Street racers’ souped-up cars crushed

[Darth Wong]

Of course "ricer" is a reference to rice, hence Asia. Since the cars in question are Japanese, this is a nickname, but I don't see how it's racist. What stereotype does it promote? What kind of discrimination does it advocate? Has it traditionally been used as an insult, or a rallying cry before doing bad things to Asians? It's not like "nigger", which promotes a certain stereotype of the way black people act.

[aerius]

Speaking of mid-sized family sedans, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the riceboyz and their 10-year-old Civics, because these days, even "pedestrian" V6 family sedans are getting to be so fast it's fucking scary: A modern V6 Camry (once considered the epitome of the boring family car) is fast enough to run with classic muscle cars, and it's hardly the only $20K-range family car with that kind of performance (the next V6 Malibu will also be in that league, for instance).

No kidding. It seems like practically every V6 family sedan has somewhere in the region of 250hp, whereas 10 years ago only the high-end Bimmers and other sports sedans would have that much power. Even the current Malibu SS and Buick Allure CXS are around 240hp, and then there's Impala SS which has a 300hp V8. The amount of power available in family sedans these days is getting pretty ridiculous.

[Darth Wong]

Honestly, I don't feel any sense of power inadequacy even with my puny 4-cylinder engine. I think people are simply demanding far too much performance out of ordinary cars nowadays. It's part of the trend of using cars more as fashion statements than functional items.

[SAMAS]

One thing I haven't heard of is "ricer." I know that people aren't meaning to use the word that way, but where does this word come from, and is it supposed to refer to Asians and how they eat rice? If so, it sounds racist. I want to know personally and am not accusing anybody here of being racist. But then again, I'm the guy who never heard of "sand nigger" so maybe I just hang around the good crowd.

AFAIK, it comes from both the fact that the cars tend to be Japanese, and many of the people who do it slap Japanese 'Type-R' type performance stickers and logos all over the car.

And it's a play on "racer". Racing with Japanese cars, rice, it practically writes itself

IIRC, it was also started by Asian and Pinoy teens. It's a self-referential phrase, like when my dad calls any improvised work or repair "N*gg*r-Rigging".

[Bounty]

It seems like practically every V6 family sedan has somewhere in the region of 250hp, whereas 10 years ago only the high-end Bimmers and other sports sedans would have that much power.

Whereas the average family sedan this side of the pond has a four-cilinder with 100, maybe 120 HP. If you go to smaller five-doors, you can easily buy one with 60 HP or less and still get enough performance to safely drive on highways.

[montypython]

Honestly, I don't feel any sense of power inadequacy even with my puny 4-cylinder engine. I think people are simply demanding far too much performance out of ordinary cars nowadays. It's part of the trend of using cars more as fashion statements than functional items.

Been saying this for a long time too, this trend also causes unnecessary accessories to be added to vehicles without really improving functionality whatsoever, while increasing complexity and cost of ownership.

[Ma Deuce]

Whereas the average family sedan this side of the pond has a four-cilinder with 100, maybe 120 HP. If you go to smaller five-doors, you can easily buy one with 60 HP or less and still get enough performance to safely drive on highways.

Your typical family sedans are smaller than ours as well: When Ford sold the Mondeo over here in the '90s, it was actually classed as a "compact" car based on it's combined interior volume. Our typical family sedans (such as the Toyota Camry, the best-selling model in this class) are no smaller than the likes of the BMW 5-series/Mercedes E-Class/Audi A6, and typically have a 2.4L inline-4 with about 160-170hp as the base engine (which generally accounts for about two-thirds to three-quarters of sales in this class, depending on model)

[Big Phil]

Speaking of mid-sized family sedans, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the riceboyz and their 10-year-old Civics, because these days, even "pedestrian" V6 family sedans are getting to be so fast it's fucking scary: A modern V6 Camry (once considered the epitome of the boring family car) is fast enough to run with classic muscle cars, and it's hardly the only $20K-range family car with that kind of performance (the next V6 Malibu will also be in that league, for instance).

No kidding. It seems like practically every V6 family sedan has somewhere in the region of 250hp, whereas 10 years ago only the high-end Bimmers and other sports sedans would have that much power. Even the current Malibu SS and Buick Allure CXS are around 240hp, and then there's Impala SS which has a 300hp V8. The amount of power available in family sedans these days is getting pretty ridiculous.

