At what point did your car stop being a "sleeper"

[Pip]

When you get a vanity plate that says: "11 Sec Car"!

[Waxiboy]

My lowered wagon, Spec B wheels, slotted rotors and Prodrive mufflers did not seem to get any attention from a NASIOC member...

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18652104&postcount=6298

 

of course I also had Thule cross bars and bike racks for deception

[spicytuna]

I remember the time my old Civic coupe developed an exhaust leak. I never had so many people trying to race my car from a stoplight.

 

Didn't notice any difference in attitude after I installed my STi forged rims last week.

[BMXBYKR]

I knew I couldn't hide in the weeds after getting asked to play multiple times by bmws, tl's, anything that had class and I knew could go when you wanted it to. This just happened to me the other day, out of all of the cars on the highway, I see a new BMW 5 series coming up on me through traffic, mazing through all of the traffic finally making his way to my tail lights. He starts raising his headlights at me, I'm like fine, let's go, we start playing alil bit, I get over to slow down and he comes up next to me, just enough to read his badging, a freaking M5. Holy crap, that was when I knew I punched my ticket and was allowed into the "back room". That did it for me, I seriously took it as a compliment. Thanks buddy, whereever you are.

[ehsnils]

I thought that after I tinted the windows and put gunmetal Tarmac III's on I thought I'd get challenged at lights, but it still hasn't happened much (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Guess it's still just a nice grocery-getter.

 

Too many does that to a standard VW Golf too... So it's just considered to be exhibitionism.

 

The steps to identify a potent sleeper is:

First to check the exhausts and any existence of a hood scoop or similar feature.

Secondary is to see if there are disc brakes all around and if they actually fill up the 18" rims mounted (extreme rims that in turn just exposes simple small discs or drum brakes are a telltale sign of a wannabe).

The third step is if the ground clearance is non-standard. (lower than normal).

Fourth step is if the wheelhouses contains colored suspension parts instead of the stock black ones. Yellow color there is a BAD sign (http://www.ohlins.com/ms/am_tpx-ttx.asp) if it isn't your car. (OK, this may be hard to see if you just pull up beside).

Fifth step is if the sound is non-standard. (which is hard to tell for anyone not familiar with boxer engines). If there is a whining gearbox sound it may indicate that it's someone that has gotten hold of a rally gearbox with sequential shifting, but it's not very likely.

Sixth step is to check if there are non-standard or missing equipment in the car, like non-standard seats, rollcage, missing backseat and possibly passenger seat or if there are special instrumentation like a shiftlight or even just a center tape on the steering wheel.

 

These are various stages of modification that can indicate that it's a sleeper or worse. Most modifications that makes a car high performance are actually not that visible at a first glance. Sometimes they are a bit audible, but since some wannabes also makes their car sound different by simple means it doesn't mean much.

 

The sixth step is actually a stage when the car passes from being a sleeper to be on it's way to be a more potent beast. Upcoming stages are also more visible. Some decals, different paint, non-standard spoilers/wings etc.

 

Things that may make your car more sleeperish is to have a trailer hitch (a combination type with different ball sizes is even better) and rails. Even better if you also have decals in your rear window about pro-environment movements, churchs, red cross, aged people support etc. A large decal in the rear window for a police sports event could prove very interesting though.

 

An interesting approach at least here in Sweden is that the police sometimes uses civilian cars to monitor traffic. They are usually very bland in color and normally Saab, Volvo, VW or Audi. Combine that with a person in some kind of blue uniform with a shoulder patch behind the steering wheel and VERY few passes that car...

[Grimace]

Yea sometimes a55 holes on the orad think my little 99' SUS is a slow peice of crap, but honesltly i bought it used and i dk if the descriptions on every site is wrong or my ECU was ramapped or something but its a lot quicker than wat it supposed to be so i would say im a sleeper. it looks like a regular sedan but ill put my foot in it and im gone!

[Richard B.]

Yea sometimes a55 holes on the orad think my little 99' SUS is a slow peice of crap, but honesltly i bought it used and i dk if the descriptions on every site is wrong or my ECU was ramapped or something but its a lot quicker than wat it supposed to be so i would say im a sleeper. it looks like a regular sedan but ill put my foot in it and im gone!

 

when you get Excursions and kias trying to race you let me know.

[Grimace]

Well actually some guy in a Dodge Caravan tried racing me when the light turned green. i played with him till bout 95 then went right by!!!

 

V6 Vs. Inline 4 2.5L

[reason22]

Wagon with roof rack = ultimate sleeper!

 

The roof rack is bad enough...but put it on top of a wagon and suddenly everyone in their Yugo thinks they can pass you. Not that I mind them trying...

[captainmorgan]

Within 24 hours of purchasing my OBXT I had my first speeding ticket in a subaru. I knew I was destined for great things.

 

The car will never handle as well as my WRX, so I guess that I'll have to go faster.

 

Everything under the sheetmetal is far from stock. From the 20G to the quad tip exhaust to the WI, it screams "think about it, do you really wanna F with me today, I means seriously?".

