For the second year in a row on New Years Eve I asked āWhat trends of 2012 would you rather not see carry over into 2013?ā. A loaded question to be sure, but always an interesting one to pose.
For todayās WTF Friday Iāve pulled out four of the answers from theĀ fan page, and one of my own, to discuss in slightly more detail.
Bikes/Roof Racks As Car Show Accessories
The roof rack trend has been creeping up steadily for a few years now but it hit situation critical when I started to notice more roof racks at car events then at the local skate park.
What makes this trendĀ particularlyĀ vexing is that the vast majority of bikes at these events are of such low quality that itās not even halfĀ believable they are used as anything other than a āshow accessoryā.
As both a rider and a car enthusiast I really hope this trend starts to fade away in 2013 because itās a damn shame to see otherwise clean cars tarnished by bargain basement qualityĀ bicycles.
Camber
Thereās really no easy way to say this without perhaps offending a reader or two but in 2012 people really started to go crazy with negative camber.
Approaching this one is a little tricky because ātoo muchā is entirely subjective but we can all probably agree that there are extreme cases like the one below.
Personally I look Ā at camber like salt, it should compliment the dish and not over power it.
Poorly formed criticisms/opinions
If youāve spent anytime on forums or fan pages (especially fan pages) then Iām sure youāve seen poorly formed criticisms like; āLow cars are stupidā, āNeeds different wheelsā, āThatās a waste of timeā, āAll Civics are Garbageā, āLooks like smashed assholesā etc.
These comments are conversation poison, and whenever posted the conversation inevitably goes downhill until the word āhaterā comes out and people are using sexual vulgarity and homophobia to describeĀ inanimateĀ objects.
We are not children, and this isnāt kindergarten, so the āif you donāt have nothing nice to say donāt say anything at allā rule doesnāt apply but I really hope in 2013 people take the time to appropriately phrase their comments, opinions, and criticisms.
The Wheel Debate
Another calendar year has passed and the wheel debate continues rampaging through the scene with no end in sight and personally Iām pretty well over it. Why? Because I feel itās gone from an issue that was originally about the theft of intellectual property, and an inferior product, to something used for one enthusiast to take shots at another.
Wheels are stating to become a sort of status symbol, a talking point, and something you need to fit in, instead of what keeps the car rolling down the road and to some people no matter how incredible a build is if itās not on āreal wheelsā itās not shit.
This argument doesnāt seem to be such a heated debate in other scenes (classic, muscle, minitruck, etc) but among the aggressive fitment community it remains a hot button issue.
Iām not supporting the moral wrong doing and downright theft of some of wheel companies but I am saying lets stop draggingĀ remnantsĀ of a beaten dead horse from year to year and let people decide for themselves what wheels work best for their budget, project, and needs.
Closed minds
Donāt like a particular style of car? Thatās cool but donāt write off the entire crowd based on a limited perspective. Iām fairly certain I have said this before but I think many āespecially those new to the hobbyā could benefit from looking over the fence at whatās going on outside of their scene of choice.
To paraphrase from Andrew Moonās comment on the fanĀ pageĀ just because you donāt like a particular style doesnāt mean you canāt appreciate the work that has gone into it. And please stop judging cars by what the badge on the rear says. The owner knows his or her car is ājust aā¦ā so donāt try and use that as a way to undermine their hard work.
Anyway on wards and upwards for 2013. Letās not take all of this too serious.
Itās just cars after all.
I donāt post comments often but on the topic of close minds I just have to. The Dalai Lama once said something that I try to live by āa mind is like an umbrella, if not open it donāt workā an how true is thatā¦
DP says: To each his ownā¦.
Thatās a great quote actually.
Poorly formed criticisms/opinions there will always be petty people and folk who get kicks out of putting people down to make them self feel big what i would like to start seeing is people not giving a damn and doing what ever they want with what ever they want done well with good quality YOU ARNT LIKE ANY ONE ELS WHY SHOULD YOUR CAR BE! sod what any one thinks infact if the right people are hating on you, you know your doing something right lol
Please no more sticker-bombing!
Ok. You say donāt criticize others but in the pic with the cracked wheel from the rally car you said it must of been a rota? Cāmon son. That rally cars put wheels through hell. It could of been any wheel. Even if it was does that matter? No. Why? Because none of us have to drive it. So yea. Stop beating the dead horse.
The Rota thing was a joke as the BBS stamping is pretty clear in that shot š
I loved this post DaveT. You pretty much nailed it on the head.
Blackout313 clearly only looked at the pictures and didnāt readā¦
Good direction on the post, Dave, but you could have summed it all up with just two words:
GROW UP.
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