Do you like it? Then it is perfect.

Today someone in a BMW E28 group on Fa

cebook posted a pictures of some wheels he planned to install on his car and asked the inevitable question:

"What do you all think?"

I looked at the post and knew, just knew, many purists were going to comment 'Dude, that is hideous', or 'I guess if you like to look like one of those guys' and the other myriad of comments that come from the question 'What do you think?'.

I wrote to him:

And I meant it. I recently purchased a 2000 M Roadster in silver. Very cool car, very fast and very cool - oh, I already said that, but it is that cool. It has very BMW looking aftermarket wheels and, what I knew would be controversial, BMW Original Equipment (OEM) rear wing. I was so excited about the car. My first BMW M car. I posted a picture of it on Facebook in some of my favorite groups from BMW groups to other car related pages. The response I got from many:

'Wow, very ricer looking.'
'What's with that wing, are you going to keep it?'
'Too bad about the wing.'

There were many other comments that purists in the Roadster community thought of the wing on my car. I went from excited to practically embarrassed to drive the car around. I immediately started shopping for a trunk lid without a wing to replace the certainly hideous appendage my car had grown. I shopped for a couple of weeks, some people had trunk lids to sell me, and overall I wasn't getting my Elephant Man car fixed for less than $300 to $400.

I then looked at the car and thought 'I like the wing.' Sure it is a bit gaudy but it just fits the car - I guess that's why BMW offered it as an option. I then thought 'Why am I going to spend money because others don't like it? I am the one driving the car.' In the end, I have decided to keep my grotesque looking M Roadster with the hideous rear wing and enjoy the car.

The above scenario plays out all the time, In hairstyles, clothing, houses, stereos, TV's, what our kids do and don't do - pretty much in everything we do. In the car world we seem to be less charitable with our comments. Someone paints a car a strange color and many laugh at the owner. They lower the car
but 50% of the people don't like stanced cars. They raise the car (or
truck) and put big tires on it and 50% of the people don't like raised cars. They modify it outside, inside and under the hood and people ask why the car wasn't kept original. Some keep their cars perfectly original and many respond about how boring the car looks and why haven't they modified it?

Essentially, you aren't going to make everyone happy. In fact, probably most won't like what you do to your car because it isn't what they would do. I am 52 years old soon and maybe with age I have learned to not care what others think or maybe I have learned if I like something then why not do it?

The moral to this story is:

If you decide to modify (or not modify for those keeping a car original) and you post a picture online asking the opinions of others realize that many are not going to like your decision. That's their prerogative. But don't base what you decide to do on what others think. As I told my new friend today:

'Do you like them? Then they are perfect.'

That's the thing about cars. Really, no two cars are alike and not everyone is going to like your car. But isn't that half the reason cars are so cool?

Horsepower or Handling - Which is best?

In the car world there is always something to debate. Ford versus Chevy. Slammed and stanced

versus original. Stretched tires or sidewalls as tall as Mount Olympus. Even import versus domestic. If you put two car people in the same room they will have 8 opposing positions on a single car. I know this because I am one of those people.

The big debate that I lived through during the end of the horsepower wars (mid-60s to the early 70's) and through the economy car wars of the 80's was:

HORSEPOWER?

or

HANDLING?

When I was young, back in the Canestoga wagon days, you had to make a choice. You could own a car that could go fast and get to high speeds quickly but if the road ahead had a dip or a 2 degree turn any tree or wall was a magnet inevitably pulling your car to crash into it. I am describing muscle cars and pony cars of that day. The other end of the spectrum was the pesky little European cars where little roadsters and sedans had somewhere between 90 HP up to sometimes a whopping 150 HP. They weighed less than nothing and even at that weight these cars were not fast, even by turtle standards. Unlike a muscle car, getting up to speed was a chore but once you were there who needed

brakes? These little cars would zip down tree-lined thoroughfares in Vermont and with just a twitch of the wheel you were through the corner. These were often known as momentum cars.

In today's world not only can you have both power and handling, you can do so in comfort, get 28 MPG on the highway and all can be had for a price that many people can sort of afford.

However, even today there are few affordable cars that do both perfectly. Manufacturers tend to still lean one way or the other. Some still love horsepower above all else and others try to find perfect handling, sacrificing horsepower to do so.

The mainly horsepower cars are easy to spot. You see them in ads dominated by racing stripes, big wheels, big exhaust with the rear wheels smoking in an abandoned shipyard, down side streets, and around the corners of a racetrack near you. Think Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, Charger. All loaded with gobs and gobs of power with tires wide enough to make a steam roller weep with envy. Despite weighing as much as Dumbo's mother, they handle well. Somehow with large springs, wide tires, and things like magnetic ride control, these cars can actually go and stop and turn. Sports cars?

I have to say I still have to say no but they are sporty cars.

Then comes in the balanced cars. These cars have high, but not necessarily astronomical, horsepower so they can get up and go. The manufacturers have spent billions designing a chassis, suspension, wheels and a motor that make the car feel nimble, turn in and come out of corners fast and make you look good done in style coupled with driver aids that make Grandpa Jones look like he can drive better than one of the Andretti boys. Most, not all, of these cars hail from Germany and represent cars that are almost affordable for many. These manufacturers also design models for the elite to drive. BMW's, Mercedes, Audi and even Porsche make cars that you can drive everyday, take on a trip and with the tires from the factory go out on a racetrack and almost compete with the big cars.

