accord2civic2prelude

This is a question that I have had for a while and since getting a chance to go to Japan, I don't know what the hype is all about. Why are we so fascinated with JDM here and talked bad about Americanized AM parts calling them rice..i.e. pillar gauges, head and tail lights, or whatever you guys quick to through a JDM on. When in fact, A lot of japanese hondas that i did see over there, mostly hatches and type-r's and a few coupes, had the ricer look...not the extreme as too what you see in the states, but decent looking cars. And most of the more respectable cars there tuned like that. It just killes me when people spend 2-300 bux on a shift **** that does the exact thing as my stock one(doesnt make you faster or shift time faster) I guess its whats different right, saying you got something JDM. Doesnt make sense...I can understand an all-out CTR replica..RHD and everything, thats worth it. but a JDM lip or fog light? C'mon man! I swear, if the majority of you JDM fanatics took your car there, you will get laughted at because its stock. I know im going to get stoned for not be a big JDM fan, but dont get me wrong some of the things are nice, but when you are getting extorted with pricing and knowing it, thats retarded in my book.

So what are you guys opinion on this? Dont flame for it, just something that I wanted to ask.

numba1stunna201

i would love to be able to afford all the jdm parts, maybe if everybody would start buyin replicas then the price of the real stuff would come down...

accord2civic2prelude

But whats so special about JDM parts? I mean, is it because thats what we are used to as far as being stock or what? Because all these JDM parts are stock over there and i guess they consider it stock and not COOL!

acake em1

i agree with the op. some of the stuff is real nice, and they got some of the better parts/options on their cars. for example, they had the integra type-rx. the car is a type-r it just comes with yellow recaros and a few other things to make it a little more luxurious or whatever. i think it all boils down to the fact that a lot of the options they had, we never had the opportunity to get on our cars in the US.

z6htch

I agree. So does that mean USDM parts are cool to them in Japan? