Need input from members- please look inside.

[Teetoe_Jones]

Guys/Gals-

When you see an amazing car at a show, track, or magazine what key pieces of info do you want to know about the car?
I'm trying to see what key elements people want to know about upon looking at the car for the first time- ie Engine type, displacement, year of car, model, trans type, color of paint, suspension options, builder, etc.

If you took at look at Stielow's Camaro X what would you ask about first?

I will revel why I'm looking for this info after we get a few responses.

Tyler

[Tony@AirRideTech]

This is gravey..... when you look at a car from a distance it either pulls you or it doesnt. There are four things that will grab your initial intention but it is the fouth that will either lure you to the car or it wont... kind of the deal breaker.
1. Is year model.... this is the most obvious.
2. Is the initial color of the car
3. Wheels and tires
4. Stance, the way it wears the wheels and tires.

Doubt me......? Stop and think about the modern cars we find sexy. Take a moment to think about the way the fenders, fender lips and tires seems moulded together. It is like they found the tire and wheel combo they liked and designed and built the car around it. Take your modern Mercedes, BMW's ect... look at the way the car was built for those tires. They simply fit.
Now when you are toodling around a show, you are looking at cars for their fit and finish. The wheel and tire fitment to the car is the ultimate tale tale sign in stating that the car is fit and finished and weather or not you want to take the effort to walk up to it. I guarantee ya... leave that stock ass fender gap around those tires and wheels and you will draw a 1/4 of the people to look at it ........ just say no to gap........:thumbsup:

[deuce_454]

i would like to know what sets it appart from every other camaro, what are the mods, what are they good for, how are they made, how do they work.. specifics!!! is it put well together.. and not how smooth is the filler under the paint, and not how expensive are the wheels... that i can see at first glance..

if its just an off the shelf engine i couldnt care less, but if somone thought out a plan and did somthing custom for a season.. then im interested.. especially is its well engineered... and not all chrome and bolt on billet for looks sake.... (not to step on any toes here.. i think marquez design is awesome because it is a clever upgrade, honoring stock looks.... but summitracing billet everything does not a PT car make sorry)

[RaceMan]

How fast will it go??? and what size is the engine, then I guess wheels ,tires , rear and if they built it :thumbsup:

[Teetoe_Jones]

Hmm. This is getting some good responses that are making me re-think how I relay the info to the casual on-looker.

Imagine the owner not being present with the car, and you can still get key bits of info- but nothing too detailed. Example would be if you wanted to know the wheel combo, make, model, size, backspacing, and tire sizing, but I could only fit the bare minimum:


HRE C21 18x8.5F/18x11R

vs

HRE Performance C21 wheels, 18x8.5" with 5.645" of Backspacing, Grey centers, Michelin Pilot Cup 245/35/YR/18

Would this be acceptable at a first glance? Most of you know exactly what the above text means.

Another example would be engine size, type and displacement:

GM 427 LS7

vs

2006 General Motors 427 Cubic Inch LS7

Imagine a small postcard with bare essentail info on it, what is your main crietria? Try to keep it under 10 items if you can.

Here is my list:

1. Year, Make, and model.
2. Engine type and displacement
3. Trans type
4. Wheels/tires
5. Builder/Build date
6. Paint color
7. Chassis

Tyler

[70gotboost]

Guys/Gals-

When you see an amazing car at a show, track, or magazine what key pieces of info do you want to know about the car? ....
Tyler

#1 - I look for small rock chips on the front and undercarriage and bugs in the radiator... :thumbsup: That's all I need to know!!

[XcYZ]

1. How fast is it.
2. Can I have a ride.
3. Can I drive it.

:D

[Vegas69]

Tyler it was nice to meet you last week at the shop. We may still be doing business in the future. When I see a killer car I want to know who built it as well.

[Derek69SS]

1. Who built it? (bonus points if owner-built! :yes: )
2. How long to build
3. Quarter-mile ET (not an estimate, I want real numbers, and specified whether on slicks or in street trim)
4. Horsepower (estimate here is OK, as long as it's backed up by a good ET/MPH or logical reasoning)
5. Engine/Trans/gear combo
6. Fuel mileage (hey, that's important these days!)
7. (if PT) Has it been on a roadcourse/autocross?
7a. How did it do?
8. Is it driven often/daily, or trailered?
9. Is it comfortable?
10. How much invested? (ballpark figure OK... bonus points for lower figure. :) )

[XcYZ]

Ok, seriously, if a car catches my attention, I'm interested in the drivetrain; motor, displacement, trans, rear and gearing. I'm also interested in what it has for suspension setup. And finally, what mods have been done.

