Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Dave
Go to a regular hot rod show and there are $100,000 cars as far as the eye can see. Not a one of them will win the Indy 500 and darn few will ever win a drag race.
How to get respect?
As long as it is just claims of MPG, everyone assumes you are lying to cover up the fact you are driving a shabby-looking vehicle.
I think that if respect is desired, looks matter. I think that we need to move beyond coroplast and duct tape and move into the workmanship like bondo.
And for that you gotta spend some money.
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You make some very convincing points, but I think the root of the issue, and the driving factor for our... let's call it "aesthetic stagnation"... is the reason for ecomodding in the first place.
The object of a Camaro is to go fast and look good.
The object of a Miata autocrosser is to handle well and go fast.
The object of an ecomodder is to save gas money.
The first two's budgets match the owners' passion. The last affords only enough money to be recouped by fuel savings. Most of us are not in it to have a nice, shiny car. We're in it to save money- putting hundreds of hours into fiberglass, bondo and paint isn't worth it.
I've
saved over 10% of the Probe's purchase price in the first 90 days of owning it. I've
spent 25% of my Rabbit's purchase price on suspension and go-fast stuff over the past three years while getting EPA mileage.
The end goal is different, therefore the end product is different as well.
Does that kind of make sense?
PS- there are also ecomodders that do it just to "save the planet". These guys may well make their cars shiny, and I'm a big fan of the shiny boattail Insight. But for many of us, the fuel savings dictate the budget dictate the fuel savings. It's a circular logic of money-saving and we all know car projects and money saving rarely go together, especially after we move past coroplast.