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I have a little brother that's trying to figure this out, and I figured we could turn this thread into a tutorial. I'm having some difficulty with it myself, since as the experienced person, I'm supposed to know this. So...

How would you explain rice to a 15-year-old(hint hint, watch the language; I know we have a tendency to stray in that regard on this forum)? And people that don't know much about cars need to know this.

We've had discussion of sports cars, and wanna-be sports cars(he refers to them as "sportsy", since they're not truly sports cars), and Last night we had mention of muscle cars. So how do you tell the difference?

"Some pup"
Nickname by Fenderstrat72

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This could be interesting as we are likely to have a North American – European split over what these names actually mean.

So being European (unfortunately) and opinionated, here’s my 42 cents…

<b>Sports Car</b>
A car which has been designed and built from the ground up to be a sports car (we’ll try and define ‘sports car’ later).
There will have been no compromise in the way it’s been engineered to increase its luggage carrying capacity or it’s ability to carry 4 puking kids to school in the morning etc.
A bad example of this sort of compromise is the Jaguar XK series. The boot was lengthened to allow it to carry two sets of golf clubs.
Most components will be unique to the vehicle.
They tend to be light and agile, very quick to respond to driver inputs and give total feed back about the road through the wheel.
They can take curves like they are stuck to the road and brake on a dime.
Example: Porsche Carrera GT

<b>Sportsy</b>
Typically these fall into two groups, Pimped-up and Re-Skinned

<b>Pimped-up</b>
They are mainstream family/company cars which have been given phat alloys and tires, lowered and very if not too stiff suspension (because some people think that is the definition of a sports car. A lot of sports cars have surprisingly compliant suspension), plastic add on body kits, loud exhaust, an excess of interior fake carbon fibre trim and sports seats which are likely to leave you needing the care of an osteopath after a 30 mile run.
They will have a moderate power hike say from 150 to 225 bhp.
But when you look at them you can definitely see it’s a Ford/GM/VW saloon with a body kit.
Example: VW Golf – From a 1.6 family hatch to the 4WD R32

<b>Re-skinned</b>
Or they take the base platform from a Ford/GM/VW saloon and they put a sporty (typically) two-door coupe style body on it, leaving all the running gear and interior virtually as the stock item.
These will also have all the plastic add-ons (as above) but will at least fool your neighbors for a little while until they figure out what is under the skin.
In some way these are more stupid than the pimped up family car as you almost always get less car for more money, two doors instead of four, less rear passenger space, less boot space and probably a space saver spare tire.
Example: From Audi A3 hatch to Audi TT coupe

<b>Muscle Cars</b> (apologies in advance, remember where I live, this is a European view)
Built like it was still the good old days when there was no and will never be any environmental regulations.
Big, heavy and loud.
You cannot have a muscle car without a V8 block.
And more cubic inches are better than multi valve heads and all that new fangled technology.
Designed for long straight open roads and don’t like corners much.
Enough room for you, three mates and several crates of beer.
Designed for the long road trip.
Example: Any Dodge Charger

BTW: I would be interested to hear your opinions if Muscle cars have been built from the ground up or regular vehicles that have evolved. I don’t know enough to comment.

<b>What is a Sports car?</b>
Anything that makes you feel good and puts a big wide grin on your face.
Something that you will get up a two in the morning just to take it for a spin.
But it’s also something you couldn’t live with every day of the year because something about it is a little bit difficult.
It drinks gas, the wind noise is too loud, it’s a pig to drive on wet roads, you can’t get a 8ft plank of wood in the trunk etc.

And here is the rub, Europe with its tight bendy roads and narrow village streets needs small tight cars.
America with it’s wide open landscapes and poker straight roads needs big burly cars. It's good to look at films for the differences, Bullitt versus the Italian Job, nuff said...

That’s why both continents concept of a sports car has evolved in different directions. But they both have the right to be called sports cars...


"I can just punch holes in paper for sooo long before I want to see something blow up/fall down "
- Boomer 5th May 2005

Edited by - 44hollowpoint on Jun 19 2005 02:42 AM

I think this was a very good explanation by 44.

I would say the Carrera GT is a "hardcore" sports car...



"Did you know? You can use your old motor oil to fertilize your lawn! -- Environmental Protection Agency."

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Sorry, forgot to cover…

<b>Ricers</b> (also known as Rice Boys in the UK)

Definition: Any Japanese hatch pimped up by a kid under the age of 23 with zits and who has not yet reached puberty.

Japan only does two real sports cars and one only just counts, the NSX and the RX8.

