What is Rice?

[hls30.com]

I would say if a car has more money spent to make it "look" or "sound" quick than spent to actually make the car fast is rice. By quick I mean straight line accelleration. Spoilers, big tires and wheels can help handling on a purpose built car, but, on a hp challenged econobox they just slow the car down and hurt fuel economy. That is rice to me.

A body kit alone could be rice, but when completed as a system (Exterior, Interior, mechanicals) to deliver the performance the familiar appearance promises, it is no longer rice.

For inexpensive rice, any car that has building materials, Landscape materials, plumbing materials, aircraft or boat pieces on its exterior ARE cheep rice.

Will

[mriz]

My stepson had a 98 civic and tried to do a little ricing up and every other word out of his mouth was JDM this and that . I doubt he even knows what it meant. Poetic justice finally happened when he slapped it into the front of an accord. No injuries except to pride/wallet.

[Pir0San]

Trust me... a stock 240Z will never hang with a stock RSX.

Actually, I think that you're mistaken. Lets just use the associative property for a second, to get my point across. I have a 240Z, completely stock. I got my friend Zack into the Z scene, and he now has a 280ZX. We've raced our cars against each other, and my 240Z pulls harder and can beat him hands down, usually at least a car length. Zack has a friend named Nick who has a brand new RSX, and the two of them raced. Zack totally annihilated Nick with his 280ZX, and even to make sure that it wasn't the driver, Zack raced Nick again, but Zack was in the RSX and Nick in the 280ZX. The results were still the same, the 280ZX beat him. So, therefore, if a stock 280ZX can beat a stock RSX, and my 240Z beat a stock 280ZX, then therefore my 240Z is faster than a RSX.

I know it seems roundabout, but I do know that my 240Z is faster than the RSX.

Would you believe me if I told you I beat a Celica Type S (or whatever the "racing" class of them are?)

[TomoHawk]

... when completed as a system (Exterior, Interior, mechanicals) to deliver the performance the familiar appearance promises, it is no longer rice.

Bravo!:classic:

But are you saying all those Z cars with the GTO conversions are riced because they didn't upgrade the engine too? It was originally intended to be with some lowering springs & wider wheels. That was in 1980- something when the Z was still pretty much new, with probably low miles on the car & engine.

thx

[EScanlon]

Not to divert the main topic, but in hopes of actually diving in with both feet....

I think that the posts so far point out that the term "Rice" or "Ricer" are being flung and slapped onto vehicles that would be better termed "Modified" or "Custom", while proclaiming that that defines the term.

Where the mechanics and applications of the term are in fact what eventually creates the term (I'll explain in a bit), sometimes the term is so vague as to deny / defy where it came from. (Confused? Then hang on...)

IMO, Rice refers to that modification of vehicles to appear / sound as if they had in fact been modified to the extent that their appearance shows.

That is, Large Air Wings to imply that the car travels so quickly that it needs the additional downforce of an air wing (on a Front Wheel Drive car, where it would prove disastrous).

Extra Large Exhaust Pipes, whether out the back, or on the side, or .... to imply that the engine needs to have this size piping due to it's "oversized" capacity....while still maintaining "street-legal" status (ever seen a dragster with a muffler?) that must be made to reverberate in order to mimic the sound of a truly needed exhaust system.

Oversized tires to imply that the cornering / acceleration abilities of this vehicle are such that the extra contact rubber on the pavement are required in order to maintain control, while forgetting the offset and having them rub on the fenders, or my personal favorite, the extra wide tires on not wide rims.

The addition of "High Performance" Air Filters....with the additional wind vanes, vortex generators and ionic particle chargers to ensure that the positive ions in the air being sucked into the engine have been mollecularly aligned to ensure efficient combustion of the similarly magnetically aligned gasoline being injected. But not using a fuel filter because you're afraid of "Restrictive Fuel Flow" or disturbing the magnetic flux you've imposed.

