yes it is OT but.... someone will move it eventually....
Anyways i look at it like this
Rice is something you would do to you car that has no preformance value and or positve effect to benifit the car in anyway other than making it look like something its not.
There are flaws to my argument.... Bodykits... Yes if you wanna get into it most are useless.... but some do provide aerodymamic and venting/intake beinfits.... but if you get one for the sole purpose of saying you have one then well your a ricer.
someone once said to me...
"it is not rice, If you like it"
Basicly what hes saying is, I love the metal wing on my... (insert F/F cars here, civic, neon, jbodys, ect, ect)
Sure i explained to him the reason why cars have wings.. but most of those are infact race cars.... and they are F/R.
But since he liked the look if it.. its not rice.
Personally its come to the point im my life where i personally dont care anymore what someone does to there "ride". Ive seen too many kids that wake up one day and decide they like imports, sport-compacts or whatever its being marketed as today. They are self proclaimed experts in a matter of 48 hours or less on the subject and all begin to persue anything to do with or associated with cars.
Im by no means knocking the ones who may gain interest later than others in our shared interest... Just the ones who now believe they know everything.
The whole import thing did expolde to the current fad state that it is now.. Eveyone (espically girls) thinks civics are fast or the car to have... Did the internet tell them this?
No... I see the internet as a great way to connect with others of the same interests who can help you with you project. Not to mention the vast knowledge that is stored on the many websites and forums that you can't just figure out on your own.
The internet has been the scape goat for many things however I blame it on popular choice.... Movies like F&F..
Maybe.... but there still were a few "riced out" cars way before that movie became an itch on my bag.
Magazines?
Not all things in Magazines are a "rice" influence... Super Street im my opinion is like the worst one going.. nothing but the same ads for the same parts on just about every page.
As for them being your only influence if you had no internet connection.. well i would have to say No as well... yea it is a common fact that alot of the cars in those magazines are bling bling rice rockets... however that would not always appeal to certian people... Its popular with the honda civic crowd because Super Street and other things like that forcefeed that crap to you and now everyone wants a civic because "there so fast" and they wanna "do it up"
that my friend is the typical rice mantality. Slow car that has little or no mods to it besides bodykit.....rims....cheap paint job and rice exhaust and low budget bass quake stereo.
So yes the internet has helped me make descisions on things like parts and procedures... no it has not influenced me in the NON -Rice ways.... if i was a ricer believe me my stock S13 would be running 9's with nothing but Nismo stickers on the doors.
Yes there are nice civics and yes when you boil it down its still a FF enono car with abit of kick.
So i said to the guy with '94 Cavalier... $100 home paint job full of paint that rain down the side as you painted it...drips and cracks, Bright blue bottom of the line sparcos.. Cheap Stereo, Rice Pipe, Knock off BBS $39.95 rims and metal wing...
Just because you like it..... does not exclude the fact that
A. Your car IS a piece of crap
B. You ruined a perfectly good family car <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>
and
C. Yes it is still rice even though you like it.
However this is the major flaw to my argument and this is key
this kid has the internet... and he must look at things online...
However his influence is the people he hangs with, and quite possibly magazines..
So if you managed to follow me this far....
Answer me this.... What drives a person do do things like cutting springs when there are people telling him on many levels that its a dumb thing to do.
Is it the sheer desire to make the car as craptastic as possible? Where in the human DNA is this gene and can we force the people who have it to get fixed so they cannot reproduce... the last thing i wanna see when im running out the clock in florida is some hydrogen powered 2052 Civic ripping down my lot in Del Boca Vista with its faux FMIC sticking through a poorly painted aftermarket bumper (knock off brand of course)
*sorry for the long rant but i have not been on in awhile and i had to let loose"