What IS a sleeper a nowdays?

[MRX]

Question was brought up on another board and i just wanted some opinions here. Some people said it was any car that was completely stock on the exterior but packed some heavy ammo under the hood. Others said that it was the cars that just look like not much is done and most of the money went to whats under the hood. And an interesting view another guy had was that when a stock looking dark primered civic with flat black rims rolls up on him he knows he's in for a treat...but when a multi-colored kitted civic with a huge wing and lights everywhere rolls up he laughs cause he knows its an easy kill. What if that riced civic has some fully built turbo b20vtec...who's more likely to make your jaw drop between those two?

I think its becoming more and more common that the more stock you look the greater a threat you might be. I also think it has alot to do with the car. Certain cars are high profile cars that you expect to have mods like dsm's, honda's, and nissans...or you could run into an early 80's turbo volvo station wagon running 11's and not even know what hit you.

discuss...

[93accordEX]

yea I pretty much agree with that last statement... if a stock civic pulls up and wants to race, the owner is either completely retarded or has some engine work done. but if its a riced out one I wouldn't think its quick at all.

[dj justice]

I always defined a "sleeper" as a car that is fast that you just wouldnt expect to be fast. I remeber my fantasies of swapping an 850 volvo turbo engine into my 240 wagon. Oh that wouldve been sweet.

[AccordWarrior]

I think you're onto something MRX with the super showy car that's really fast...everyone expects it to be slow.

11 second Volvo wagon...are you talking about the Volv8?

Wanna know what I think a few sleepers would be...Z24's from the early 90's...anything domestic that's not a V8.

[HenRoc]

How about an Escort? Those could work...actually the perfect sleeper was that Hyundai Exel Hatch that had the DSM motor in it....THAT is a total sleeper.

Nough said.

[wed3k]

i pretty much just gave up on the terminology and just go by what is clean or not.

[MRX]

had a friend bring up an interesting point. He says that the overshadowed lowly redheaded step children of the normal fast cars such as a plain old lancer, eclipse GS and RS, for the most part are a priime example of sleepers. For him the term sleeper came from the 60's where high hp engines were put into odd platforms. He sees a sleeper as a car that didn't come fast but is made to be fast with a stock looking exterior. Another "sleeper" that comes to mind is the 1990 chevy station wagon we have running around town...it has an ls1 in it and pulls low 12's.

AccordWarrior - i never got a good look at the turbo volvo. I'm not sure but i think the car came turbo'd from the factory.

[AccordWarrior]

had a friend bring up an interesting point. He says that the overshadowed lowly redheaded step children of the normal fast cars such as a plain old lancer, eclipse GS and RS, for the most part are a priime example of sleepers. For him the term sleeper came from the 60's where high hp engines were put into odd platforms. He sees a sleeper as a car that didn't come fast but is made to be fast with a stock looking exterior. Another "sleeper" that comes to mind is the 1990 chevy station wagon we have running around town...it has an ls1 in it and pulls low 12's.

AccordWarrior - i never got a good look at the turbo volvo. I'm not sure but i think the car came turbo'd from the factory.

The Volv8 is an interesting car. It's any RWD Volvo from the 80's with a 4.9L Ford engine in them. www.converseengineering.com

[MRX]

then i think it was the volv8 cause it was RWD...interesting

[dj justice]

My volvo 240 wagon was rwd and it had a 5cyl engine that could come turbo from the factory to boot.

[accordtunerx]

in my opinion, there's almost a sub-category growing here... which is not SLEEPER, but i guess shady?... where its more expected to be modified, but you're still unsure as to how heavily modified it is.

and i agree with hondas, nissans, dsms.. no matter what style you're going for or have... someone is always gonna try and mess with you simply because of the make of the car and their popularity in the "tuning scene". but i guess that depends on the area you live in too.

[phatdoughnut]

Im a sleeper, i slept for 24hrs last night.. w00t

since steve beat me, i think there should be a sub-sub-catagory, called the poser sleepers. who think just cause they have a swap they are fast and unbeatable..

[IBCNYA]

sleepers imo....dont exist these days they r gone...reason being with all the versitility of engine swaps you really cant tell what is what...yeah the fins and wings ,neons and shit on that geo prizsm might look shitty...but they could also have a boosted toyota motor in that bitch....so you cant really say all that its a sleeper by looking at it or that is not because you assume they spent all their time and money trying to make it look fast...cause hell it might be...

[MDIZZLE4SHIZZLE]

people tell me i have a sleeper. reason 1 my car looks like shit but its kinda fast. 2 i have a couple ricey parts on it IE projos and red altezzas but its still kinda fast..

[ProjectCB7]

A sleeper can be many things. one thing that's a mucst is an almost stock apperance. If it's modified...it must be something that looks original or is VERY low profile. A sleeper blends in with the surroundings and into other cars well. A sleeper can be any car...but more are easier to make. Like if you have a Corvette...you really can't have much of a sleeper. However, if you have a Caravan that is stock on the outside buy has a Hemi...it'd be a sleeper. lol. Especially if it had the soccer ball cling-on and the baby seat in the back. Or taking some old, beat on ass car and putting some rediculous engine in it or some forced induction. It must be a car that will surprise someone. The power of the car, and the fact that he got beat by it. A sleeper must not be obvious or loud in any manner. A cop will look at it and not say a word.

That's my perception.