Newbies please save our cars reputation.

[AWDtsi1995]

The only way to save our cars reputation is to first look at ourselves. What are YOU/ME doing to maintain the reputation of the DSM's? It all begins and ends with our own personal cars.

 

[csgsx23]

I know this is irrelevant but I would just like to say that Flash's car is gorgeous. And it keeps me inspired when my car goes do for a few days or on those days when you just want to sell the damn thing because nothing seems to be going your way (love-hate relationship).

 

[AWDtsi1995]

This thread will end up getting closed regardless because this is such a touchy subject.

But really, in the end, we can't stop it. We can bi*** about it all day long, but it's not going to change the fact that it will happen. We can all just spout our opinions, further dividing our own community.

I'm not hating on anyone really, i just have great distaste for ignorance. If you want to do it, fine, just do it right and make it look clean. Make the parts flow, and have pride in your ride. The biggest problem with people is that everone gets so damn defensive. Then people get mad, and fights break out.

And thats exactly it, you want to have pride in your ride.
This will be a ongoing issue and just another thread that will be closed. And just remember opinion are like A**holes, everyone has one but its only yours that matters.

 

[jjgrizz73]

I know this is irrelevant but I would just like to say that Flash's car is gorgeous. And it keeps me inspired when my car goes do for a few days or on those days when you just want to sell the damn thing because nothing seems to be going your way (love-hate relationship).

Why your car is gorgeous too, mine is the one that needs work and cars like yours keeps me inspired...I just got to get rid of this damn 2.4L so I can make mods a hell of alot easier.

 

[staticbrainwash]

Or build the 2.4 to take boost and make a torque monster!

 

[SnowBird]

People have the right to do whatever they want with their vehicle. If you want to tell someone to not do something in terms of riced out shit, then tell the companies to stop making horrible products that were out of style by the time the fast and the furious came out on DVD.

Like I said, people can do whatever they want, different strokes for different folks.

ITS THE ####ING HOMOS THAT RICE OUT THEIR CARS AND THINK THEY ARE TOUGH GUYS. Those are the people who make us look bad.

 

[jjgrizz73]

I've been looking into that, just right now that engine has around 125k on it and I dont know how much I'll have to replace..

On subject I think people can do what they want, but I'm keeping my body all stock.

 

[Warharan]

I'm not new to the moding scene. I started out with muscle cars, then moved to the STi and Evo. Now I'm at the DSM. Unfortunately, I have seen horrible displays of rice in the world of DSMs.

Ugly ridiculous body kits
Badly painted interior trim kits
A butchered interior that stomps on human good taste
Ugly oversized wheels
Huge Tach and gauges for a car that doesn't have much in performance mods
Adsurdly unneeded and cheep looking wing

Finally...

A mess of crap under the hood that looked like it was installed by a 12 year old girl


I'm all down for "to each his own" but come on, there needs to be some taste. Imagine there was a car club. One of the members decides to dress in hot pink shorts, a green shirt, white socks with blue shoes and plaster HIS face with makeup while representing the club. Would the other members stand for that? HELL NO! Hahaha. So why allow someone to to that to their car?

I think I have good taste when it comes to building a car. Here are some guidelines that I think make a good looking car:


My first rule is NO BODY KITS. 99% of them are cheep looking and hideous. It's rare when a body kit looks good and usually they are slightly altered looking from stock (so it's a mild change, and usually functional) and they tend to be VERY expensive. There was a thread on this too. So yes there are exceptions. Unfortunately, I have yet to see one on the street that is an exception. A nice functional lip is a great cosmetic mod. They look great and add some flavor to the front end, they usually are functional and for the most part, not very expensive. A rear diffuser is also a nice mod as well if you can find a good one.

The interior: If you get seats try and do some color matching. Don't just put any color seat in for the sake of having a "race" seat. These days seats come in many different colors. Most car interiors are grey or black. Or at least have some black (like beige/black). With that it's best to say either put in a black seat or a grey/black seat. Sticking a red seat in a grey interior car is not fashionably pleasing to the eyes. EVEN IF YOUR CAR IS RED. If the interior of the car is black and the outside is red, then you can pass a red seat. However, depends on the seat style and other interior factors.

Pedals: Avoid complicated looking pedals that have too much design in them. Stick with some clean aluminum ones. Simple looking usually is best looking. Sparco and Momo make a lot of nice looking ones that look clean and help in driving.

