301–310 of 456 posts
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Wild, there are also other people around you who might they're more fun too, they might want you to turn it up.
Unfortunately for those other people, there are rules and social customs about not being an inane goober when you're in a shared public space.
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> they will finally get the respect they deserve. I believe this is a big part of it. With the rise of corporations and media, we have seen a loss of any sort of public commons. A consequence of that is that I think many people here in the US don't feel like they are part of a community. They don't feel seen by any sort of meaningful tribe, outside of their job, which is transactional and subject to the whims of corp…
Except people have been doing obnoxious shit to feel better about themselves since forever ago. Look two hundred years back and you will see European men duelling each other over the most random stuffs. If anything, I'd say I am seeing less modded cars and hearing less bikes with more decibels than jet engines than I did 20 years ago. I feel like you just grasping to any social phenomenon to try to insert your own ag…
I'm no expert, but you could do a whole deep dive on the sociology behind dueling to get a better sense of what socioeconomic conditions led to it.
Just saying "the stegosaurus is like a peanut butter cookie" to establish an analogy doesn't immediately confer wisdom. An analogy has to actually be between things that have meaningful similarity. If we were, say, talking about street racing for pink slips, then maybe the dueling analogy would be more useful.
I love cars and driving them. But the modded Corolla/Civic/Accord/Camry (why) people have always driven me crazy because their mods often seem directed to inflicting their cars on everyone else, with loud exhaust, subwoofers, and (subjectively) garish cosmetics, rather than things that make it actually good to drive . I recognize this is judgmental and it's unhealthy to always be annoyed at these people on the road,…
So much of American car/motorcycle culture seems to be about that nowadays. And it's not limited to the Japanese mod scene, either. Loud exhausts everywhere - pickups, domestic V6/V8's, motorcycles. Super-bright headlights/aux lights improperly mounted or operated, blinding you at night. Stereos you can almost feel before you hear them. All these guys (and let's face it, it's 90% guys doing the irritating stuff) are…
I love cars and driving them. But the modded Corolla/Civic/Accord/Camry (why) people have always driven me crazy because their mods often seem directed to inflicting their cars on everyone else, with loud exhaust, subwoofers, and (subjectively) garish cosmetics, rather than things that make it actually good to drive . I recognize this is judgmental and it's unhealthy to always be annoyed at these people on the road,…
People buy aftermarket exhausts for a variety of reasons. They can produce a different tone, cut down on exhaust 'drone' (which the GR Corolla is notorious for with it's factory exhaust), offer alternative styling, provide weight savings, and reduce backpressure/improve flow. It's not just about volume. Certainly you could be an asshole who buys an exhaust just because it's loud, but that's not why the majority are doing it, it's for their own enjoyment and usually provides a performance improvement. If they really wanted to achieve max volume they could just do an open dump exhaust or a hood exit, it would be cheaper than buying a Borla and significantly louder.
I am the author of this Corolla essay. My friend who works in the tech industry told me it was posted here. Thank you for reading it! I never expected a silly essay about a Toyota Corolla would gain this much traction, but it is what it is. It also made the LA Times, but in an abridged version.
Here's the link: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2026-06-22/fast-furiou...
I'm not sure if this is going to change too many opinions here, but the exhaust is not literally a "fire-breathing dragon" loud (I was using hyperbole for fun). It rumbles on cold start but it's only loud when you floor it, which I don't. We live in a suburb of LA and my neighbors are older and family folk and I am respectful of them. They actually like my car and am happy I got it because it makes me happy. The amped subwoofer can only be heard IN THE CAR because it's really small, like an old encyclopedia, and it sits under the passenger seat. The music I like has bass and there was ZERO bass in the stock sound. And last, I don't track it but I am lucky to live near iconic Angeles Crest Highway and I do drive it up there for fun. I get passed by locals in SUV who drive way faster because they know the road way better. Also, one not expected benefit of the car AND the essay has been all the awesome and nice people I've met through them. Modern life can be so isolating and it's hard to meet new people or make friends in your 50's, so I am grateful that most of all.
Best, Ky-Phong
PS: I actually am mainly a speculative fiction writer nowadays! Lol
I accidentally bought a midlife crisis car: a Subaru Trailseeker EV station wagon. It was cheaper (and more to form) than the 2026 Outback. It just happens to be the fastest production vehicle Subaru has ever sold. Rip-your-face-off speed wasn’t even what I was after, I just wanted an EV wagon and it’s the only one in existence. Still: stupid fun and very unique car, I’ve had it for two months and haven’t seen anothe…
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Hard disagree. You might be ok with loud engines splitting your eardrums and interrupting your sleep (or worse, your baby's sleep!), but society as a whole should not. Live and let live is good and all, but GP said it was about "inflicting their taste on others," so I would read that comment to mean the inconsiderate things we should not let live. Loud pipes, unsafe driving, and loud subwoofers--I'll shake my fist at…
the most unsafe drivers I see usually have a "baby on board" bumper sticker. foot out the window, eyes down looking at a phone, can't stay in their lane, let alone manage a consistent (speed limit obeying) pace
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Hard disagree. You might be ok with loud engines splitting your eardrums and interrupting your sleep (or worse, your baby's sleep!), but society as a whole should not. Live and let live is good and all, but GP said it was about "inflicting their taste on others," so I would read that comment to mean the inconsiderate things we should not let live. Loud pipes, unsafe driving, and loud subwoofers--I'll shake my fist at…
the most unsafe drivers I see usually have a "baby on board" bumper sticker. foot out the window, eyes down looking at a phone, can't stay in their lane, let alone manage a consistent (speed limit obeying) pace
Also, you are telling on yourself about woman drivers. Moms don’t drive worse than childless women. And men don’t put those bumper stickers on their cars if they can help it.
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I’m at the point where I don’t just want ticketing and other enforcement on this front, I want yanked licenses for this after a warning, and I might even want it legal to shoot vehicles guilty of noise violations and their drivers with paintballs to mark them for further enforcement and shame. Smoking is the atmospheric equivalent of peeing in the pool; noise pollution is something between that and opting everyone in…
Sure, but as long as they're allowed to paintball you and sick draconian enforcement on you for whatever trivial things you do they deem to be slights against society. Like FFS, it's just fucking noise. It's a small minority of people. Can we just ignore them? There's so much bigger problems. Most people grow out of it after one car like that.