Maybe it's just this one co-worker I car pool with, but I was wondering if anybody else has come across this strange driving personality:
This person swears by tiny import tin can cars for low initial cost, dependability and great gas mileage. And they love to brag about it.
But in reality they drive like a NYC cab owner: Darting in and out of spaces, constantly flogging the poor 4 banger by accelerating into gaps (gas pedal floored); the auto tranny constantly shifting up and down several gears at a stretch. As a passenger you are either stuffed into the seat or hanging from the lap belt.
I am always thinking if this person would just admit their have a need for speed, they would get a car they wouldn't have to thrash and their driving would be a heck of a lot smoother if their car was semi-responsive. Heck, even a stick shift could help satisfy this need to flog the poor car.
His real world gas mileage must be terrible.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
This reminds me of a freind of mine back in college. (about 100 years ago)
He had an old VW Beetle (nicely restored) but it seemed to only have one pedal... the gas. I remember taking some right and left turns at about 60 MPH.
I never rode with him again after that.
I wonder what ever happened to him. I bet I haven't seen him in 25 years...
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure. I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe. 1968 400 convertible (Scarlet) 1976 T/A - 455 LE (No Burt) 1976 T/A New baby, starting full restoration. 1968 350 - 4 speed 'vert - 400 clone (the Beast!) 1968 350 convertible - Wife's car now- 400 clone (Aleutian Blue) (Blue Angel) 2008 Durango - DD 2008 GXP - New one from NH is AWESOME! 2017 Durango Citadel - Modern is nice! HEMI is amazing! 1998 Silverado Z71 - Father-daughter project 1968 400 coupe - R/A clone (Blue Pearl) (sold) 1967 326 convertible - Sold 1980 T/A SE Bandit - Sold
I would not describe my auto V6 Mustang as a "musclecar" (although it has the same HP as my '88 Mustang GT), but gaps in the freeway for me are as simple as a push on the O/D button (5th into 4th) and a light squeeze on the gas.
No dramatics, no tiny engine buzzing at the redline, no F-16 like G forces...
You can tell the little Honda Civic I am talking about is occasionally unhappy with it's treatment because it refuses to upshift back into O/D by itself. He has to tweek the auto shifter.
I sure am glad there's a big airbag in front of me and one on the side...
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
"Rice" has it's place. My wife's car is a older, stock, sedate Honda Accord. Seats 4 in comfort, gets 35 mpg on the highway and is as reliable as heck. We use it to haul people and groceries and for long trips.
It's just that I don't feel the need to flog the crap out of it as I appreciate what it is good for when I am driving it.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
"Rice" has it's place. My wife's car is a older, stock, sedate Honda Accord. Seats 4 in comfort, gets 35 mpg on the highway and is as reliable as heck. We use it to haul people and groceries and for long trips.
It's just that I don't feel the need to flog the crap out of it as I appreciate what it is good for when I am driving it.
guess you didnt read the description of "ricer"?
Quote:
We are a bunch of red-blooded automotive enthusiasts that eat, drink, sleep and [censored] cars. We believe in doing what ever it is you want to do to your ride, be it a stocker or an all-out dragster, as long as it doesn't veer off into the Ricer World.
What do we consider "Ricer" to be? Well, if you have to ask, you probably shouldn't be here, but I'll humor your inquisitiveness anyway.
Any bone stock ride that is covered in stickers from companies that have nothing to do with that ride is a Ricer. Any ride with a paint job that looks like something Walt Disney threw-up is a Ricer. Any ride with more bondo than sheet metal is a Ricer. Any ride with undercarriage lighting is a Ricer. Any ride with neon ANYWHERE is a Ricer (beer trucks omitted). Any ride with wheels 3 sizes too small or too large is a Ricer. Fartpipe coffee can exhaust? Ricer. "R" Badges? Ricer. Monster tach in a mechanically stock vehicle? Ricer. Ground effects bought at Home Depot? Ricer. Fake scoops mounted where even real scoops would serve no purpose? Ricer. A spoiler that more resembles a picnic basket handle? Ricer. Aviation parts mounted "for better traction"? Ricer. Defrost ducts painted with latex paint to match the color of the sticker on the brake pads? Ricer.
A Ricer doesn't have to be an Import. There are plenty of Riced-out Domestics on the road. In fact, many of our members own Imports. We are NOT anti-Import, we are anti-Ricer.
Here in the middle of the country, I'm used to "rice" being used for just about any import.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
Chuck Barris might take exceptions to some of the references on that list. I doubt he would ever have wanted his work to be referred to as "Ricer Fodder." But he never opened a can of Bondo he didn't like. Or didn't use up.
There are also a BUNCH of American cars that meet some of those criteria, right from the factory. And most of you drive one or more of them.
Every GTO & 400 FGF, plus a handful of Ford products (like the Grabber Maverick and Comet GT) have useless air scoops that do nothing more than let in cold air when they're open or missing. With the exception of cowl induction and the rear-facing 2nd Gen T/A scoop, I doubt any factory installed scoop really functions as more than a marketing tool.
I wouldn't call the Superbird a "ricer" but it's definitely got a picnic-basket-handle-spoiler. Until it was outlawed by NASCAR it was pretty much the only game in town.
We have not forgotten what a real American Sport car is; and yet we did not listen to the warnings of that great car maker by the name of Preston Tucker that said:(and correct me if I am wrong) That the same aircraft manufacturer(Mistubishi) that invaded Pearl Harvor will someday takeover The Big three Car manufacturer in Detroit as they have done to him and the great 50 Car that carries his name. Every now and then we do encounter a great thinker and we as one people destroy their ideals.
Last edited by Gold67PMDfirebird; 06/18/0912:48 AM.
Sorry, Bjorn - I wasn't meaning to cast aspersions on you, nor on the opinions of the Ricer Haters.
John hit on exactly what I was getting at. Each generation of "Hot Rodder" has been influenced by the culture (or counter-culture) that surrounds them. It has nothing to do with the cars them selves, or the hardware.
If Plato had been a Hot Rodder, Socrates would have found something to question when it came to his choices of aftermarket bolt-ons.
Speaking of ricers, I think it would be cool to spin my 350 to 7,000 rpm. I wonder what it would take to expand my horsepower and torque curves into higher rpms without losing what I have on the bottom. I wonder what it would take to get my 350 to survive at such high rpms.