Have you noticed how most cars are designed - you're able to accelerate fairly quickly from 0-60, but if you actually tried to race a stock Camry or Civic on a racetrack, you'd be in trouble. They don't handle well at high speeds (for obvious reasons). I'm convinced this is so housewives and Microsoft nerds can convince themselves their Miata's and Volvo's make them awesome drivers... after all, the ability to out-accelerate someone from one stoplight to the next is highly critical.

Compare that to Mustangs, Corvettes, or Chargers, which you could race stock and tend to handle fairly well at higher speeds (no speed wobble).

[RogueIce]

Honestly, I don't feel any sense of power inadequacy even with my puny 4-cylinder engine. I think people are simply demanding far too much performance out of ordinary cars nowadays. It's part of the trend of using cars more as fashion statements than functional items.

I always get a kick out of all those car commercials that show them speeding and zooming and talking about all the power the car has...when the vast majority of people will never be able to use any of it as they drive through urban and suburban streets. Unless they want to end up on World's Wildest Police Videos or whatever has taken its place these days...

Maybe out in the boonies you can get your car up to those speeds, just pray those country deputies with nothing better to do aren't sitting on the side of the road...

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Maybe out in the boonies you can get your car up to those speeds, just pray those country deputies with nothing better to do aren't sitting on the side of the road... ;)

I once drove on the interstate from Boise to Salt Lake City in a V-8 sedan without seeing a single police car the entire fucking trip from leaving the Boise city limits up until I reached Ogden; the terrain was so boring (there were actually TUMBLEWEEDS blowing across the highway at one point) that I just kept the accelerator down until the speedometer--it was electronic--started flashing on and off at 85mph, so I must have covered most of the distance at around 90 or so. It was perfectly safe to do so; was at least two miles of spacing between every vehicle at all times, and they were either trucks in the right line pulling 80 or so, or other cars in the left lane like me going 90 or so.

It was extremely hot in the summer, too, but the car had no problem sustaining speeds in excess of 85mph for hours and hours even with the air conditioning on full blast.

I should probably also mention that there were un-numbered "farm exits" leading to a single person's property.

[RogueIce]

I once drove on the interstate from Boise to Salt Lake City in a V-8 sedan without seeing a single police car the entire fucking trip from leaving the Boise city limits up until I reached Ogden; the terrain was so boring (there were actually TUMBLEWEEDS blowing across the highway at one point) that I just kept the accelerator down until the speedometer--it was electronic--started flashing on and off at 85mph, so I must have covered most of the distance at around 90 or so. It was perfectly safe to do so; was at least two miles of spacing between every vehicle at all times, and they were either trucks in the right line pulling 80 or so, or other cars in the left lane like me going 90 or so.

It was extremely hot in the summer, too, but the car had no problem sustaining speeds in excess of 85mph for hours and hours even with the air conditioning on full blast.

I should probably also mention that there were un-numbered "farm exits" leading to a single person's property.

I've heard that out in the Midwest they do have those places where you can do that, simply because it's so empty that nobody really cares.

I was mainly talking about my experiences here in Florida though. Where there really isn't anywhere you can say for sure that no cops will be waiting around to nab you. Hell, we have towns around here that AAA roadmaps will warn as speedtraps, as well as people having put up billboards on the roads leading into them.

So I'd imagine it all depends on where you live. But for those of us who do most or all of our driving in the urban and suburban areas of North America, it's pretty rare you'll get up to 85/90 (or higher) without attracting police attention along the way.

[Isolder74]

AFAIK, it comes from both the fact that the cars tend to be Japanese, and many of the people who do it slap Japanese 'Type-R' type performance stickers and logos all over the car.

And it's a play on "racer". Racing with Japanese cars, rice, it practically writes itself

IIRC, it was also started by Asian and Pinoy teens. It's a self-referential phrase, like when my dad calls any improvised work or repair "N*gg*r-Rigging".

That's funny....I've always heard that referred to as Jury Rigging. The use of that word haa become far to accepted I see. Considering the connotations, its sick that anyone uses it for anything. Look up quotes from Bill Cosby about that. He has quite a bit to say about this sort of thing.

[The_Saint]

And they've finally introduced speed limits onto the open highways in the Northern Territory (in Aus)...

The auctioning that Tim31 mentioned is of fairly standard cars... the people with both the knowledge and money to trick their cars out are the ones who avoid getting caught. Some types though have found a new trick though: buy a second/third/hundredth hand car for $100, often not even road legal, race it and ditch it. The insult for the police is it costs more to recover and properly dispose of the car than its actually worth. And as a lot of the transactions are cash in hand they're very hard to trace.

But then when two of the most popular sedans in Australia are branded as muscle cars in the USA but as "family cars" here... I can see why there seems to be less interest in making 'ricers' here.

