i use it all the time...


get the weird looks...


also ricers dont get the insult so just wing it...

Of course I use it. Not necessarily to cause offense based on race (which apparently is different to racism now...), but label a minority. Every minority has their label, but not meant in a bad way. I have yet to see a genuine ricer take offense to the term, plus it gives Honda massive publicity

The term ricer comes from the asian rice farms. Most of the "ricered" cars are Japanese (Namely civics, VTAK KICKED IN YO!!") . Then as it became more widespread across modified cars in general (not always Japanese), it became Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancement, which is just another way of saying "baseball hat wearing chav who puts huge bodykits on his standard 1.2 Nova".

I think it's a fair term to use, considering most of them are terrible, and not even done properly.

Although it can provoke harsh feelings, I don't think it's a racist word or anything. If anything it's a warning to those who dislike it.. STOP TUNING YOUR CARS IN A MORONIC WAY.

Everything is racist nowadays.

Hi Joe!

...

STOP BEING RACIST!

I hate reverse racism.. it's worse than real racism.

In soviet Russia.... .....ahh ...erm it doesn't work.

If you dislike other peoples interests (e.g. Religion/ Type of car/ Vegetarian or not), they call you racist, wether you like scary fake meat or not does not qualify you as being part of a separate race. But thats just OT.

Just don't say ricer, and then they haven't got anything to complain about.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Yes, I use it. A lot. I can't stand the moronic bunch of idiots that put big exhausts on their road cars, bigger wheels, bodykits or LED washer jets. If they don't like being called a ricer then they don't have to bolt stupid goodies onto a perfectly good car.

What about people who put on better wheels? Lower offset, wider wheels, Suspension (Bushes/Coilovers/Swaybars etc) and engine/electric stuff like intercoolers/intake/boost controllers/ECU/exhausts/cam gears/cams blah blah blah


Just curious

Ricism?

RICE!

I don't care really.

Special fried rice.

Quote from Klutch :

What about people who put on better wheels? Lower offset, wider wheels, Suspension (Bushes/Coilovers/Swaybars etc) and engine/electric stuff like intercoolers/intake/boost controllers/ECU/exhausts/cam gears/cams blah blah blah


Just curious

Better wheels? Lighter ones might be better, but then the springs and dampers need to be changed to suit the new unsprung weight and wheel frequencies. Most don't bother. Doing the job improperly = RICE!

Lower offset? So it changes the steering and suspension geometry? And no corrective measures taken? Doing the job improperly = RICE

Wider wheels. RICE

Suspension bushes. Ruin the cars ride for a tiny, tiny improvement in wheel control and negligable change in handling, grip or safety? RICE

Coilovers. Some arbitrarily chosen stiffness, damping and length that probably doesn't suit the wheels, tyres and other changes. Therefore RICE.

Swaybars. Arbitrarily stiffening the car to reduce body roll without any idea what the original roll was, what it did to the tyres (camber change in roll), or what it does to the load transfer distribution? RICE

Intercoolers. RICE. No need to change the standard one, as it's designed to work with the engine. Changing or adding a turbo is RICE.
Intake 'stuff'. RICE
Boost Controllers. RICE
ECU. RICE
Exhausts. RICE (unless changing to a stainless steel system of the same design). Big Bore in any part of the system = RICE. Decatting car might be rice, but it depends on the motive. To save or replace a dead catalyst it's okay, but to free up the 0.1hp it might give you is RICE.
Cam Gears. RICE
Cams. RICE

The general rule of thumb is if the car is intended for the road and is modified in almost any way other than replacing worn out/broken stuff vaguely like for like (i.e. stainless exhausts or even clear side repeaters), then it's probably RICE, and the owner is probably a dunce.

So any modification to the car is rice? (just for clarity)

Quote from tristancliffe :

The general rule of thumb is if the car is intended for the road and is modified in almost any way other than replacing worn out/broken stuff vaguely like for like (i.e. stainless exhausts or even clear side repeaters), then it's probably RICE, and the owner is probably a dunce.

This is even more accurate if the mods are intended to somehow improve the looks, aggressiveness, volume, sound system, aerodynamics, performance, grip or handling.

So Tristan, the way you put this, I understand your definition of "rice" is not necessarily bad? I mean, how would a suspension change for better handling, be a bad thing? The reason people buy sports cars for road use is to be entertained, right? Good handling, quick accelleration, and good stopping power. In other words, a dynamic car. I agree about the neon lighted jet washers, but you can't seriously mean a better suspension and brake kit upgrade is a bad thing, if you really like driving.

But the point is that 'suspension upgrades' rarely UPgrade the suspension. Bolting on a set of springs some spotty oik in a shop said would transform the car rarely does. It just makes the ride harsh, the wheel control poor, and makes your tyres wear out 5 times faster (which the ricer in question will mistake for using more grip and wearing the tyres that way).

Buy a sports car and you get the manufacturers efforts at making it sporty, safe and fun to the cost of about £50million, rather than £500 in a 'tuning' shop.

You can't polish a turd. No matter how much money (short of hundreds of thousands) you throw at a Vauxhall/Opel Corsa it will still be a crappy little tin box underneath, and chances are the only good bits on it will be the bits made/fitted by Opel in the first place.

Just my opinion of course. It's their business if morons want to attempt to improve their cars for peanuts.

Of course, I see your point very well. Most people who replace their springs etc do it to lower their cars, and that purely for esthetics. They buy the cheapest and lowest set they can lay their hands on. But I'm positive that if you spend enough money on a part, and make sure to do the needed adjustments afterwards, then it can only be a good thing. If you can get the car closer to what you really want, and money is the only barrier, then go ahead and spend money. As we all know, 2nd hand cars are never like we really want them, and spending money on better parts to outweight the disadvantages is just a matter of wallet size and motivation, if you ask me.

