up all pants sagging in their busted rides talking trash and the minute you turned around all your CDS where gone.

FNF - prior to FaceSpace, the only way to hang out was too&hellip; hang out. It wasn't uncommon for my friends and I just to get dropped off at the mall or Meijer and wander around forever (aged 12-14) cause there was nothing else to do. FNF happened when I was in HS and then suddenly everyone wanted to live that life-style. Not actually street race, but just be "cool". So the next day every Plymouth Breeze or Ford Probe in the school parking lot was hitting up Autozone for under lights, wings, chrome washer caps so forth so that Friday night the owner could hard park and look cool. These are the "true" ricers in my opinion. They don't care about cars let alone know anything about them, the car is just a fashion accessory so they can "be part of the scene". These guys are normally the big "Brand Trashers" as they are not real automotive enthusiasts, they just spit out stereotypical rhetoric. "Domestics suck, No replacement for displacement, ricer-burners, gas guzzlers, Front-Wheel-Fail"

These two groups ruined the scene. Now, the big car hangouts in my neck of the woods are dead. The only thing we see are either major league organized events (Import Alliance, HIN et al) or just 3-6 good friends hanging out and taking a few photos.

Today, most kids don't seem into cars, they'd rather Mybook it up, squabble on the interwebs so forth. I honestly don't see the "Autozone Ricers" anymore.


There was also major community backlash because of the "Autozone Ricers". Bodykits, underlights, decals, vinyles, wings.. hell anything that wasn't OEM+ was not only out of style, but also down right hated. The entire import scene became the 1998 Camaro scene - if it wasn't to make you faster, it didn't belong on the car.

However it does seem like recently that old-school 90's styling is coming back into vogue. S3 magazine is full of that, and people now thing yellow window tint, purple paint, gold vinyl's, oversized wheels and ill fitting body kits are cool again..

Proof

Chapter Two - New Breed

The internet has both saved and destroyed the scene. Now, I can go on Zilvia and troll about BSing with fellow 240 owners all across America. Get help, give help and have a more global scene feel. However I think it's also lead to a new culture that is more hostile. People expect everyone to rock a Magazine/Blogspot quality ride. If you don't, you're a poser, ricer so forth.

This is kind of like saying, "Well if you don't look like a Abercrombie model, your ruining humanity" or something. Those cars featured in Import Tuner, DSport or Speedhunters are the super models and pro-start athletes of the auto world. We need to keep that in perspective, because it really seems like everyone is expecting some 18 year old kid who just bought his first car to be rocking a ride as bad ass as BronzeCarmry's the next day.

I also think the greater exposure of the blogs and internets creates fads spreading way to fast and getting burned out to fast. Roof-Racks, Tow-hook toys, stickers, illest, fatlace, deepdish hellaflush so forth.. People quickly imitate this and in many cases either don't have the funds, patients or know-how to really pull it off as well. The result is a sea of "poser" mobiles, it's like every fat chick running out and getting lip injections to look like Angelia Jolie.

I also see a resurgence of the whole "life style" crowd. Once again, these hipster-skater ken block wannabies are not really into cars, they don't care about cars, they don't even care about their car.. they just want to be "be cool" and "be part of the scene". I think we see this all the time with the dumbass threads people post.. if they honestly cared, they could have searched and found the answer in minutes, but they are too busy updating their facestalker, searching for the latest set of shoes and hoodies from Journey's Online and downloading Kayne West's new album to give a crap.

What?

So many words and abreviations I don't understand...

For real. Cliff notes in like 3 sentences? I'm not sure if I agree or dissagree. Just too many words for a Wed. afternoon.

[gearhead55]

i want to go back.

Seriously if anyone wants to trade a carbureted AE86 for my RB s13, let me know...

[OBEEWON]

Cool wallpaper.



Love this car @ Wembley.

[yellowxhoodie]

>



that is all.

[240zach]

theres for sure a middle point for every liking though..where a car looks a bit fucked up, but is still stret driven u can tell its been crash yet still looks good..i gotta find a pic still though, it was like some yellow coupe with a missing hodd and flush as wheels driving. lol

[yellowxhoodie]

[OBEEWON]

I can dig this. I dont know if it was slid, but its beat with so much style. Almost rat rod.

[ericcastro]

Japan has a 1000% different mentality on things though.

Its 100%, or nothing, and no percentage given to anything else.
Its their culture.

Whatever you are into, you're into that 110% and thats it, NO other interest.

