Another Lambo Door Question

[transio]

Lambo doors aren't hip-hop. They're cheap puerile ricer. On any car not designed to have scissor doors, the motion to open and close the doors is confusticated. You have to push it out, then lift, and the door bounces around. Then, the door covers up half of the opening, making it a pain in the *** to get in and out of the vehicle. All in all, they're just dumb.

If you want a hip-hop image, get a Chrysler 300 and chrome paint it, or better yet, get a black one and pinstripe it like the Exige Espionage. Hip hop is about looking bling but clean. Not about looking stupid.

If you want vertical doors on the VX, the only way to do it properly is to go with gullwings. But good luck with that, unless you've got $10k+ to dump into the project.

[Baldwin]

That lotus IS sweet. Hey, hip hop is about bein' true as well as unique. Bling is just a superficial way of telling people what you wanna be. Truth about me is I'm not Bling, but I do have a VX. Points are well taken though. THose hotwheels posted earlier looked pretty good to me. Hmm...would it look stupid to just do 1 door? Probably huh? The thing with the bolt on, if it sux, I can put the door back right?

[kpaske]

I'm personally not a fan of Lambo or Gullwing doors. The idea was unique for high-end luxury sport-car toys, but the VX already has a unique futuristic look. If you want to "bling" it out, drop the suspension, put on 24's and tons of chrome, trick out the paint job, recover the seats and panels with the skin of an exotic animal (how about ostrich?), and put a wall of subs behind the rear seat. Look at some of the highly modded VXes on this site and you'll see that you don't need funky doors to get attention from your VX. Just my 2 cents.

[PDOGG23]

Baldwin:

I have thought about the Lambo doors myself.. I thought that would be beyond unique.. When you pull up somewhere, and your doors open up, instead of out, people look... People stare. People LIKE...

I don't think some of the members here understand what you are getting at.. You are looking to attract attention, image.. You aren't looking for versatility. The VX is high enough to where the upper portion of the door being blocked isn't going to even bother you anyways... I personally think this is a fantastic idea.

Heed to the warning above about $$.. You will have to take your VX to a custom Mod shop.. I don't believe anyone makes a kit to convert the VX doors. This may be expensive... But I don't see it being more than a few G's..

Please let me know if you find someone to do this.. I would be very interested in how it was done, and how much it was...

Good luck!

[transio]

I don't think some of the members here understand what you are getting at.. You are looking to attract attention, image.

I understand, I just think that there are some kinds of attention that you DON'T want in this industry.... i.e. the kind where people are laughing at how stupid you look.

I think your image should reflect who you are, otherwise it will be contrived. If you don't like scissor doors, screw 'em. There are cheaper and better ways to create an image for yourself.

1. Get your cladding smoothed, painted black, and clearcoated.
2. Add yellow skidplates from Ron.
3. Get some 22" black chrome 3-piece wheels with polished stainless bolts a polished lip.
4. Replace the gray inserts on the seats with yellow alcantara inserts and put yellow paint + clear coat on the gray plastics.
5. Or, if the yellow interior bits are a bit overboard for you, you could do black pinstriped cloth on the gray interior parts (leather and plastics) for a classy, sophisticated look like that Lotus I linked to above.
   
   Here's a better pic... look how well the pinstripes work with the black leather:
   
   

Then you've got a well-put-together Proton that will attract attention, but will not look stupid.

[thedutchguy]

Hey Transio, seen this last exige?
It runs on E85 and has 265 HP!

[JAFO]

Lambo doors aren't hip-hop. They're cheap puerile ricer. On any car not designed to have scissor doors, the motion to open and close the doors is confusticated. You have to push it out, then lift, and the door bounces around. Then, the door covers up half of the opening, making it a pain in the *** to get in and out of the vehicle. All in all, they're just dumb.
...

This depends on the kit, quality, and type of car. Some kits are too loose, allowing more movement to swing out. The butterfly look.

If it is done well the doors can be opened completely, straight up, with zero obstruction. This would be especially better in todays small parking spaces were you have no room to open the door.

Also it is not rice it is German and Itailan. I generally think that long thin doors look better vertical, ie Lamborghini Countach, than square but it still look good if done right.

[JAFO]

Koenigsegg's Dihedral Synchro Helix doors.

[transio]

If it is done well the doors can be opened completely, straight up, with zero obstruction.

Incorrect. A door that is not designed to open vertically must first open outwards a few inches, then vertically, to clear the frame. Likewise, to close it, you must first pull it down, then inwards to engage the latch. True scissor doors open on a single axis of movement.

Also it is not rice it is German and Itailan.

I'm not talking about the invention, I''m talking about the imitation. It is "rice" not because of its origination, but because of its function (or lack thereof)

I generally think that long thin doors look better vertical, ie Lamborghini Countach, than square but it still look good if done right.

[JAFO]

Incorrect. A door that is not designed to open vertically must first open outwards a few inches, then vertically, to clear the frame. Likewise, to close it, you must first pull it down, then inwards to engage the latch. True scissor doors open on a single axis of movement.

