A social media commentator suggested they do it to impress the girls. If the ladies were unimpressed the boys might find less destructive or dangerous ways to show off, they said.
Others have suggested a controlled place for them to do burnouts. Police doubt this would help.
The boy racer culture in Whanganui is one of self-entitled arrogance.
It is not just on our roads that they impact people's lives.
An elderly couple brought to our attention were effectively forced to sell their family home after years of revving cars and boisterous behaviour from neighbours.
Always the victims, always picked on and mis-understood, it is high time our boy racers grew up.
Theirs is not a victimless crime. Near misses on the roads, unsightly rubber pollution, distressed residents ... their misdemeanours are truly tiresome.
Authorities will often turn a blind eye unless enough people speak up loudly enough.
So it is time to dob them in. Report nuisance drivers, revving neighbours, idiots who all but run you off the road.
Police and council will listen - and act - if the community demands it.
See also:
Rachel Stewart's tired of living next to a race track.
Editorial: Resident fears fatality after 10 cars crash through her fence
Editorial: Our inner hoon no longer a right of passage