[JV69z/28]

1."Is year model.... this is the most obvious.
2. Is the initial color of the car
3. Wheels and tires
4. Stance, the way it wears the wheels and tires."

I agree with Tony! That's what is going to get my attention. If it gets my attention then I want as many details as I can get. I want the wheel/tire sizes and backspace. I want the engine displacement/HP/induction. Spill your guts I'm listening and then I'm asking.

[novanutcase]

1. Stance - Think about it! You could have the most rusted out POS wheels and the most rusted out, banged up body but if it sits mean you'll look at it!

2. Motor - For me, I look at if the owner dropped in a huge horsepower motor for looks or if its for function. I would rather see a clean motor that is built for it's intended use and at a horsepower range that is appropriate rather than a high polish, billet everything, triple blower, bored to the hilt BBC that only gets used to rev at idle!

3. Suspension - I look underneath and see if the owner has tried to improve his ride or if he rattle canned everything to make it look nice!

John

[Ummgawa]

My number one and number two thing is

1. How much work did the Dude that owns it do himself.(The Real Bob Johnson for example)

2. If its a checkbook car, who built it and has the owner done a good smokey burnout, donuts or roadcourses in it. (The Bob Johnson we all know well)

nuff said.

[shanekennedy]

lateral g
hp
tq
1/4 mile
0-60
60-0
top speed
mpg
weight & distribution

[70gotboost]

Ok, seriously, if a car catches my attention, I'm interested in the drivetrain; motor, displacement, trans, rear and gearing. I'm also interested in what it has for suspension setup. And finally, what mods have been done.

Well alright, I guess I'll be serious too....

1) Who built it and what was their intentions of the finished product.
2) Overall looks (how the exterior blends with the engine compartment which blends with the interior...)
3) Stance and how they achieved it.
4) Powertrain
5) Driveability

[V8TV]

I think I see where you are going with this... perhaps people would want to buy a custom tag for their car with pertinant performance / upgrade data on it. Like a trim tag, but with the cool stuff.

We recently shot a car that had an old Isky cam tag on the firewall - it's like an old factory trim tag, but the cam specs stamped in it. Or the SCTA tags the lakesters had with their performance numbers stamped in them. Both were cool.

Am I close?

We wanted to do an upgraded Fisher Body tag on the Royal Sport Camaro, but didn't have a good source for someone who could make one. We wanted to put the new color code, engine, interior, wheel / tire spec, and fluids on it.

- KO

[Opm Customs]

OK, lets leave the B.S. behind......
Most people that attend car shows a= have no idea what they are looking at and b= wouldn't know the difference anyway. That being said, are we asking this question to the general public, or to true afficianados? If the former is the case, then here is the list....

#1 (regardless of the LS2 covers being present) "Is that a big block?"
#2 "What did you do to it."

#3 "How did you get those wheels to fit?"

#4 " Why did you guys Fu#$ up a perfectly good Camaro?"

#5 " How much H.P. does it have, how fast does it go, and can I drive it?"





If the latter is the case then here is my answer.......

#1 "Sweet LS2, what kind of power does it put to the wheels?"

#2 "What kind of ECM did you use and who tuned it?"

#3 "What is the backspacing on the rear wheels, those are 19's right? How did you fit them without tubbing?"

#4 "Where did you find such a nice Camaro to modify, and what subframe are you using?"

#5 "How much H.P. does it have, how fast does it go, and can I drive it?


:D

Clay
OPM Customs

[jeff hanson]

I love pro-touring, pro-street, and street rods of all kinds, but what makes me actually stop to look at one is stance. We've all said "It's amazing what a set of wheels can do for a car", but if it doesn't sit right, we notice that first. I'll check out any car if it has a cool stance, which I think wheel selection definately helps the cause, but the way it wears them (stance) always comes first. For me, Engine/Drivetrain comes next, followed by interior. Oh, if it's wearing Cragars, I would probably walk right by it regardless of anything! :rofl:

[romar 02 ss]

When I'm walking around a show or any where for that matter the first thing to catch my is stance.Even an unfinised car looks great if it sits right. Secound paint, agood paint color draws me in. Then I can check out the fit and finish up close. Third, engine and induction. There is nothing cooler than a bitchin' set of stack injectors or a clean carb setup, or turbos, supercharger,etc. Then I start to crawl around the car to check out the rest in no particular order. Then I go home and stare at my pile of pieces and think to myself, Someday.