I didn't state that it would elliminate all outward movement. Just stating that some kits allow more, making the door seem loose and floppy.

I'm not talking about the invention, I''m talking about the imitation. It is "rice" not because of its origination, but because of its function (or lack thereof)

"Rice" was a term originally used on all Japanese vehicles imported into the U.S. Therefore if you have a Japanese vehicle it is "rice" so how can you say that modifing a Japanese vehicle makes it look "rice"?

[transio]

"Rice" was a term originally used on all Japanese vehicles imported into the U.S. Therefore if you have a Japanese vehicle it is "rice" so how can you say that modifing a Japanese vehicle makes it look "rice"?

Thank you for the etymology lesson. Despite what it originally meant, the term "ricer" is currently used to refer to any automotive mods that are kitsch (meaning that they tastelessly imitate something functional). Examples are:

• Fart can exhaust. Kitsch, cause it doesn't add any HP... it's just a big chrome tip meant to look like it's a high performance exhaust.
  
  
• Lambo doors. Kitsch, because they serve no purpose. Real lambo doors are designed to improve ingress/egress into an exotic sports car with special design needs.
  
  
• Huge wings on the rear of the car. Kitsch, because they usually add no downforce and most of the time just increase drag and add a lot of turbulence, in effect decreasing the car's aerodynamics.
  
  
• Most body kits. Often times, they are tasteless, but usually just meaningless, because they are not wind-tunnel tested and add no significant improvement to aerodynamics.
  
  
• Black-painted steel wheels (aka hubcap delete). Steel wheels are the heaviest you can find. Painting them black and losing the hubcaps doesn't improve your performance.
  
  
• Painted calipers. Meant to make stock calipers look like Brembos, or some other aftermarket variety, which often come in bright colors. Contrary to popular opinion, the paint does not improve the performance of the stock brakes.
  
  
• Cut springs. Cutting your springs may give your car a lower ride, but it will significantly hamper your vehicle's performance. Lowering the car with aftermarket springs may improve the ride, but unless you're going with a complete suspension redesign (or at least coilovers) you're likely going to just screw up the suspension geometry.
  
  
• Hood scoops. Usually just adds drag. Unless you've got a ram-air induction system going on, this is pathetic. Reference Mustang GT for factory-supplied kitsch.

On the other hand, you have "bling" - a term which refers to mods that are intended to be purely aesthetic, without imitating performance modifications. These include:

• Big chrome wheels,
• Spinners,
• Chrome grills,
• Lights in wheels, hood, neon under car, etc.,
• TVs in headrests,
• Custom paint,
• etc. etc.

So to recap:

Chrome wheels = bling.
Lambo doors = ricer.

I hope you understand what I'm getting at.

[kpaske]

Thank you for the etymology lesson. Despite what it originally meant, the term "ricer" is currently used to refer to any automotive mods that are kitsch (meaning that they tastelessly imitate something functional).

I think the more common term used to generalize Japanese imports was "rice burner" . "Rice" and "ricer" evolved from that term to refer to tasteless, functionless modifications like cheap body kits and tin can tailpipes.

[*]Black-painted steel wheels (aka hubcap delete). Steel wheels are the heaviest you can find. Painting them black and losing the hubcaps doesn't improve your performance.
[*]Painted calipers. Meant to make stock calipers look like Brembos, or some other aftermarket variety, which often come in bright colors. Contrary to popular opinion, the paint does not improve the performance of the stock brakes.

I'd classify these as purely aesthetic, and therefore "bling" if done in a professional way that improves the look of the vehicle. I don't think anyone actually believes these mods will improve performance.

[etlsport]

body kits and and painted calipers add looks to a car.. add uniqueness to a car... anyone (especially VX owners) can appreciate making your car unique... i think lambo doors have the same effect... making the car unique and if you are willing to sacrifice money, and maybe some of your ability to get out of the car for being unique then do it! who cares what other people think of your car if you like it

baldwin- theres almost no such thing as a 'bolt on' kit for any car, especially a VX, chances are if you do the lambo kit, youll end up having to do some kind of modding of some sort, so before you tell the shop to do it, you should see exactly what they are going to need to do and if it can be reversed, you wont know until you try though

[Tone]

Uh, the VX is EXTREMELY rigid. It was an SLK.

[JAFO]

...On the other hand, you have "bling" - a term which refers to mods that are intended to be purely aesthetic, without imitating performance modifications. These include:

• Big chrome wheels,
• Spinners,
• Chrome grills,
• Lights in wheels, hood, neon under car, etc.,
• TVs in headrests,
• Custom paint,
• etc. etc.

So to recap:

Chrome wheels = bling.
Lambo doors = ricer.

I hope you understand what I'm getting at.

The way a car door opens has no effect on the cars performance and according to you they are only aesthetic, since you say they serve no functional purpose; therefore, vertical doors would be "bling" not "ricer" according to your definition.