One funny tidbit of car detailing was the sale of Holden Monaro's to the USA as the Pontiac GTO... they weren't considered 'muscley' enough so they added bonnet scoops (that do nothing) yet when they trialled the scoops here people thought they detracted from the cars looks...

[Dalton]

Goddamn but these fuckers infest my neighborhood like cockroaches. I almost whooped when I saw the thread title. I say good, fuck 'em. This almost makes up for all the times that these cockmonkeys drove their pieces of shit up my ass flashing their fucking HID lights because 70 was too slow for them. Almost makes up for them cruising down my block at 3 in the morning pumping bass out of their fucking massive subwoofers. Almost makes up for their fucking lawnmower-sounding engines.

[tim31]

And they've finally introduced speed limits onto the open highways in the Northern Territory (in Aus)...

The auctioning that Tim31 mentioned is of fairly standard cars... the people with both the knowledge and money to trick their cars out are the ones who avoid getting caught. Some types though have found a new trick though: buy a second/third/hundredth hand car for $100, often not even road legal, race it and ditch it. The insult for the police is it costs more to recover and properly dispose of the car than its actually worth. And as a lot of the transactions are cash in hand they're very hard to trace.

But then when two of the most popular sedans in Australia are branded as muscle cars in the USA but as "family cars" here... I can see why there seems to be less interest in making 'ricers' here.

Victorian Police recently confiscated their 1000th car since starting the program last year. The statistics were something like 50% GM Holden, 30% Fords, with the rest divided among imports. All those Commodores...

[Setesh]

Speaking of mid-sized family sedans, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the riceboyz and their 10-year-old Civics, because these days, even "pedestrian" V6 family sedans are getting to be so fast it's fucking scary: A modern V6 Camry (once considered the epitome of the boring family car) is fast enough to run with classic muscle cars, and it's hardly the only $20K-range family car with that kind of performance (the next V6 Malibu will also be in that league, for instance).

The great secret of all these morons is.....for the thousands of dollars they spend on this shit, most of them never take the limiter off the engine air intake.

For those who don't know:

The limiter is a metal plate on the air intake that restricts airflow into the combustion chambers. Thus 'limiting' the amount of oxygen available to burn the gas and make the engine go faster. Taking it off increases acceleration response and maximum speed.

Now imported cars like the civics most of these morons use have a more restrictive limiters because they aren't part of the original design. Limiters are a USA/Canada thing for the most part. The imports have them tacked on and usually not very well thought out.

The Chevy being american made has the limiter to the exact legal limit of how much it air it lets in. And while it is illegal to sell a new car without one, only a few states actually make it illegal to remove it after market. Even then you can put holes in it (after all its just a piece of thin sheet metal).

I laughed my ass off at this rich korean twit who lives in the area who has a huge racing air intake (which looked more expensive than the car) sticking out of the hood of his tiny ass car. When he popped the hood I saw the limiter was still there, so the big shiny air intake was ventilating the engine block

[Darth Wong]

Goddamn but these fuckers infest my neighborhood like cockroaches. I almost whooped when I saw the thread title. I say good, fuck 'em. This almost makes up for all the times that these cockmonkeys drove their pieces of shit up my ass flashing their fucking HID lights because 70 was too slow for them. Almost makes up for them cruising down my block at 3 in the morning pumping bass out of their fucking massive subwoofers. Almost makes up for their fucking lawnmower-sounding engines.

Hear hear. These hatfuckers will use every conceivable technique to be inconsiderate behind the wheel of a car.

[Flagg]

Oddly I've never had a problem with these douchebags, and they were all over the place in FL. Must just be lucky or something. The worst problems I've had are with decrepid senile old pseudo-corpses who drive massive Caddies and beat up '80s Hondas with one or more broken windows covered with trashbags or clear plastic which I lovingly call "methmobiles".

[Flagg]

Actually, I just remembered the people I had the most problems with: Rednecks offroading. They always did it after it rained, and almost always in the middle of the night in their piece of shit 4wd pickuptrucks. Why was this a problem for me? Well, my house was the circled one.

[Lancer]

Actually, I just remembered the people I had the most problems with: Rednecks offroading. They always did it after it rained, and almost always in the middle of the night in their piece of shit 4wd pickuptrucks. Why was this a problem for me? Well, my house was the circled one.

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/624/ ... usemi7.jpg

[humor]That's what land mines are for![/humor]

The only things I can think of that would help out would be to either move away (which I'm assuming you did) or to place logs in an Abatis-pattern between the edge of the woods and your house.