Pride comes from within, not from autos

Chan Tran

Like a helicopter hovering at a low altitude, a thundering sound zeroed in on my surrounding space. As the back of my ears crackled, a growling car came within four feet of my body, carrying with it a dark cloud of exhaust. The beast hovered merely a few inches off the ground and had the biggest set of spoilers I had ever seen.

A rice rocket had just landed.

Flashy, modified Japanese cars, often dubbed "rice rockets" or "rice burners," have become commonplace on freeways, streets and in parking lots. Some are more noticeable than others.

Low-riding Honda Civics and Acura Integras, tinted from front to back, often covered in illegible Asian stickers and complete with a sputtering muffler are among the more popular versions. The sleek ones are painted in bright metallic colors with racing stripes. In some cases, they even sport a small fire extinguisher inside on one side of the windshield, chrome trimmings and spoilers set for a jet.

For all intents and purposes, the customized "rice rocket" arguably defines the idea of a "hip Asian" automobile.

More than just aesthetically annoying, rice rockets have sadly come to typify Asian pride.

They have angered, confused and amused the average driver, who, like myself, struggle to understand the origin and reason for such atrocities.

Car connoisseurs in the United States have been customizing classic Fords and Chevys since the '50s. However, customizing Japanese economy cars has only been popular as far back as the '80s, according to Phil Wong, founder of AsianScene Inc., in the article "Go Speed Racer Go!"

The availability and affordability of customized parts for Japanese cars, particularly Hondas, gave teenagers of many nationalities a cheap way to customize their little "rice burners," according to Wong.

The scene can be broken up into two categories: "Go-no-show" and "Show-no-show."

Go-no-show cars have power and high speeds but are not aesthetically pleasing. Show-no-go cars sport extravagant cosmetic designs and bright paint, but lack the horsepower.

Popular among both "Go" and "Show" cars is lowering the body, referred to as "slamming" when the undercarriage is within about an inch of the asphalt.

Besides being illegal, drastic lowering can be dangerous and adds little to the car's performance. Seeing drivers maneuver over speed bumps at a 90 degree angle while the scrapping the chrome off their mufflers hurts my eyes.

In addition, they also create a form of noise pollution worse than a hundred leaf blowers.

A "turbo" muffler struggling to keep up with the engine emits a sound similar to a duck caught in a fan. Usually, the characteristic whining sound of customized cars serves no useful purpose other than to look and sound cool, according to an anonymous rice rocket owner on campus. But some turbo mufflers actually increase the horsepower of the cars by allowing exhaust to flow with less restriction, a fact most evident in the clouds of carbon monoxide when a driver thrusts the pedal to the metal.

Asian teenagers in particular spend exorbitant amounts of money to create that specific high-pitched sound – enough to buy a decent used automobile.

Experts use mufflers and "headers," ranging from $80 to $500. A spoiler can cost between $150 to $400, and "power" computer chips to enhance the engine air-to-fuel mixture often range from $300 to $1000, according to a source at Motor Trend magazine.

That's not to mention the ubiquitous mega-sound system, which can range from $500 for a generic setup to $2000 and beyond for that ear shattering sound that triggers car alarms all up and down the block. The eardrum-bursting, bass-heavy hip-hop music these systems pump usually gives me the same experience as a mild earthquake.

I was surprised to see a spiky-haired Asian student, who could barely see over the dashboard, zipping carelessly through the half-filled parking lot, dodging the occasional speed bump rising up from the asphalt like a mountain in relation to the car's proximity to the ground.

Upon seeing a "gear head" get out of his or her car, make sure to also notice the intricate series of bleeps that signify that the car alarm has been activated – another rice rocket staple.

The idea of customizing a car as a means of showing Asian pride also amuses me, especially when I see drivers wear hip-hop clothing, such as baggy jeans and gold chains around their neck like gangster rappers.

There must certainly be a less contradictory way to show Asian pride.

Chan Tran is a print journalism major at Cal State Long Beach.