The Common Modifications Of A Ricer Car
What is a ricer car? Ricer stands for ‘Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements’. As the full-form name suggests, these are regular cars but with plenty of cosmetic modifications. Motorheads also call the owners of these vehicles ricer.
The vehicles look like race or performance car, but all modifications are strictly for aesthetic purposes. Their performance is similar to a stock or sometimes even worse than its stock counterpart.
What Are The Common Modifications Of A Ricer Car?
A ricer looks fast, but it is not. The vehicles have unnecessary upgrades that affect their performance most of the time. These are opposite to sleepers who look unassuming but yield a stellar performance on the road.
The most common modifications seen in ricer are (but not limited to):
Read more
1. Performance exhaust
The exhaust is completely useless unless you want the car to create a loud banging sound to annoy everyone else on the road.
2. Performance intake
Another useless addition that sounds like something that enhances performance but does nothing. It is a tube behind or on top of the engine and blows cold air to the engine.
3. Huge body kits
Ricer cars may have body kits installed, which typically consist of aftermarket bumpers, side skirts, and rear diffusers. Mostly accented with chicken wire, the function of such a body kit is to make the vehicle appear lower than its normal height.
4. Massive rear spoiler
Ricer cars often feature oversized or exaggerated spoilers that are not functional and primarily serve an aesthetic purpose. These spoilers are so large that they look ridiculous. It looks like something made for a Boeing 747. The modification is even stupider for an FWD (front wheel drive) car because its drive wheels are in the front.
5. Stickers
Ricers love to decorate their car with stickers because they think it looks cool. Most of these stickers are from after-market parts that the car does not have.
6. Modified suspension
Such a modification makes the car unsafe and wobbly but the ricers still go for it because they think it looks good. You will see these cars almost scrape the ground because of the absurd camber on the tires.
7. Huge rims
Another expensive modification that does not even look good, let alone enhance the performance. Some rims even cost more than the vehicle itself.
8. Excessive chrome or carbon fiber
There is an abundance of chrome accents or carbon fiber elements applied to various parts of the vehicle, such as mirrors, grilles, or trim pieces.
9. Low-profile tires and large wheels
This vehicle often has low-profile tires mounted on oversized wheels, which can negatively affect ride quality and performance.
10. Excessive audio systems
The audio systems may be elaborate with multiple subwoofers and amplifiers, often causing more noise than actual sound quality.
11. Interior modifications
The last factor is Ricer cars may have aftermarket steering wheels, shift knobs, gauges, or seats installed to enhance the interior appearance.
Note that: these modifications are generally associated with the term “ricer” and do not represent all car enthusiasts or modified vehicles. Car modifications can be done tastefully and with a focus on performance, safety, and functionality.
Watch more:
The Bottom Line
The trend started with imported Japanese cars including several models of Honda, Mitsubishi, and Subaru. However, all cars with bad cosmetic modifications nowadays are considered a ricer. You will see many American models including Ford Focus, Dodge Neon, and Chevy Cavalier with these useless enhancements. These economy cars are designed to go slow so their owners often get mental satisfaction by giving them a makeover to look like a racing car. Remember that some Japanese cars like Nissan Skyline, Toyota Supra, and Subaru WRX are high-performance vehicles capable of providing speedy rides. These models won’t be considered as ricer even if they have some cosmetic modifications.
You can detect a ricercar on the road even without looking at it. Most of the time, these are the cars that annoy everyone with loud and bad music cranking the subwoofer on the max. The owners of these cars just want to show off, whether it’s bad aesthetics or bad music. If you have any concerns about this topic, don’t hesitate to leave a comment in the box below!
