The HISTORY OF ZILVIA/ Geopolitical Analysis of Silvia culture

[LockOn!]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

BHWolrd


that is all.

I managed to download all the DoriTen rips he had up there before the website disappeared around what, 2012?

THANK YOU SENPAI

[Yuri]

Since there seems to be some interest in the golden era of Zilvia, I'll share some of my recollections of what it was like having a built 240 and being active in the SoCal drift scene back around 2003-2007.

PART1:
The cars: At that time, the ways cars were built was quite a bit different than today. Regardless of the part used, it tended to be a quality piece, either imported from Japan, or made by a reputable machine shop in the area. There simply were no cheap knock-off companies that built low-quality parts for our cars. Parts were made by Tein, Cusco, Blitz, HKS, Tanabe, Bride, Personal, Momo, etc, and people saved for a while to drop a chunk of change on them. Occasionally you could find used parts, but not too often. The exception to this rule was used JDM wheels. SoCal Alteration was a small shop completely stocked with quality imported used JDM wheels. Oftentimes they would be quite odd too, as they would get in stock that wasn't popular even in Japan, but most of the wheels were pretty spot on for S-chassis. If you were ok with thinking outside the box and trendsetting, you could find wheels from them or other importers that were dirt cheap. This is how I ended up with first a set of Enkei G-square Trentinos, and then, the first set of Weds Kranze Cerberus in the US. I didn't get them because anyone thought they were cool, I got them because an importer friend was having trouble selling them, and they looked ridiculous. (No one was attempting to fit an 18x11 on an S-chassis at that time.)
Drivetrain wise, most people were still running KA's, many having swapped out their single cams for twin cams. SR's were starting to become popular, with several shops doing the swaps for customers, Cartune Motorsport and Driftspeed being two of the more prolific swappers. Cartune would also source low-mileage shells for customers looking to do a swap, and selling the shell itself for cheap when paired with the swap. A few people were doing RB25 swaps, but drifters usually avoided these because it was a lot of added weight over the front wheels compared to the lighter SR. LSD's were considered a requirement for the semi-serious drifter, and almost everyone I knew ran a Cusco 2-way if they had the money, a stock VLSD (or a jdm one) if they were on a budget, or a welded if they were totally broke. You could always tell an enthusiast owned car when it pulled into a parking lot, because many of them would have a 2-way set to an aggressive lock, and would start popping as it would pull into the lot.
Suspension wise, the variety was crazy, as everyone was running coilovers, new or used, always JDM brands until Megan racing came on the scene towards the end. Everyone who had the money avoided megans at the time as they often broke. It was pretty cool in terms of suspension set up, because before Tein released the drift spec coilovers, there really wasn't a set up that was tailor-made to drift cars, so everyone ran what they could get, and then tuned the settings to their liking. I myself ran (and still have on my S13.4) Tein Type HE Winding Masters, a coilover that was designed for the touges of Japan, and I ordered them through Super Autobacs. (Yes. We had those.)
In terms of stance, everyone wanted to go low, but not to the point where we were grinding bodyparts on the road.
Until Brian Harte happened. BH (as he was known) was hardcore into jdm trend watching, and he and the Pink Godzira team was always a step ahead of much of the 240 scene. Brian would always go lower and lower, and as he went lower, more and more cars started to strive for what was referred to as "BH Low." It got to the point where Brian actually had a custom set of one-off coilovers made (I can't remember who made them, it was some JDM brand) that were named BH-spec.

Around the earlier part of this time frame, aero and body mods were generally pretty clean. Many strived for a straight out of Japan look, and Silvia faces on coupes or hatchbacks were an expensive mod. Zenki front lips were also popular. Aero kits didn't start becoming widespread until around 2004 or so, and even then, they were subtle, usually of the vertex style. You could buy brand new jdm parts if you had the cash, through places like Superior Nissan of Puente hills, with an entire Kouki 180SX taillight conversion with kevlar garnish running $500. You could get Nismo parts too, but except for the front subframe brace, most people went with other well-established japanese brands.