Of course, the required "sponshorship" stickers all over the car to denote that without the corporate backing of this vehicle, it would not have been possible to effect it's rise to "fame" (while ignoring the fact that you've turned your car into a rolling bill-board of cheap advertising that YOU paid for). Even better, you don't have to actually USE the product to plaster their sticker, or my favorite, plastering competing companies stickers all over the car....when you can only use ONE of them, or when one negates the use of the other(s). Ever notice that the flashier stickers are sometimes for items that really do NOT enhance performance?

And let's not forget the almost required Japanese Script across one or more windows....that only Japanese people and people fluent in the language can read....that usually you find out is; Upside Down, or says something like "Minuscule Sex Organ" or "Sexual Intelectual" or "Ostrich Brain Transplant Recipient".

So what about the true-blue modified vehicles?

A car that has had it's springs changed / modified / supplemented in order to achieve a different response in handling would be entitled to denote that with the new spring manufacturer's logo on the car...if only to denote the pride the driver has in having effected that change.

The same applies to many other modifications / changes.

So what IS the difference between a "Ricer" and a "Custom" or "Modified" vehicle?

I think the answer lies in the action verb in the first few definitions...IMPLY. To IMPLY is simply to indicate by inference, or consequence as opposed to a direct statement. Simply put- to express indirectly. In the examples above, they imply that the vehicle has been changed to require those mods, or that it uses those products, or.....

But, to get back to the basics, someone who implies to be something that they are not, while not blatantly saying it, is simply....a POSEUR. A Poseur wants you to think that they have the qualities they affect, while ignoring the fact that it is obviously false.

So, in the examples given previously, a RICER is another way of saying POSEUR or simply a POSER. They Pose, while not having the ability to perform.

So where do the terms Rice and Ricer come from?

Rice / Ricer, IMO, come from the fact that, in Japan, for a multitude of reasons but mostly because of the social compression (i.e. large populations in small areas) that they live in in the cities, they need to find ways of individualizing and making their vehicles stand out from the rest.

While this is also possible in other countries and cultures, don't forget that the innovative Japanese are the ones with the leading edge on creative electronic products and impressive packaging, and most importantly, they have the disposable income to buy these. Another country to do this...USA. It also happens in Europe, Australia etc., but WHERE a fad starts from is as important in the name it gets as why it gets that name.

Japanese guys, in an effort to make their little Honda Civic distinctive in a city filled with Civics, or the little Toyota, etc. would readily buy LED Side Marker Lights, or clear lensed tail-lights with interior Red Lenses...and eventually these get accepted by a lot of people and installed on many vehicles. Now, the individual must find yet something else, and the cycle continues and expands.

However, as it has been noted before, you can do a lot to a car in Japan but you can't mess too much with the engines....as that involves a different tax base, never mind the expense of having an engine bored out an additional liter or two. So, it becomes fashionable to APPEAR as if .....

When other folks in other countries copy that, sometimes people will try to mimic the "original" items, with the subsequent cheapening of the original idea that ends up labeling due to the concepts provenance. It is a known item that Japanese cuisine involves a lot of Rice, this isn't a denigrating comment any more than saying Texans like Chili, and Mexicans like Beans...they're basically commonalities amongst a group of people. (A stereotype is not, by itself, an insult.)

In the U.S., for years items coming from Japan have had the "Rice" connotation added to them by people who would denigrate the items. Remember when a motorcycle from Japan was called a "Rice-Burner"? Or when walking around with a camera or two on your neck was being a "Japanese Tourist"? How about when riding a Harley-Davidson immediately labeled you as a "Biker" and an "Outlaw"?

So owning a Japanese vehicle, technically by the above logic, we're all ricers, i.e. we drive vehicles that came from Japan. But a lot of you will scream; NOT ME!

And you are right.

Enter the "wannabe", who would also like to have a fast car, and can't afford it. But for pennies on the actual dollar required, he can affect having many of the true blue modifications. And, IMO, the true RICER is born...a POSEUR who hasn't effected any actual changes, just likes to don the appearance of such.

That guy, in my opinion, is what makes the term such a laughable and insulting label.

I don't mind the change of an exhaust system to include a bigger muffler and tail pipe....I mind the coffee can tip added to a stock muffler.