Interior trim: DO NOT PAINT YOUR INTERIOR TRIM. Nothing bothers me more than seeing a red car or something and some guy decides I'll paint all the trim pieces of my car red or whatever color. Trust me, it looks tacky as hell. No one who has any sense in taste will ever come up to you and say, "Wow that looks good" because trust me it doesn't, no matter what you think. Especially any girls and if they do, you don't want to hook up with that girl because she has bad taste, hahaha.

Gauges: Putting gauges on a stock car (or a car you don't plan to performance mod). Why waste your money? Gauges are great but only useful because it is needed. If you don't plan to beef up the performance of your car, don't get gauges.

Wheels: If you are into performance, at least in a DSM, DO NOT GO OVER 18 inches. Having giant wheels on some cars doesn't look good. 20 in and up look good on a 300C but not on a Honda or DSM. Performance, rule of thumb here is to only go 1 size above stock. So if your car came with 16s, then put 17s on. Etc... Yes some factory performance cars come with 19in or bigger wheels (Vettes, Porsches, etc), but those are FROM the factory and are usually higher end cars. As far as DSMs go, stick to no bigger than 18.

Drum brakes: If you have drum brakes, I feel for you but that's life. Live with it or do a conversion to disk or buy another car. DO NOT PAINT YOUR DRUMS RED (or yellow or whatever you think looks good). This is worse than painting your interior trim. It is the most tacky of tacky. Why would you want a drum to stand out? If anything paint it as black as night if possible.

There is a lot more, I can't think of right now. I can add that cheep and shoddy work under the hood is definitely high on that list.

Sorry for my rant. If it can help get one more ricer off the street, then my work is done.

 

[DSMULATOR]

people so proud of their drum brakes that they paint them make me laugh hard, I love it.

Note: 'Racing' seats and 5 point harness just means 4 more belts you have to buckle when 'the man' pulls you over. And if you got all these visual mods, that's usually pretty often.

Oh, and shift lights make me laugh too. I love watching hondas downshift like they are going to race me and their whole interior lights up. Things that have a purpose on the track, should stay on the track.

Edit: and racing should stay on the track too!

 

[plymubishi]

I have to go with the whoe to each his own theory. Yes it bothers me seeing a killed DSM, but at the same time mine is most likely one of the worst looking on here(besides the ocasonal totally tore apart or recently totaled-still a toss up though). The one thing I do have to disagree on though is the gauge issue. I don't care if its a bone stock ford festiva, I personally like to know everything thats goeing on with my motor. Yes, the 10 inch monster tach with a fog light for a shift light in the middle of the dash is overkill,but I like the idea of monerting everything my motor is doeing.

 

[JMasc]

one of the reasons I didn't buy another eclipse....

 

[AWDtsi1995]

I am most definitely not going to defend an over glorified ricer movie like F&F but it was turbo at least. I'm pretty sure Sport Compact Car got to test those rice burners, or maybe 2F2F cars, and they were all slower than stock!!! All that show, and no go.

........ the eclipse was not turbo'd ..........

 

[JohnCIV_Talon]

All you guys are pretty much saying everyone should do what you do just becasue its your opinion. Thats very selfish, immature, and just plain stupid. Your getting this from a 19 yr old so think about it. Let people do what they want, your car is the only car that matters.

 

[Talesin]

Wow I didnt realize there were so many people that act like children in here. On top of it somebody with as much rep point as you. How much horsepower did you get by painting your rims? thats the thing, you did it to look good in your eyes and thats why people do bodykits etc, so it looks good to them. You dont need to drive it so dont worry about it.

Rep just means that I know what I am talking about for the most part, and am somewhat helpful when someone has a problem.

In this case, I did not paint my aftermarket rims, they are properly powdercoated to match the rest of the car. I did not simply mount them for looks (as most rice kids do), but to hold the wider rubber they're wrapped in, as I tend toward technical driving and need the extra support. They're stepped up by one size (17") to allow clearance for a larger brake setup when I can afford the new rotors/calipers... and I picked a very minimalist rim. Nothing stupidly complicated or showy. Simple and strong, to suit my driving needs. A little heavier than I might have liked, though at the price there was very little comparable on all those points.

So as soon as you see me plaster a Combat wing or an Invader bodykit on, feel free to concern yourself and point out any inherent hypocrisy. Until then, do try to think before you type.



