Stance culture is not such new phenomenon as one may think. Lots of people suppose that “stance” is a concept similar to “drop” though they’re wrong. “Stance” and “drop” have a lot if common but “stance” is something more profound and significant than just drop. Actually the basis of stance culture is reducing of clearance. If you take a look at a stanced car you’ll probably get a little bit astonished. Such vehicles seem to touch the ground not only with their wheels but with the whole body so they really look like something very vulnerable and fragile. How can such a car pass a speed bump or survive after coming across a pothole? Well, those guys who carry out such modifications are definitely ready for all these troubles otherwise they would hardly drop their cars so low.
There two ways of clearance reduction
The first way is cheaper and it includes only replacement of springs.
Though true connoisseurs of stance culture prefer purchasing screw puppets (coilowers).
Besides dropping cars stance includes proper wheels fitment – width and offset of wheels, width of tires and many other parameters. Stanced cars often have some elements of tuning like body kit, for example, however the owners of such vehicles usually avoid tune them too much and even if they do some tuning they tend to follow some certain idea or concept. It’s rather obvious that these people don’t want to have anything in common with typical street racers.
Here’s a list of some basic terms and concepts of stance
Flippers – actually flippers are tires which has either a white stripe or the whole side of white color. And it’s not paint, actually. Flippers also may be called “Whitewalls” and it’s easy to guess why, isn’t it?
JDM – Japanese Domestic Market. True fans of stance know that lots of cars which look similar in Europe and in the US have different versions for Japan. More than that some interesting models are made only for Japan and have no analogues in the world – so it’s easy to guess that lots of people who exclusive vehicles are interested in it.
Level – a sill is parallel to the ground.
Reverse rake or French rake – back part is lower than the front one.
Straight take or Californian rake – front part is lower that the back one.
Many people regard stance is a weird hobby of weird people though real fans never pay attention to what others say. They are ready to move slower and to invest more money in their car but it gives them individuality. They part with thousands of dollars and turn barn finds into fabulous and elegant cars – that’s how they get what they want. Stance is getting more and more popular not only in the United States and Western Europe but in Asia and Eastern Europe as well so maybe soon we’ll see some interesting trends and new ideas of this really interesting and original art.