You may be wondering, by now, just what is a "tuner?" While it's difficult to try to define an entire group of car buffs with a single description, here's a very general description: a tuner is an automotive enthusiast who enjoys mechanically and/or cosmetically altering a modern, usually compact vehicle in the effort to reflect a spirit of individualism, creativity, and innovation. A tuner car typically features a high-revving, four-cylinder engine and front wheel drive. Compact, Japanese models have typically been the cars of choice for tuners think Honda, Acura, Nissan, Mazda. American companies, such as Ford, have also recently made inroads into the tuner culture with smaller models like the Focus.
Tuners share some qualities of early hot rodders: they are both passionate about their cars and relentless in their quest for enhanced performance and striking designs. Also like hot rodders, tuners have created a strong community that shares similar ideas about fashion, music, and culture. As Alan Paradise, guest researcher for the exhibit explains in his introduction to the exhibit: "The car becomes a guiding force for their [tuner's] lifestyle, rather than merely a means of transportation."
However, while hot rod and tuner culture clearly share certain qualities, tuner culture is definitely a modern phenomenon. Ethnically diverse Southern California is the birthplace of tuner culture. As a result, tuners tend to cross normal gender, ethnic, and economic boundaries.
All statistics courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum and Alan Paradise. |
In addition to the ethnic and gender diversity of tuner culture, there are a number of different "classes" of tuner cars, each designed towards a specific goal. The cars can be divided into five main groups: street, strip, sport, show, and sound.
All statistics courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum and Alan Paradise. |
All statistics courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum and Alan Paradise. |
The street scene is the center of most Tuner Car activity. Despite the modifications made to them, street cars are usually driven on a daily basis Alan Paradise's research shows that 85.4% of tuners use their tuner car as daily transportation. Many street tuner cars are works-in-progress owners make changes and upgrades as their budgets and time allow. The most extreme street cars have been extensively altered from their stock form with upgrades to the engine, powertrain, suspension, wheels, brakes, and interior cosmetics. Additions like racing seats, special steering wheels, gauges, and pedals are common on many tuner cars.
Due to the risk of accidents and increased police pressure, many tuners have taken their thirst for competition off the streets (see
The Fast and the Furious and
2 Fast, 2 Furious) and onto the drag strip. Strip tuner cars are typically modified to run quarter mile sprints down the track. Modifications include the use of super sticky racing tires and horsepower-heavy engines. Good times in the quarter mile are below 14 seconds, which means that some of these cars hit more than 140 miles per hour. Tuner car drag racing has become one of the fastest growing participation sports in the country.
A strip tuner car, driven by R.J. Simrock. |
The show scene came into being in the 1980's and has grown spectacularly in size and strength since. As you'd imagine, a show car must look as good as it performs. Common mods to a show car include: body kits, engine jewelry, carbon fiber hoods, racing seats, fiberglass subwoofer and amplifier enclosures, video monitors, and outrageous paint jobs. Some of these cars are so valuable that they are simply trucked to and from shows, rather than driven.
Sport tuner cars are made for racing on road tracks and twisty autocross events. The first true tuner car is considered to be the 1971 Datsun 510 that Peter Brock modified for racing in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans Am races. The 510's lightweight but powerful single overhead cam engine and advanced suspension (modified by Brock for racing) helped Brock dominate Trans Am racing from 1971-1972, where he regularly outpaced more expensive BMWs and Alfa Romeos. Datsun dealers caught on to Brock's 510 phenomenon and began offering many of the same performance parts Brock used on his race car, which gave rise to a popular phenomenon and the archetypal "first tuner car" was born.
Ty Typton's 1994 Honda Civic modified as a sport tuner car. |
Sport tuner cars are heavy on the performance upgrades, and incorporate very few flashy bodywork mods or A/V systems. A fifth and final branch of tuner car owners equip their rides with powerful audio/video systems that are often set in custom designed enclosures that are made to look as cool as they sound. Some compete in SPL or sound pressure level competitions in which the loudest vehicle wins; others focus on sound quality. Many show cars incorporate outrageous A/V systems that feature multiple video monitors and backlit amplifier racks to catch the eyes and ears of the judges and their fellow enthusiasts.
Crutchfield installers designed and installed the custom A/V system in this 2003 Honda Element. |
