Sorry for it being so long, but I think that it relates to the thread:
First off the cops are doing this to protect us. Many of us are in the twenties and up category and we know how to deal with people who come up to us at meets (marco/isaac conversation w/ ricer kids) and ask us stupid questions about our cars so that they can turn around and ask to race us. It's our juvenile brothers and there friends that are the ones that are getting into the races now that are messing up the scene for everyone. I personally couldn't stand my brothers friends when they come over and asked me the same questions about my car over and over again. Lately however I have taken the time to educate them on what to do and not do at the meets/races. The one thing that they always qoute is the F&F movie franchise. I tell them that, that is just a movie and that what they do on screen is just stunt work and visual effects used to make it seem as if they were actually racing, and that actual racing is very dangerous not only to themselves, but to other people around them. I tell them that racing is for immature idiots that think they are tough and want to impress their friends/girlfriends. I go on to tell them that its better to be safe than to be wrapped around a pole.
I can relate to why the cops are doing this because about a year ago I passed by the scene of an accident that was caused by street racing. At the time that I was passing the accident, I had no clue that one of my best friends from high school (he was 21 at the time) had died in that very accident. When I did find out, a couple of days later, it turned out that the person in the other car (16 year old in a mustang) had lost control and made my friend crash into a steel light post. It was at that moment that I realized not only how precious life was, but also the dangers of taking risks like street racing. I also decided at that time that my car would only be used for shows, and only lately have I been thinking about converting it to full race car/trailer queen.
I know that it is an inconvenience that we get hassled a lot by police because of the types of cars that we drive. I can still remember a few years back before the F&F/JDM/Street Racing craze happened that the cops were pulling over Mustangs and Camaro's because they were illegaly modified. At the time the owners of these cars were bitching about how come none of the tricked out civics were being pulled over. It seems to me, that when the next big car craze happens we will se a decline in how many import car drivers are being pulled over/harrased. Many of you had already left when the polce showed up at the Filipino/Islands celica meet 2 weeks ago. And Isaac, I might say handled it very professionally.
HISTORY:
If the late 50's/60's was the golden age of street rods than I believe that the 90's/2000's is the silver age of street rods. Street rods are by definition modified stock cars. It seems that they both ages share one thing in common and that is the fact that oil prices are the main cause for the end of the trend. I think that in the coming year or two we will be seeing a decline in high displacement engines, this is obviously clear, especially to you Toyota guys since the Celica did go from a 2.0+ litre app to a 1.8 litre app. Also with the introduction of the Scion brand Toyota has sucessfully put the nail in the coffin for many sport compacts. A recent article in Super Street (Nov. 04) says that we will finally see the introduction of the the Honda Fit, Toyota Vitz, and that Nissan has also decided to bring over the Cube and they are seriously thinking about bringing over the Micra. All of the fore mentioned cars displacement is in the range of 1.3-1.5 litres. Also with gas at $2.50 (91 octane) it is going to get really expensive in the coming year just to be able to cruise in our cars and take road trips in them.
In the end I think that the cops ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING. They are doing there job and are preventing people from breaking the law and protecting people from possible death. It does at time seem as if they nitpick a lot about the stuff we have on our cars, but if we stay level headed and keep our cool they WILL treat us with RESPECT.
A couple of tips for if you are ever pulled over.
1. ALWAYS be nice to the officer, they don't need another asshole to dealwith they see them and deal with them everyay.
2. ALWAYS have your CARB stickers in plain view if they ask you to pop your hood.
3. ALWAYS be ready to answer any technical questions that they might ask you about what the part does.
4. For those of you with Carbon Fiber hoods: make sure that the stickers from the metal hood are moved to the Carbon Fiber hood. The reason for this is because it prevents tthe cops and other local authorities from seeing the emission standards for your car. Also they may give you a fix it ticket for it and may confiscate your $400+ hood because you illegaly modded one of the emission points on the car.
5. REMEMBER that the best way to avoid getting your car impounded is to avoid getting a ticket in the first place. And the best way of doing that is to OBEY ALL LAWS IN THE FIRST PLACE
)
What moron has their girlfriend and brother in the car when doing something that dangerous?
what's will the come up with next? 
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