Moving on. Yes, when doing visual modifications a certain level is acceptable, and can be pulled off tastefully. Tasteful costs money. You might find a set of neon-blue racing seats on sale for $100 from some guy who just had his car totalled out. If you actually need them and don't care what the car looks like, go for it. Killer deal.
But if you're shelling out new, try to get something that'll even match the car a little bit. Take an art design class, learn how to match colors and deal with visual weighting, or get advice from others who DO have a sense of taste already. That Bomex Bigmouth kit and Vader hood might look awesome to you. That's all your decision on whether to slap it on or not. But don't be surprised if others in the community start laughing, or putting you down for your Riced & Curious 'design' decision, when the two grand could have re-done your suspension, fixed up your fuel system (including a bigger turbo), or countless other worthwhile mods, instead of focussing on the visual aspect to impress the clueless.

Much more fun to let your taillights say all that needs to be said. But look on the bright side.. at least they'll get to admire your 'awesome' body kit and hood in their rearview mirror.

 

[staticbrainwash]

I agree whole heartedly on the design classes. Just because something "looks" good to you doesn't mean it has design flow, or that it follows the cars natural body lines.

As for the colors, YES, my god. I swear if i see another Red and blue engine bay or interior i will SCREAM.

If you need to know what colors match your interior check this out. Recently put out by adob photoshop.

http://kuler.adobe.com/

Good luck , happy boosting.

 

[liquidnote]

I never touch this subject because i think it is more of an individual's personal taste on what he wants to do with his car. I do agree that our cars are known for the performance side of it more then its looks. I like the stock body of my 1g but I must admit i did see 1 dsm that was done tastefully with a body kit nothing really crazy but it sure was a body kit on it, He also ran 11.376 at atco so after that the rice name calling pretty much stopped for him. I think its just sad though some times when i see a new guy who just got into the dsm world with an awd turbo and the first thing on his mind are 19 inch rims but hey thats his car not mine.

 

[AWDtsi1995]

Rep just means that I know what I am talking about for the most part, and am somewhat helpful when someone has a problem.

In this case, I did not paint my aftermarket rims, they are properly powdercoated to match the rest of the car. I did not simply mount them for looks (as most rice kids do), but to hold the wider rubber they're wrapped in, as I tend toward technical driving and need the extra support. They're stepped up by one size (17") to allow clearance for a larger brake setup when I can afford the new rotors/calipers... and I picked a very minimalist rim. Nothing stupidly complicated or showy. Simple and strong, to suit my driving needs. A little heavier than I might have liked, though at the price there was very little comparable on all those points.

So as soon as you see me plaster a Combat wing or an Invader bodykit on, feel free to concern yourself and point out any inherent hypocrisy. Until then, do try to think before you type.



Moving on. Yes, when doing visual modifications a certain level is acceptable, and can be pulled off tastefully. Tasteful costs money. You might find a set of neon-blue racing seats on sale for $100 from some guy who just had his car totalled out. If you actually need them and don't care what the car looks like, go for it. Killer deal.
But if you're shelling out new, try to get something that'll even match the car a little bit. Take an art design class, learn how to match colors and deal with visual weighting, or get advice from others who DO have a sense of taste already. That Bomex Bigmouth kit and Vader hood might look awesome to you. That's all your decision on whether to slap it on or not. But don't be surprised if others in the community start laughing, or putting you down for your Riced & Curious 'design' decision, when the two grand could have re-done your suspension, fixed up your fuel system (including a bigger turbo), or countless other worthwhile mods, instead of focussing on the visual aspect to impress the clueless.

Much more fun to let your taillights say all that needs to be said. But look on the bright side.. at least they'll get to admire your 'awesome' body kit and hood in their rearview mirror.

But you powdercoated them for looks. I put my bodykit on for looks. So think before you type.
Also when I was talking about your rep I was saying that when it comes to customizing cars you should know that its not allways about going faster but what the owner wants to do with it even if that consist of a bodykit, wing, etc. Like everything, only your opinion counts on your car.

 

[Warharan]

All you guys are pretty much saying everyone should do what you do just becasue its your opinion. Thats very selfish, immature, and just plain stupid. Your getting this from a 19 yr old so think about it. Let people do what they want, your car is the only car that matters.

Just as they have all the right to butcher their car, I have the right to complain it looks terrible and that it burns my eyes when I LOOK at it. Just because it looks good to them doesn't make it the right choice. I bet I can go to the mall and gather up 100 people in 10 min who would agree the way of rice looks tacky and just plain bad than the guy who riced out his car can find people who will say it looks awesome.

If a car is beat up and the driver doesn't have money to fix it up or it's a slow and long process, that's a completely different issue. I'm only speaking of those who spend money on hideous things.

To the person who asked why do companies make ricer products, the answer is simple. They do it for money. They don't spend time or money researching functionality or things that look good. Think of it this way, it's a lot easier to wake up in the morning and just throw something on than spend some time and arrange a wardrobe for the day.

