Forgive me if I’m late to the game on this one, but I’ve recently learned a new term that’s popular among certain tuners and modifiers.
The always-reliable and entertaining Urban Dictionary perhaps best defines “Stancing” as:
To destroy a car’s handling abilities by having it lowered an excessive amount. Typically, the tires are tucked way inside the vehicles fenders. But in order to have a hellaflush stance and run the required excessively wide wheels with tires that are stretched just to fit onto the wheels, the car has to have an excessive amount of negative camber.
I’ve seen cars that have been lowered like this. Their tires look like the result of an unfortunate axle-breaking accident involving the car, a curb, and an icy day. I didn’t realize that this trend had a name and that entire groups of people do this to their cars on purpose.
I don’t like it. Why destroy a car’s handling (and looks) like this? I much prefer cars that come from the factory with a killer stance. That is, a car that looks strong, intimidating, and ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.
Here are some of the cars that come stock with a great stance, no lowering (or axle-breaking) required.
This is probably the only view of the 370Z that you’ll ever see. This is one of those cars that looks fast even when standing still, which is largely due to that low, wide stance.
Mazda has done a great job of building affordable cars with go-fast style and performance. The Mazda6 looks like it was born for the track, but is perfectly at home cruising city streets and turning heads.
It’s hard to put Audi and Mazda in the same category, but they have a similarly aggressive stance that tells other motorists to pull aside. When you glance in your rear-view and see this, what other choice do you have?
Is there a more threatening and confident stance among muscle cars? Some may think so, but they are wrong.
Other carmakers strive to obtain the take-no-prisoners stance of the Range Rover but, so far, no one comes close. Wide and stout, this is a stance that says, “Get out my way, or I’ll crush you.”
The crown for the best stance in the auto industry goes to the 911. No other car has that low-slung goodness combined with those wide hips and ideal weight distribution. Put the 911, or any of these vehicles, up against a car that’s been “stanced” and we’ll see which comes out victorious.
Do you prefer a car with a killer factory stance, or a car with some aftermarket “stancing” work?
-tgriffith
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