When does a car lose it's title as a "street car"

[turbo39151]

IMO, if you have to cage, tub or remove A/C the car is not a street car.

 

[2QUICK2B6]

this is my DD i only have to get home before dark j/k

A street car imo has head lights taillights windsheild wipers tags and insurance and can be drive in the street without overheating

 

[malibuick231]

I consider mine a street car that has a cage for safety. It has 3.08 gears with a o/d trans and will run down the interstate at 85mph and only turn about 2200rpms. The last time at the track it ran a 10.03 at 139 so saying any thing over 600hp is not a street car has nothing to do with. I have a friend over in GA with a trans am that runs 9.30 and still has every thing the car came with plus a cage. If i see you running down the road legal Im going to have to call it a street car.

 

[coach]

IMO, if you have to cage, tub or remove A/C the car is not a street car.

Didnt HAVE to cage, chose to. Didnt want the 22 inch wide tires sticking out, so I put in tubs, and A/C was not available on a 62 Chevy...LOL

Dont know if some are aware, but a "cage" is more for traction than safety. Dont get me wrong, works great when your on your roof, but we do not build it for that reason. We build it so the car works as one unit to "GO FASTER". The fact that it keeps us alive is just a bonus...
And A/C, since when is this an issue??? Find a muscle car from the 60's with A/C and it de-values the car. Radio and heaters do the same. TR's are one of a kind in the world of options that we have and still are high performance. This thread was not started for just TR's. The Chevy II in the video was the reason for the interest.
I know more cars guys than not, who will never really expierence what I consider "serious performance". Gut twisting torque and near vomit exceleration. Until you have driven a car with 600-700 foot pounds of torque, or 0-60 in under 3.5 secs, you can only imagine. A guy I work with has an 86 Pontiac Fiero...he thinks it is the fastest thing in the world. He rufuses to ride in my GN, he just talks about how "uncontrollable" his Fiero is when he floors it. He hasn't a clue...but thinks he does.

Thanks
Coach

 

[chopped39]

I just like to see everyone's opinion on it



At the same time, a car running mid 10's and faster at the track without a bar is stupid imo. Look at OC's roll over at BG. The car was not even at the 1/8th yet but the cage saved his life.



I don't think a car has to be practical to be a street car. Not like it has to be driven everyday to work to earn it's title.


This is the car in question on another site:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yWvH5dC7Yo&feature=player_embedded[/YOUTUBE]


Guy drove it 1000 miles then busted off 6 second times!

And Larry has a Lenco trans. Larry is truely amazing.He built my buddies 02 corvette and it is very nice. Drove from Missouri to Michigan ran 7 seconds and then drove it home.Thats balls and thats a street car

 

[86george]

It's a steet car until the state police tells you it's not.

 

[jasjamz]

Forced induction cars: When have enough power to lift the front end in high gear or are required to have a funny car type cage.

Nitrous cars: When you can only drive it so far before you have to spray it to "clean the plugs off".

All motor cars: When you have to use race fuel just to drive it, or the engine contains parts from all of the "Big 3" and then some.

 

[turbo39151]

Maybe I should rephrase... I understand older cars came with limited A/C if any... My take is that if the car doesn't have what it came with (stock options) and becomes more like a racecar (no seats, cages, other types of things you would not find in a regular car or a production supercar) You can have lots of power but when its a stripped, over- tired, overheating beast, it belongs strictly on the track.

I guess you could say, agian just my opinion, that if you need to trailer it, it needs to stay on a track. But if you can drive it to the track and crack out a 10 second run and then drive home with the A/C on and the radio going then, well, that is a street car.

I've seena few TR do just that and it's one of the reasons I love these cars so much. Almost the ultimate car- if only they could corner (a project for another day)

 

[GNTIM]

LOL...this subject to so debatable that it should be moved to the "Political View" section.

 

[GregInAtl]

IMO its the obvious, Street meaning street legal;
A street car has;
1. current tags
2. can pass emission
3. wont get "fix it" tickets in the strict part of your town. (so will rerquire DOT tires, wipers, working tag lights, mufflers, etc etc)

If it cant do all 3 it's not a street car, its turned into a car w/ a greater purpose aka "purpose built"....

 

[SPOOLN]

Street car

It's not a street car if it cannot pass emissions.

 

[86brick]

My opinion..

This topic is one that will never have a right or wrong answer because obviously everyone's opinions will always differ, but since you asked I'll give you mine.

First, the car must be able to be driven on pump gas and also must be able to drive long distances without overheating issues as well as any other issues that would cause the car to be considered unreliable. It must have a full exhaust that muffles so that you don't have to worry about being pulled over by the Po-Po because the car is too obnoxious. You should have all the creature comforts (A/C, radio, comfortable seats, etc.) so that the driving experience is not only enjoyable/tolerable for you, but your passenger(s) as well. You should be able to throw the keys to other people whom might not necessarily be considered "car people" and let them drive it in an emergency situation just as they would their own daily driver vehicle.

