2023-06-11 18:58:54
Ah, we often had a good laugh at the “personalization” elements brought by some to their car. When I was young, in the 80s, we saw K2000-style LEDs adorning the grilles of Ford Fiesta 1.1. Or “Starsky and Hutch” style flames on Renault 12s. Then, with the democratization of turbo-diesel engines, especially those badged TDI, the tuning movement gained momentum. It was enough to program the supercharging management eprom to gain a lot of horsepower. Reliability? Pollution ? Well…
Obviously, it was not enough to boost the cavalry under the hood, it also had to be seen. So it was a festival of lowered cars, big rims, headlight lids (so that was really funny), fluorescent colored windshield washer nozzles, windshield wipers stuck in a vertical position to race , and so on, and the best (or worse, depending). There was even a tuning fair, tuning magazines, tuning shelves in auto centers. It was the fair of cars prepared in a hurry as I beam you!
A real social phenomenon. The late “Etienne le Bolideur” has toured the web hundreds of times with his Ford Sierra… We will also remember this maniac, who appeared in a television report, who asked his companion to get off his Honda Civic at the level of daisies on each speed bump to preserve its sills.
All this was not in the best taste, of course. The purist that I am hated this fashion and now he regrets it. Would I have converted to fluorescent paint, neon under the sills and 100,000 watt sound systems? Not really. In reality, these modifications betrayed at least an interest in the automobile, and in many cases, a real passion. However, I have the impression that this concerns fewer and fewer people. Especially young people who, overall, from what I have seen, don’t give a damn about cars, to which they prefer tablets and scooters.
Because the car is bad, it pollutes, is not it, and anyway, it must be electric to reduce CO2 emissions. However, electric cars, or even hybrids, are very expensive and you can’t prepare them in your garage, or even at the local auto center. From now on, those who can afford to decorate their frame to their liking are very often very moneyed people, such as the influencer GMK, and for me, this is problematic. Passion should not be reserved for a financial elite. The automotive world is changing profoundly and very quickly. Whether there is reason to deplore it or not is not the question, it is like that.
But I would not be unhappy if, in a few years, the low-lying VW Golf III TDIs, which spit wisps of black smoke with each acceleration, become highly sought-after collector’s items…
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#Give #tuning #Golf #TDIs