Plus "Ricing something out" is all dependent on the car owner. It's a combination of many aspects of the car which truly bring out the art of rice.

 

[Talesin]

I powdercoated them to match the car, so they wouldn't stick out glaringly like an unpainted bodykit. The rims were neccessary to actually improve how the car performs. The powdercoating was to make them look like they might possibly match.
A bodykit is NOT neccessary. It does NOT improve how the car performs, it is a purely visual alteration, with zero performance gain. Saying that putting on wider and slightly larger rims for a defined performance purpose is anywhere similar to slapping on a bodykit to 'look cool' is like comparing swedish meatballs to the French Revolution. Sure, you can find some parallels if you look hard enough. But fundamentally speaking, they are completely different subjects.

 

[Warharan]

Rep just means that I know what I am talking about for the most part, and am somewhat helpful when someone has a problem.

In this case, I did not paint my aftermarket rims, they are properly powdercoated to match the rest of the car. I did not simply mount them for looks (as most rice kids do), but to hold the wider rubber they're wrapped in, as I tend toward technical driving and need the extra support. They're stepped up by one size (17") to allow clearance for a larger brake setup when I can afford the new rotors/calipers... and I picked a very minimalist rim. Nothing stupidly complicated or showy. Simple and strong, to suit my driving needs. A little heavier than I might have liked, though at the price there was very little comparable on all those points.

So as soon as you see me plaster a Combat wing or an Invader bodykit on, feel free to concern yourself and point out any inherent hypocrisy. Until then, do try to think before you type.



Moving on. Yes, when doing visual modifications a certain level is acceptable, and can be pulled off tastefully. Tasteful costs money. You might find a set of neon-blue racing seats on sale for $100 from some guy who just had his car totalled out. If you actually need them and don't care what the car looks like, go for it. Killer deal.
But if you're shelling out new, try to get something that'll even match the car a little bit. Take an art design class, learn how to match colors and deal with visual weighting, or get advice from others who DO have a sense of taste already. That Bomex Bigmouth kit and Vader hood might look awesome to you. That's all your decision on whether to slap it on or not. But don't be surprised if others in the community start laughing, or putting you down for your Riced & Curious 'design' decision, when the two grand could have re-done your suspension, fixed up your fuel system (including a bigger turbo), or countless other worthwhile mods, instead of focussing on the visual aspect to impress the clueless.

Much more fun to let your taillights say all that needs to be said. But look on the bright side.. at least they'll get to admire your 'awesome' body kit and hood in their rearview mirror.

Beautifully said. You and I pretty much think the same... the right way.

 

[AWDtsi1995]

I powdercoated them to match the car, so they wouldn't stick out glaringly like an unpainted bodykit. The rims were neccessary to actually improve how the car performs. The powdercoating was to make them look like they might possibly match.
A bodykit is NOT neccessary. It does NOT improve how the car performs, it is a purely visual alteration, with zero performance gain. Saying that putting on wider and slightly larger rims for a defined performance purpose is anywhere similar to slapping on a bodykit to 'look cool' is like comparing swedish meatballs to the French Revolution. Sure, you can find some parallels if you look hard enough. But fundamentally speaking, they are completely different subjects.

Once again I ws talking about powdercoating, not the typ of rims. You powdercoated to make them look good. Good job I think they do look good but what I am trying to say is that you did it for looks. When you powdercoated your rims do gain horsepower, no. When I put my bodykit on did I gain horsepower, no (other then it gave me more airflow to my intercooler) But thats what I wanted to do.

 

[staticbrainwash]

This is giving me a headache. . .

Why can't we all just get along!!!!??????

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

I didn't even bother to read all the comments, but just decided to add my worthless opinion..

If you ever go to a DSM meet, you will see the usual DSM trends. Most if not every single one of those cars there will have stock body, 1g and 2g. With any appearance modification done to a minimum usually being a cf hood, at most being a repaint of the car. Most of the money done for parts under the hood and with useful electronics. The odd car(s) out will be those with a kit. Why is this? It's just those unspoken, unseen, unwritten DSM traditions. Goes with the territory.

Sad to say, but thats just how it is, you add a kit of some sort, you become the minority. I of course have no problem with it, but you best believe you will be looked at differently.. sounds like society huh?

We live in a horrible world..

 

[AWDtsi1995]

Beautifully said. You and I pretty much think the same... the right way.

And thats the problem. Everything thinks that their way is the right way. Its the right way for you but not everyone else.

 

[AWDtsi1995]

I think we should all just have a group hug. Because no matter what we have done to our cars performance or not we still have nice cars.