All other Jap sporty cars cars are Pimped-up family motors. In fact you’d struggle to find a better example of ‘Pimped-up’ than the Honda Civic R-Type.

In the UK the average age of a Honda driver is 57 (fact). They drive Hondas because they never breakdown and they almost always buy a 1.3 (VTECH for economy) Civic hatch.

Honda managed to pimp this up to a 200bhp pocket rocket that handles pretty damn well (I know because I frightened the <i>[Engaging <16 year old filter…..]</i> pants off an salesman in one once. But it’s still a civic.

So giving the Jap companies credit for being probably the greatest official pimpers of cars, that leaves the Ricers.

They take an example of the previously mentioned 1.3 Civic that’s been owned by Gladys Pimm (a 72 year old widower who lives with 42 incontinent cats) from new for 6 years and now has 350 miles on the clock (this car will never have been out of second gear) and proceed to bolt on so many after market add-ons that it can barely move under it’s own power.

This also explains why so many Ricers are seen in convoys. The one at the front has a relatively huge 1.6 engine so it can hit all of 30 mph and all the others slips stream him so they can overcome the drag caused by spoilers the size of Canada.

Anything goes when it comes to the Ricers almost psychotic pimping of their vehicles except for one un-written rule.

The 1.3’s MUST have badges on them suggesting they are actually a 2.0, 4WD, 20 Valve, Twin Turbo, race special limited editions.

Have you wondered why they always re-locate the number plate to below the bumper?

It’s to make room on the trunk lid for all the letters…

ZX 2.0 4WD 16VVTI RS 2TT R-Type S

Why is this behavior so prevalent to Jap cars?

It’s cultural, folk from the Far East love shiny things like they were magpies and also their hearing is slightly different to western folk (this is not racist, it’s a fact) and they prefer higher pitched, sharper, buzzier sounds (also explains why Sony sound systems have to be re-tuned for Western markets)

That’s explains the exhausts that rasp instead of rumble and also means there is a vast range of plastic after market accessories produced in Japan and bought via this new fangled inter-webby thing (note the under 23’s are experts at using this also) to be sent all over the world.

In other words, it’s almost ridiculously easy to pimp up a Jap car.

Contrast this with if you want an accessory for your 911 you have to fly the car to Germany where a craftsman will chisel a new spoiler (that looks almost exactly like the old one) out of solid Granite and then charge you what seems to be the gross national debt of Mexico for the privilege.

Hope this helps…


"I can just punch holes in paper for sooo long before I want to see something blow up/fall down "
- Boomer 5th May 2005

Sports car:

<img src="http://www.1motormart.com/gallery/67alfa01.jpg" border=0>

Defined as a small 2 seat car that is geared toward superior handling.

Muscle car:

<img src="http://worldaffairsboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=292&stc=1" border=0>

Defined as a mid-sized American car with a full sized car engine. Very little emphasis on handling, maximum emphasis on straight line acceleration

Ricer:

<img src="http://www.beaterz.com/reviews/1199/p7_nascar_talon/talon_right.jpg" border=0>

Compact car characterized by a lot of vinyl, big gay fart can exhaust, ridiculously large rims for the car, and a small 4 or 6cyl engine. Usually an import, but even some modern US compacts meet the definition.

Supercar/exotic:

<img src="http://worldaffairsboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1813&stc=1" border=0>

Characterized as being completely geared toward performance and flashy appearance. Handling and top end emphasized, with slightly less emphasis on pure acceleration.



<b>There are two kinds of soldiers.
Snipers...and targets.</b>
<img src="http://www.creedmoorsports.com/images/SA9121-M21.JPG" border=0>

I forgot something. He's commented a few times about how horrible it sounds to have a muffler that emphasizes the noise of the engine, but on the wrong engine. The comment came with hearing a sportsy car with an engine you expect to purr, and it comes out like a wasp buzz. Get what I mean?

Would that be rice? or is there another term for that?

"Some pup"
Nickname by Fenderstrat72

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Evil is evil, no matter how small.

Not a bad description of the Supercar/Exotic Sniper but you could have changed the pic a bit.

<img src="http://www.racegal8.zoomshare.com/album/Me%20%26%20My%20Beautiful%20Car/images/93c13cbd3818d993f12c4bd47fc0b767_11116243380/thumb.jpg " border=0>

Why only list one georgous exotic, when 2 look so much better! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

" When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane!"

Edited by - Racegal8 on Jun 26 2005 5:05 PM

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