[4mm]

To me it's first about the suspension, how well does it ride and is it sorted out. Next is the drivetrain.

[Garage Dog 65]

Am I close?

- KO

:yes: I think so. I saw the tags in this months Street Rodder where the guy built a 32 lakes car - and added his pops old tag - way cool and I'm sure others would buy in if a nice one was available.

Beyond the visual stuff that catches my eye so that I stop and look (year, make, model, engine type/size, wheel/tire sizes, etc) have all been listed in this thread. Really like the added performance info that some suggested - that means it's a real driver. Excellent idea and thread.

[Teetoe_Jones]

Great responses.

What we are working on is a customized trim tag for car builders and owners. we are going to have them water jet cut out of aluminum and stainless steel and then we will laser etch all the new info about the car on the tag. We plan to include the following options:

VIN
Engine size/type/displacement
Trans type
Chassis type/mods
Wheel brand/size
Builder/build date
Paint color
Vehicle make/model/year
Performance specs/HP/TQ/Quarter Mile/skid pad/lateral-g
Small area for logo or graphic

We might even leave it up to each client to let us know which fields they want added or subtracted.

The plan is to have most done in an aluminum plate with black anodizing, but we will also do stainless steel with black laser etch, and different anodized colors upon request (red, blue, green etc)

We are going for the modernized look of a Ferrari or Aston Martin serial plate, but people have already requested a vintage style made of brass or similar material.

So now that you guys are armed with that info, how many of you will change your answers?

Tyler

[syborg tt]

I like the idea of a trim tag. Just not sure where I would want to display the tag. I would consider mounting in the door jam similar to a tire infation tag.

okay this is if i'm looking at a modified car not a Friday night cruise car. Which I think is smarter in the end then a modified car that ends up in your garage as a piece of art because your afraid to drive it.

1. Stance ( possibly a rendering )

2. Wheels & Tires
a. does the style fit with the body design

3. Suspension - Front
a. what type ( air ride, leaf or coil over type )
b. my prefernce is air suspension they are so much more enjoyable to drive on long road trips ( re: power tour )

4. Suspension - Rear
a. what type ( air ride, leaf or coil over type )
b. once again my prefernce is air suspension they are so much more enjoyable to drive on long road trips ( re: power tour )

5. Chassis (stock, modified or custom )
a. i really love custom chassis
b. perfect example are the AWD Chassis the Troy is buildin

6. Body modifications
a. stuff so simple you didn't even know they did it.

7. Engine compartment
a. how well was it thought out (packaging)
b. is the plumbing hidden or exposed

8. Exhaust
a. does it hang below the rockers ( is it visible :mad: )
b. they should be heard not seen

9. Fuel System
a. is it upgraded to something safe
b. fuel line are they in dangerous locations

10. Tranny - who built it and what did they do.

11. Cooling
a. what type of radiator
b. if the owner is there is it working

12. Engine management
a. who's sytem and what do you think of it (efi )

13. Electrical
a. is it stock or aftermarket
b. how hard was the install

14. Paint & Bodywork
a. is the car straight
b. panel gaps
c. did the body shop fix the penels or shim the heck out the car
d. rain gutter - were they stripped of old paint before they were painted
e. really i could go on here but i'll stop now

15. Interior
a. what's the theme (stock, custom or all out crazy)
b. how well was it executed
c. quality of the work that was done

16. Stereo
a. is a nice stereo or a boom boom system
b. how well was it executed
c. they should be heard not seen

ps - next project will be all about the drive.

[LL CUSTOM]

For me it is custom body work. Not just chop tops and frenched headlite's[although I love that to]. Troy's stuff get's me going big time, when you see it and most would think it is stock but you know it is not that draw's me in and then if the chassis and engine compartment are works of engineering art , then I am in car heaven. paint and stance are the icing on the top ,without them your going to walk by anyhow. It has to be totaly custom through out, yet it has to look like it came that way. Jim and Mike Rings red convert did it for me because it was all hand fabricated. The one's since then ,although totally awsome car's are starting to take a bolt on look to them. Nothing wrong with that but that's not what trips my trigger. have a great day:thumbsup: Larry www.llcustomperformance.com