An air spoiler added to the back of a car to change the air flow over the car to stop the exhaust fumes from being sucked into the rear vents is IMO a needed modification. The air wing on the back of a front wheel drive car....displays the driver's ignorance. If in fact the car COULD go fast enough to need that air wing, the car's driving and steering wheels would be lifted off the ground and cause a serious accident.

Modifying the fenders to accomodate wider wheels would be rice if it ends up on a car that only goes to the corner store and back. But if it is on a car that does do some energetic driving on a winding country road....no. Then again, if you put on white sidewalls ...it's not rice, it's stupid.

So, for my 2¢, a RICED car is one that has had mods, additions, etc that are worthless other than their visual implication....or simply put... a POSEUR.

E

P.S.: By the way, someone mentioned "Eye-Candy" as being those items added to make a car appealing.

Sorry to disagree, the picture attached IS Eye Candy. It makes your eyes happy, they might even water with joy, and best of all, it's non-fattening and you can't be accused of doing it on purpose.

The second picture, as pleasing as it is, is simply a modified car.

[johncdeere]

I don't know that Carbon Fiber can be generalized into the rice category. MSA sells Carbon Fiber hoods and fender flares for our cars that I think look pretty good and don't seem to "rice" out the car.

Scott

Let me clarify, since this is such a serious subject:D . I fully agree with Scott that true carbon fiber does not rice make. It's the fake carbon fiber that gets me. To replace a 40 lb. of steel with 10 lb. of CF is differnt than covering 40 lb of steel with 10 lb of "carbon fiber" stickers.

[KenshinX]

Yep. That and lawn edging from Home Depot attached with rivets for ground effects. Now who in their right mind would do that ... ?

Umm you wouldnt be refering to Proxlamus......would you?

[TomoHawk]

.: By the way, someone mentioned "Eye-Candy" as being those items added to make a car appealing.

I said that E, and I think you got it misinterpreted. I said that some people think eye candy is what they find appealing on a car (paint flames, flares, subwoofers, mirrors,) but like you, I think "eye candy" is a nice car, i.e. a classic MG or Duesenberg, Mustang, ZED, etc., nicely restored and kept.

What's your take on neon lights inside & under the car? I can't think of any good it would have under the car...

BTW, Maybe you should run for President next time...

[ZSaint]

I have a '71 240Z and a '72 510 tudor. My wife has a 2003 Acura TLS (260hp). This Acura is very quick. Looking at the post that a stock 240Z is quicker than an RSX baffles me. Here are the specs:

RSX: 155 hp, 6 speed with a 6500 shift point

I believe the 6 speed gearbox will be a huge advantage for the Acura over the 4-speed in the Z (Oh, you have modified the Z? 5-speed? Engine Mods?)

Then you should be competing with the Type 'S'

RSX Type 'S': 201 hp, 6 speed with a 8100 shift point.

I believe this vehicle is very fast regardless of your mods. It is a hotrod!

35 years of technical advancement really do make a difference.

[sblake01]

I said that E, and I think you got it misinterpreted. I said that some people think eye candy is what they find appealing on a car (paint flames, flares, subwoofers, mirrors,) but like you, I think "eye candy" is a nice car, i.e. a classic MG or Duesenberg, Mustang, ZED, etc., nicely restored and kept.

What's your take on neon lights inside & under the car? I can't think of any good it would have under the car...

BTW, Maybe you should run for President next time...

I think you missed the point on E's post on several fronts the last of which is that he says the girl is 'eye candy' and the car is 'as pleasing as it is, is simply a modified car'. I guess this thread is as meaningful as anything that's gone on here lately:ermm:

[TomoHawk]

Since wer're talking about cars, I prefer that "eye candy" refer to cars too. Maybe your idea of some girl sticking her buns out at you is pleasing, but I'd rather check out the whole chick, personally.

I think it probably is a good thing that we get this subject defined, or at least well "discussted" at least so people have a mor defined idea of it.

[sblake01]

Yeah but you missed it again! That's E's comment about 'eye candy' not mine. But, personally, I don't really care what others opinions about what rice is or isn't. To me, all this crap does is fill space. Lately that's about all that has been going on here.