Around perhaps 2005 though, there was a big shift in aesthetics. Drift cars started getting super-flamboyant, and much of this happened on the Ziptied forums, which were an invite-only set of forums that were only populated by the hardcore.
Aggressive body kits, slammed ride-height, and uber-flush fitment became the order of the day, with bright candy or metal flake paint covering everything. Graphics still were limited to team style stickers on the glass.
Pink Godzira built a series of cars that were done up Japanese team style, matching colors and all, but around this time, a group known as Viceroy in Texas started pushing the limits of what was being done. While the super flamboyant style was taking off, there were still super clean builds being done with lots of attention to detail, like Norm's (USDM180SX I think) S14. Norm's S14 was super clean, with most everything modified being extremely subtle and well-executed, with basically just a ride height change and wheels hinting at what was going on under the sheetmetal.
Most of the builds didn't remain fixed, they would often go through signifigant changes every once in a while, with an aero change, wheel change, or color change being the norm. People would be constantly trying out different parts to find what worked best for them, and everyone knew everyone else, often times going to other's houses to trade car parts for others. A chargespeed bucket would be swapped for a c/f hood and so on.

Anyone who was into the scene at that time can tell you what a pain finding wheels was. The S-chassis mostly used a 4x114.3 lug pattern, but also took a low-offset which no one made at a decent price, so everyone used either used JDM, or did a 5-lug swap. If you wanted to run a widebody, you almost had to get five-lug, or run huge bolt on spacers, because you'd never find wheels in that sizing.

I hope this has brought some light to the scene back in the day.

Join me later for future installments including:
Part 2: The night life (meets and canyons)
Part 3: The Drift scene
Part 4: The shops

[240meowth]

Originally Posted by Yuri

Aren't they in California someplace? Wish I knew, those guys were awesome.

I caught up with Kevin on AIM one time years ago. I think he moved to the Inland Empire had a large back yard and got a race horse...

[DreEzed]

Man I miss the rep system.

[Felipe]

Waiting for part 2.....

[Malik]

Originally Posted by DreEzed

Man I miss the rep system.

yeah we gotta bring this back, or some other derivation

[d9m13n]

Man I was born too late....

This is awesome, much respect to all the old guard

[smellslikecurry]

The rep system was the best thing that ever happened to Zilvia.

[SlideWell]

Funny. Nice to see some old names still floating around. I miss the rep system, too. I was most active during my last build from 2007-2011. Grant shipped me a front set of R32 GTR brakes for something like $150. Taxes are high these days. I like the old days.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by smellslikecurry

The rep system was the best thing that ever happened to Zilvia.

Agreed. The highest repped person (Phlip) barely posts anymore.

I was #2 (literally because of the OT section). It was like a game. So much fun. lol. I don't have the time I had back then if it came back.

It (and the Premie section) really did build this forum as a real community though. Once the rep system went away the Premie section died and along with it a lot of fun times and camaraderie. Less fucks are given nowadays.

Them were the days.

[kashira kureijii]

y'all shoulda stamped out the LS Swaps and missile fuckbois before they became too powerful, you have no one to blame but yourselves for this descent into car degeneracy.

[1988montecarloss]

Originally Posted by kashira kureijii

y'all shoulda stamped out the LS Swaps and missile fuckbois before they became too powerful, you have no one to blame but yourselves for this descent into car degeneracy.

nothing wrong with LS swaps, a shitty looking car is a shitty looking car even with an SR/KA/RB under the hood

[Pblesh85]

There is a simple reason the "good o'l days" and culture of the past is gone here.

When the website was most active and the car scene was at its peak. Most of the long term members on here were in our early 20's. As time goes on a lot of people simply grow out of the culture. How many of us(aside from myself) really enjoy driving a 20-25 year old car, especially as a daily driver ? As time goes on tastes change, interests evolve, "more adult", kids, ect...

This leads way to a new generation. Unfortunately not every new generation is a positive thing. Trends today do not help either.

It's simple though. Most of us grew up, made some bullshit reason to sell our cars, and simply moved on. Now you have the few that stayed behind and the masses of new 18-22 year olds that say "missile cars are dope", "who cares if I run miss matched wheels", "18x12-30 fit s chassis", and all the other crap-tastic trends out there today.

The hay days are long gone, and this is what we have left. Try and make the best of I guess...

I know I won't make a damn bit of difference not buying into knock off parts, or jumping on every bandwagon company that starts up trying to be the new local flavor and be the homies next door. But it's the only way I think this culture should be represented. Real parts, simple and tasteful, and simply enjoy these cars for what they are.


Whatever, my 2cents

[Dutchmalmiss]

Originally Posted by Pblesh85

There is a simple reason the "good o'l days" and culture of the past is gone here.

When the website was most active and the car scene was at its peak. Most of the long term members on here were in our early 20's. As time goes on a lot of people simply grow out of the culture. How many of us(aside from myself) really enjoy driving a 20-25 year old car, especially as a daily driver ? As time goes on tastes change, interests evolve, "more adult", kids, ect...

This leads way to a new generation. Unfortunately not every new generation is a positive thing. Trends today do not help either.

