> Come on, you old goats! I thought the movie was a lot of fun!
It was a fun movie, but that is where it stopped.
> These "rice rockets" are what the kids are hot rodding these days,
> and I think it's great. I've been to cruise nights where these cars
> are on display, and some of them are really slick! Lowered
> suspension, killer audio, neons, racing seats, and how about a
> Nintendo hidden in the passenger side floor! It's not my kind of
> ride, but I admire the work and ingenuity.
That isn't ingenuity, 99.9% of the stuff you see on the cars they ordered
out of a catalogue and bolted right on their car. The same level of
understanding of the engineering behind suspension design, for instance,
isn't as necessary as it was if you were 20 in 1973 and trying to be
competitive in your TR6. Now you order a set of matched Eibach springs and
anti-roll bars that you want, Eibach does the engineering work... you just
bolt it on. In a way the LBC aftermarket has gone a similar route, you can
order matched sets of suspension components... but there is still hardcore
engineering and trial work going on for those that are serious about their
LBCs being competitive.
I've got a European sports sedan (haha that is what they call them now!) and
there are so many aftermarket providers of high performance parts for it
that I don't understand how they all stay in business. Look at Neuspeed,
whoever heads that company is a wonderfully rich man, because he hasn't just
created lots of goodies for rice rockets but because he created a highly
marketable name brand. When was it ever cool in 1965 to block out 50% of
your windshield with a big sticker that said TRIUMPH? And even if they
can't afford the parts to make their cars go faster, they'll gladly by the
stickers!
> Can you reprogram your fuel injection with a laptop? I have had
> some great conversations with these kids - they're just modern
> day motorheads! Their cars are fast and sexy, just like
If you had a programable EFI ECU in your Triumph, I'm sure you would be more
than capable of sticking an exhaust analyzer on the tailpipe and
manipulating the tables for the ECU to achieve the correct fuel levels. I'm
telling you, it isn't that difficult... time consuming, but not difficult.
But you've hit on the other problem with the rice rockets, aesthetics. Do
you really think that 5" exhaust tip does anything? Or that ridiculously
large aerofoil on the rear of their car? How about the 20 pounds of neon
lights?
> I liked the monster Dodge Charger in the film, but also the Mazda
> RX-7 and the Supra. They are beautifully styled, technologically
> advanced and FAST automobiles.
They're catalogue cars. Even that Supra. Kind of sad when you can
effortlessly purchase a 400 horsepower upgrade for $4000 and bolt it onto
your Supra. That Supra (the one from the movie) supposedly is closer to
850hp... and it was all catalogue parts. The body styling, all catalogue
parts. You name it, it came from some catalogue where the work was already
done for you... you just picked what you liked to achieve the performance
levels you desired.
This creates problems though, and it is incredibly evident when these kids
get to college. When I switched colleges a few years ago I decided to check
out my current school's Formula SAE team. I was extremely disappointed in
the dynamics and knowledge of the group. The proposed solution to every
performance problem was to bolt on a turbo or a bigger turbo. There was no
creativitity involved, no engineering going on... they just wanted a bigger
turbo.
The understanding of the concepts behind the performance has disappeared
from modern day performance tuning of late model imports. And it will be a
problem in years to come. As I've said before, and as I continue to
believe, I prefer these kids to stay with their glorified economy cars
rather than be introduced to our British cars.
Cheers,
Kai
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