On Mon, 23 Mar 1998, Dave Rench wrote:
> A recent posting brought up the merits of stealth versus aggressive
> "Mustang baiting" looks. I would be curious as to what any list members
> may have done to their trucks to increase the sleeper quotient. I have
> considered trading in my V-8 emblems for some V-6 badges (or even the 4
> cylinder Magnum badges)so as not to scare off the faint of heart at the
> stoplight. I am trying a muffler only exhaust upgrade as opposed to a
> larger single or (heaven forbid) dual exhaust in the hopes that the stock
> looking single exhaust will lull the unknowing into a sense of confidence.
> I am retaining the stock wheels for the same reason (although they are the
> 15X8's),but may put some Drag Radials on my second set of rear wheels for
> extra traction (235/60/15's of course, can't deviate too much from the
> stock look). Then I'd have run blackwalls on all 4 wheels so the rear
> wouldn't stand out. I think you get the idea. Any thoughts?
>
>
Although I don't subscribe to the "sleeper" mindset myself, I
certainly do understand the desire for stealth. A friend of mine
has a pretty fast Sentra SE-R that he is trying to keep as low-key
as possible. (On the outside. On the inside, he has a few intake
and exhaust mods and he is saving up for the Stillen turbo kit.)
It seems to me that the sleeper rationale only works at the track.
When you are at the track, you KNOW the guy beside you is there to
run. There is no guesswork here. A sleeper car can lull the
competition into a false sense of security, and can be a very
valuable weapon. HOWEVER, you mentioned not wanting to scare off
the faint of heart at a stoplight. Now, put yourself in the other
guy's shoes. You've got what you consider to be a pretty fast
vehicle, and you pull up beside a pick-up truck which, from all
outside appearances is a 4-cyl. If there are no cosmetic mods or
a loud rumble coming from the exhaust, you've got to assume that
it is just Joe Farmer on a lunch break from gathering hay in the
back 40. There's obviously no race here, so the guy isn't even
going to try. I'm a perfect example of this. When I had my VR-4,
I had absolutely nothing to prove. As a result, I VERY seldom
got into any stoplight races. The ones that I did get into
were mostly Mustang punks with something to prove, and who were
annoying enough for me to want to thrash them. (Lemme digress here
for a moment to say that I don't consider all Mustang owners to be
punks; however, it is a cheap, fast car so it naturally attracts a
large proportion of high school punks, and all of the ones that I
raced *were* punks, probably because they managed to be the most
annoying.) Never did lose to a Mustang. I also only race until
about 60mph or so. You'd think that the Mustang drivers would get
the point when I have a few carlengths on them at 60, but nooo;
without fail, they'd have to go roaring by at about 80 while I was
applying brakes.
ANYWAY... Unlike with the VR-4, my inclination to race with the
Dak is a lot greater, since it is at a much lower performance level.
There is, however, a way to get a street race when you are
driving a sleeper. That's by revving the engine and generally making
an annoyance out of yourself. You'd have to try and goad the
other guy into "teaching you a lesson". That's way too annoying
for me. I agree with Robert; I like 'em to come after me.
Here is another thing to think about:
Having a sleeper might actually get the exact opposite results
of what you want! Here's what I mean: If you want to race, then
you've got to be competitive, which will probably mean some mods.
An exhaust mod is a dead giveaway. Even if you make the pipe look
relatively stock, the exhaust note is going to be noticed. Think
about pulling up beside a car that's rumbling away, and you notice
4-cyl badges on it! "Uh oh, this guy is a serious racer..." If
your victim notices the discrepancy, you might actually scare the
guy more than you would by being obvious. My personal philosophy is
that if my vehicle *is* fast, it should *look* fast. Clear cut,
black and white, etc. If somebody wants to race, maybe I will.
If another person doesn't, that's fine by me because I shouldn't
be racing on the street in the first place. :-)
Ahhhh, the psychology of the street. This could become an
interesting thread! :-)
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu -- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---.
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I do not speak for the SUNY College at Fredonia; all opinions are my own.
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