What's the Appeal of Underpowered Imports About?
 

From what I have noticed, the following of young people towards cars like, stanced VWs, bagged Hondas etc is MUCH larger than those for cars like V8 Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes or even powerful imports like Supras and GTRs. And I just can't seem to understand why that is. The build quality of domestics is no where near as bad as it was in the 90s and earlier. Another observation is that the people buying these cars are definitely not concerned with cost. They'll buy a $30k Accord and put a set CCWs or other expensive wheel on there and have a car that is slow as hell. I just don't get what the craze is about.

Here are the types of cars I am referring to. I just can't imagine buying one of these cars over something like a 5.0 Mustang, C6 ZO6, Gen 2 Viper etc.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...s/HondaFit.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...4-1110x725.jpg



-Alex

They get what they can afford and mod it. Some do it tastefully, and are perfectly content with have a nice show quality car that isn't crazy fast.

It has a lot to do with what's popular in the culture at any given time. My generation still lusts after 60's musclecars, and even the tailfins of the 50's.

And it has to do with what the kids saw as they grew through their formative years. Was Dad driving an old hot rod, or a Civic?

And finally, it's got a lot to do with what's affordable. When I was coming up, you could drop by any car lot in the DFW area and find an old muscle car in decent shape for under $2000. Being a kid of 16, and not having much of a job yet, I did what I could, and that meant a steady diet of '69 Camaros, '70 Mustangs, etc, etc, until I had landed a better job, so I could get a nicer ride. Kids now a days are doing exactly the same thing, they just have a vastly different pool of cars to choose from now.

Price difference between a brand new loaded Honda vs a loaded Mustang is pretty big.

Personally I'm not big on the whole stance thing but I can see the reasoning behind it. Some people just don't need or want the speed that a muscle car or sports car delivers, plus insurance costs(in most cases), and features available at the price point

Like if I hadn't wanted a 5.0 for the past 3 years; I would've highly considered a passat, cc, accord, mazda 6, fusion ecoboost, altima, etc due to the features they come with in the low $30k msrp price point

A lot of guys can make those vdubs and Hondas look pretty good. Not my thing though, I like speed. I've always had a thing for muscle/pony cars ever since I was young. The cars you speak of themselves may not be much cheaper than ours but think about all the stuff speed demons break once we start looking for more power? The stance guys just have wheels and suspension on an otherwise stock car.

I see it as the same old "look at me" crap. No different than when I was in high school in the 80s and the idiots would install the biggest camshaft they could, just for the sound, to get people to look. Never mind that they just made their car even slower, just like these huge wheels do. Oh, and you had to have some raspy assed cherry bomb mufflers to go with that too. :grd:

Ive owned Rsx's, Is300's, civics before and the reason for me was making something not quick at all into somethng surprising. Say what you will about Japanese car but the parts are second to none. Ive yet to see a domestic manufacturer have such high quality products.

Apparently these cars are very much pop culture.

I went to Edmunds.com and priced the following cars without actually building up options.

2013 Honda Accord EX-L V6 no Nav $30,860
2013 Scion FRS 10 Series $28,180
2013 Volkswagen CC Sport Plus $33,820

Now these cars are slightly cheaper. Now considering the mods that are done for the most part like coilovers ~$2,000, very nice forged wheels ~$4,500 and tires $1,000, you can see the cost of a powerful domestic is well within reason if not cheaper. Look better driving too :)

Interesting point. What features are these cars coming with, that domestics don't get for $30k?

I'll admit that interior fit and finish is not equal to that of Honda or Toyota but, it certainly isn't bad in comparison. Not from what I can see. I've dated girls with daily driven imports, and for $30k, I did not see what the big deal was with the interiors. I do respect the nice imports such as Evos, Supras, STis, RX7s, Mitsubishi GTOs etc.

-Alex

I was referring to Aftermarket parts as far as fit and finish to me its almost even. Ive had an Evo and it was a fast nimble machine but the interior was better in a KIA LOL! The Rx7 I had was just a bare bones machine made to tackle corners. GTO's and Supras The interiors were just beautiful.

A base mustang gt starts at around $30k. My loaded Optima SX has leather, glass roof, Touch screen Nav, Infinity Sound System, and Heated/Cooled seats. These options on a Mustang start pushing the price closer to $40k.

$10k is a big difference.

^That. But it's pretty much stuff like that giving them an edge, at least compared to the 5.0. Now the v6 you can get fully loaded for similar price point but then you're dealing with the v6 vs v8 bs

Good point. I'd drive a base GT over a loaded V6 all day.

I got my 2012 with the premium package for less than $30k. I'd much rather have a well-appointed, one year older GT vs a brand new Honda Accord. Actually I would never buy a brand new car of any make. I am not thrilled to take that hit of depreciation no matter who builds the car.

-Alex

They price matched mine to one at another dealer for just under 26k brand new.

base mustangs go for 25-27 all day
premiums 28-30
prem +options 31-36