GOT RICE?

gday guys.

I cant help but notice that alot of people really disrespect jap cars in general...
Being a young bloke, I would seriously like to know what exactly people have against japanese cars?

Cheers

Jarrod /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I like alot of Japanese cars... But in general I prefer cars to look original.

Older Japanese cars are collectible (Datsun Fairlady roadster, Datsun 240Z, early Toyota Celica's, first series Mazda RX-7, even cars like an early Toyota Crown or Datsun 410 or 411)

As for newer cars, I still like original over heavily modified (personal preference only I'll admit). For example, a good friend of mine has a 1991 Acura Integra GS-R in decent shape, it has not been modified by him or the previous owner and I think the car looks great as is, I also know that those engines are fantastic! He is also the previous owner of a 1981 Mazda RX-7 that he absolutely loved and owned for many years before it finally died on him...

My biggest problem with Jap cars, is usually the kid behind the wheel. Usually they will brag about the "work" they have done on their car, bolting on aftermarket kits, but really are lacking in basic knowledge of how their engines work. I have found that around here most of them can quote exactley what aftermarket parts they have bolted onto thier car, how much the parts cost (because apparently there is some kind of prestige in who can claim to spend the most insane amount of money on a $500 car), how much hp the engine supposably puts out, how much wattage their stereo puts out, and can tell you all about their headrest TV screens and DVD player. I have also found that in most cases these very same people if shown a connecting rod, would scrath their heads and try to figure out what it was supposed to do. Most of these entusiasts like thier cars, but really lack any kind of basic knowledge, but want to claim they know all about their car, and that really annoys me, not to mention the exhaust that sound like they stuck a coffee can on the end of their tail pipe.

The gaudy body kits that look like they cause more drag than anything else, the stereos that bump so hard that the only thing anyone can actually hear is the buzzing vibration of the afore mentioned cheesy body kits and that terrible exaust note are my biggest gripes.

As far as the cars themselves, I have owned a Civic and actually liked the little thing. The pedals feel a bit too odd to do any serious driving with them, but I am sure that would be adjustable. But for basic transportation, they really aren't that bad of vehicles.

BTW. I wonder if one of them actually knows what those huge gosh awful tailfins they put on are actually supposed to be for. I know and respect them in context. The back of a civic is not context.

Walt and Matt just pretty much summed up my two cents as well. That and a four cylander ricer with some sort of aftermarket exhaust making it loud, and some kid who loves the sound of it, when it really sounds like some sort of a sick cow.

I agree with what has been said already. Japanese cars are typically well built and well designed. Problem is the owners. The mentality of yellow=fast and spoiler=fast and huge tip on the muffler=fast is annoying. All these kits do is make the car unstable at speed. But the real problem is the mentality that fast car=good driver. These guys cause real problems for the flow of traffic and don't do much to help prevent road rage. There is a time and place for driving fast and my neighborhood is not one of those places.

I'm all for a car that looks different, but most of the "ricers" slap on horrendously overpriced plastic parts and claim their car is now fast. Pretty lame IMHO.

You're forgetting the extended-axle/go-kart-tire equipped ones with all the other equipment, plus whopping subwoofers guaranteed to blast through concrete bunker walls 1/2-mile away.

I like the cars that were successfully used in production class racing back in the day.

I've got a soft spot for Datsun 510s, they were pretty close to a BMW 1602/2002 under the skin. I like the 1200 too, but I don't think a 1200 would be powerful enough for the street.

The original Toyota Corona styling has really grown on me.

Of course, I have always liked the Civic line and the small Acuras. I guess the holy grail to me in a Japanese sedan is a RWD Corolla with the 16 valve engine. Who could dislike a Miata? Who hates Mr 2?

Body kita and super giant tires don't help a car perform a whit better than it did from the factory. They are a waste of money in my opinion. Those who spend their money on such a waste, as opposed to putting it in performance and handling, look very stupid to me compared to those who spend the money on performance.

I don't hate Japanese cars... I don't really care for them though... But that's because I don't know much about 'em /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But I do hate modded Japanese cars. These guys pretty much said everything I would of said

It's the gross body kits, the Canadian Tire exhausts, the rap/techno, and the hardcore kid image the drivers think they have /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

No one needs to hear the sh!t these kids listen to, and while watching some T.V. in their house, people shouldn't have to listen to an '88 Civic with a Folgers coffee can TRY and parallel park /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

I can't believe how my generation think that with a $3k sound system you're a car enthusiast /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nopity.gif

I hate my generation, and I'll not give an ounce of respect to any Ricer /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif

wow, look at the contempt, lol. I used to feel the same way about the bolt-on modding community, and to some degree i still do. my cousin has a mitsubishi lancer with the whole 9 yards. candy green metallic paint, custom red interior with matching green accents, loud exhaust and stereo, not too much power. when i saw it i almost threw up.
when i started talking to him about it, it changed my view of his intentions. He just got an EVO engine with a stage 4 turbo and AWD trans and is going to transplant it into his car to get it ready for some racing. he does the speed limit on the streets and turns down his radio at stop lights, but he plans on hitting the track with a vengeance. He is rebuilding (by himself) this engine using only quality racing parts. later i find out he and a friend did the paint job and interior. this kind of thing is great i believe. imagine if parts for our cars were as widely available as their power-mods. he picked up an old lumina to drive in the winter which further shows he's dedicated to his hobby.

with that being said, what i have to laugh at is the kids at my school in chicago that lower their cars and put bodykits on. walking through the parking lot, i see the same cars evolving into these 'ricers'. then the first snow comes and they're all plowing the streets with their 2000 bodykit. by the end of winter, 50% of all the ricers have damaged or missing front bumpers.

