Is it not illegal/dangerous to mess about with a cars suspension to that degree ?
Theres a dick who lives by our Scout hut with a cabriolet Golf that's done it. Trouble is he drives like a prat as well as looking like one. A few times we've had Beavers outside the hut playing games on the car park, & had to dive for cover when the bell end arrives home & tries his pathetic hand brake turn on the gravel.
Northwind - MemberRat look's hard to do right, when it works it really works but a near miss can look terrible.
Absolutely. I like a sleeper, and that's part of what "Rat look" started out as. These are great.
[quote="takisawa2"]Is it not illegal/dangerous to mess about with a cars suspension to that degree ?Illegal, market dependant (wheels protruding past body structures is illegal in some markets).
Dangerous, almost definitely. Handling, braking and tyre related stuff will be all over the place.
While 2 degrees of camber might be good on the race track, 20 degrees on the A14 probably isn't.........
I've driven modified cars all over the UK and into Europe.
And now you've (we've) come to the realisation that a diesel octavia is how you 'get down wid da kidz'.
Except those kidz are 1 and 3 and are a mess.
DrP
I don't take much notice of this kinda stuff as it generally doesn't bother me...but what I definitely do not get, are bonnet bras or whatever they're called. It makes your car look ugly, and even more so when you take it off after a few years and realise the uncovered paintwork has faded in the sun and you've got a 2-tone bonnet!
I've driven modified cars all over the UK and into Europe.
And now you've (we've) come to the realisation that a diesel octavia is how you 'get down wid da kidz'.
Except those kidz are 1 and 3 and are a mess.DrP
I've started again, wheels and tyres for the new motor being delivered today, now to start cutting off the bits that are in the way... 😈
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my eyes have gone pop!!
If you have to ask you will never understand !!!
It's these things that get me:
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Apart from the dubious safety of adding something that sharp protruding at shin height from a car...
It seems to indicate that the car owner is actively expecting to lose control of their car and slide off the road into the bushes at some point.
Baffling bewilderment.
There is one even more pointless the rat look, what the hell is that about, take a nicely painted car and then just vandalise it.
Mrs spursn17 said a very emphatic no to me buying this a week ago...
[url= http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?66592-1918-Buick-roadster-%C2%A35500 ]Ratrod[/url]
How could she possibly have a problem with that?
It'd be perfect for the weekly shop to Sainsburys.
If people want to wreck their tyres by putting a stupid amount of camber on, then fine, just so long as it doesn't result in the car leaving the road.
I just do the eye-rolly thing and walk off shaking my head.
Rat rods have been around for years, as street racers and salt-flat racers, where those with a low budget concentrate on the bits that matter, and leave the body alone, just so long as it's sound the paint don't matter; James Taylor's '55 Chevvy in [i]Two-Lane Blacktop[/i] could be said to be an early rat-rod, it's just got a grey primer coat over the metal.
These two are pretty cool:
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I used to drive an '84 Tercel wagon with engaged 4WD option; drove into Eldorado Canyon near Boulder, CO and was rudely passed by a pickup looking exactly like this, with extra hispanic fellows hanging in the back. As we got into the steeper dirt road before a parking area, the truck was having serious trouble getting any traction, so I engaged the 4wd and 'roared' past, to the degree my 1458cc could roar. We parked, got our climbing gear and headed 1/4 mile to the base of our route, where we discovered the pickup again, hanging halfway off the road over the creek, and all the hapless guys trying to figure how to save the vehicle while the driver was dealing with irate rangers.
The low rider car subculture from So Cal migrated to other hispanic areas like Denver, and can be appreciated for criteria entirely removed from performance mods; modern street rice burners evolved from a mix of the two realms with mixed results. Wide low wheels mess with the offset, camber, steering, suspension, traction, braking, etc. and the unfortunate fad of larger dia wheels increases ride harshness as well as more frequent tire damage from potholes etc. Look at the Mercedes Stirling Moss drove to win the 1955 Mille Miglia (992 open road miles avg 98.53 mph) and marvel at how ordinary the tires look.
Bob Summers my dad had a Princess and you could actually watch it rust in front of your eyes 😀
40mpg - Member
those car mods serve no purpose except the adoration of your bedwetting peers and impair rather than enable your vehicle while you crawl along U.K's congested roads.
