Another Lambo Door Question

[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.

[JHarris1385]

What would really do if Transio wasnt a member? Hum......Id be bored at work cause there would not be anyone intelligently stating their opinions, therefore, cuasing the threads to be less interesting.....

[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.

[transio]

"Rice" and "ricer" evolved from that term to refer to tasteless, functionless modifications like cheap body kits and tin can tailpipes.

Right. That's the derivation that I was using.

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.

Actually, the mods are intended to mimic other mods that actually DO improve performance, like upgraded brake calipers (often painted bright colors by the manufacturer to help market their products) and aftermarket race wheels (which are often powdercoated, anodized, or painted black to decrease maintenance for brake dust cleanup). The idea behind painted calipers and wheels is to get the "racy look" without actually improving performance. They are, therefore, "rice" to the core.

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

Unique? You mean except for the 1000s of other ricers with lambo doors at all the kids' car meets, right? Even if I conceded to the unique argument, that is independent of the taste argument. In short, being unique isn't always a good thing. As evidence, I present:

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.

Actually, I said that vertical doors DO have a purpose for the cars that come with them. Read up on the Mercedes SL 300 Gullwing for a little more information on how and why vertical doors came to be. The function is to better enable ingress/egress in sports cars with high/wide sills. If your car doesn't have big sills (the VX doesn't) then vertical doors serve no purpose, and in fact, often INHIBIT ingress and egress, because the doors on "normal" cars aren't DESIGNED to be opened vertically. They don't have the proper shape or connection to the vehicle, and therefore wind up covering half of the opening, making it more difficult to get in and out. Note that this is the OPPOSITE of why vertical doors were invented!!! THAT is why they are "ricer" in my opinion - the same as huge wings bolted onto your trunk.

Some more info from Wikipedia:

• "The gullwing doors, hinged at the roof and so named because the open doors resembled a bird's outstretched wings, were implemented as such to accommodate for the car's tubular chassis, designed by DBAG's chief developing engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut. Part of the chassis passed through what would be the lower half of a standard door. This tubular chassis was a necessity, as the original car was designed solely for racing and needed to be as light as possible while still providing a high level of strength. This required the driver and any passengers to do some gymnastics to get in or out of the car, usually by sitting on and sliding across the wide door sill. A steering wheel with a tilt-away column made the process considerably easier."

Note the height of the sills in the pic below... this is to accomodate the spaceframe chassis, which is very rigid while also being very light.

[etlsport]

Unique? You mean except for the 1000s of other ricers with lambo doors at all the kids' car meets, right? Even if I conceded to the unique argument, that is independent of the taste argument. In short, being unique isn't always a good thing. As evidence, I present:

well, ive never seen a VX with lambo doors so it would be unique... i guess it all comes to personal preference.. i dont think anyone here could honestly say that ferarri(?) doesnt make them want to puke.. but obviously someone likes it, i know lots of people who think my VX is hideous.. but it doesnt bother me, cause i love it