How others react to stripes on your car.

[GTPete]

I'm not sure if its a GT thing or just a case of having a car with stripes down the side of the car.

I drive a bland company car for most of the week with next to no issues. The moment I drive the GT it is completely different the GT seems to attract every ******** out there, its like a red flag to a bull.

Same driving style in both cars, I think its the stripes, people see them and think they just have to get in front or drive 3 inches off the rear bumper to prove some point that I just don't get?

Maybe its a BA/BF thing where other drivers think they have chance in their hot hatches etc. (Clowns).

[STINKY NINJA]

I get the same thing with my g6,idiots see a turbo badge and feel they need to prove how awesome their ******* cars are... and tailgate,be infront...
Let the peasants have there fun

[blackf6]

I drive a BF GT as a daily. Can't say I have had any problems.

[QIKESP]

I get it as well in a mkII turbo... as soon as they see the turbo badge.
A good mate of mine has a mint GT-F and he gets it all the time from others on the road.
I've noticed it in my area mainly from late model commodore drivers who think I want a race.
I think most who drive a nice looking car will inevitably encounter some dimwit who is trying to prove something.

[HO 3]

...........yes quite often with the box cars, usual offenders old crumydoors or ricers, although they quite often get positive comments at the lights etc.........with the GTP which does also have stripes not so much. I do tend to drive the P in a more uninspired, grandpa style though which probably helps fly under the radar a bit.

Cheers Mick

[Tommie]

No stripes, but try driving a red car. Seems to attract it's fair share of noobs. Just smile at most of them...

[Kingsley]

Same problem with older classic cars (50's 60's 70's kinda stuff). They see something old with stripes and assume you 'wanna race'. I actually thought mine was cursed because I've lost count of how many people that pull out in front of me or cut me off. The others who bust a nut weaving through traffic just to get past me then pull in front of me then slow right down etc etc.
I appreciate the waves, I just don't need to die in the process.
On the plus side, I like that people driving older cars tend to wave to each other, regardless of what brand they own.

[Ben73]

Any car that's not a regular car will attract them at some point. Used to get it in the 300c some times.
Usually bogans and p platers.

Worst one was commy p plater with bogan mates on board. Trying to get me to do burnout while stopped at the lights. After declining they tried to encourage me to drag race them. He was so keen for the race he took off on a red light.

[neptune blue]

My daily is a 6 litre caprice and every wanna be has a go. No one wants to comes near my XB Coupe even though it's slower than the caprice. Guess it looks menacing enough to keep the wanna bees at bay

[Legit290]

They can't see my stripes from the rear.

[GTPete]

Thats an option but if I drive at 10/10th's all the time I wont have a licence for long.
Powers not the problem, Id likely hose 85% of these clowns, I just couldn't be bothered doing it.

[Express]

I don’t think it’s the stripes that attract them it’s more their perceived idea of the performance or desirability of the vehicle you drive.

It doesn’t happen to me much but it has happened and last week was one of those rare occasions.

I find if they’re rubber necking and trying to push through traffic to get side by side or in front it’ll mostly be young fellows in nothing cars showing off their erratic driving technique.

If they’re after a traffic light duel it's usually someone who has or at least thinks they have a reasonable weapon at their disposal.

Last week while on my way home after a day out I pulled up at a set of lights heading out of Wallsend near Newcastle and didn’t notice the car a few feet back on the passenger side of me.

There were a few hundred metres of empty straight road stretched out in front and I took off as normal which was smooth but reasonably quick and then I saw him in my peripheral vision and knew he’d have to be on it hard to be driving by me as quickly as he was.

When the lights changed green I unwittingly out jumped him for ten metres then he flew pass with his head turned looking at me.

This is the part I hate as I want to go with them and the strength of presence to control your right foot from planting itself is tough.

Still I give priority to the safety of my wife and others and value my common sense on top of not knowing who may be lurking in the traffic behind me so I hold back the urge.

I hate it as I’d like to know if I could have matched them but my days of finding out are now replaced with a few minutes of irritated wishful thinking.

He was in a VE SS Commodore with the Pontiac kit, a nicely looked after car though from what I could see with its the factory exhaust outlets and ride height it appeared completely stock.

By the way I easily out jumped him without trying I think he possibly believes it's quicker than it really is.

We were in a 90 zone and he left me for dead after about 60 km/h and I guess he would have very quickly been hitting something like 140 to 150 when he arrived at the traffic further up the road and started to weave in and out of lanes to get further ahead and away.

I bet he was probably embarrassed when he realised I wasn’t chasing him and all the drivers behind us would have seen what a dick he was.

I always check out nice cars and give a wave to a Classic if I’m in the XY and I sometimes notice people checking out my car but that’s the first time in a couple of years that I’ve come across someone who wanted to dance.

With the laws the way they are it’s madness to try it on these days.

[PepeLePew]

Must be a interstate thing or I hang in the wrong suburbs. The ute looks nice and tough in all the right ways and shines like a new penny most days but I rarely get any tossers lining up. Course G(S) doesn't rile them up like G(T) ;) (though I did remove the GS in the side stripes as imho it looks oversize and crass).

I was up Newcastle way recently and had a hired 118i. Every bugger and his mate needed to be in front of me.

Go figure ;)

[GTPete]

Newcastle, Central Coast and Sydney seems to have their fair share of try hards.

