- Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:58 pm
#41727
WIKIPEDIA
The word "rice" in rice burner refers to the fact that the vehicles the term was originally applied to were of Japanese origin, and the fact that rice is a staple food in East Asian cuisine. Its earliest usage is still in question, but examples include the term referring to Japanese motorcycles in the early to mid 1980s, and muscle car enthusiasts' jokes that cars from Japan used engines powered by rice alcohol.
In the 1970s and 80s Japanese motor companies produced many popular performance cars and performance versions of existing cars. However, many of these were never exported beyond Asia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, "grey imports" of Japanese performance cars became abundant in Western Europe and North America, such as the Toyota Supra. Many factors, such as parts being interchangeable, the low cost of obtaining a used imported car, and networking and e-commerce via the Internet all allowed the expansion of the practice of modifying a low-cost compact car. In the United States, this was in direct contrast to the domestic car production around the same time, where there was little widespread performance aftermarket for domestic compact and economy cars. In the United States, the focus was instead on sports cars such as the Ford Mustang or Chevrolet Corvette, or on classic muscle cars.
Another "riced" Dodge Neon, with a "Tuned" exhaust, "Altezza" taillights, a large wing and low profile tires.
Another "riced" Dodge Neon, with a "Tuned" exhaust, "Altezza" taillights, a large wing and low profile tires.
Because of their light weight and the increasing availability of low-cost tuning equipment, economy cars and compact cars exhibit high performance, at a relatively low cost in comparison to dedicated sports cars. As professional sporting and racing with such vehicles increased, so did more recreational use of these vehicles. Drivers with little or no automotive, mechanical, or racing experience would modify their vehicles to emulate the more impressive versions of racing vehicles with mixed results. A few detailed examples are below, but the most pointed out instances are aerodynamic attachments to a car, or loud exhaust systems.
On the contrary, many modern "Ricers" seemingly install aerodynamics to emulate the "more impressive versions" of a car. Because of the clash between Muscle and Rice (AKA Tuner) cars. Many Tuners (The Drivers) are looked at as "posers". Modern day tuners are installing performance modifications to their cars but are not getting the credit for their work.
By the late 1990s, many contemporary Japanese sports cars were no longer being sold in North America. In the United States, this added to the exclusivity of these cars. The release of the PlayStation racing video game Gran Turismo acquainted North Americans with performance versions of compact cars that were never made available outside of Asia.
The movie The Fast and the Furious released in 2001 continued this exposure and expanded the visibility of automobile modification to the general public, and is generally thought to have resulted in an increase in the number of cars being modified.[citation needed] Two sequels of the movie series have been released since, with similar focus on modified vehicles.
The most immediate criticism of such modifications is usually aesthetic on the part of the person using the term rice. However, because of pop culture references to movies and the influence of video games, as well as the perceived demographic of "ricers", the criticism is often levelled at the driver.
In the United States, as American car companies began to follow suit with visual enhancement packages on older economy and compact car platforms, a similar phenomena could be seen trickling down to used American cars of the last generation. The term "American rice", "domestic rice", or "wheat burner" has been used to describe American-made cars that have been modified as described, but simply calling them rice is also commonplace. Non-performance versions of the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, with V6 engines, might be found sporting large spoilers, graphics, colored tint, or other strictly visual modifications. The Performance V8 versions of these same cars may also be considered rice if their visual style leans too heavily towards the stereotype of a rice car or Japanese tuner car.
With the introduction of the Scion line from Toyota, auto manufactures have begun to actively court the "ricer" market in the United States. Scion television advertisements frequently feature modifications and interviews with Scion owners who have modified their cars.
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