Gotta disagree, Happy. To point to your ‘exact same phrase’, a person from Ireland may be called an Irishman; but it is considered rude to call a person from China a Chinaman. The thing about ‘rice’ is that there’s a bit of racial baggage with it. The implication is that Japanese vehicles are Bad. (‘They took ur jobs!’) A lot of people believe that owning a Japanese vehicle is tantamount to treason. The term ‘rice-burner’ is meant to be derogatory. I’ve never heard of ‘pasta rockets’. Maybe it’s meant to be funny rather than disparaging; but ‘rice rocket’ was (and is) definitely meant to be disparaging.
Gee, guess y’all missed the Saturns and Tauruses and other American cars on that site–or the VW’s for that matter. The term originated because the original perpetrators of this particular type of car stupidity generally picked Hondas to rice out. The phenomenon then moved on to other models of car from all over the world. The terms “ricer” and “riced out” have now acquired a generic connotation somewhat on the level of “kleenex” and “xerox.” It’s not a racially derogative term, it’s a culturally derogative term. As has been pointed out over and over the overwhelmingly larger number of perpetrators of this particular folly are white suburban American boys. And yes, there have been other examples of people making retarded modifications to their cars that mimic genuine speed mods without actually having the effect or spending the money, but it’s never been so pervasive or ridiculous as the ricers. American muscle type cars with ridiculously jacked up back ends that actually reduce traction to close to zero are one of the more flagrant examples.
My personal favorites are the ones who take those gigantic aluminum wings that are meant to mount on the roofs of pickup trucks to deflect air drag on a gooseneck trailer and bolt them onto the back of their front wheel drive econobox sedan. Second favorite are the ones who bolt those “ground effects” fiberglass pieces that look for all the world as though they were cut out of Home Depot shower enclosures–these are always left white no matter what color the rest of the car is.
For the record, a Japanese “tuner car” that has genuine horsepower and suspension mods is NOT a ricer. A POS Honda Civic with a gigantic shopping cart wing, electricians tape “pinstriping,” bolt on bendy fiberglass panels, a “lowering kit” which consists of sawing off part of the front springs, dual six inch fart cannons (only one of which is actually attached to the exhaust system) and fifty “Type R” stickers IS a ricer. The nationality of the driver has no bearing on the epithet.
Absolutely. From my experience the Ford Focus and Mustang are the most common victims.
Yes.
But of course, an actual Integra Type R, with cams, cam gears, injectors, intake-header-exhaust combo and proper tuning is not. Done properly, tuned correctly, that’s a car that will put down serious speed.
I used to drive around with my friend in his 2000 Civic Si. With a Jackson Racing Supercharger that was designed specifically for the import market. Plus a lot of other crap that went with it. No extra stickers on the outside, of course. That’s tacky, and gets your stuff stolen.
Anyone who says that a 4 cylinder car can’t be made legitimately fast is showing some rather severe ignorance.
That’s true of all race cars versus street cars. Race cars are tuned to, essentially, just barely not destroy themselves over the course of the race so that they’re achieving the maximum that they can within the time frame needed.
My point was that the ethos behind the car and the technologies it incorporates–while mooted down by a lot to be certain–are for a pretty decent area of racing. The real racing cars have a limited engine capacity size (if I recall correctly) so as to mimic street cars, necessitating using turbocharging. They’re meant for rough-terrain control so they have AWD. The street cars have the same basic technologies built into them, but like the cheapo muscle cars of the 60s and 70s you’re getting the cheapo street-car version of a race car. It’s no more or less ignoble.
For the record, every generation does what it does to the cars of their choice so they can stand out in the crowd. And we attach names to these groups, be it the car manufacturer, the cars, or even where they are manufactured. Some of those names may very well be derived, and later have connotations, that others consider derogatory.
My OP was comparing two different vehicles and their drivers, generations apart, yet very much attuned to their own. I’m well aware that both vehicles could very well be highly tuned, high performance vehicles that would give each other a run for the money on their respective performance measures.
But for me, with Middle America roots, it will always be a laugh to see the latest cars looking mean and ready to pounce, yet sounding like a child’s windup toy. It may be powerful, it may look powerful, but certainly doesn’t feel powerful.
Bwaaaahaaaaa.
Oh god stop it, you are killing me. Lots of common pieces? I worked on a professional auto racing team for a year. We built a race car for short course off road racing. from the stands it looked almost stock. When we were done, just for giggles we counted up the stock un-modified parts on the car.
Guess how many there were.
Go ahead guess.
Three
- Grill emblem
- Master cylinder reservoir
- Tail light assemblies.
All the body panels were either fiberglass or if they were steel they were so heavily modified that they would no longer fit a street car. The frame was tube steel, the engine was not even available in this country. The rear axle was a Ford 9" mounted in a Stock Car products housing. The trans was an automatic (GM IIRC) with a 5000 RPM flash converter.
But it looked stock from the stands.
And Smokey made a car that looked like a legit NASCAR racer, Rick.
I’m glad you had the chance to work with a professional race team. But, you know, the STi was originally designed to be the frame from which people built actual race cars, after discarding parts. Now, how many parts got discarded? Quite a few, I rather think, but it would depend on the series, wouldn’t it?
http://www.mrtrally.com.au/performance/mrt_sti.htm
This is a working rally-prepped STi. It’s not that different from the ones on the street. It’s been rebuilt, it’s been pretty much taken apart and put back together, but, as far as I can tell, much of it is original stock parts, or stock parts from the next generation model.
I find that mildly impressive.
Group A specs. Now, clearly, this isn’t as serious as NASCAR. No big names, no big races. Nothing you’ve ever heard of, I’m sure. WRC is just a funny series of letters, and they don’t use Group A anymore.
They’re not professionals or anything.
I dunno what kind of a mechanic you can call yourself if you can find fiberglass body parts, tube steel framing, and yet couldn’t come up with an aftermarket grill emblem. 
I am going to point out that Rick is a better mechanic than I’ve ever dreamed of being, and if I ever wanted to rebuild my Camry, he’s the first guy I’d get advice from. (and if he was in state, the first guy I’d go to… got any hints for a '07 with the 6 cylinder? Places to look for ideas, and so on?)
He’s got more racing experience than I’ve ever dreamed of having.
But I still think he’s not right about this, and I often disagree with him. This may mean that I’m wrong.
But I don’t think I am. That WRX STi has been essentially hand rebuilt, but I think it’s still mostly stock parts… minus bits.
It’s Neons, around here. Heavily-riced Mustangs are unusual enough that I still feel disappointment when I see them.
Sam’s tribalism post reminds me of a story from high school. I sat near some car guys in math class. (Two of them were twins, with matching Novas from the year they were born.) One day, they were having the perennial Ford vs. Chevy debate, and asked me what my family drove.
Me: “We have two Ford cars…”
Ford Guy: “Aha!”
Me: “…and two Chevy trucks…”
Chevy Guy: “Aha!”
Me: “…but I’m not sure either truck runs right now.”
(At the time, my dad’s everyday driver was a '56 Chevy stepside. We also had an even older Chevy flatbed for farm work.)