[b]Same with pretty much any car on the road then, if everyone only bought for function we'd all be driving 1.0l (unmodded) polo's.[/b] Bikes too, I could get everywhere on a gents shopper (may push a few bits).Its a form of expression, and I can appreciate a lot of enthusiasm, creativity and skill goes into (some of) these. Happy to view from a distance!
Well, apart from the DAB radio, my Octavia is unmodified, and was bought purely for its functionality and economy: I could get my bike in the back in one piece, and it could give me 45-60mpg, with £110 road tax and £180 insurance, compared with the Puma, where I had to either dismantle the bike to get it in the boot, or use a roof-rack, which dropped the fuel consumption from 33 to 27mpg, on top of £180 tax and £380 insurance.
I suppose the Octy is a form of expression; that of practicality and economy over aesthetics and performance.
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It's massive in Japan. Got to admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for the VIP style. It's something I would never ever do, but if you want to spend thousands creating a piece of art, I'm happy to look at it.
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There'll always be extremes...
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Mr Smith doing his usual 'I'm significantly richer than...' Routine. Obvious troll is obvious...
Each to their own I say. I'm quite interested in modified cars, had a couple myself although mainly performance and handling based rather than big wings and crazy camber. It has to be said though, increasing power and lowering suspension on some thing initially designed by someone who knew what they were doing often resulted in a car that was worse and most of my changes were put back to standard. The supercharged 350z was good fun though...
The VW/Audi folk seem to have the right idea, although some of the Japanese stuff is pretty cool too. I think as a collective, folks on here would be more interested in the Singer designs cars and the Magnus Walker stuff, car modifying for the middle aged man! Different strokes for different folks.
For those interested, apart from Speedhunter have a look at buildthreads for some really cool stuff. Stanceiseverything is also quite good and for Vw stuff, edition 38 can't be beat.
I think my brother's motor falls into the Rat category....
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With a shiny, shiny engine of excessive power output....
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I sooo want to get out to visit him and have a go in it 😉 You can't argue with a 7l V8!!!!
Serious question.
With that 7l engine in the truck, is it genuinely quick or do they just have loads of low end grunt?
It's the monkey mind apeing the bower bird. Sadly, this has thrown up an evolutionary cul-de-sac. The male spends countless hours and all of his resources building (modifying) the 'perfect' car in order to attract amd impress the object of his dreams
Should the female prove elusive after so much effort, then what generally happens is that the 'object' of his dreams now becomes the car.
Those males lucky enough to impress the female into copulation (in the nest/car, naturally) then move a degree of their attentions to the new object of desire (the female). The imperative to modify continues, and is now redoubled in an effort to style their female partner into the 'scene'.
After some remonstration the female may nonetheless acquiesce under the onslaught and begin to show enthusiasm, even some knowledge of car modification. She will finally attend 'meets' where other males attempt to impress other males by their modified 'nests' and females.
As mentioned there is a cul-de-sac effect where the male is so preoccupied and invested in the vehicle that it becomes the sole object of his affections and desires. His attempts to mate proving fruitless, he becomes stuck in a loop of:
[b]- modify car - attract female (or peers)
- modify female
- female becomes like peers ( warning sign - he begins addressing his GF as 'mate')
- become hopelessly attracted to new car (thrill of the chase), all funds are funelled here.
- lose female to a more attentive male - get angry at his car.
- modify new car - attract [/b] - (repeat as above)
No idea what that says about me then, I've modified loads of cars and managed to ensnare a victim into producing my offspring. I've even started another car.
Or, I suppose it could be a load of complete claptrap.
Re: the pickup, it looks like it will be fast fast. Edelbrock rocker covers suggests it's been interfered with from factory spec. I had a 6litre GM magnum V8 in 1400kg pick up. It was quick through the low numbers but not as fast as the displacement would suggest. It would however easily tow the house to Cornwall should I desire to go caravanning in style.
I guess this is the british version of [i]hot rodding[/i], crazy little car, very light and so much fun for doing donuts with the V6 engine but quite hard to control a drift/oversteer due to the incredibly short wheelbase
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Pictonroad, can you explain "players". I walked around the players event at Good wood this year (I only wanted a coffee at the airfield) and when I left I still wasn't sure what the event was about. Is there a track aspect to it? Is it just showing stanced cars?
Players Goodwood includes a track session yes. A very tasty RS4 met its end there this year. 😥
