Scott at Team Harco

Nyet. Scroll up to the upper right hand corner (if you can't make-out the name on the navigator's door).

Did I hear someone say Toyota? The hijacking continues...

Tony K

Midnight street racing crowd with Asian cars. Moreso describing the ones with modifications to their cars that don't really make it fast, such as loud exhaust, body kit, big wing, neon lights.

This term probably originated among the typical meathead Camaro/Mustang driving Americans who think that all Asians look alike and associate them more than anything else with eating a lot of rice.

Tony K

Hijacking -

tifosiman

Ahhhh..............Pic was too big. Markku Alen. Another god..........

Scott at Team Harco

Tony provided a nice summation. I expect you don't see much of that in Jolly Olde....

Try this for a fairly polite point of reference: http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/february04/rice/


Ooops - no post would be complete without a little more hijacking. Don't know how I forgot this one when I hit Ford a few posts back.

kennycoulter

ford turbos!!!!!!!!! yes svos have a following, and im probably the only guy on svoca.com that only has one svo. if you guys think the 951 has easy turbo-ability......the svo can go to about 450 rwhp with the stock bottom end! theres tons of guys doing it, but have to switch to a front mount. electrical demons hurt the svo too. merkur has better simpler wiring supposedly.

Tony K

Hmm... I wonder if anyone accidentally says Peugeot in a post, what will happen?

Scott at Team Harco

Just for you Tifo...

Correction:
Alen in the FIAT with his long time partner Ilkka Kivimaki...
Toyota is Kankunnen and HIS partner Juha Repo.
(not positive he is piloting the Peugeot - but he ran with them for a while)

Scott at Team Harco

Funny you should say that...

Joe Anstett

No the rice fad will never die.

Today, I like my car clean and unclutterred.

But think back to when you are a 16 year old and mommy and daddy buy you an emasculating little Civic. You couldn't really afford the car in the first place. So you go to Pep Boys and buy the Yosemite Sam mud flaps, and the neon license plate frame, and the Alteezas... You "mod" your car to make it "unique" and you can't really afford any real mods, like a turbo or suspension upgrade, otherwise you'd have a better car.

Unfortunately, this kind of crap (Pep Boys Mods) will always be around.

My name is Joe and I was sortof a ricer almost 20 years ago when I got my first car.



Back then it was louvers and pinstriping and curb feelers and TV antennaes and purple window tint. Today it's fart cans and stickers and windshield banners.

Tomorrow it will be something else, for the kid who can't afford a real car

Joe Anstett

You picked the wrong Pontiac



I'm glad I didn't base my opinion of German cars on my sister's Jetta.

But, yes, the American companies are more and more missing the boat, and I hate the cheap plastic in my TA. I console myself with the 400hp.

Joe Anstett

Nope, can't agree. There's a small market of tuners who try to be different and go a different route. There's the wheat burners (riced out domestics like Cavaliers, Focus, Neon), and the VW crowd has a chunk of 'em too. I've seen a couple riced-out Mustangs in my day too.

Joe Anstett

Hmmm... All show, no go. And the "show" is done in poor taste.

Adding "performance" mods that do nothing or hinder performance. Or adding mods that imply performance when it is not backed up under the hood (diametrically opposed to "the sleeper", a car which appears stock but has a few tricks in store).

Here are ways you can identify "rice":
Dressing a car up like it belongs on the track when it's slower than a UPS truck.
A gigantic wing on a FWD car.
Fake caliper hubcaps on a car that has drum brakes.
An exhaust tip you could stick your head into.
An exhaust note that sounds like somebody spitting into a kazoo. Or a can of angry bees.
Painted interior plastic.

In general, it's something non-functional done in poor taste.

flamingeye

Thanks. I kind of guessed that might be the association.
I am all to familiar with the cars, Max Power brigade etc. Who don't know what makes a car go quicker, instead make their car heavier and create more drag from the add-ons.
Here, 'Essex boys' would be the equivalent. (Term=they come from Essex! easy) who drop two grands worth of stereo in a five hundred quid car and only go as far a the nearest car park to meet with like minded 'enthusiasts'
The pics. are of a Vauxhall Corsa ('one of a kind in Europe'... Thank God!)
I met the owner who brought it over with him from S. Africa, when I went to see and give my opinion on a 944 which had sat in a garden for the last eight years. From rust to rice?
Even with the 'Sport ' decal the Corsa could only muster a whopping 100bhp.
What I can never understand is with all the cash they flush down the drain on these cars, they could get a really good car!!!!

Joe Anstett

Actually it originated in the late 70's - early 80's. Japanese cars in general were called "rice burners" because they were so efficient on gas and, obviously, were Japanese, hence rice. In other words, as if they were fueled by rice.

You have to remember that Japanese cars were a worldwide joke up to this point, and were summarily (and incorrectly) dismissed.

Then when the "hot hatch" segment popped up in the mid 80's, the term "rice rocket" or "pocket rocket" appeared -- an economy car with high(er) performance. The modern equivalent would be an Evo or STi (but that's not the best analogy, the level of performance is so much higher today).