It's simple though. Most of us grew up, made some bullshit reason to sell our cars, and simply moved on. Now you have the few that stayed behind and the masses of new 18-22 year olds that say "missile cars are dope", "who cares if I run miss matched wheels", "18x12-30 fit s chassis", and all the other crap-tastic trends out there today.

The hay days are long gone, and this is what we have left. Try and make the best of I guess...

I know I won't make a damn bit of difference not buying into knock off parts, or jumping on every bandwagon company that starts up trying to be the new local flavor and be the homies next door. But it's the only way I think this culture should be represented. Real parts, simple and tasteful, and simply enjoy these cars for what they are.


Whatever, my 2cents

That's probably the most concise way to put it in a nutshell. The only reason I still have my S-chassis is because it's on jackstands haha. The moment I finish finish my Z-brakes, I'll probably fall in love with it for about a couple more weeks then realize it's time to let it go. Every S-chassis I've seen around my area is literally not in one color and proudly driven as if that was their end-goal. Nope.

[TheRealSy90]

Facebook killed the forums.

[exitspeed]

Originally Posted by TheRealSy90

Facebook killed the forums.

Party poopers killed the rep system and the premie section, which impacted the whole forum. Facebook gave everyone a place to pick up where things left off here.

[CrimsonRockett]

Originally Posted by Dutchmalmiss

That's probably the most concise way to put it in a nutshell. The only reason I still have my S-chassis is because it's on jackstands haha. The moment I finish finish my Z-brakes, I'll probably fall in love with it for about a couple more weeks then realize it's time to let it go. Every S-chassis I've seen around my area is literally not in one color and proudly driven as if that was their end-goal. Nope.

I give credit to "Socal S-chassis" for putting together their annual meet, but the amount of garbage that was there was ridiculous.

Out of all the cars that were there, less than 10 were properly done and only two actually impressed me.

The rest were mismatched or even missing body panels, low hanging bumpers missing massive chunks, terrible paint jobs, the list goes on.

You'll always have that crowd that wants everything now (low budget), properly done (big budget), and the forever builds (me).

[Dutchmalmiss]

Originally Posted by CrimsonRockett

I give credit to "Socal S-chassis" for putting together their annual meet, but the amount of garbage that was there was ridiculous.

Out of all the cars that were there, less than 10 were properly done and only two actually impressed me.

The rest were mismatched or even missing body panels, low hanging bumpers missing massive chunks, terrible paint jobs, the list goes on.

You'll always have that crowd that wants everything now (low budget), properly done (big budget), and the forever builds (me).

Slow builds are the best. Detail-oriented (usually). I'm on year 13 with mine haha.

[Renzin]

Originally Posted by Yuri

I hope this has brought some light to the scene back in the day.

Join me later for future installments including:
Part 2: The night life (meets and canyons)
Part 3: The Drift scene
Part 4: The shops

That was a good read. Any chance for part 2 coming?

[TheRealSy90]

Originally Posted by exitspeed

Party poopers killed the rep system and the premie section, which impacted the whole forum. Facebook gave everyone a place to pick up where things left off here.

I'm referring to the amount of people that post the stupidest, easiest to solve questions on 240 facebook groups. Because they don't know how to literally google something. It's infuriating.

[AMD 240]

"I went to start my car this morning and it wont start. What do?"


That shit is so annoying. I just either laugh at the person if it's something super super stupid. Or i ignore it. It's like people think that since it's only facebook. They don't have to even attempt to try to look shit up.

[Felipe]

Originally Posted by AMD 240

"I went to start my car this morning and it wont start. What do?"
.

That just brings me back to the good old days lol..

What do you do?. Well for starters you can put your flame suit on because its Zilvia and you about to get shit on lmao...

[Pblesh85]

Everyone who posts a question(mostly the new guys) gets instantly flamed. Everyone always spouts off with, try google bruh, use search newb, ect...

There was a time when most of the questions were valid(most, not all... some are totally fucking tar-tard).

It was cool being new to something. You have a question, you ask it, and most people are totally down to help. Or there would be a question that someone asked and it was something you are dealing with. It was just a fun time.

Now if you have a question you have to search through 1000's of posts and hope you find what your looking for. Totally gay...

Plus when we all flame someone for asking a common question to US... it makes us all look like stuck up dicks that are trying to exclude new people. Then you see that attitude rub off on the new guys. So now you have a bunch of 18~22 year olds acting as if they started this website and sounding like pretentious dick heads.

I would totally take the new questions vs a new trend from one particular member on here. This said member Posts pictures on EVERY SINGLE pic thread on here. NONE of which are his cars. Its as if HE discovered the internet single handed.

