And then there's us that like the TL just the way it is... No need to mod the exterior etc... I guarantee it doesn't mean we're not car enthusiasts.

 

I dont think I could ever roll in a stock car and feel like I do in my type s...

 

Just so you can have the story of YOUR cars name right.

It was named ofter a charecter in a Tennesee Williams Play. Her name was Stella Kowalski. Tennesee Williams won a Pulitzer Prize for his work.

I don't know if it's the same for cars, but changing the name of a boat is considered bad luck.

 

If it were stop & go traffic, you might be able to do what you did ... but at 65, maybe a blue angel member even have to think twice ...

Besides, like some of the other posters pointed out, the other driver might have too much on his/her mind & didn't even notice what kind of car you were driving ... esp. if you pull up right next to him/her ...

 

you sir are correct. there is nothing offensive about it, but if thats how anyone wants to take it, then thats fine with me.

besdies i honestly don't give a flying fuck about most of the opinions on here, basically i come here to kill time at work.

and today my son was born, and there isn't much anyone here can say or do that will other me. i'm happier than a pig in shit right now

 

no no..thats what I mean..modded cars or stock..if your an enthusiast your an enthusiast

congrats rbf

 

Well put, it's great and all that you like to modify your TL, this is just my commuter. I really don't pay attention to other TLs except WDPs to see what interior color they have and most of the time it's parchment lol. I can still appreciate a clean car though.

Speaking for myself, I'll get back to the modifying game when I own a home and have my finances situated.

 

if i waved at every tl i saw in the tristate area i would be spendin more time waving than driving..

 

had to throw you a huge CONGRATS ON THE BIRTH OF YOUR SON!!!

 

For a second I thought you said "When I have my fiances situated" haha

 

A modded car sets itself apart fromt the others, not to join with them. That is the message that is conveyed to others most of the time. It says "I'm special".
With the birth of your son, you have gained some added "specialness".
Pay attention to your driving so you can be a daddy for a long time.

 

 

^^^^ I'm with stupid

 

you did the right thing in your mind, but sorry to tell ya no matter what alot of people dont like being followed... in his mind he had no idea why the heck you were following him and trying to catch up. Its also a saftey concern, as for people who carry guns in there cars he may not know what your intentions are... but on the other hand you will have some people who would pull over and talk to you for hours about the car.

Just be smart about it.

 

That too...

 

I'm not too sure about that. In my experience I haven't met one car enthusiast who hasn't modded out a car. I know of a lot of guys who think they know a lot about cars but really they don't know apple jacks about cars. They like to tout some kind of knowledge mainly beacuse they want to sound knowledgable or seem more masculine. IMO real enthusiasts really know cars because they work on them and under them. No magazine or book can teach you that stuff. As a car enthusiast in beats me why you would want to keep a car stock. When I see a modded car (particularly one off-mods you know someone did themself instead of having a shop do it for them) usually we have the same frame of mind and we can really talk about cars.

I have modded everything I've ever ridden on. Including my Huffy BMX when I was 10! Even my Craftsman lawn tractor when I was 14 lol! I'll be modding till I'm 70! Now that's an enthusuast!

 

I have to disagree. My car is my commuter. It would be nice to do something to it, I'd rather put my disposable income into saving for a home though.

Every car I have owned in the past has been modified I still appreciate and like clean cars, I'm own this site, was extremely involved in clubrsx, streetracing, and honda-tech. A lot of the work done to my previous vehicles were done by myself, some of it done by a shop or shops. It's tempting since I'm going through the galleries seeing all of those clean cars to just slam my car on some 19" volks with a bbk and a-spec lip kit, but that's money I don't want to spend.

Trust me, I'm an enthusiast. At this point of my life I have to look at the big picture (career and home). I want to be a bit more established before I get back into the scene.

 

You need to meet more people. I'm a car enthusiast with a totally stock 5A TL. Try meeting people in the SCCA, club racing or VCRA.

I've modded previous cars before for performance reasons (and one car within autocross stock class specs only). I don't do cosmetic mods like spoilers, wings and oversize wheels where there is no performance gain. The TL is my commute car, chosen over the G35 because it was quieter, so no cat backs, CAI or other noise-inducing changes, either. I thought about the RSB, but the stock suspension seems pretty good for 99% of my driving.

If I wanted to go boy racer in a commute car, I would have gotten the RX-8 Touring I was looking at (and saved money to boot).

I do notice other TLs - but the only people that talked to me had a stock Anthracite and an ASM. You modded drivers are so unfriendly to us stockies...

 

I can understand about the money part. Modding is an expensive hobby!! I'm a penny-pincher myself and have to plan my mods according to finances as well. When I was younger I would practically skip lunch to make sure my car had a spoiler. LOL! Even a commuter car for me would have tints and wheels. The only car I wouldn't mod is if it was a fleet car owned by my employer. (I may be getting a Volvo S40 soon) But yeah, maybe all this is just me.

I knew my comments would poke at someone. No offense at all, just my point of view based on my experience. I've met enough people, believe me, to support it. It's just a question of who really knows their stuff. Yet I won't rule out that what you guys said. I'm open-minded, I may very well meet someone who will change my mind. And if I do, maybe I'll give that stocker "a nod of respect" in the future.

 

Hmmmmm,,
I could introduce you to a about a half dozen individuals that have (near) never modded a vehicle.... They do however have between a quarter and a half million $$ in muscle/vintage cars within each of their stables and have owned/cared for more "special" cars in their lifetime than most of us could dream of...
"Moder's" or not, these men - husband/wife are car enthusiasts by any definition..

Anyway, the below is a perfect definition in my mind - (I quote.

"A car enthusiast is somebody who has an unusual preoccupation with their car, wants to spend time with that car, wants to bathe the car, wants to love it, wants to make it look as good as it can possibly look, and go as fast as it can go. The hobby breaks up into two directions: either they want to make the car exactly original, the way it was when it was brand new, or they want to customize it and personalize it in some fashion. In either case they spend a large amount of their discretionary time with their car."


However,
My argument would also be, that of all the modded cars/owners you do see today, a great percentage are not real "car" enthusiasts. Rather, they are just individuals that have a credit card, disposable income, or "accommodating parents" and want to stand out as an individual (for whatever purpose), not as an enthusiast.

In the big scheme of things, you wont really know a true car enthusiast just by looking at their car. It runs much deeper than the skin.

 

A car enthusiast is:

In other words, someone who immerses themselves in car culture. And such an individual need not mod their car. In fact, I'm sure there are more enthusiasts out there with unmodded cars than with. And for those that do mod their cars, the phrase "Built, not bought" comes to mind.