What brands a tuner a tuner?

[zed57]

I'm beginning to wonder if the whole tuner thing is that simple, I mean Zed's modded out the tailpipe and he hasnt gotten much grief about it.

Is it just the obvious exterior mods that 'brand' a car a tuner?

I'm guessing that a tuner with external mods, is the car analog of becoming a gang member, like with tats and piercings and such.

It also seems to be the attitude about life, cause I just dont see a Tuner owning a shop unless thay sell parts for other tuners.

And how do you figure reformed tuners? Do they take off their body mods?

[zed57]

Also are there off roader and low rider gangs?

[ebonyviper]

It is most possibly the foreign makes and models that make a tuner what it is, although cars like Amber can become one as well.

And Ebony is definately considered a tuner because she is heavily modified with material that wasn't a part of her when she was "born." For exampled, the organic componants that make up her hood, the spikes along her sides and fender, the nitrous tanks, the neons... etc.

River's Mod Shop is considered a business by other tuners and that was where Boost took Amber when they went to Nitropolis to get mods done to her before she was stopped from going all the way. They would cater to other tuners most likely.

Tuners also see themselves as the dregs of society, being looked down upon by other cars. They do have a heirarchy of sorts, in which the highest ranking members have the most amount of respect, like Harley, DeSoto, etc.

I don't know about a reformed tuner. It's possible that a life experience had caused them to turn their life around. Unfortunately, they're body mods stay with them for the rest of their lives, as Rosa's spikes are permanently attached to her through her nervous system, explaining why they respond to whatever emotions she's feeling at the moment.

[zed57]

that kinda makes sense, but with the parts shops I'd figure were out there, one could always go back to stock, even if they just keep their old parts.

[ebonyviper]

Getting the parts removed would probably be expensive. Tuners don't street race just for the thrill, they do it to earn money too, unless they hold down a regular job.

If they wanted to go through with another tearing up and putting back together of their original forms that they were "born" with, the above is what they would have to do.

But, as I mentioned, tuners have mods that they cannot remove, as in the case of Rosa's spikes. Although, I suppose Ebony can get hers removed if she wanted to, but she would need the extra money.

I guess it depends on how the tuner feels about his/her mods to decide whether or not they want to remove them.

[fierano]

The term "tuner" is actually quite vague, as pretty much any car that has modified itself both externally and internally can be considered a "tuner," whether street racer, lowrider, off-roader, or a combination of both. Ramone, in that respect, can be considered a tuner, for his hydraulics if not just his paint-job. Those that are looked down upon are those that aren't "professionally" or "officially" modified, i.e. those not for legally sanctioned competition or other street-legal endeavors, and that association gives negative connotations to anyone who might try their own modifications.

Just my two cents, sorry if I lost anyone mid-paragraph.

[ridshadowfox]

To simplify the terms:
Tuner= Any car that has had modifications
Import= Any car not considered domsetic

If you are from old school Tuner is just a cool way of saying Riced-out. Rice refers to the original cheap forign made body kits/ spoilers/ parts that people used to make thier cars look faster. Usually they Riced-out cheap import cars refered to back then as Rice-cars or Rice-burner.

Since then the Ricer culture evolved to better quality parts, and different styles and domestic cars. Back in the old days it was just about looks, these days speed and power are now a focus.

I seen them evolve from late begginings to today. The quality has gone up and they nolonger fit the degrading names of the past.

[Evangeline]

The superficial "Ricers" still exist.

This way to the Ricer Hall of Shame!

This is guaranteed to have the DRH rolling on their roofs in laughter.

[Kayota]

This helped me a lot, as I'm sorta making my tuner Axel more... tuner-ish, at the moment. XD I was still trying to figure things out when I started redesigning him. :B

[adrian]

well I think that another angle is that performance mods/upgrades would be like improving one's fitness. Of course the question this kicks up is, does - for example - having a big Turbo bolted on count as like taking steroids or something? if so, then does general car excersise improve a car's power/fuel-consumption(stamina) etc... ? and what would an engine transplant be? There are some instances where tuning is actually really good or just so bonkers/impressive that you can't look down on it (like a 27 litre - 1000HP Rover SD1 - or just the modified cars that aren't OTT/chavvy).

I guess a tuner or tuned car that was tuned say... as a person would take up a martial-art or work-out... I mean someone like Arnie as a car'd probably be heavily modified... yet he's governor of california. (mind... there are a lot of californians in california )

anyways, as mixed-up and as little sense as it may make; there's my two pence worth.

[Tracker89]

Can't believe I just spotted this topic.

Adrian has a point, in real-life tuned cars(not to be confused with "all show no go" ricers) are considered prestige vehicles. In my country, skilled tuners find themselves on the covers of local car mags(ok, there's only one...but it's pretty significant) with two or three-page articles solely about them. At car shows, their cars are displayed right next to the expensive Benzes and Ferraris. So to be honest, I don't really agree with the whole "Tuners are the low-lifes of society that everyone hates" thing.

[adrian]

really depends on the individual as with a lot of things. I mean in a way, a race-car is a Tuner. but then so's the bunch of Chavs that hang out at supermarket carparks with Fiestas and Novas with go-slower stripes and 50000000000000000000amp stereos that quadrouple the cars weight, thereby making it - if possible - slower than it was before.

[fierano]

Let's not forget the VIP tuners...but those would fall into the qualification of "customization" instead of tuning. If they were human, those "tuners" would be wearing the equivalent of European designer labels, instead of piercings and leather for the proletariat tuners...

[Tracker89]

By "VIP Tuners", you mean cars like those tuned by Gemballa or Brabus, right? Yeah, that's a pretty accurate analogy.

And I was going to bring up the similarity between tuner cars and some racecars(mostly European touring cars). For example:


Remove the racing stickers and replace them with blue shark-fin vinyls, and you've pretty much got Carl.

And then there are cars which have tuner-ish stock appearance, such as the Mitsubishi Evo or Subaru Impreza WRX.

Finally, sleepers, where would they fit in?

Looks like this whole business isn't as straightforward as it first seems...

[fierano]

Sleepers = Steroids or Cyborgs (e.g. Ed Elric)? XD

And the "dark" tuners probably did their mod-shopping at Hot Topic. *Roffles*

And given that "wheat" is the American equivalent of "rice..." I don't know how to finish that question. x.=.x