Aaron, I thought the Mine's car was sold in Japan by Nissan... similar to a Nismo tuned car, or an STi tuned car, or something like a Callaway Corvette. It was a "production" car, not just a "tuner car".

But yeah, that's probably splitting hairs.

That, I was not aware of. I knew Mine's was officially sanctioned by Nissan, but didn't know they sold them as Nissans. Might be similar to the way Saleens are sold through Ford dealerships.

In that case, I tip my hat ;)

I can't find any proof... so take that with the requisite amount of salt.

And what exactly then is an option? All the STI stuff could easily be called the "performance package", and the RA could be the "race package", etc....

And if one includes the other, then so be it.

Just because you can get a different engine, suspension, interior, body kit, does not make it a different car.

Car manufacturers have been making different power plant, suspension, exterior and interior options for a base car for years. The Japanese did not invent that, they only turned it into a marketing tool, which is what I am objecting to, and the Americans have followed.

At the rate we are going, there will be no room on the rear of a car for the dealerships to put their crappy badges on. Maybe that is how the manufacturers plan to get 50/50 weight distribution eventually; 800lbs. of badges on the tail end of the car.

As Scott pointed out earlier, nobody says WRX STI in conversation, they say STI, or whatever is required to differentiate to the extent necessary for the conversation. It is the Marketing people trying to one up the competition by adding one more "cool" or "elitist" or "special" designation to the name of the vehicle that causes my objection.

But we don't have the special versions here like they do in Japan.

If someone had an Impreza WRX STi version 6 type-RA v-limited, they wouldn't just say "V-limited" in common conversation. You might be able to get away with saying "version 6 V-limited" as V-Limited implies Type-RA (or Type R and anyone with half a brain can differentiate between a coupe and a sedan) and "Version 6" implies "Impreza WRX STi", but you couldn't cut it down to one section of the name.

Dean, I thought this was a game, not a bitch session about trunklid badging ;)

How do you refer to your Stealth?

Do you always call it a Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo?

Or do you just call it a Stealth?

One is the proper name, the other is colloquial, because we all know what it is. You don't need to explain further because you're speaking to a group of people familiar with the car, so an abbreviation of the full name makes sense. It doesn't change the name of the car in the first place. If you just said Stealth, to someone who had never seen your banana-cream monster, they might very well ask you if it was an RT Turbo or not. That's why we clarify.

Marketing is a way of life, and it's the nature of the beast when you have to differentiate after adding new features. My car was a Limited becuase it had all the extra crap on it as a separate model instead of ticking option boxes; it was a different car as far as the manufacturer was concerned. Leather was not an option formt he factory on an OB, it came standard on limiteds. Limiteds did not have 5-speeds. My car is a Subaru Legacy Outback Limited(to differentiate it from the Impreza Outback Sport), but I call it a Legacy, it doesn't change.

Let's go back to 1940, when you could just buy a Ford in whatever version. How about a Chevrolet Chevelle from the late 60s? Isn't it important to differentiate between sedans, coupes, wagons, vastly different drivetrains, etc? How is this new?

I love all the little details. I love the special models. I love the trick little pieces that came on some cars and not others, the limited paint runs, and I love that there's a system that clearly breaks down what a car is. What's so wrong with that? It's a marketing world, that's the reality, if you don't accept it and move on, you're just displaying luddite tendencies.........

1969 Mustang Super Cobra Jet GT500 King of the Road.

To throw a wrench in, you could have a V-Limited car that was not a motorsports shell, so the RA or Type R is important :)

Thats why I said imply, not infer.

Also (depending on if Subaru of America pulls their head out of their asses), STi can no longer even imply Impreza WRX STi. Once the Forester XT STi is here, or the Legacy GT STi, saying you have an "STi" won't be clear enough.

wait, what?


:D

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.... :rolleyes:

Dean, let's say we call the "STi" the "performance package"... besides going from 3 letters to 18, how am I supposed to know if that's the Impreza tuned by STi, or the one tuned by Prodrive?