[Iggle Piggle]

Stripes no, but I do get a reaction with strippers on my car

[brismike]

As some of you guys know the wife and I have got two cars. The FG GT and a Smart car. Both of them are white with black stripes. It is amazing how other drivers treat you depending on which one we are driving.

We find that in the GT we get respect, never have any problems merging (the 335 kw might have something to do with that lol), and only get the occasional tryhard or P plater that wants to be a dick wanting to get in front etc.

In the Smart nearly everyone bullies you on the road, even push bike riders lol. If you rev the guts out of it it will get along but you are constantly changing gears up and down. If you just let it put along you get idiots perched up your **** trying to get past or giving you ****** looks in your mirror because you are slowing them down. 4WD's pretend you don't even exist and intimidate the hell out of you. Young P plate chicks in pink Suzuki's or Hyundai's just want to run you off the road. Merging onto the freeway is always a hassle when you need to blend into a bunch of small cars or 4WD's.

Funny thing is we have found that Falcon and Commo drivers are ok towards the Smart? Don't know why they just don't seem to be the bullies that small car drivers are.

Cheers Mike

[Angeldust]

when I was young I would always try to have a traffic light drag with whatever car was available. It didn't matter if the other car was going to be a lot faster. The point was I just wanted to compare how my car went compared to the other usually newer cars. That's it. I was never thinking that somehow my car would have to be the fastest, ju8st wanted to see how it went against others. (A v8 torana, initially a 202, then later a vr ss, I slowed down a lot when I turned ~30 and started driving ls engine cars)

These days I get a lot of people trying to get a reaction out of me, especially since the car attracts a lot of attention. Plenty of Ford boys wanting a go too, I bet they just want to know how much (if at all) their cars go compared to a stock ls2 vz. Unfortunately I don't give them much of a response..i think I've gotten old lol...

edit: and yes I have a white stripe...

[Sioso]

I had stripes on my Monaro which I owned for over 10 yrs, always attracted attention.
It was more people coming up closer for a look than wanting to race.
Maybe the lumpy cam and full twin 3inch di filippo system scared them off.

[Sabantien]

Saw a Falcon (didn't quite make out XR6 or 8) with pink stripes this arvo. Didn't try to race it, but I did wonder about the colour scheme.

I don't notice much difference in any car I've driven except now I have the G6E every now and then someone wants a race.

First day I got it someone with jetpilot stickers and whatever else tried to race me at the lights, but I pretty much ignored him.

Few weeks in I heard this screaming engine noise, wondered if i'd blown something because I was driving pretty sedately, then saw the Commodore beside me, realised it was his engine.

About a month ago looked over to see a guy in a 120Y eyeing me up ready to race. I didn't bite.

So yeah, maybe not necessarily the stripes, but I guess when you have racing stripes it catches people's attention more.

[FPV GTHO]

For every nice car out there trying to get driven sedately, how many are out there hooking around though? I had kinda the opposite happen to me a few years back, driving my XT which visually all that sets it apart are black wheels, and it was a 300C that always kept trying to put 10km/h on me on the freeway

[GTP534]

My GTP had no stripes and was a great stealth machine. The Herrod exhaust would burble nicely while idling at the traffic lights but the car hardly rated a second look.

Fast forward to the R-Spec, it's an extroverted looking car, especially with the red stripes, and even today it still gets noticed. Mainly by young boys in the neighbourhood - "Hey dad, look at that car!!"

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by GTPete

Newcastle, Central Coast and Sydney seems to have their fair share of try hards.

Highly populated areas so you expect it. I reckon out of all the places I have been too, Mudgee has one of the highest number of try hards per capita. Small population but try hards everywhere.
Luckily it's such a nice town, some good good cars around there too.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by Sioso

I had stripes on my Monaro which I owned for over 10 yrs, always attracted attention.

nice shed!

[Harrison]

Driving a V8 Ford sure makes you realise how many clowns there are out there driving Commodores.

Not all of them of course, but the V8 badges seem to bring them out of the woodwork.

In saying that, any cool looking/sounding modified car will get the testosterone flowing and commonsense waning in young male drivers with a Schumacher complex.

[Kieron]

I've had an octane FG XR8 for over 6 years with the GT style go fast stripes/bonnet Boss 290 'bib' so fairly out there and i've probably had 2-3 punters want to race (which I ignore) and can't say any other drivers have reacted in any way at all to the car.

[superfly]

I race anyone

[V8 Ghia Mike]

Driving my EF and every Commodore wants to catch up and be just a car length in front. The G6ET is a different story, most of the late model Commodore guys just cruise along without much challenge. I'm assuming that the better educated ones know what they are dealing with.

Strangely, its the 4WD idiots who do all the challenging now. They just seem to have no clue that even a stock G6ET will out perform their trucks in any respect. But they just keep trying. Why? Does anyone else experience this in the city?

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by V8 Ghia Mike

Strangely, its the 4WD idiots who do all the challenging now. They just seem to have no clue that even a stock G6ET will out perform their trucks in any respect. But they just keep trying. Why? Does anyone else experience this in the city?

Yes .. they even try it when I'm on the motorbike.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by V8 Ghia Mike

Strangely, its the 4WD idiots who do all the challenging now. They just seem to have no clue that even a stock G6ET will out perform their trucks in any respect. But they just keep trying. Why? Does anyone else experience this in the city?

You might find its simply because they are in a hurry, and couldn't care less if they were dragged off, so long as you don't hold them up later on.

[pottery beige]

e gay is a never ending sauce of racing stripes and tough stickers