Author: vmnstr

cars research

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Viman Gunawardana

ENG1121

Word count: 1,395

23^rd of March 2020

Research Paper

 

Cars are one of the most important pieces of technology in today’s modern world. It is the most popular form of transportation used by millions of people across the United States. In fact, there are more than 274million vehicles registered in the United States alone. Some people mainly use a car to go from point A to point B. However, it is a different story for people like me. We use cars for the pleasure and excitement. In order for this to happen, we tend to modify our cars to the way that we want. We do this because we want to stand out from the crowd and look different than the average car you see on the road. There is not just one way of modifying a car. In fact, there are so many ways to modify your ride that the possibilities are endless. However, car modifying is a very expensive hobby, where you can dump upwards up to $300,000, depending on the car of course. There are many aspects of modified cars, everything from high to low and fast to slow.

One popular section of modified cars are drift cars. Their drive line is rear-wheel-drive (RWD for short). The body type for these types of cars are mainly 2 door coupes, but they can also be 4 door sedans, however it really is not as popular as drifting a coupe. The most popular types of drift cars are the Nissan 240sx, Ford Mustang, and BMW 3-series coupes just to name a few. These cars can never stock because these cars come with an open differential from the factory. If you try to drift with an open differential, you will most likely fail to drift because only

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one wheel does the work, also known as a “one-wheel-peel”. To prevent that from happening, you have to get an aftermarket Limited slip differential. Therefore, this makes your car modified. This is also a first modification for drifters, making it the most common modification on any drift car. Besides the Limited slip differential, common modifications on drift cars are but not limited to, exhausts, intake, lowering springs, wheels, turbos, superchargers, intercoolers, spoilers, dual brakes, and a secondary handbrake. You can expect to find all of these items on your average drift car. The most common thing drifters do to their cars are do engine swaps. They would do a V8 LS3 motor swap (Chevrolet Corvette motor) or a I6 2JZ motor swap (Toyota Supra motor). There are many other engine swaps, but those are just the most popular ones. All these items are a must have in order to consider your car to be a drift car, or to be a drift car.

Another popular section of modified cars are stance cars. Literally almost any vehicle you choose can be a stance car. In fact, stance cars are the least modified types of car. You will only need 3 modifications minimum in order to consider your car a stance car. These modifications are air suspension or lowering springs (cannot be both, choose between one or the other), wrap, and custom wheels. Once you have all of those 3 modifications on your car, your car will be considered as a stance car. Stance cars are also known as the cheapest types of modified cars because they do not require as much modifications as other cars. Stance cars are mainly modified for the looks. Other optional modifications are camber arms, exhaust, sound system, and intake. The most common type of stance cars are but not limited to Volkswagen GTI, Toyota 86, Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ, Hyundai Genesis, Audi A4, and Honda Civic. Those are just to name a few, but like I said, nearly any car can be a stance car.

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Another type of modified cars are race cars. This is my personal favorite modified car scene because I love going fast and going past the speed limit. I also love it when the adrenaline kicks in when I am in the driver seat of the race car. The most common types of race cars are but not limited to Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette, Toyota Supra, Dodge Viper, Acura NSX, Ford Mustang GT, Lamborghini Huracan, McLaren 720S, and Ferrari 488. If these cars are modified and tuned to perfection, you can make at least 1000 Horsepower (HP for short) or more depending on your budget. If you want at least 500 HP, look to spend around at least $25,000 or more into performance modifications. If you’re trying to be in the 1000 HP club, be willing to drop at least $90,000 into performance modifications or more depending on the car. Common modifications are but not limited to turbos, superchargers, crankshafts, intake, blowers, cams, headers, transmissions, short-throw shifters, clutch, drag radials (slicks), spoilers, and wheels. Out of all the modified vehicles, this route is by far the most expensive and time-consuming. It can take anywhere from 3 months all the way up to 2-and-a-half years to modify your race car. It also depends on the parts that are available for your car and the amount of time you have to wait to get those parts made and shipped to you. However, when you end up modifying your race car, they usually do not pass emission standards, so they become illegal for the streets. This means that you become prohibited from driving that car on the streets. Because of this, there are places known as tracks, it is where you can go beyond the limits of your car and have fun as much as you want. The most popular type of track is the drag strip. It is where two cars go head-to-head and see who has the fastest car. The drag strip can range anywhere from ¼ mile to a 1-mile strip.

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Another popular track is a regular racetrack. People that go on the racetrack compete against each other to find out who is the fastest driver. Just like drag strips, people also race to set their personal records. The other difference between drag strips and racetracks are that racetracks have a lot of bends and curves, while drag strip race in a straight line.

Another type of modified vehicles is Off-Road Jeeps. These vehicles are strictly Four-Wheel-Drive (4WD for short). These types of vehicles are practical for driving on any type of terrain or weather. The most common type of off-road Jeep is the Jeep Wrangler. Jeeps aren’t really fast. These Jeeps aren’t big in HP either; however, it is all about the torque. The torque is what helps these modified Jeep Wranglers conquer any type of terrain, everything from getting out of the mud to climbing huge mountains. The most common modifications you would need in your off-road Jeep Wranglers are but not limited to lift kits, big beefy tires, custom wheels, rocker panels, custom off-road bumper, LED light bars, winch, custom side runners, custom rear bumper, roof rack, light guards and a mud jack. You can go off roading in a stock Jeep Wrangler, but it will not be as affective and will not be as safe either.