Rice, to me, is a term describing exaggerated exterior styling. When considering aftermarket performance parts, I trust the other members in my car club when they say how it works and if it's worth it. That's one of the pros of being in a large car club, where there is always someone else with the same car as you who have done the same modifications you plan to do. I will, for instance, install a Bilstein PSS9 suspension set this spring, after strong recommendations, and a few test runs. The ride was not harsher, in fact it was more comfortable on straights and stiffer in corners. But then it's not a £500 set, it's more a £1500 set. If that makes me a ricer, then I'm a happy ricer. Keeping the advantages I bought the car for, and removing one of the disadvantages; handling like a boat. Also, the Norwegian car authorities makes sure you are heavily fined if you cannot prove that you have made the necessary adjustments to wheel settings etc after installing a new suspension. All changes have to be registrered in the cars spec papers, and for that you need proof that a professional has checked the settings and made correct adjustments.

My conclusion; if you put enough research and money into an upgrade, and you weight the consequences on beforehand, an upgrade is rarely a bad thing. Just don't buy the first and coolest sounding thing the salesman tells you to buy without consulting previous owners and experts. Replacing the car in a better handling one, will remove another one of the advantages I bought the original car for. Give me both, please.

So basically what you're saying is, people who take there cars to the track on weekends are ricers?

Theres plenty of guys out there with the track times to prove that decent aftermarket suspension can increase your times, otherwise people wouldn't do it..


Good set of adjustable coilovers, Good set of adjustable swaybars, some lightweight lower offset wider wheels = More track, More traction, Free flowing exhaust = More power, Boost controller = More power, AFtermarket ecu with a tune = More power etc

Track modifications are a slightly different kettle of fish as the parameters of use are much more constrained and specific. Being able to tweak the suspension for a specific track (e.g. damping, spring rates and rollbars) can and will help (or hinder) with lap times.
A free flowing exhaust is often what you don't want, unless you've modified the rest of the engine to suit the new flow characteristics, lengths and back pressures.

I'll leave my road cars standard, as they are nearly always better like that. If I had a track day car I might tweak it a bit for that specific role (passanger comfort not being an issue, and tyre life not being an issue etc). If I had a daily car that I occasionally did track days in then I might (and a I stress might) go somewhere inbetween without sacrificing it as a road car.

But ricers do all these things that increase weight, reduce grip, worsen handling and lower power purely for the road - they think it looks, sounds and goes better. And it's very VERY rare that it actually does.

Quote from danowat :

I think you'll find that Jap is still considered a racial slur, at least in Japan it is

Why is shortening the name of anything implying racism?

If the Japs had an 'Engfest' would we be bothered in the slightest?

Where does it end, UK, GB are they racist slur too because its not the full word? Somehow I dont think so.
Would you be offended if someone called you a Brit?

Quote from tristancliffe :

.

im a little curious have u ever moded a car befor for performance or track or drifting??? cause basicly what you have said is ANY car that is change from stock form is RICE

so in ur opnion even F1 cars are RICE cause they have fully sick wings and shizat

Do people not read threads? I have, indeed, modified lots of cars for competition and track use.

Ricers do it FOR ROAD USE, and singularly make it worse for that purpose (as well as not often acheiving their goals of more grip, better handling or more power (and so on...)).

Williams F1 are not ricers because they are doing it for the track. Citroen WRC team were not ricers because they were doing it for competitive rallying. Barry Chav is a ricer because he's trying to do the same thing for sixpence on the road, and doing it badly at that.

Quote from MAD3.0LT :

im a little curious have u ever moded a car befor for performance or track or drifting??? cause basicly what you have said is ANY car that is change from stock form is RICE

so in ur opnion even F1 cars are RICE cause they have fully sick wings and shizat

Even though I don't complete agree with mr. cliffe, I have to say it seems you are misunderstanding on purpose. He clearly said "road cars". F1 teams do the extreme opposite of road car makers. They continually change and develop a "car", if you can call it that, for winning races on track. A road car is manufactured by a certain standard for daily road use.

VW, Honda or whatever brand, lowers the intial cost by not using pro spec parts. That's why we have aftermarket parts for those who would like a little more edge on their everyday car.

edit: a little late.

Quote from MAD3.0LT :

im a little curious have u ever moded a car befor for performance or track or drifting??? cause basicly what you have said is ANY car that is change from stock form is RICE

so in ur opnion even F1 cars are RICE cause they have fully sick wings and shizat

:doh:

Read what he said.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Do people not read threads? I have, indeed, modified lots of cars for competition and track use.

Ricers do it FOR ROAD USE, and singularly make it worse for that purpose (as well as not often acheiving their goals of more grip, better handling or more power (and so on...))..

Fair point.

But what about people who buy sporty daily cars (Skyines, MX5's, rx7's etc etc etc) who mod them with proper, trialed and tested, branded well known parts for the occasional Motorkhana/Track day?

Trialed, tested, branded and well known do not necessarily mean they are any good!!!!!

But, if you actually bother to read my ramblings, which are my own opinion (and I'm sure you won't mind if you or others fall into my catagory of moronic car modifier), you'll see that I make some exceptions for cars used on track. Fitting 4 way adjustable dampers with 2" lower springs at twice the rate on a car you might use on the road makes you a dunce.
Doing the same on the track might make you a dunce too, but that's a different story.