Talk:Boy racer (sub-culture)

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[edit] UK only?

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)

[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.

Back in 2000-2002, around the Cambridge area, "Barry Boy" was used FAR more often than "Chav". It was also used to describe chavs that where not 'into' car modifying or may not even have owned cars, though obviously the majority of them did also own modified cars. "Chav" became more popular across Britian around 2004 when the Sun newspaper did a big 5-years-too-late "expose" on them, before that they had been known by different names in different areas, Barry Boys in Cambridgeshire, Scallies in Lincolnshire and Neds in southern Scotland are some i know of. An earlier derivative used in some areas was "Kev", after Harry Enfield's Kevin teenager character. For instance Vauxhall Novas etc being referred to as "Kev cars" Felneymike (talk) 18:04, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

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.

I think the Impreza is a bit more a boy racer mobile now, I regularly see them in convoys with modified Corsas and the like. Insurance doesn't seem to put people off much despite their age, I'm sure I've talked to someone that's stumped up a couple thousand so he could get his insured. Impreza's are such a risky second hand buy now because of the amount of thrashed, modified ones about.[Norman] 23/07
I wouldn't really say a Vectra was a class above anything, they just cost a bit more than an Astra. In terms of the basic chassis most of the "boy racer" set start off with, it's usually smaller and more modestly powered cars. Insurance is the major stumbling block for a youngster of 17 to 25, most insurers will refuse to insure them for big-bore motors like imprezas (2.0 turbo, 200-300 bhp), high output Clios like the 172 series (2.0 vvt, 172bhp), 205 GTi (1.9 8v, 130bhp but no weight), etc etc. even Vectras attract higher premiums based on size and weight. Looking through the "readers' rides" bit in Maxpower or Revs you'll quite often see apparently heavily modified cars running completely standard engines. It's very often not about performance at all, because they just can't get insurance for hot cars - or if they can it's from a "specialist" insurer who will land them with an enormous excess and charge thousands of pounds a year for basic, bare-bones 3rd party only cover. Mr Dreadful 5th may '07.

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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.
what's the point in having a concensus on what's legal in the UK and what's not? find out, for goodness sake, or you'll end up on the sticky end of a judge before you know what's hit you. The information is here - http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/21.htm - and yes, you were right, it is illegal to use foglights in conditions other than severely reduced visibility. I'll add a reference to that a bit later on if nobody else does. Mr Dreadful 5th May '07.

[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.

Often true, and it's worse if you drive a similar hatchback. I had a 1.9 205 GTi for some years and would regularly get swarmed by Corsas, novas and the like trying their luck. Happily the 1.9s were actually quick enough to simply leave the scene. I found it happened less in my 5-series, but the results when it did were the same. User: Mr Dreaful 6th may 07

[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).

[edit] Picture

I fail to see how a random picture of a completely unmodified and dirty Clio with some twat standing in front of it represents boy racer culture. Abc30 21:19, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

I kinda agree. We should ask the people at http://www.barryboys.co.uk/ if we can use some of their pictures instead. // Liftarn

[edit] all show and no go?

Uhm well here in NZ... all show and no go isn't correct. The majority or cars you will see at a drag meeting, would be turbo'd cars.. IE turbo model Nissan Skylines GTS-t's and GTR's 2ltr, 2.25ltr, 2.5ltr and 2.6ltr. Older style Mazda Familia's GTX's GTR's, 1800 DOCH turbo's.. Mitsubishi Evo's 2ltr DOHC Turbo's.. popular still the evo 1-3 generation, now the roads are flooded with evo 4-9's more recently imported. Subaru WRX's also 2ltr DOCH Turbo's.. . Of course honda's are popular, as they tend to not break as much especially since a person who races their car tends to give it a hard life. Its not unusual for gearbox's and clutches to blow in most turbo'd imports due to the engine modifications done without upgrading the clutch and gearbox.

Of course there are your Rotaries that will turn up. The more recent model RX-7's... 1300 Twin Turbo's but more common are many back yard jobs of pulling the 12a and 13b non turbo's out from older rx7's and putting them in anything and I mean anything from old style 70's corolla's... 70's Ford Escorts... Mazda 323's... 626's... Mazda bongo vans (seriously overtaking someone up hill in a van is pretty funny) Most Rotaries will feature excessive than standard porting of the exhaust manifold, resulting in the sort after barp, barp, barp, barp, barp pulsing sound.

Usual modifications start with upgrading air filter and exhaust and blow off valve (for turbo'd cars). Then will move onto lowering the car, either by purchasing lowering springs or by cutting the coil (illegally). Once lowered usually mags will be next on the list, bigger the better, then tinting the windows and installing a sound system. Installing a boost tap which makes your turbo force more air into the engine than standard.

The government has put in place laws to try and stop 'boy racers'. Including on the spot fines for excessive acceleration, driving a car in a noisy manor. Impounding of the vehicle for 28 days if caught street racing, possible enforcement of the courts to sell the vehicle if you have heaps of fines already. Hamilton New Zealand actually has a specialized police team called the B.R.A.T Squad, which stands for Boy Racer Action Team.

The point is anyone reading the current article that actually lives in NZ will disagree with it. "all show and no go" does not sufficiently describe the typical "boy racer", in short, the typical boy racer is someone that loves cars, doesn't waste their time doing up a low end of the scale model car, and will focus on the higher end performance model which can be easily modified to go a lot faster.

Peace

[edit] Not really neutral article

I think this article is not neutral. Phrases like " all show and no go " , " can be heard playing dance music or happy hardcore from down the road " should have no place in this article. Emerge.life 13:07, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

How would you phrase it? // Liftarn