When I first glanced this shot of a BRZ by William Rubano, I thought the car had been hit or something. But then I saw it’s been “stanced”. A bit hard, at that.
But guess what, I sort of get this.
Having taken quite a bit of LSD in my formative years (15 – 18), there’s something to be said about making the seemingly impossible possible. Or just going against the grain. And proving it to others. I can relate to that.
I assume that’s the point here, but then I could be wrong.
Air suspension, deflated? Hydraulics?
??????????
Maybe, but that doesn’t explain the extreme negative camber. That’s the result of changes to its geometry. Modern suspensions have very little camber change in their normal range of motion.
Big in Japan.
Yes, it is. No doubt this one is riding on airbags as well to gain clearance when moving, although that won’t change that extreme camber too much. It’s likely a show car at a detail shop; look at the background.
Hellaflush or VIP stance, I forget if there’s a distinction between the two but they both share the low massive camber wide wheel look.
If there was ever a better anti-drug disclaimer “this is your car on drugs”
Here’s your quick crash-course on the two:
VIP stance is when you take some kind of big-bodied sedan (usually something Japanese, like say an old Lexus), lower it to the ground (usually on air suspension), and give it wide wheels and some camber. Not usually *massive* camber though – the intent is presenting a luxury cruiser ride. Think of like the japanese equivalent to a lowrider.
Hellaflush involves massive camber and stretched tires so as to create a ‘flush’ boundary between the wheels and the fenders and is more broadly popular these days, especially in the US where big Japanese luxury sedans are thin on the ground. I usually see it applied pretty much exclusively to more modern cars and some of the more popular ’90s tuners.
In my older age I’m striving to be accepting of all car culture as “cool” and “unique” and “good for you, man – I can dig it!” but this is one that’s lost on me.
This and 90s-ass pro street rods are my last holdouts…
I hope the local cops compete to see who can cite it first, most, and most often if the owner even has a passing thought of driving it on public roadways.
And what could they validly cite the owner for? I’m pretty sure it is on air bags and as Doug says below “it will get up and drive away later”. Sure it is possible the tires might be bad, but then again as long as the cords aren’t showing they probably pass the minimum tread depth requirements, since 2/3 or more of the tread never touches the ground.
I’m not a LEO and yet I spot enough of what are violations in most places to get a pretty good list started, including several kinds of improper/missing/noncompliant lighting; no front licence plate in a state that apparently requires them (and if it’s Mr. Rubano’s regular stomping grounds, it definitely requires them); illegal windshield tint, and illegal tint on all the rest of the windows except the backlight.
That’s just what’s visible in these two front pics; rear views would probably also show us more. There’s a sturdy likelihood of illegally loud exhaust, and high odds of an illegally removed catalytic converter.
And that’s before we even get into the manner in which a car such as this is almost certainly driven.
But even ignoring all that, this car still has the equivalent of a jumbotron atop it that reads “ATTENTION TRAFFIC COPS: STOP ME BECAUSE MY DRIVER AND I ARE PROBABLY WORTH MANY CITATIONS”.
If the windshield is actually tinted then yes that is an easy ticket. The side windows I’m not so sure are too dark as picture makes it hard to accurately judge that. Even if is too dark it is highly unlikely that a cop will pull you over for that. I’ve got two cars with “illegal” tint that I’ve had for several years each and haven’t ever had a problem. No I didn’t do it to them I bought them that way, from my state and county as they were former LEO vehicles.
While it may look like the lens is tinted on the headlight I think the effect is due to the blacked out chrome on the inside of the light. I know my Marauder headlights look tinted next to my Crown Vic due to the black bezel inside rather than chrome. The side markers may be missing or they may be set back in for clearance.
As far as the license plate goes many times cars like these have a slip in mount for when they take on the road.
it looks like it is on the ground. how is it even driveable?
It’s just resting. It’ll get up and drive away later. 🙂
It’s pining for the fjords.
lovely plumage
The plumage don’t enter into it; it’s bleedin’ demised!
Every fad can, and will be taken to extremes. We’ve all seen lifted trucks that need a step ladder to enter. Air bagged Lowriders that rest on their frame rails. 12 inch rear spring shackles for an extreme rake on an old muscle car. Not to forget about Donks and Highriders. Even this Harley Chopper built back in the early 1970’s by Freddie Hernandez. Six foot extended rigid fork!
Yup there will always be people that want to take the fad to the next level, and another person that will try to out do that.
Ridiculous
Did an elephant sit on it?
It really does look like a Hot Wheels that’s been stepped on.
On a tangently related subject, I would be interested in seeing accident rate statistics for various categories of modified vehicles. My gut feeling is that cars like this, lifted trucks, etc. would have exponentially higher impact incidents.
My gut feeling is it is substantially lower since the owners either care about their vehicles enough to pour money into non appreciable accessories and be extra careful about not trashing them or they’re simply not driven much(which I suspect is the case with the BRZ)
Brakes don’t stop the car. Brakes stop the wheel and tire assembly. The tire’s contact patch with the road stops the car. As a show car, fine. Out on the road amongst all the unpredictable potential needs to stop quickly and in control of the vehicle, nope.