Agreed - I seem to remember a certain teenager with a '62 Corvair - black with red interior. Put red racing stripes on it and terrorized the neighborhood. Then came a '63 VW with a sunroof, to which was added wide mag wheels and tires on the rear, and blacked out the inserts on the front trunk lid. The adults thought it pretty ridiculous.

Point is, we all have to start somewhere, and we oldsters sometimes have short memories.

Mickey

I guess that I can still ride my high horse. My first car was a 69 Buick Electra. I got it when I was about 14 and was working on bringing it back from the dead. But all my plans for it were old school even then. (Mid 80s) Mainly I wanted to keep it quiet. Nothing like a big engine loping quietly to itself. I particularly liked my 67 chevy with an .030 over race cam and dual exaust with turbo mufflers. You couldn't hear it coming, but if you were behind it at a light, the torque over on the lope and the quiet whoof, whoof, whoof, said far more than any coffee can ever could. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif

I think most of you are missing something important. It was all well and good that in our day cars were easily identifiable as to brand, model and therefore horsepower or status. You could buy a car off the shelf that stood out and made you feel special just driving it.

Not so much the case nowadays. Cars are looking more and more alike, with similar performance, in other words no character. Most of these guys are just trying to personalize their cars, to make them reflect more about who they are. And they are definately not you or I, they are born in a different time and have had a very different upbringing than us. They mostly think that we are just as silly as we think they are for toying with all those little old cars.

The big thing to remember is that at least they are keeping the love of cars alive in their time, and are forcing the manufactures to to try to spice up their current crop of offerings to appeal to a more diverse market ( We are starting to see some pretty cool stuff from the pacific rim and Europe again..)

Just because you only like Mozart doesn't mean rock and roll is bad...

And no our Type R is not riced in any way...

Yeah, but the question was what we didn't like about the cars, and that is it. Thankfully, our disapproval isn't worth the fertilizer it is made of. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif

The only real problems arise when thier "individuality" infringes on everyone else's rights through the poor driving and painfully loud music usually associated with them. The rest is mearly annoying. Very annoying. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

For the record I like both Mozart and Rock and Roll. I have even lately found a small appreciation for Country. I still hold Rap music in contempt, but again that isn't even good for spreading on the roses.

My problem with the round rockets is they all look the same-hence add ons(!) but when a 17 year old is driving a car that does 200mph with not much driving experience ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thats when the the nightmare begins! Randi /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif

At least they are good for comic relief. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif I get a kick from the wings that look like they came straight off a TRANS AM race car or a Plymouth Superbird grafted onto a little tiny car. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif

TypeRboy,

I fit right into the young generation of car enthusiasts (I'm 23), and I probably hate ricers more than anyone else here. To me making your car look just like everyone else, by adding a half ton of fiberglass to the bottom half of the car, and a gigantic wing to the deck lid does not make your car have charachter. In fact I basically see the whole culture of ricers as being posers who would rather brag about what they claim their cars can do than work on them. I don't know about you guys but I consider myself an enthusiast, and I for one would rather be in the garage working on either of my Spitfires so they will go faster or handle better, then out bragging to my buddies about how fast it is.

I entered an "All Import drag racing event in 2000 just to see what it was about. There were a few hot cars. A turbo CRX with an Integra motor ran in the 11's, and it had license plates. I don't know how many of you know how bracket racing works, but basically, you do some practice runs, then you post an ET on your windshield which is your "Dial in" number. When you go to the line, the car with the slower "Dial in" gets to leave first, by the difference in the two cars dial in, the theory that they should arive at the end at the same time if they both have "perfect" runs. There were a lot of Accords, Civics and Integras which had dial in numbers on their windows several seconds quicker than they could run, aparently the theory being that you could run around town all week with 13.65 painted on the windshield, never mind that you ran an 18.2, you still wowed them down at the arcade.

My Cortina 4 door ran a best of 16.80. I made it to the 5th round before I was eliminated (You are sent home if you are beaten. Half the field is sent home in each round, so surviving 4 rounds isn't that bad.) Most of the 4 cars I beat let me leave first, then I beat them on raw time any way.

The quickest cars there were a couple of VW bugs and two supercharged RX3's. The Honda people scoffed at them calling them "Old School".

Lots of posers, even at the drags.

Next time I try it I will at least run my grippy tires and take the roof rack off. Except for the bugs, I had the only pushrods there.

I agree that these younger guys come from a different time, and upbringing than most of us do, however, that does not justify (some) of their behavior, as for the awful loud music I dont know about the rest of you guys, but I was also guilty of offending the neighbors when I was younger, in fact I would have killed to have a steroe that most of these cars have.

I'm not particularly interested in Japanese cars but for me it's more that I find them lacking in character. I much prefer classic British & European machinery.

In defence of the "ricers" though, in my part of the world they've got nothing on the muscle car crowd when it comes to irresponsible driving. Owners of GM's Holden Commodore are by far the worst. Low prices mean lots of kids wind up with second hand ones as a first car. They're powerful cars, particularly in V8 form, and these kids with little experience think they have what it takes to be the next Bathurst winner.

There's my rant for the day!