As where I bet we like cars, and about 20 other things.
In Japan you dont like cars, hitting the club, listening to hip hop and doing some art.
Its only cars 100%, or break dancing 100%, or video games 100%, and then you get a real suit job and never touch any of that stuff again.....

yeah, JPN for the win, lmao!!
We are a very different culture, so to me the comparison is nill.


and taking one of the best looking cars from D1 and one of FD's worse is no comparison either.
Or the fact one is an old car, and one is off the factory line.

[codyace]

Originally Posted by OBEEWON

I can dig this. I dont know if it was slid, but its beat with so much style. Almost rat rod.

That car is a facade to me. I don't mind the end result (lookswise) but I'm not a fan at all on the reason beyond it's build (internet attention).

I just have a hard time liking what is the epitome of impersonation/poser-dom .... Granted I don't know the owner, and I could be wrong, but from all of the blogs/hypetrain/nonsense that I've reada bout it it's pretty obvious to me that it's a 'show car' more than a real 'character' car that it's trying to present itself as.

[s13 k3nrock]

Corbic you've summed it up in so many words i couldnt have said myself
but aside from the facts there's still reality
the hipsters of the drift scene will only continue to diminish the quality of the sport, theres no avoiding it, its done in everything that is good and will proceed for the rest of our lives deal with it and move on, everytime i see a rattle can black s13 on lime green tear drops cut springs and the biggest ebay exhaust money can buy it brings a sincere tear to my eye, but ive never been one to let what others do affect how i represent myself let your car speak for itself those with style it will show all the rest will merge with traffic... its up to you to make sure theres still some decent rides still driving around 10 years from now when all the bandwagoners jump on another dick

Originally Posted by ericcastro

Japan has a 1000% different mentality on things though.

Its 100%, or nothing, and no percentage given to anything else.
Its their culture.

are you Japanese, Eric Castro? I dont want to disagree or agree, I just think its too broad of a generalization.

I will just say, that I know of one person that immediately comes to mind who is a car guy, who is also an artist, who is also a magazine editor, who also plays piano, and also fabricates car parts.

Last month, I met a Japanese guy who works for a tuning shop here. He bolted 4x114.3 wheels onto his 4x100 vehicle which shall remain nameless. All I could say was "wow"... the fuckin balls of that guy.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

are you Japanese, Eric Castro? I dont want to disagree or agree, I just think its too broad of a generalization.

I will just say, that I know of one person that immediately comes to mind who is a car guy, who is also an artist, who is also a magazine editor, who also plays piano, and also fabricates car parts.

Last month, I met a Japanese guy who works for a tuning shop here. He bolted 4x114.3 wheels onto his 4x100 vehicle which shall remain nameless. All I could say was "wow"... the fuckin balls of that guy.

If anything I would argue the more "focused" hobbies are not because of culture, but because of limited funds. Japan is god damn expensive, its hard enough for some to own a car let alone mod and race one.

There also seem to be a lot more private shops that build and show case cars. We tend to simply have corporate backed rides.

[240zach]

the hipsters of the drift scene will only continue to diminish the quality of the sport, theres no avoiding it, its done in everything that is good and will proceed for the rest of our lives deal with it and move on, everytime i see a rattle can black s13 on lime green tear drops cut springs and the biggest ebay exhaust money can buy it brings a sincere tear to my eye, but ive never been one to let what others do affect how i represent myself let your car speak for itself those with style it will show all the rest will merge with traffic... its up to you to make sure theres still some decent rides still driving around 10 years from now when all the bandwagoners jump on another dick

true that man, and they hate on everybody else. like if you see another modded car you dont go to them and mean mug em and try and race them like some honda SNIP, like its so hard for people now a days to just drive theyre cars without hating on everybody else.

[Nismo240driftSX]

Originally Posted by s13 k3nrock

Corbic you've summed it up in so many words i couldnt have said myself
but aside from the facts there's still reality
the hipsters of the drift scene will only continue to diminish the quality of the sport, theres no avoiding it, its done in everything that is good and will proceed for the rest of our lives deal with it and move on, everytime i see a rattle can black s13 on lime green tear drops cut springs and the biggest ebay exhaust money can buy it brings a sincere tear to my eye, but ive never been one to let what others do affect how i represent myself let your car speak for itself those with style it will show all the rest will merge with traffic... its up to you to make sure theres still some decent rides still driving around 10 years from now when all the bandwagoners jump on another dick

^This....QFT. This pretty much sums up a lot of what I mean.

