Car clubs
From Mod Mania
There are many consumer communities based on automotive clubs around the world. Some are related to specific car companies such as Ford or Holden or to specific types of vehicles, for example four wheel drive clubs. While others are much broader in groups such as ‘American muscle’ which associate with older American cars from the 60’s or Japanese Imports often referred to as JDM, a term used to describe the Japanese Domestic Market. In Australia there is wide variety of car clubs such as Oz Honda and XR6 clubs, where enthusiasts of Hondas and XR6’s respectively are related to. These enthusiasts of modifying culture modify there cars in many different ways by changing the appearance by putting on body kits, gaining more horsepower out of there engine by putting in bolt on parts like exhaust systems and cold air intakes. There are also many styles or themes that modifiers look for, such as a certain setup for specific applications. For example, a drag setup you would most likely go for a bigger turbo and more boost as apposed to a drift setup where you would consider handling upgrades such as Suspension and brakes. Modifying car culture has been around for many years and Japanese imports has really kicked of since the movie debut of Fast and the Furious that exposed Americas sport compact car scene as a underground street racing culture.
I myself am a car enthusiast and into Japanese Imports. In particular I own a 1999 R34 Skyline, this has brought me to the two consumer communities I have relation to and associate with. These include The Skyline club of Australia ‘SAU’ and my local club formed by friends and family. Both forms of clubs are enthusiasts and have a passion for modifying cars and organizing events and meetings while helping members and individuals modify there own vehicles.
Skylines Australia is controlled by a very large community from all states of Australia including Victoria. It has been created by a large expansion of enthusiasts over many years that share the same interests in modifying and owning Nissan Skylines from street driven GTRs to heavily modified track cars. The Club hosts many events throughout the year in many states from tracks meetings to barbeques and even charity events, where all donations made goes to certain charities like the Royal children’s Hospital.
My local club is formed by friends and family that have the same interest in modifying cars from different makes and models to styles of Drift, Drag, track/circuit, and street. There is variety of cars within the club from Honda EG Civics to Nissan 350Z, even including an early model the R31 Skyline. Our local club is more of a committee and doesn’t go by a name or group as it is formed by people who have the same passion or hobbies and love there cars. Certain members of my group are involved in certain clubs such as, ‘Team B4C’, ‘Built for cruising’ where he has designed his own logo he displays on his front windshield for recognition for his passion. From time to time we organize certain cruise meetings where we would observe latest modifications and parts certain members have made.
SAU uses there own website based on there large committee and has many sections that members have collaborated including online forums where members can ask questions and help each other out. Certain categories of skyline models, where members can check there cars stats and performances to see what can be upgraded and modified. For instance if you had a 98 model Skyline non turbo and wanted to know how much kilowatts your car produces stock, you would go to the Modification and maintenance section and then go to the Naturally Aspirated performance likewise if you have a turbocharged car you would go to the Forced Induction performance category. SAU covers many sections in there websites which include discussions on motor sports, to importing vehicles, as so many Nissan Skylines are Japanese made and have to be imported at some stage for Australian roads. They also cover many mod specific areas such as styling and cosmetic mods, fabrication, car audio and engine hardware. These include transmission, general maintenance and suspension. SAU also provides a lot of online support for members in there Tutorials /DIY/FAQ section where members and viewers can follow tutorials to help them modify or maintain there cars. The forum sections help many viewers with car related problems and there is a large section of parts for sale for specific vehicles that members and companies put up for online buyers. These can consist of second hand parts of Skylines to brand new out of the box mods ready to be put on. Such example of this online support is when I needed a AFM (air flow meter) for my skyline and after searching many parts and dealers in my area with no luck I resorted to the online forum where a member in my local area was selling his AFM of the same model skyline. After getting his contact, I gave him a call and brought the AFM of him which he helped me install at his house, this was someone I have never met or had any connection with before but bonded through sharing the same passion, interest and owning the same type of car. This shows one of the many ways car culture is revolved around.
There are many small car committees and car crews like our local club that are built around guys and girls that share the same passion. Our club is made up of school friends, family friends and cousins that come from many religions and cultures but have the same interests in cars. Communication is different compared to SAU where an online forum is used to post current dates for meetings, cruises and events as apposed to our local club where arrangements are usually made through emails, text messages and msn. This works more efficiently and effectively as most meetings and get togethers are last minute. None of our members in the local club condone illegal behaviour such as street racing as we respect and obey the law.
Car Culture has changed over the years as it as more and more consumer committees such as, SAU are formed and newer vehicles are released. They are an important aspect to the society as companies sponsoring track and street cars get more renowned. Car shows such as Autosalon where it is open to the public local cars and crews can enter to win prize money and get recognized in the field of modifying either through winning dyno shootouts and having the numbers to prove who has the most powerful car in Victoria to winning trophies for such categories such as best interior or loudest sound system.
The Car culture network widens due to strong relation in the field of modifying as more people get exposed to modified and tuned cars that host aerodynamic body kits, eye catching colour, and high tech ECU (electronic computer unit) systems. As more people join and adapt to this culture more parts are being made, mods being developed, new and creative designs in cars are built.