The naming schemes aren't the marketing ploy... the car features that the names describe are the marketing ploy. The names just let people talk about them more easily. If I want to talk about all Impreza I say "Impreza"... if I want to talk about the 2.2L turbo version sold in the UK and Japan in the late 90's with the widebody kit, I say "22b". It's a hell of a lot easier to talk about that specific car because they gave it a specific name. If someone asked what kind of car you have would you say "I have a Subaru"? Then when they asked, "what Subaru"... would you rather say, "I've got the mid-sized, 2.0L turbo-charged Subaru" (and still have your car confused w/ the Legacy) or would you rather say "WRX"? With your solution, we either can't describe the car beyond "I've got a Ford", or we're going to have 200 unique names per marque, just so we can tell the turbo Impreza from the N/A one.

And here's the back of the "Subaru Impreza WRX STi Type-RA Spec-C"...

http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_RA/imgs/top01.jpg

Damn, they really *are* out of room on the trunk aren't they. :rolleyes:

I'm having a really hard time trying to understand how being able to specifically identify a car by its name is a bad thing. Just use the most pertinant part(s) of the name for the context. And if you don't know enough about the car to know the differences in the extra names, well, you certainly won't need to know them or use them, will you.

Broken down, I think that's

(Ford) (Mustang) (Super Cobra Jet) (GT500) (King of the Road)

Is that right? Or was there a "Mustang Cobra Jet" that wasn't "Super"?

I believe there was. However, it may have been a name change following improvements and there was no "Cobra Jet" after that point.

It was a small gripe with a game attached, until Sperry got all serious on us... Go read the top of the thread.... It was fun right up until then...

So my defense is "He started it!!!!"

Now I will finish it.

Sybir wins since he had the first 7 one that is mostly verifiable. Bow to the great Sybir...

The universal defense, I can live with that ;)

There are several versions of Ford Mustangs out there.


My mistake, its a 1968 Shelby Mustang G.T. 500 KR with a 428CJ motor.

LOL

428's and 429's came in several different packages. The first being the 428 4v, which was rated at 355 hp and 420 ft. pounds of torque. The next one up would be the 428CJ, underrated at 400 hp, with 440 ft. pounds of torque. Now, the 428 SCJ was rated at (uhh, I can't find the numbers right now.)


http://www.428cobrajet.com/cj-vs-scj.html

Yeah, but by the rules of the game (which is officially over I guess) "Cobra Jet" and "Super Cobra Jet" are each one element if you didn't have a choice between the two in any given model year.

You can keep playing, but I'm not keeping score...

Ah, but how will we know who won?

Relax people. The daisy chain car name is only important to the small handful of car enthusest. Does the owner of the '68 Mustang Shelby 428 CJ at HAN want everyone to know what model it is? Of course they do. They sunk a ton of money into it, plus it's rare. Not to mention a hot car.

I get a few complaments per week on my car. It's usually followed by "what kinda car is it"? (debadged) I simply reply "Thanks, it's a Subaru".

On the other hand, seems like everyday I'm waving at three or four WRX/STI owners while driving around the Truckee Meadows. Theres a good chance the majority of people I wave at know my cars an "03 bugeye WRX in limited production Sonic Yellow paint.

In my opinion, versions are important to distinguish them for that particular model , era, rareness etc. If I were the owner of an original Shelby Cobra or GT40, you bet your ass I'd want people to know its an original and not a replica turn key kit car.

Damn fellas you need to not take everything so seriously. Scott you have to remember when you get old it's hard to remember long names, put yourself in Dean's shoes.

Since I posted in here...

Land Rover Range Rover 4.6 SSE Edition (by Cameron Concepts)
Land Rover Range Rover 4.6 HSE Callaway Limited Edition
Land Rover Range Rover 30th Anniversary Limited Edition
Land Rover Range Rover Holland & Holland

More names = luxury.

Anything more than one modifier to the model name is just retarded, I'm sorry. Subaru Impreza XXX should be enough. If they come out with a different Impreza performance model, give it another damn designation rather than endlessly tacking on more modifiers to the previous designation. You're not running a nuclear research lab, people, it's a frigging car!