[raz0rbladez909]

Originally Posted by 240zach

true that man, and they hate on everybody else. like if you see another modded car you dont go to them and mean mug em and try and race them like some honda censored, like its so hard for people now a days to just drive theyre cars without hating on everybody else.

Question: Can you say pinked?

[iStayBroke]

I actually agree with a lot of what Corbic said, especially the bit about scion (I posted about that twice already haha).

Only thing I have to say is about this car:

When was that ever not cool? It looks like what D1 cars have always looked like minus the sponsor stickers

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by iStayBroke

When was that ever not cool? It looks like what D1 cars have always looked like minus the sponsor stickers

The Purple car is actually old, I believe it was mentioned they think it was built around '98 or so. As far as not cool, I would argue 2000-2009. People would be all "Oh, great car, but lose the stupid tint"
"Uh, so much rice, ditch the tint, graphics, ditch the stupid mirrors and we'll talk"

So forth. The whole scene shifted to focus on "JDM OEM" parts. Everyone wanted their car to look like a factory new, Japanese Market clone. SIR II body parts, Gather Speakers, JDM turn signals, JDM Seats, JDM HIDs, JDM Wheels.

What are the two most popular body mods on a 240? Silvia Front and Type-X swap?

[ericcastro]

Originally Posted by ixfxi

are you Japanese, Eric Castro? I dont want to disagree or agree, I just think its too broad of a generalization.

I will just say, that I know of one person that immediately comes to mind who is a car guy, who is also an artist, who is also a magazine editor, who also plays piano, and also fabricates car parts.

Last month, I met a Japanese guy who works for a tuning shop here. He bolted 4x114.3 wheels onto his 4x100 vehicle which shall remain nameless. All I could say was "wow"... the fuckin balls of that guy.

Originally Posted by Corbic

If anything I would argue the more "focused" hobbies are not because of culture, but because of limited funds. Japan is god damn expensive, its hard enough for some to own a car let alone mod and race one.

There also seem to be a lot more private shops that build and show case cars. We tend to simply have corporate backed rides.

I was roomates with a Japanese woman for a few years and skateboarded with a best friend from Japan for over 10 years.
This discussion came up many times in those relationships about cultural differences and how scenes work in Japan.
"From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue." -Tom Cruise, Last Samurai. (lmao!!)

[iStayBroke]

Originally Posted by Corbic

The Purple car is actually old, I believe it was mentioned they think it was built around '98 or so. As far as not cool, I would argue 2000-2009. People would be all "Oh, great car, but lose the stupid tint"
"Uh, so much rice, ditch the tint, graphics, ditch the stupid mirrors and we'll talk"

So forth. The whole scene shifted to focus on "JDM OEM" parts. Everyone wanted their car to look like a factory new, Japanese Market clone. SIR II body parts, Gather Speakers, JDM turn signals, JDM Seats, JDM HIDs, JDM Wheels.

What are the two most popular body mods on a 240? Silvia Front and Type-X swap?

Guess I've been in Japan too long...

Oh and ericcastro is right about the whole 100% thing.
You choose something and you perfect it.(Unlike America where you may do a bunch of things but then just be okay at it.)
You can name almost any kind of activity and list the people best at it and one of those people will be Japanese, pretty much guaranteed.

[lazysk8er2]

Originally Posted by Corbic

I think the over-commercialization; the overly heavy emphasis on brand is what is killing the scene. I'm tired of seeing dorky ass "street ware", stupid shirts saying "flush" or "Ninja Status Slammed" with a picture of a coil over. I want to puke every time I see a Scion add telling me how cool and street Scion is, and then I see FD with their NASCAR Scions - like WHOA I buy a Scion I can drift like Tony Stuart or whatever. Talk about bending the rules. A TC shares a chassis with a AWD available wagon in Europe.. soooooo.. we can swap a NASCAR spec V8 in it!! Shame on FD for selling out to get Toyota Sponsor money. Shame on Scion for being so "trendy".

Hey I love my TC as my daily!

[irax]

What it boils down to, is that America HATES culture, tradition, heritage, and anything that may be remotely exclusive in any way shape or form.

[Maeda]

You guys are all cultural fetishists, and this thread missed the entire point of drifting.

Really.

[ericcastro]

Originally Posted by irax

What it boils down to, is that America HATES culture, tradition, heritage, and anything that may be remotely exclusive in any way shape or form.

I think America is just the youtube generation of countries







(we're fucked)

[EhrikETFG]

more drift cars please your words are boring