Rice, rice baby!

[Dreamstalker]

I kinda like this one (yeah, I'm weird)

[AFpheonix]

This one's scary.

[Severen13]

Blech! I wouldn't be caught dead in that tacky thing.

[protege]

Damnit, why does everyone have to rip on cavys?

I don't think it's so much the car....but what people do to them. Too many people try to turn a Cavalier (or Civic, Accord, etc.) into something it's not. It's an economy car...it's *not* a sports car. Those cars are simply designed to go from Point A, to Point B inexpensively. Yet that doesn't stop people from slapping a huge wing, fart can, and other "performance mods" (usually stickers!) on a car that's simply not designed for that.

The other reason, is many ricers have no clue what they're doing. Rather than having the car properly lowered, they'll usually cut the springs instead...and then wonder why the car bounces around. They'll gut the interior for "weight savings" and then dump a 200-pound "park bench" wing on the trunk.

I'm all for improving a car as much as the next guy...but some of these guys are insane!

[BrightEyedKitty]

Damnit, why does everyone have to rip on cavys? They don't suck that badly. They are nice cars. I sure as hell wouldn't race mine, especially as it's a four-banger. But the car looks nice and gets pretty good milage. Why can't people rip on civics damnit? Civics are not nearly as good as so many people who race think they are...

QFT.

Besides, Cavaliers can be made to go pretty damn fast if you know what you're doing.

I'll take my 140 HP 1992 Cavalier Z24 with the 3.1 V6 over a 90-HP Civic with no torque any day.

[BrightEyedKitty]

I don't think it's so much the car....but what people do to them. Too many people try to turn a Cavalier (or Civic, Accord, etc.) into something it's not. It's an economy car...it's *not* a sports car.

But with a few mods, a Cavalier, even a turd gen, can be made to be quite peppy. Would you rather pay $5,000 for a car and maybe another grand beefing it up, or would you rather pay $20,000 on a car, and then still more money beefing it up?

Besides, 3rd gen Cavaliers have a pretty good aftermarket. Unfortunately I can't say the same about 2nd gens, but what can you do....although there is stuff out there for them as well.

[Confuzed-Monkey]

Just giving you a hard time there GREENDAY.

I drive a 95 Accord, for all intents and purposes its a POS. It basically breaking down now. Little here and there.

As for others, I've personally seen civics rip on corvettes.
I've even seen a cavy eat a camaro.

Its all how you build it. People that buy muscle cars laugh at us 4-banger drivers and ask why did we buy it. I say because for half the cost of your heavy chunk of metal, I can have more horsepower, and let people see you get beat by an import. HA
(The guy in the mustang I beat wasn't laughing anymore.)

Remember my favorite words of wisdom...
"Don't Laugh, It's Paid For"

CM

[Dreamstalker]

Would you rather pay $5,000 for a car and maybe another grand beefing it up, or would you rather pay $20,000 on a car, and then still more money beefing it up?

Same thing with computers

2 years ago, Jordan had a homebuilt P4 rig. I got teased for paying less for my chip and board (hey, I bought at a better time) and more for my PSU and cooling...and then his $20 PSU and $2 fans died--very nearly taking parts costing ten times as much with it--and he had to spend four times as much getting new parts that worked (interestingly enough, the same thing I had, which he had ignored my recommendations of earlier).

Even very mildly overclocked my system beat the pants off his because it was consistently stable (as opposed to getting an insane overclock that--while technically giving bragging rights--wouldn't even boot). No point getting high benchmarks if it isn't usable.

And to make this on-topic even, I present...RicePC

[Greenday]

I paid $4,700 total for my car. I always said, I could swap out my twin cam 2.4L four cyl and drop in a bigger, more powerful six cyl, maybe through a turbocharger on it. It could easily be done. There's a decent amount of empty space under my hood. As it is, it's faster than my friend's cavy that's a six-cylinder. The second my car hits high RPMs and switches it gets a huge boost. It could easily become a sleeper.

[protege]

But with a few mods, a Cavalier, even a turd gen, can be made to be quite peppy. Would you rather pay $5,000 for a car and maybe another grand beefing it up, or would you rather pay $20,000 on a car, and then still more money beefing it up?

Hehe I know there are some good sleepers out there... One of my previous toys was a tweaked base-model '91 Tercel. The previous owner had done some things to it--it had larger rear brakes (from a Corolla, perhaps?), a mild lowering, and some tuning done to the engine, mostly some porting work. Body-wise it was still stock, apart from a right-hand mirror. I had that added, since it was difficult to see behind me on the highways. Anyway, that car was great for annoying drivers of Cavaliers (hehe) at the lights. Because it was so light, I could get away pretty quickly. Well, up to a point anyway

However, the point I was trying to make, is that ricers will spend an insane amount of cash on things that don't do anything for performance, yet claim that their "mods" are good. (Has anyone read the rant over on ricecop.com claiming that a rear wing somehow increases horsepower?) I think that's the main beef that most of us have with ricers.

It's *not* that we hate the cars...but the attitudes and actions of some of the *drivers.* We all know that not all Cavalier (or Civic, Acura, etc.) drivers are idiots--many people buy those cars simply because they're good, reliable transportation. However, those people get lumped in with the idiots...simply because they drive the same type of car.

[Banrion]

(Has anyone read the rant over on ricecop.com claiming that a rear wing somehow increases horsepower?) I think that's the main beef that most of us have with ricers.

Someone is obviously confused. It's not the wing that increses the HP, its the STICKER from the catalog that the ordered the wing from. I thought everyone knew that it was the stickers that add 5HP a piece!!

I had a 1994 5-speed Cavalier, and I would just like to say that she was a doll. No mods, and she was able to beat an Eclipse off the line! That was the proudest I had ever seen my b/f. Some jerks were harassing us, so I took em on expecting to lose, and imagine my shock and surprise when I beat em. It was funnier yet, when I backed off because I knew there was a speedtrap about 1/4 mile ahead, they kept on it and were laughing like the beat us. Guess who we passed pulled over on the side of the road about 1/2 mi later? Yep it was them, and the cops had em pulled out of the car. UH OH looks like were going fast enough to get the felony wreckless driving charge!

ETA: I don't really think the Cavalier would have won if they actually knew how to drive, but alas the Eclipse was an automatic transmission, and the way it was screaming when they did finally pass me, I don't think they backed off the gas to let it shift. OOPS!

[Ringtail Z28]

However, the point I was trying to make, is that ricers will spend an insane amount of cash on things that don't do anything for performance, yet claim that their "mods" are good. (Has anyone read the rant over on ricecop.com claiming that a rear wing somehow increases horsepower?) I think that's the main beef that most of us have with ricers.

It's *not* that we hate the cars...but the attitudes and actions of some of the *drivers.* We all know that not all Cavalier (or Civic, Acura, etc.) drivers are idiots--many people buy those cars simply because they're good, reliable transportation. However, those people get lumped in with the idiots...simply because they drive the same type of car.

You can blame the Fast and the Furious for that. Asian import enthusiasts haven't been taken seriously ever since that movie came out. I have nothing against import owners myself but I simply can't stand ricers.

[protege]

Someone is obviously confused. It's not the wing that increses the HP, its the STICKER from the catalog that the ordered the wing from. I thought everyone knew that it was the stickers that add 5HP a piece!!

Well, the *yellow* stickers add about 20HP apiece!

I have no problem with import owners either. Hell, I'm an import owner myself. Now ricers, are another story. Ever since those 3 stupid movies (Fast & The Furious) came out, the ricers seem to have multiplied. I don't recall seeing them out in force before then.