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*ding**ding*. nail on the head.
ricers are ricers because they don't have much money. since they don't, they do all the mods they can afford. that is spray painting wheels, stickers, and parts from AutoZone. i get it. you want to make something yours so you work with what you have.
as the AWD cars become more affordable, they are finding ways to buy them (salvaged, luck, whatever). what i can't figure out is why the attitude comes along with it. ricers always have seem to have the worst ones. that's what stumps me.
put all the LED lights on your car you want.. but don't be ***** about it.

 

This is gospel! Can't tell you how many times I've been talked down on at local meets because I drive an Evo and don't run it in the street. It's mainly Honda ricers, doesn't matter the age, that tell me how they'd love to get an Evo or STI, gut it out, put on big *** wheels and camber it to high hell, and remove the AC and PS for the extra horsepowaaahhhhhh! Then again I'm the dbag that reminds them that the only reason they drive Hondas is because they can't afford anything else and would kill to have an Evo if it was in their budget.

Seriously though, I remember transitioning out of my teens and into my SRT4 a couple of years after they stopped being produced. I got tired of the Honda holy grail myth and wanted a bit more from the factory. A few years later and I was knee deep in the Subaru game until I decided to pitch for the right team and stop catching it on the wrong team.

 

i dunno, i had a very positive Honda experience when i had them, but i think it was due to the people i surrounded myself with. we had everything from 12-sec turbo Civics and Integras, to a 550+whp hatch, then graduated to a Type-R and got hooked on road racing (have been back to run a drag strip ONCE since). we were the guys out beating up on the domestic guys before ebay turbo kits were being sold. we earned some respect and made lots of friends that way.
i can't speak much for the rest of the crowd.. but we kept our distance from them.

 

It's probably just the area I'm in. Here, most of the Honda guys drive those cars because they can't afford anything nicer at that current time(most of them live in less than desirable areas in the city). They don't road race or anything like that, they strictly run them in the streets and beat them until they melt pistons. I find it VERY difficult to believe that if someone had the financial means to purchase a ~40k car that they'd opt to buy a gutted out hatch instead.

It's guys like yourself that deserve all the credit in the world for making that scene what it should be: respectable enthusiasts who are passionate about cars in general. Unfortunately, that isn't universal When everyone thinks of ricer, Honda comes to mind and that's really sad. It's sickening how that scene is still thriving, but mainly with less than stellar individuals for the most part. Not saying all Honda drivers are clueless, but 3/5 probably are.

Case in point, my cousin has a Super Snake. Whenever we get the chance to take it out to meets, EVERY Honda owner we've talked to calls it heavy, talks trash for it being too expensive for just being a Mustang, how it's BOUGHT not BUILT, and how they'd totally trash it if he called them out. No Honda owner has ever given him props on his car, it's always negative. They do the same to my best friend's GT-R and his mechanic's 996TT. "My Honda would be sooooo much faster with 30 grand in mods than that heavy GT-R bro." Pretty annoying.

Sorry for the

 

yeah... that's most of the crowd (that we stayed away from). i think they are a bit bitter because they are "stuck" driving Hondas, when they would rather drive something else.

when my friends and i drove Hondas, it was our choice. we made enough money to drive better cars (i sold my '00 Mustang GT in 2002 to buy a Honda and my friend still had his, in addition to his civic). we did it all because we enjoyed the challenge of a FWD car (we only ran drag radials; never slicks) and how fast they were with such relatively low mods and cash. they were just really fun.

the reason i assume they would mostly rather drive other cars is because as soon as they can move on to a WRX of Evo, they do. most of them don't stay in the Honda scene any longer than they have to.
i know very FEW people that still drive one out of choice. but it's not the car they dislike, it's the people they encounter and the stigma.

personally, i'd take another ITR for a daily and drive it proudly. but i never have given a **** what anyone thinks of my cars LOL

sounds like you and i are part of the same group of car guys.

 

I hear you there man. There's definitely a stigma around Hondas and it's because most of the platform are so cheap that anyone with a driver's license can afford one. I've always liked the ITR, but the theft rate is insane and out here Hondas are stolen every single day. I'm not looking to have someone follow me home, dozens of miles away from the meet, just to get a glimpse of where I park the fabled unicorn.

 

The S2000 community is pretty great and stratified into two areas; Beat to garbage ones that the kiddies stay somewhat away from because they think they're "gay", and the nice clean ones that include turbo, supercharger and all motor setups.

NSX's are also the same.

 

I'm in the Honduh scene.