We are now seeing the resurgence, yes from Europe, (and Japan) of the lightweight, adequately powered sports car. Honda has done this with the S2000. Mazda, the epitome of the sports car, has conquered this with the Miata but now we are seeing a new breed - the nearly affordable, perfectly balanced, fast mid-engine sports car. Alfa Romeo has brought to our shores the wonderful 8C. While ONLY 235 hp (remember when we used to say 'IT HAS 235 HP!'), However, you combine 235 hp with a car that
weighs right around the 3,000 lb mark and while it may not beat a Dodge Challenger Hellcat, a BMW M3 or an Audi S4 off the line but after the first corner it won't matter as the Alfa dives in, drives through, and exits the corner at speeds Superman dreams of. As long as the road or track is twisty,you will only see taillights from that point forward.

So you decide. The gap between only horsepower or only handling has narrowed considerably. Whether you go the pony car route with 500+ horsepower, the modest looking sedan with a mere high 300 hp or an outright sports car with a tiny 200+ horsepower is all up to you and what do you want in a car.

I will leave this thought before I close. For those that think 'Horsepower solves everything'. Realize that 99.99% of the time the need to go from 0-60 in breakneck speed is rare. Driving a car on a back road and enjoying it - that will happen often. So ask yourself - 0-60 in 3.9 seconds but lack other things or 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and you can drive on every back road at your limit? Which do you want? Before you decide, realize, it took you almost 3 times as long to read that sentence than the difference between 3.9 and 5.1 seconds. I will take a little less horsepower for 10 MPH faster around a corner any day.

In the end, who wins? All of us. As cars go faster, handle better, become more comfortable, safer and reliable the future looks very bright. That's the thing about cars, you can try to knock them down but they will always come up fighting and be even better.

Carism for World Peace

I belong to many automotive related groups on different social media. From old cars to new cars, cars that people see on the highway to ones sitting in someone's garage in 1,000 pieces, particular brands, types and even colors - you name the category there is most likely some car group out there related to it. Most of these groups require a 

No Politics

No Racism

No Being a Jerk, Idiot, Moron

rule that when broken is dealt with swiftly and with justice. What makes me write about these groups along with the above rules is that I theorize that if we could get everyone to be car fanatics most of our social, racial and other issues could go away. 

One gentleman wrote:

The only race info that should be on this page should be about horsepower and end with a checkered flag.

I believe if all people became car fanatics world peace would be achieved. I have seen, and know first hand, that car people just don't see race, gender, sexual orientation, or the host of other ism's that plague social media and the news today. What we see are cars, cars and more cars. While attending a weekend Cars and Coffee meet if a beautiful 69 Pontiac GTO Judge shows up I can tell you that if Christie Brinkley (for the older crowd), Gisele Bundchen (for the younger crowd), Vladimir Putin, President Obama, Heisenberg of Breaking Bad fame - pretty much anyone who steps out of that car will be just background as we all rush to see the car. (Note: Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld are the exceptions to the above rule as they are car guys' car guys). On a good day we might eventually realize who the driver is and on a normal day after the person drives away someone may say 'Wasn't that Matt Damon?' and others would say 'I didn't notice.'


 




It's just the way we are.






Those of you not stricken with the car bug may say it is because we are shallow and simplistic thinkers and can only focus on one thing at a time. I can assure that is not true because:

• First, many car fanatics are women - we know women can focus on more than one thing.
• Second, if a second car pulled up we would notice that as well.
• Third, well, I just know there is a third that will come to me but I am thinking about a car right now

The reason why we don't judge people by gender or race or whatever is because we like the person based on the car, not the car based on the person. Now you are thinking:

So if I don't drive a cool car then I am not cool?

Pretty much.

What you are missing is that you don't have to be rich, famous, smart, male, female to drive a nice car because a cool car to us isn't just a new $110,000 Mercedes but instead could be a $600 Ford Granada that is cool because it is still running (trust me, I know this, I drive an obnoxious, beat up BMW and it gets many a fair 
share of looks and comments). So we don't care if you are a 1%'er or only have about $.01 in your pocket. Additionally, you don't even have to own a great car to become a member of the group, if you love cars like we do, then welcome to our club!

All this is true because we have our priorities straight. Cars are not human and therefore don't have built-in prejudices and since we live for cars we too have lost that built-in prejudice. We see the world through paint, wheels, suspension, turbos and a host of other inanimate objects. Those inanimate objects only worry that the parts they are connected to continue to do their job - regardless of the color, brand, store the part came from. As a car crazy person that's how I see the world as well. I don't care where you came from, what you do for work, your car is what I want to know more about.

If you are tired of politics, Fox versus MSNBC, liberal versus conservative and just plain old negative talk go on to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and look up some car pages and enjoy the beauty of old and new cars, car history and car culture that is also enjoyed by others all without judgment or name calling. 

That's the thing about the car culture, it really is a judgment free zone and if people stop judging, then world peace can be achieved.

PS - Some great pages to start with can be found on Facebook.

• Automobilia - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1393952824192849/
• Because, Cars - https://www.facebook.com/groups/478227708986842/
• Motorology - https://www.facebook.com/groups/321577158048111/
• V.I.S.I.T. - https://www.facebook.com/groups/VISIT.CARS/