Talk:Boy racer
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Is it just in the UK that "boy racer" refers to those young 'guns who like such "boy racer cars" described here? --Sam
Yes, please let us know WHERE this is used. RickK 06:09, Jun 16, 2004 (UTC)
- As far as I've found out at least in the UK and New Zealand. // Liftarn
Boy racers are certainly known by that name in Ireland.
TRiG 11:44, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Ambiguity and Chavs!
I have never heard of the term "barry boy", so have altered the leading sentence to read "in some parts of the UK". I also added links to chav culture, as the two are linked.. Midwinter
try also Gary boy, after the typical essex boy racer
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I concur in part with the amendment. I've heard of "Barry Boy" but I have never heard anyone use it except on one website. However, it could be disputed that chavs and boy racers are linked; I have never been a chav but I was something of a boy racer myself when I was younger. Driving a modified car like a racer and wearing a baseball cap backwards are only linked in stereotypes.
Movies like The Fast and the Furious have caused additional interest in boy racing, although many real boy racers view the connection to such movies with scorn and derision.
News for boy racers - most of society view YOU with scorn and derision. What's a "real" boy racer then? Someone who goes REALLY REALLY fast in inappropriate places with possible danger to life and limb of everyone around, as opposed to someone who only endangers life on weekends, perhaps?
boy racers are tits in donegal in ireland there called rednecks or reds
The majority of boy racers in the States are also called rednecks, hillbillies or skinny punks. Often identified by the same traits as their European counterparts: lots of plastic and pop rivets. One contrast between UK and US is the dangerous practice of challenging actual performance cars. In the US this practice generally results in having your pride totally obliterated. It is also common to quote performance numbers achieved on a 1/8 mile drag strip without actually pointing out that it was not done on a full 1/4 mile strip.
I think this talk page needs a "neutrality is disputed" warning. Some of these comments are biased and apparently aimed at insulting people personally. One of the dangers of the internet I suppose, everyone turns up, takes a pot-shot then runs away. Heroic.
I would have thought a "boy racer" was any male car-owner who liked to drive fast, or THINK they were driving fast, so that in their minds they are living out a few laps around the Nurburgring when they're actually cruising through Sheffield.
It so happens that many of these people modify their cars to what they think a sports car or racing car should look like.
To conclude, being a "boy racer" is a state of mind rather than owning a car with stick-on plastic vents.
I would agree that it is a state of mind, but the manifestation of physical symptons are easily spotted.
[edit] The neutrality of this article is disputed?
Is it still disputed or can we remove the banner? // Liftarn
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I made some amendments which I feel have value, though given the Hitler-like revisions made by mods to another article I once worked on, I doubt my comments will last the day! I just reworded the more offensive or poorly thought out comments which basically said "all boy racers are like this, all boy racers do that, all boy racers are chavs" etc. That's plain bullcrap. Boy racers are as varied as any other group of people.
I also added a few more cars to the list of UK boy-racer-mobiles. A full list might be something like this:
- Peugeot 106
- Peugeot 205
- Citroen Saxo
- Renault Clio
- Renault 5
- Subaru Impreza <-- Note: I know people will hate me for this but they do seem to be turning into the new boy racer mobile, having fallen into a price bracket almost anyone can afford (£3-£5k, which is what many popular mods and conversions would cost on a lesser car like a 106).
- Volkswagen Golf
- Vauxhall Nova
- Vauxhall Astra
- Vauxhall Vectra <-- Note: This one is a class above the other boy racer cars and I doubt people would accept it as such, but there are loads of them about being driven by people who seem to have no knowledge of the highway code.
I'm not sure if this adds any value to the debate so you can amend it if you've got a good reason.
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[edit] Illegal headlights?
"...front foglights on (illegally) day and night..." What is it that's illegal? Are the lights too bright? Is it illegal to run your headlights on during the day there? Either way, this could be worded better. Recury 00:02, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
-- (Removed: an insulting comment that was too childish to remain) --
- The laws may differ (worldwide), but at least here the foglights should be used only in fog. It's probably because they are too bright. // Liftarn
- The police can and will stop drivers who drive with their foglights on during the day or night as it dazzles other road users. If you are extremely unlucky you'll end up with £60 in fines and 3 penalty points on your license (UK) DJRikki 20:26, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
- There's a general consensus that using fog lights in the UK is illegal except in fog. I don't know if it really IS illegal. After all, it's not exactly blinding in my opinion. Using *full beam* is blinding, and in my experience people tend to get full beam and fog lights confused. Again in my experience, aggressive drivers tend to leave their fog lights on at all times so other motorists know they're there, like a warning to speed up or get out of the way.
[edit] Occupational Hazard?
"It is almost an occupational hazard for a sports car driver in the UK to be challenged at the lights by someone in a small hatchback."
That's a comment I added which I believe to be true, and I think that anyone else (in the UK at least) who has ever owned a reasonably sporty car will agree with. It seems to be a defining characteristic of boy racers that they can't let a sports coupe or modified saloon go past without following it for five miles.
Someone can change it if they have a good reason to disagree.
[edit] isnt it just a fashion
i live in ireland and i think we must have more boy racers per head of population than anywhere else in the world you stand for half an hour any evening at a street corner anywhere in rural ireland and you will see dozens i know some of their habits are annoying like revving at traffic lights and there definitley is a rowdy element in the scene but many of them are just young men and increasingly women who are intrested in cars or motor sport they spend a lot of money on their cars doing them up a lot of them work hard to get the money working 2 to 3 jobs the police in ireland are now clamping down on them a lot using the smallprint of motor laws about such things as window tinting and exhaust sound or size but in many ways it is simply a style or fashion people want to personalise their cars thats why we put stickers on our car windows or even religous symbols i dont understand people playing golf it seems dull and boring to me but if thats what you like doing go ahead shouldnt a guy who likes doing up his car have the freedom to do it as long as he does not drive dangerously or after drink or drugs i am not a boy racer i drive a 10 year old opel corsa that any boy racer would laugh atBouse23 09:51, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Tarring with the same brush
It should be noted that not all young drivers with modified cars fall into this bracket, with many driving their cars in a sensible manner. Car modifiers and cruisers who take a pride in their vehicles are generally well behaved and often have respect for other road users. There is often no distinction in the mainsteam media between the boy racer and modified car enthusiast which can lead to the latter being tarred with the same brush. In essence the boy racer is to the car scene what hooligans are to football; however, it seems that many young male drivers are regarded as boy racers regardless of circumstance.
My turn to have a bash.....
I was rather annoyed with this article until I read the above paragraph, just want to thank the author for having this section to clarify not every young male who loves cars is a chavtastic boy racer. Yes, I own a 2004 renault clio, yes its black and only a 1.2 but no, I have not added ridiculous spoilers and scoops that me and my friends laugh at. However we do go to local 'meets' but only in the hope to see some modified cars (I'm talking engine wise, not looks) that are truley modified by real car enthusiasts, which we sometimes do see among the idiots that turn up. Me and my friends love cars, but at the same time respect the law and other people on the road, it is just a shame that people DO tarnish us with the same brush, as soon as I mention I drive a clio people instantly think boy racer, until they actually see my car, which yes, has nice seat covers, mats and alloys, but all are sensible and not outlandishly stupid, as many that we see around town. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.188.21.101 (talk) 13:57, 16 February 2007 (UTC).
