| Thoughts on the Riceboy |
| This page pertains to the "Riceboy." A riceboy is a person, including but not necessarily limited to a young male, who drives a "rice burner" or a car that has been "riced out." Normally, a riced out car is one that was never meant to go fast in the first place, but has been made to appear that it can by its owner. The generic rice car is a Honda Civic or something similar that has had several very obvious cosmetic modifications made, such as aftermarket lowering or cut springs, an oversized wing, obnoxious aftermarket wheels, a large exhaust tip with an annoying weed eater sound, and stickers that advertise aftermarket parts that are likely not on the car at all. Rice is not limited to Japanese cars, but it appears most often on the slowest products offered by Honda, specifically the Civic and non vtec Preludes and Accords. The riceboy seeks to create the image of speed, and will usually brag about the performance of his car, while being completley unable to substantiate any of his claims. The modifications that are done to a riced out car have little or no effect on performance, and actually reduce performance in many cases. For example, cut springs lower the center of gravity of a car, but they cause the spring tension to be reduced considerably, causing the car to roll more through the turns. Cutting the springs can also interfere with chassis and suspension geometry, reducing neutrality in handling if any exsisted. Below is a picture of a typical riced out Integra (not really a type R, despite the huge sticker). This car has the usual compliment of riceboy "upgrades"... large stickers everywhere which don't mean anything at all and are ugly, cheap aftermarket wheels, cut springs, requisite "type R" badge, even though this is not a type R, and clear lights everywhere. At least we are spared an obnoxiously large rear wing, although any size wing is virtually useless on this car, seeing as it is front wheel drive. Many riceboys are so concerned with their image as it pertains to their car that they think other people judge them by their car. While certain kinds of people tend to buy different kinds of cars, riceboys tend to lump their entire self worth in the same catagory with their cars. Therefore, if you say something about the ludicrous modifications on riceboy's car, he takes it as a personal insult. He doesn't see his car as a piece of property that he owns, he sees it as almost one with himself. To me, this behavior is very odd. For me, cars are an interest/hobby just like anything else (although I probably spend a good deal more time reading about and driving different kinds of cars than I spend on many other activities). I read through every 300ZX tech document I can find, which is quite a few, since there are numerous postings on the online owner groups. It is still just a hobby. If someone insults my car, I don't take it personally. Chances are good that they know less than me and own a slower car anyhow, so it is fairly easy to just laugh at them. Riceboys however, don't seem to be able to do this. If you laugh at their cars, they threaten to hurt you or your property, etc... this is usually pretty funny too, and hard to comprehend. Typical Riced Out Vehicle: |
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