My "fart can" has arrived from Japan

I'm speechless, almost . . . You're overcome by consumer guilt, yet expect others to curb their lust for things, while you disturb their wa with your non-muffler, in compensation. I'm reminded of celebrities flying in by private jet to chastise us about global warming and bragging about all their carbon offsets.

 

Do I detect an air of guilt, a stirring of awareness, a paradigm shift of perspective? B)

Yes, we are literally consuming the Earth. The more we spend, the less we save. Life itself is but fuel for the fire.

 

Just put the thing on and enjoy it. You are too deep into this thing to do anything else. Give us a report on how well it works...or not.

~buttster

 

Stick it on the car and love it.
Just be mindful when disposing of the plastic and cardboard packaging. If you have room keep the old muffler for future refitting. You may be able to sell it to a person who broke their muffler, they get a cheap muffler and their new muffler isn't having to be shipped from Japan, win and break even.

I hope it isn't too loud because that will sound funny. When the barking exhaust goes silent each time you lift your foot and when the silent exhaust suddenly barks as you accelerate.

 

I think it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Why do people buy small Japanese cars, engineered to be quiet and efficient, and then put these horrible loud mufflers on them? You get MAYBE a 5% return on horsepower, probably more like 3%.

You won't notice any difference in power, but you'll bug the crap out of a lot of more intelligent people.

So...go ahead and waste your money on stuff like this, just don't expect us to be *really impressed* and tell you how cool you are...

 

Put it in a sealed up trash bag and throw it in the Bay. I'll pick it up in a couple of weeks when I'm out fishing and put it on my Prius.

 

I think it's fine to mod your Prius, there is even a thread on PC for mods.

 

Pinto Girl, does it make you happy? Then just enjoy it, consider it one of your (few) splurge. You knew that there will be opinions here from both extremes.

Gabe

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Nov 18 2007, 01:34 AM) [snapback]541146[/snapback]</div>

I honestly don't think so. In today's society where we are groomed from early age on to be 'good consumers', I think others (someone out there) will always be enticed by what others have, whether those who have it consider it a bad decision or not.

I find it so interesting the process it seems we go through, myself included. In my younger (starving) college years, when the needs were many, the haves were few, and the dollars were few, it was easy to make decisions on what was truly needed for (my) life to continue.... it was an optimization exercise, if you will (make the dollars stretch as far as they can). I never bought frivolously because I couldn't... the money just wasn't there.

But here in my mid 40's.. where the needs are few, the haves are many and the dollars are many, it's so easy to get enticed and 'want' what everyone else has (or seems to have), like GPS, new cell phones, etc.. And it's easy to talk myself into that 'I deserve that thing', whatever that thing is.

I, too, am consciously going through a shedding of skin, so to speak, consciously changing my consumerism,but sometimes a thing like your fart car catches my attention, too, and I wonder why it's so hard to shake it now.

Perhaps installing it IS the very best thing you can do... maybe it will serve as a reminder of the thought process you've had right now, so next time your finger remains poised above the 'BUY' button, you'll have a second thought... And about enticing others? I think they have to cycle through the process themselves.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Nov 17 2007, 10:34 PM) [snapback]541146[/snapback]</div>

Looking backward (getting tied up in knots over a bad decision) isn't going to stop from making bad decisions in the future. You got the cat-back exhaust for enjoyment. Put it on the car and see if you enjoy it. If not, take it off. The real challenge is going forward and not making 'bad' decisions. You have a greater challenge facing you in your choice of tires - the number of tires (with a 100 level wear rating) you will go through is going to make the muffler decision seem absolutely green in comparison.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Nov 18 2007, 02:29 AM) [snapback]541166[/snapback]</div>

people that put these things on their cars *want attention*. these people are generally insecure and have no or very little self confidence, therefore they get reassurance that they are OK by having other people say "oh wow, you're cool" when they do these things.

the world needs less noise pollution, not more. all these things are (in my opinion) are noise polluters.

so thanks for bringing more noise pollution into our world. and I've heard them (too often I'm afraid) and no, they are not just 1db louder than stock, they are *way louder* than stock.

 

put it on. it obviously reminds you of your decision to re-evaluate want vs need. every time you get in that car you'll be reminded of want vs need. besides, think of all you'd waste by sending it back, or selling it and shipping it to someone else.

speaking from the perspective of someone who hasn't had a career job EVER (as opposed to pay-the-bills job, which i've had plenty of)... and has been experiencing severe shortages in family income lately... want vs need is very clearly defined. to top all that off, very soon BOTH of us will be students, won't THAT be fun. wants do not get fulfilled, mostly, except for maybe the occasional bag of self-pity M&Ms that are really just another excuse to make myself go use that free gym membership.

i have a hard enough time keeping up with the needs. so try to think like me but ignore the negative sign in front of the checkbook balance.

 

Buy a sack of ready-mix concrete. Build a form to contain the concrete, and when filled with the wet concrete, insert on end of the muffler into the wet batch. Use sticks to keep the rest of the muffler vertical. When concret drys, paint muffler in different colors. This is a start of your yard ART project. Let me know how it turns out.

Eric

 

I'm still trying to figure out what it is. It's a muffler. You had a muffler. Clearly I'm missing something here. It's one db louder but the engine gets more hp??? But both are such slight differences that they won't be noticed??? Does that mean that it's really just a cosmetic thing? It looks cool? Well, buying something that looks cool on your car is really no different, from a moral perspective, than buying something that you feel will look cool on you, like an item of clothing or fancy shoes. So in the end, I don't see what the big deal is. You bought something that in the end you decided you shouldn't have because the packaging and shipping is bad for the environment. So, live and learn. Now you know how such a thing is going to make you feel afterwards. Live and learn, it's the only way. Enjoy your new toy. And next time you're about to buy something from far away, decide before you buy it whether the guilt you may feel for buying it will spoil the fun of having it.