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OK, so I like cars since I was a kid. But online boards about cars like The Car Lounge and comments on sites with auto news seem very... off and pretentious I guess? What I mean is they always go about this or that sports trims or edittions (e.g. when they discuss the Ford Fiesta, they mostly go about the ST, same for the Focus, and they discuss the GTI or R instead of the regular Golfs, etc.)
Can a person even have a conversation with someone that likes cars but is more into down-to-earth, less pretentious trims now? Are cars becoming an interest only for a few extremists these days with the general population no longer caring at all? I miss the days when you had many people discuss cars, but mostly liking them based on styling, driving qualities and practicality, or alternatively - luxury, not how fast, powerful or sporty they are. Especially the Car Lounge is so annoying with their manual gearbox and sport trims fetishes. Some people don't even like those pretentious sporty trims, they like more stylish-looking and comfy cars. It's like the car culture has become chavvy or boy-racerish.
I'd rather visit a car forum where people discuss even the not-so-sporty regular trims and go on about styling, design, comfy interiors, interior trims and layouts and even luxury than having a flashy ST car that is way too fast. Not surprisingly, people on car forums often have chav-like experiences and behavior, e.g. modding too much, anger issues, trying to race other cars, thinking they're a race driver and generally acting recklessly, hating on automatic/DSG cars. I like the upcoming Ford Fiesta but all that ST talks on forums makes me steer clear, as I would not like to be associated with that crowd. Or maybe I should just avoid the car forums and online communities as they tend to attract the boy-racer types?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I find that to be the case on one of the forums I belong to, for the Dodge Challenger, but I also belong to forums for other specific vehicles and cars in general that are not that way at all. Even if all the high power/speed discussion doesn't suit you, there always seems to be plenty of good information on technical issues, repairs, recalls, dealer reviews etc. In general, though, you are right. The die-hard fanatics tend to participate more, and like to talk about their latets 0-60 or quarter mile time.
People who don't care about cars don't come on forums unless it's for buying advice or their car broke.
Also, Facebook wiped out most of the general forums.
There are still brand and car specific forums, but unless they're an enthusiast forum they tend to be not all that active.
Well, I care about cars. But I prefer the understated look of low-spec trims on most cars. They are much more in line with the way cars looked in the good ol' days those same car gurus bemoan looks-wise (I think they call it the sleeper look):
Sometimes I do like the high end specs (like the Vignales), but most often than not I find the sporty trims to have tacky plasticky bits and spoilers that in 90% of cases ruin the look IMO. But judging from car forums, most of the car enthusiasts dig it. So I guess guys like me that do like cars, BUT like them looking vanilla-flavored on the outside (while not minding high spec interior and even a DSG/auto tranny) are rare. I really dig the debadging trend as I think it makes the car lines even cleaner. By the way, it's ironic that they say they love cars so much, yet every second thread online is about newish cars being driven like an idiot and getting totaled and treating them like crap with tacky kits, while some people treasure theirs and try to keep them spotless. But no, they're not invited in the car club because they don't dig sporty trims or speed but value other qualities like styling, design, luxury or comfort. I guess the car enthusiast scene is very discriminating to who's included unlike some other hobbies where everyone is welcomed.
It seems that you have to like sporty trims, fast speeds, and manuals to be included these days and people into other aspects like car styling, luxurious car interiors, comfy driving behavior, etc. are not considered car people.
At 53, I still prefer cars with real feedback and performance. Most enthusiasts do. It's not pretentious, it's about not wanting to drive couches anymore. Fun is not sitting in your living room on wheels. Sorry, it's just not.
And if you want to talk about styling, cleaning up a car, etc, go to hot rod and custom forums, like the H.A.M.B. But then you can't talk about new cars or foreign cars. Maybe Stanceworks.
Yeah, but fun is also not about speed. At least not for everyone. You can have fun while cruising cross-country in normal speeds with your car. Or even just looking at it if it's state-of-the-art beautiful in your eyes.
I guess the car communities tend to be like high schools where they have narrow views on what's accepted and cool. So what if I like a base-spec Fiesta because I think it looks great in any spec and the base Euro spec makes it look cleaner?
Well, you're talking about a Fiesta. It doesn't do styling, comfort, or luxury. It's a Fiesta. The Fiesta ST does fun to drive, reasonable good performance on a a shoestring budget.