I dont know how it doesn't bother anyone else.

[kashira kureijii]

Originally Posted by Pblesh85

.



I dont know how it doesn't bother anyone else.

Robogardless?

Haha ya, spammy af

Its cool to see yall bein nostalgic and shit. Theres something so cool about being the old skewl ones who created a brand new culture around a vehicle, and made all the important discoveries (like all the parts interchangability, swap guides, etc)

Wheres yuri? He was supposed to make a cool pt 2 history, i dont know what happened in the old days and am unqualified as zilvia historian

[Pblesh85]

No, thats not the member im talking about. Its REALLY easy to notice. Look at ANY thread where you post pics. He posts in ALL of them. way more than anyone else.

[smoked240]

This is great! Glad I stuck through it till the end.
It's almost 2017 fellas

[AKADriver]

Freshalloy was a great forum in the early 2000s but moved slowly. It was a great place for tech but not for social stuff.

There was a big group of us here from the mid-atlantic region that were very active from 2001-2005 or so and that's what brought me here. Also people like DousanPG who knew a lot about high quality Japanese parts.

What happened to the FAQs guys like me and mrmephistopheles wrote about brakes and suspension?

I stopped actively posting around 2006 or 2007. I crashed my car in 2005 and replaced it with a Miata, gut busy with real life but stayed around while helping G6CivCX with SR tech stuff and the early days of V8 swaps. Lost interest after that because the scene changed to be more about wrecking your car than improving it.

[kashira kureijii]

Originally Posted by Pblesh85

No, thats not the member im talking about. Its REALLY easy to notice. Look at ANY thread where you post pics. He posts in ALL of them. way more than anyone else.

Classless moped/z guy?

Not gonna lie, there is some fairly shitty info on the old freshalloy threads, because people at the time were trying to figure shit out. I feel like all that old info was sifted through to make the much more reliable early zilvia faqs .

[SlideWell]

I was hesitant to come back to the S-chassis world, the crowd being what it is. Ultimately, 5 years later (1 month ago), I picked up my first S13; my 4th S-chassis. The cars are just so incredibly fun to drive. It is as if you are driving on rails. You don't have that in many cars these days. And they're easy to fix...usually. The few little things I've had to fix on the car were diagnosed via Google, which usually brings you to Zilvia. Before, there were a lot of beat up S13's. Now, there's just more of them, however, S14's are slowly taking that position on the podium now, despite the ludicrous prices people are asking for them. They used to all be clean. But...such as history goes, it is a continuing circle of vehicle value and use. The Rep system kept people interested. The level of courtesy in here changed once it was gone, and, as a new generation has grabbed hold of these cars, it has declined sharply.

[bboyoracle]

Originally Posted by Pblesh85

There is a simple reason the "good o'l days" and culture of the past is gone here.

When the website was most active and the car scene was at its peak. Most of the long term members on here were in our early 20's. As time goes on a lot of people simply grow out of the culture. How many of us(aside from myself) really enjoy driving a 20-25 year old car, especially as a daily driver ? As time goes on tastes change, interests evolve, "more adult", kids, ect...

This leads way to a new generation. Unfortunately not every new generation is a positive thing. Trends today do not help either.

It's simple though. Most of us grew up, made some bullshit reason to sell our cars, and simply moved on. Now you have the few that stayed behind and the masses of new 18-22 year olds that say "missile cars are dope", "who cares if I run miss matched wheels", "18x12-30 fit s chassis", and all the other crap-tastic trends out there today.

The hay days are long gone, and this is what we have left. Try and make the best of I guess...

I know I won't make a damn bit of difference not buying into knock off parts, or jumping on every bandwagon company that starts up trying to be the new local flavor and be the homies next door. But it's the only way I think this culture should be represented. Real parts, simple and tasteful, and simply enjoy these cars for what they are.


Whatever, my 2cents

I think this is a great answer. I for one sold my car and used the funds to go back to school and get a degree. (Adulting sucks)

To your point about knockoff parts. I think there is a misunderstanding among new enthusiasts about real parts. Which include that there are none stateside, hard to find or it's too expensive. But what new enthusiasts don't understand is that our generation brought a lot of real parts, though it took forever, into the US. And used, those parts are actually quite affordable.

That's the reason I created www.tunrex.com It's a simple marketplace for buying and selling authentic Japanese car parts. Real used aftermarket parts all in one place. No fake parts.

I drive a lot of traffic to the site from Facebook and Instagram (even helped a couple of zilvia members). It has been received well, so it's my hope we can get people back to simple and clean builds again.