Another type of modified vehicles are diesel trucks. Unlike off-road Jeeps, some diesel trucks are unpractical. Diesel trucks can be any drivetrain, RWD or 4WD. Common types of diesel trucks are but not limited to Chevrolet Silverado Duramax, Ford F-250 Powerstroke, and Ram 1500 Cummins just to name a few. Common modification among these trucks are but not limited to custom head lights, custom taillights, massive lift kit, 22-inch wheels (at least), 22-inch tires (at least), smokestacks, custom exhaust,

 

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skid plates, and a custom grill. When you have these modifications on your diesel truck, they also tend to become show trucks.

All in all, People tend to modify their cars because not only do they want to stand out from the crowd, it is also to show the world their passion and creation of what they have made with their car.

 

Works Citied

Wagner, Ian.” Car Drivers-Statistics and Facts” 21 May 2019, https://www.statista.com/topics/1197/car-drivers/. Accessed 23 March 2020

@1320video.” Why we love cars” 29 October 2016, Instagram video. Accessed 23 March 2020

@thehoonigans.” the essentials of a drift build” 30 June 2017, Instagram video. Accessed 23 March 2020

 

Viman Gunawardana

ENG1121

Word Count: 909

2/17/20

My Discourse Community

In my discourse community we use Morse code; It’s a type of code where we use signals or show signs of communicating with one another. This is a discourse community because only my co-worker and I know about. It is our mini language. Not only do we use this language for fun, it is important that we use this language because that is the only way we can have a conversation with each other at work for work-related purposes. This is mainly important because while I speak English, my co-worker only speaks Spanish and doesn’t speak English at all, hence why this language is important to us. I really thought this wouldn’t work at first, but few months later, here we are, communicating perfectly in our own language. This way of communication couldn’t have worked any way better than we would have thought it was going to be.

My discourse community is unique because my co-worker and I are the only ones that knows about this language. In fact, this is the way we communicate for most of the time. The only things that matter in my discourse community is if we are there at work. When we are at work, we bang on objects that make loud noises. This is crucial that we have this is because our workplace is extremely large and most of the time, we tend to work a good distance away from each other. For example, I will be working near the main entrance while my co-worker works in the corner that is approximately seven cars away from me. Another crucial item to our discourse community are our ears. You must listen carefully to the other persons beat. If you don’t completely pay attention to the beat, you will most likely end up in getting the wrong tool or part. You will also waste time if this happens because the other person must go run back to the other side of the building and get the right part or tool. We can’t have this happen in our workplace because time is a key factor in our job, and it is something we don’t have. In fact, we value time the most in our job, we work at a busy motorsports shop where we modify customers cars, or their motorcycles and they give us a deadline to complete their project. It is an extremely fast paced environment. We also value each other’s presence because most of the time, there are customer projects that are big, and we need both hands-on decks. There really isn’t much room for another member in our discourse community because not only did it take us a few weeks to create a code for communication, we also had to practice getting the hang of it. It took me nearly a month in order to execute the signals perfectly, however, my co-worker took two-and-a-half months just to get the hang of it. As you can see, this is time-consuming and for the most parts, time is never on our side. My co-worker and I communicate with the everyday objects that we have around us, like car horns and motorcycle horns, toolboxes, trashcans, claps, stomps and more. I learned that there is always a way to communicate with another person, even if you don’t speak the same language. When me and my co-worker are out of work, I use google translate in order to communicate with him for fun or what we are going to do the next day. Google translate is also important because my co-worker usually goes to therapy at unexpected times, so he texts me on what needs to get done in the shop for the following day. My co-worker also uses google transalate because he would always let me know when he will come to work, if he is going to be running late, if he is going to make it on time, or even if he is not going to make it at all. My co-worker lives in the Bronx, so he always texts me with details about his trip. Same goes for me as well. It works both ways. I am the only one out of both of us that uses google translate because my co-worker doesn’t know how to read English either. Before creating the code with my co-worker, I literally had no way of communicating with him in any way. Luckily, my manager spoke Spanish and helped me speak with him translating for me. We somehow managed to communicate with each other into our way of creating the code that we use today.

All in all, I learned from my discourse community that we didn’t need to speak the same language to understand or have a full conversation with each other. Even though it was hard at first, we came up with a resolution to use the Morse code in our discourse community. The thing that surprised me the most was that me and my co-worker eventually understands each other, even though it took us months to create the code and for us to execute it properly. I initially thought that I would never find a way to work or communicate with my new co-worker, but it eventually worked out.

Works Cited

Ramirez, Flaco (co-worker), text via Google Translate, 19^th of November 2019 – 21^st of February 2020

Hernandez, George (Manager), In-Person, 19^th of November 2019