[Reuben]

Haha, mine stopped being a sleeper when i put the clubsub.org.nz banner accross my front windscreen. I knew it wasn't a sleeper anymore when everyone was moving out of my way on the highway.. great feeling

[Reuben]

Well actually some guy in a Dodge Caravan tried racing me when the light turned green. i played with him till bout 95 then went right by!!!

 

V6 Vs. Inline 4 2.5L

 

The SUS was the outback sedan wasn't it?

 

if so.. LOL, inline 4 my fricking arse! Boxer 4 more like!!!

[Grimace]

my bad

 

BOXER 4 all the way!!!!

[Garandman]

// Just wondering how u guys view your own cars.

 

the ultimate sleeper imo was harman jon's old silver lgt.

If it has a hood scoop, it's not a sleeper, as it is instantly identified as a more powerful model.

[Garandman]

Well actually some guy in a Dodge Caravan tried racing me when the light turned green. i played with him till bout 95 then went right by!!!

 

V6 Vs. Inline 4 2.5L

That's funny, we have a Nissan Quest and it absolutely blew the doors off both my old 97 OBW and a newer 2001 with manual. It wasn't close: it was comical.

 

Some older base Caravans have a 4 cyl - if it didn't have tinted windows, it was likely a four. Also it seems the few Gen I Legacys here are the fastest ever made.....

 

So you used it to race a minivan to 95+ mph? To what purpose?

[Hugo L.]

Debagded, re-badged Australian style, lowered on gold 18s, 20% tint all around... I think I bought a car stripped of its sleeper status.

[Beanboy]

Well actually some guy in a Dodge Caravan tried racing me when the light turned green. i played with him till bout 95 then went right by!!!

 

V6 Vs. Inline 4 2.5L

 

Watch out for older vans that want to race.

 

http://www.turbominivan.com/cool0001.jpg

 

Soon as you change exhaust noise enough to be noticed at a light, no longer a sleeper.

[markbrotens]

The hood scoop is a suggestion of power, although Toyota is changing that pretense with their "pseudo scoops". It would be nice to put a FMIC on a GT and throw a 2.5i hood on it. That would surprise a few people!

[KartRacerBoy]

my wagon has f/r Sti Brembos, is lowered with Swift springs, and Rota Boosts or OZ Superleggera wheels. It's also stage 2. I've gotten more laughs about the Brembos by people at stop lights ("A wagon with BBKs!") by people that don't know about the LGT (ie, non-Subie people). But the only car that's ever challenged me was an old guy (70 yrs+) in his AMG Mercedes. I declined to get my ass whipped by his massive torque.

[sdvictor]

Would the Volvo 740 w/ a twin-turbo Modded LS1 engine count as a sleeper?

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBu6STlhh8Q]YouTube - Volvo Wagon goes 190mph! AKA Volvette outruns 04' Yamaha R1[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86bsY1Iv9I]YouTube - Nice Family-Volvo[/ame]

[Ur Done SRH]

a sleeper imo is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I currently have a 92 accord. Many people think it was a lexus. Granted it had a lot of modifications done (blackhoused JDM headlights, sidemarkers, custmized the grill, clear signals with sylvania bulbs that refract light somewhat like a rainbow). But to the average joe it just looked like a higher end car.

 

For me when I put on a carbon fiber hood and painted my H emblem red, I had a lot different reactions when I drove by people. Not to mention that a 92 accord is not generally a honda that gets any decent work done to it.

 

No offense to any of mexicans, but its usually known to be a mexican car.

 

I work on cars for a living, I can generally spot a car thats done right from a mile away.

 

But i cant wait to buy my LGT after I sell my cb7, my first plans are to debadge it, tint the windows and change the grill. I'm not one for ricey stickers advertising my parts. I've always been about keeping the look of a street car mild. All I look for is a "oh shit thats clean" reaction. Never a "how fast is it?" or "whats your 1/4 mile time?". Not that I wouldnt race at a moments notice, I just would like to avoid the boys in blue as much as possible. That being the reason why keeping it sleeper status.

[KartRacerBoy]

Ahhhhh.......yeah!

[StoplightAssassin]

It would be nice to put a FMIC on a GT and throw a 2.5i hood on it. That would surprise a few people!

 

somebody on here has exactly that...from what I remember it looked like a completely stock 2.5i...I think he even did a 3 in mid and y-pipe but kept the stock cans...ultimate sleeper status

[lawl]

apparently there is a diverter thing that moves air over the top of the turbo to cool, more or less.... i'd guess the scoop is not totally useless.

[Garandman]

The hood scoop is a suggestion of power, although Toyota is changing that pretense with their "pseudo scoops". It would be nice to put a FMIC on a GT and throw a 2.5i hood on it. That would surprise a few people!

90's Outbacks had a scoop. The Legacys did not, but I never found anyone who would snap that lived close enough to do so.

 

The 3.0 is a sleeper because it looks exactly like a 4 cyl Outback, if you take off one badge.