 

[$uckin6]

you wouldn't want to be in a wreck with a cage unless you had your helmet on, those bars padded or not are gonna scramble some brain cells

 

[GNBRETT]

Anything with a cage looses it's abilty to be comfortable while driving but does not disqualify it as a street car. It would for me, meaning, I would never buy a car with a cage in it to operate on the street nor would I put one in it or atleast I hope not.

Tune, idle, driveablity, the abilty to run Pump Gas and over drive primarily determine a TRUE street car to me and does for many others. Not many can afford $15 a gallon to go out cruising but if you can then I guess it doesnt mean ur car isn't streetable. Just expensive to operate. Everyone is on different budgets I guess.

Obviously cars with 4500+ stalls are not really street cars even if they can be driven on the street.

AC/Heat is nice but not absolutely needed. Heat probably more so then AC gererally. Wearing heated socks with boots, gloves and 3 pairs of jeans with thermos to stay warm kinda takes away from the streetability imo.

Not to mention it's hard to see without defrost with a passenger in the car. More exhaling. Windows will fog and rolling down the windows when it's 40 degrees out when cruising really isn't a viable option.

In Florida AC is more of a must then a luxury. In New England it's heat not AC. Of course climate plays a role in determining the streetabilty of ur car from that perspective.

And a safety cage is only safe with a helmut and harness. If ur head strikes a steel bar inches from ur head after being T-boned two things are gonna happen. Either ur gonna split it open on the bar or risk snapping ur neck due to its close proximity to ur head. Pads wont help ur neck from snapping. Ur head is better off striking the window and breaking it then a steel or chromoly bar. So bars/cages are reserved for racing not street cars imo but doesn't exclude them from being used on the street as long as you dont get into an accident I guess.

 

[CamoDeafie]

well in Oregon..there's the rules of noises in cities....as well as the whole emission crap, but otherwise, if the cars got fenders/mudflaps, working lights, wipers, bumpers, street tires (DOT approved) then it's OK. if you can swing a "antique" or "homebuilt" license plate, then you;re sweet for exemtions of emissions. I routinely see roll bars on trucks and cars, so its nothing surprising for me to see a barely streetable car.

 

[coach]

This topic is one that will never have a right or wrong answer because obviously everyone's opinions will always differ, but since you asked I'll give you mine.

First, the car must be able to be driven on pump gas and also must be able to drive long distances without overheating issues as well as any other issues that would cause the car to be considered unreliable. It must have a full exhaust that muffles so that you don't have to worry about being pulled over by the Po-Po because the car is too obnoxious. You should have all the creature comforts (A/C, radio, comfortable seats, etc.) so that the driving experience is not only enjoyable/tolerable for you, but your passenger(s) as well. You should be able to throw the keys to other people whom might not necessarily be considered "car people" and let them drive it in an emergency situation just as they would their own daily driver vehicle.

Based on this, I will fold. If I throw the keys to someone, it will not be for an emergency, THEY WILL CAUSE THE EMERGENCY...LOL

I will agree with the stripped out interiors, and only one seat. I had a backseat in mine for years, I took it out when I got tired of people just bumming rides and never offering to chip in for anything. They always wanted to go, but at no cost to them.
I do agree with the trailering thing also. I used to shock the crap out of guys when we meet at a central location to go to a far off cruise. I had one guy who would always have to say, were not stopping for gas every ten minutes, or to fix crap all the time. I finally said , dont worry, you would probably be of absolutely no help anyway...I have a 20 gallon cell that will more than get me there. We would do this several times a summer. After a few summers, he finally said, I guess that "thing" is pretty reliable.
It is true, this has and will be debated forever. Someguys will tell you if you have to "wash it" more than once a month, it is not a street car.

 

[Grumpy]

AGAIN... how many miles do you Buick guys put on in a year :wink:

 

[blackmonte]

You got us Grumpy , 1000 miles here at best!

 

[Grumpy]

You got us Grumpy , 1000 miles here at best!

hahaha.. I bet thats more than a LOT of guys in here.

 

[turbo39151]

A while back I had a friend with a street legal TR that was very quick but had excellent manners. It was probably a high11 to low 12 second car... He always wanted more.

Later on after he sold that car, he had the chance to buy a true 10 second car.It was caged and was an animal. It was such a monster that my friend complained that he did not like to drive it anymore, the wife even refused to drive it even though she was a regular driver of the slower tr they had previously owned.

He ended up selling it because it was simply too much for the street and was no longer a pleasure to drive...