This board has less hardcore enthusiast. Going to brand or model specific boards can become an echo chamber of how great that brand or model is compared to others when the purpose of such boards is to share tips and tricks to upgrade your vehicle. I drive a 2015 Hyundai Elantra SE. I know the Ford Focus is a good car that handles the corners well, but the styling didn't appeal to me and the width of the car kind of felt narrow compared to other compacts I cross shopped. Another advantage was rear seat leg room. My niece has a 2013 Ford Focus and we compared rear seat leg room (real instead of numbers) and mine had the larger rear seat room. Another advantage is her tire size is more expensive to replace than mine. But if I want to have fun driving, her Focus is much more fun. When shopping for a new car, one must decide what's important to them and what compromises they're willing to make in what they want to get a car closest to their needs and wants.
Yeah, but fun is also not about speed. At least not for everyone. You can have fun while cruising cross-country in normal speeds with your car. Or even just looking at it if it's state-of-the-art beautiful in your eyes.
I guess the car communities tend to be like high schools where they have narrow views on what's accepted and cool. So what if I like a base-spec Fiesta because I think it looks great in any spec and the base Euro spec makes it look cleaner?
You want to talk Fiesta styling you can join this thread and play to your heart's content:
Styling is ALWAYS brought up in threads on new cars and prototypes in The Car Lounge, don't know where you get the idea that it doesn't. But, enthusiasts like to have fun in cars and styling isn't function, so they tend to gravitate towards cars that GIVE that function, which is and has been since cars were invented, performance. I can talk styling all day, but... once a car is moving, does it fall on it's face? Or does it deliver thrills?
Hey, as a graphic/industrial designer/artist I love cars that look good. Cars like the '63 Ferrari 250 Lusso, the '37 Talbot Lago T 150C, the Aston Martin DB9, custom '50 Mercurys, and the like. I spent a lot of time deciding on the style I was going to take my '63 Comet in. But as a driver, the cars I want to DRIVE are sporting models like my E38 Sport. Feedback and performance compared to their peers are what I like. And that's what most enthusiasts gravitate to. (enthusiastic, by definition, is an energy level about something. As in driving enthusiastically doesn't conjure up slowness at all). Driving at normal speed across country is boring. Done it a few times (from Seattle to Chicago, from Seattle to Baltimore, from Baltimore to southern Florida and up to Maine, for some small examples) I just drove 7 hours to upstate NY and then 7 hours back. Not exciting at all. Now, put the top down on a convertible and hit a twisty backroad in brisk fall weather? Yeah, that's fun.
OK, so I like cars since I was a kid. But online boards about cars like The Car Lounge and comments on sites with auto news seem very... off and pretentious I guess? What I mean is they always go about this or that sports trims or edittions (e.g. when they discuss the Ford Fiesta, they mostly go about the ST, same for the Focus, and they discuss the GTI or R instead of the regular Golfs, etc.)
Can a person even have a conversation with someone that likes cars but is more into down-to-earth, less pretentious trims now? Are cars becoming an interest only for a few extremists these days with the general population no longer caring at all? I miss the days when you had many people discuss cars, but mostly liking them based on styling, driving qualities and practicality, or alternatively - luxury, not how fast, powerful or sporty they are. Especially the Car Lounge is so annoying with their manual gearbox and sport trims fetishes. Some people don't even like those pretentious sporty trims, they like more stylish-looking and comfy cars. It's like the car culture has become chavvy or boy-racerish.
I'd rather visit a car forum where people discuss even the not-so-sporty regular trims and go on about styling, design, comfy interiors, interior trims and layouts and even luxury than having a flashy ST car that is way too fast. Not surprisingly, people on car forums often have chav-like experiences and behavior, e.g. modding too much, anger issues, trying to race other cars, thinking they're a race driver and generally acting recklessly, hating on automatic/DSG cars. I like the upcoming Ford Fiesta but all that ST talks on forums makes me steer clear, as I would not like to be associated with that crowd. Or maybe I should just avoid the car forums and online communities as they tend to attract the boy-racer types?
There are plenty of forums where they are more gear-heads. My brother has belonged to a Mopar forum for years, he's even met with a few of the guys locally to look at each others cars (mostly muscle type cars, my brother has an '89 Shelby Charger). They talk much more about how to diagnose and fix certain things and other (IMO) "geeky" topics.
There are zillions of forums, I'm sure you can find some like-minded people.
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