Brakes don’t stop a car if an inattentive driver going through their texts doesn’t get around to using them either. Knowing flaws of your vehicle, as I can presume this owner does, would prompt you to either not drive it and use it as a display for their car wash business(that’s my guess in this case) or drive it very carefully to not damage the very vulnerable bodykit.
Believe me, I’m not a fan of this automotive trend, but I am far more fearful of the vehicles that don’t grab attention careening into me in traffic.
As a 40 year veteran of motorcycle commuting on busy roads I think I’m more qualified to respond to you than anyone else on this forum. You don’t last multiple decades on 2 wheels without being in a higher plane of defensive driving. Cagers do not truly know what defensive driving is. The most dangerous cars on the roads are those with small children in them or with young girls behind the wheel. I don’t know what it is about kids in a car but it makes the driver of the vehicle stupid. And there is something about young girls being unaware of the world around them. The prettier they are the worse they are. I don’t know the “why” I just know it is. And finally there is one more category that doesn’t put fear into a motorcyclist’s heart like a car load of kids or a pretty female driver, but it does cause irritation. That is the young grubby male in a grubby beater car. They don’t signal their turns they have broken wipers and burned out lights and they just don’t care about anything. They are less likely to kill you than the first two but they raise your anxiety enough to make your ride unenjoyable.
The modified BRZ in the above article has no such effect on this motorcyclist’s peace of mind.
I’m not into that look. Curious though about the technique in use on the blue buggy in the background. Full soap application as part of wash process, I suppose
They’re using a foam cannon on a power washer. It makes for some impressive suds but I’m not so sure it makes your car any cleaner or moves dirt any better.
Do they make tires with asymmetric tread for this application? Because if they don’t, they should.
It would seem like this guy would go through tire changes faster than oil changes.
The tire patches (the part of the tire actually touching the ground) is possibly in the fractions of square inches per corner. With all the acceleration, stopping, and handling characteristics that such a paucity of tire patch would create.
Seems like there would be a market and you could price them pretty high if they would last longer than a standard tire ran in he same manner.
Its actually possible to drive like that:
https://youtu.be/HWgUhOdefA4
Back in my tire store days, we had a customer with a VW bug which looked much like this car. It would wear out the rear tires in a few hundred miles. The owner bitterly complained about this and insisted that we (somehow) “fix” it. Restoring the stock ride height was not an option which would be considered. This person taught me everything one needs to know about folks who do this.
Not all BRZ owners are that insane 🙂 Mine is still stock suspension wise, and i don’t intend on changing it in any event, it’s low enough as is!!
What is the point of this? Stupidest thing I have ever seen.
Hey Paul-are you suggesting that if I take LSD, this car will make sense? Because I cringe every time I see one of these cambered jobs. Still, I guess they have their point, even if it is little else than something ridiculous for me to gawk at when I’m out on the road.
Paul, as someone with a pharmaceutical background in a former life, I shudder at the thought of a 15 year old taking LSD on anything like a regular basis. No judgment here; just concern. Clearly, you came through it ok as demonstrated by your knowledge, writing ability and ambition. I’d say you were at least somewhat lucky, as were all of us who came through the 60’s and 70’s relatively unscathed.
Poor little crippled Subaru!
As torturous for the sake of form much like foot-binding, or having to wear f***-me pumps.
Yet all the same, a fine exemplar.
When I see vehicles as ridiculous as this or as those F-350 types “rolling coal”, I am pleased that the owners are spending money needlessly buying the products that mutual funds I own have in their portfolios – Continental or Michelin, Exxon or Conoco, Cummins or Toyota. Let them damage and replace parts on their cars that I try to preserve on mine and let my investments benefit from the inanity of the owners of such vehicles.
Might be just the extra weight of the 18 speed farst and fatuous transmission.
This is no Toyota but the Ferdinand Porsche Memorial Edition 911, which is not only rear-engined at both ends but also the suspensions, steering column, door openers, mirrors, seat mechanisms are all swing-axles. In what was intended in a spirit of subtle understatement for an uber-expensive machine, it happens to look very nearly as boring as a BRZ and could be mistaken accordingly by the non-cognoscenti.
Personally, I think the effort to atone for their unfortunate history with positive camber is overdone, but it does show good faith.
How I wish I could ‘unsee’ this – it is wrong on so many levels.
Obviously just a show car, not usable on the roads, but it gives people ideas. This is a cartoon look, is it not ? Fine in cartoons. In real life you overheat the tyres by stretching them far more than the tyre manufacturers permit. You actually overheat the shoulder, and because of the crazy camber you are running the weight of the car on the already over-stressed shoulder. And it’s being done to a GT86/BRZ in my favourite colour !
Some people need to have their fingers broken with their own wrenches.
While it’s true that you can’t fix “stupid”, you can at least add it to the billable hours.
It doesn’t look safe in any way due to tiny tire contact patch .
Anyone who thinks people don’t actually drive cars like this, is clueless .
When I worked in the central L.A.P.D. Garage one of my biddies there’s job was writing up reports on vehicles crashed due to tomfoolery like this and there were a _lot_ of them .
-Nate