Do Computer Geeks and Gearheads Overlap?

Johnath asks: "One of the great things about finally owning a place with a garage is that it's given me a chance to start taking apart my car and putting it back together. I'm certain I'm not the only one here who does so. The analogies between custom cars and custom computers are as obvious as they are numerous: the quest for higher performance, the analysis of detailed benchmarking and comparison studies, the fanatical brand loyalty -- a nitrous tank on an inline-4 is materially identical in my mind to a 4" heatsink on an overclocked duron. How much overlap is there between these groups, how many people here are car geeks? My preference is to optimize for efficiency and mileage over power gains, but I'm interested in car-hackers of all persuasions. Where do you go for geek-level treatments of oil brands, exhaust options, and dyno results? Is there a gearhead Slashdot hiding out there, or only the brand-specific boards like myfordfocus.com?"

Comments

Geek? Perhaps.

[j-turkey]

Geek N.: A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance.

--An excerpt from a definition of geek.

As far as overlap between car and computer geeks go, I can see alot of it. I've got a number of friends in my "circle" who are car geeks as well as computer geeks.

Depending on your definition of the term "geek" -- I'd consider myself a quasi car-geek, only because I don't fix everything on my car. I do stuff like suspension work, brake work (pads, rotors, adjustments, etc), and routine maintenance, but generally avoid any internal engine work (or, for that matter, anything that would involve dropping the engine or transmission).

That being said, I love cars. I simply think that they're neat machines that are fun to operate. I'm a particular fan of (what I define as) sports cars. My definition is a general adherance to the British (European) sports cars of earlier days. Lightweight (2500 LB or under is a MUST), inexpensive, purpose-built (no/few frills), RWD, and typically low-powered. I track my car (I'm cheap as well, so my "sports car" is both a track car and daily driver), and will tweak it as needed. Part of my car geekiness moves away from mechanical upgrades, and focuses on fixing the driver to make the car go faster...this a bastardization of an old axiom from my autocrossing days. I've now given up autocrossing entirely to persue track driving. I'm only able to do it a handful of times per year, since it can get quite expensive -- but I often will be on-track with my computer geek comrades.

--Turkey

definite overlap, but no /.

[nlh]

As a fellow gearhead/nerd, this is an area I'm pretty familiar with. You are definitely not alone out there, though I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a totally general interest "car nerd" site like /.

This is because, like tech nerds, gearheads are generally divided up among their different camps. (Heck, we're in a camp here on /. -- I'm sure there a Microsoft-loving nerd sites out there, right?)

You'll generally find:

-- the Asian Import crowd (Hondas, Acuras, Nissans, etc.,) -- clubsi.com, etc.

-- the VW crowd (vwvortex.com -- my home)

-- the Audi crowd (audiworld.com)

-- the BMW crowd (bimmer.org)

-- even the Ferrari crowd (ferrarichat.com) -- and believe it or not, these guys are a LOT more nerdy and friendly than the BMW crowd.