Thu Nov 08, 2012 3:32 am by vfreire
Alright, returning to the subject: cars in Brazil are really expensive. There are taxes, of course, but they alone don't explain our high prices - with the taxes excluded from a new car's price, they still cost as much as a car in the U.S. or Europe with these countries taxes. Think instead about the lack of competition and our car culture, which sees automobiles as status items. Many people here buy new, straight-out-of-the-dealer rides not because their actual ones are in bad condition or in order to have a more efficient one: they buy them just to show their neighbours they can buy new cars, even though they do so in 60 monthly instalments with compound interest rates higher than 1.5% per month.
Many people resort, then, to used cars. There are those that use them for work, and use them to the bone. Others have true relics or not-so-really relics, which are really well done. There is the tunning community, who also promote several track days (nowadays, the only major motorsports events, besides the stock car championship, well promoted but with low tech and technical levels). And there are the so called "manolos", those who make the so called "xunning", low cost and quality modifications.
Within the "manolos", an important subculture would be the so called "ap-zeiros", or AP-engine fanboys. The VW AP series of engines, also known as EA-827, are the units of choice for tuning, even for non-VW cars. Many of these use the 1,8 or the 2 litre variant, turbocharging them. "Ap-zeiros" are known for the typical quote "Trêskilimei, véi!" (or something like "Threekilogramsandahalf, man!", a reference to the pressure normally used in their turbos). They are also known for being arrogant and thinking that only the sky is the limit for the power of their engines - even though their cars remain with stock transmissions, clutch, suspensions, brakes and even remolded tires...
