I think we’ve all seen it. A “fixed-up” car or two parked in some public lot with a bunch of guys standing around talking about car parts. I don’t know about you, but that imagery annoys me. And thus, I do everything in my power to try and avoid being a part of it. Being a “car guy” carries a certain stigma in my opinion. Or at least it does when it’s Japanese cars. You sort of expect guys to be standing around a GT3RS or a F430, whereas when you see guys standing around a G35 or a S2000, you can’t help but immediately think “ricer.”
I got home from my bicycle ride yesterday evening to find 3 dudes standing in the middle of the street I live on, one guy’s G35 on one side and another guy’s Z33 on the other. As I rode past, I overheard the following part of their conversation:
“I’ve been in a car with nitrous before. It’s like a switch and then it only comes on at full throttle.”
“Whoa. So you mean it’s not like it is in the movie?”
“No. That’s actually the really unsafe way to do it.”
I thought to myself, “Wow. Really?” So you mean it’s not like it is in the movie. Seriously? I immediately planned on sharing this with you folk, but then I contemplated what I just experienced a bit further and I remembered something I found amusing. I realized that I too had that same conversation with someone and was just as naive, albeit I was 17 at the time. But remembering that moment made me realize that I wanted to share how much of a ricer I was before. I was into the red Acura emblems, the air fresheners, the “hyper-white” bulbs, and RO_JA wheels (sorry arj). I literally had blue Street Glow neons on my car. It was SO bad that the bulbs weren’t even really hidden. You could see the bulbs screwed into the bottom of my sideskirts when looking at the side of my Integra. I wanted the AEM brake kit, had the AEM CAI V2, and to this day still have DC headers on my car. It’s the occasional reminder of “the dark era” in my life whenever I change my oil.
My point in mentioning this to all of you is this: Almost everyone starts out as a ricer, but that ricer has the potential to become someone extremely knowledgeable or even influential in this microcosm we call the “import industry.” All they have to do is be open to truly learning about the quality product that is out there. When I say truly learning, I’m talking about really understanding how a particular product works, not just its existence. On the same token, that ricer can also forever stay as they are and subsequently be the source of disdain for everyone else in the know.
It is my hope, dream even, that this blog and others like it will encourage, inspire and aid people to elevate and improve themselves with greater knowledge and its proper application. It is not enough to simply say that “product-X is the shit because it’s JDM,” because then you get people like this who don’t fully understand the message we’re trying to send. I believe that we have a duty to help others, and if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Change the lives of ricers for the better. Truly educate and empower.
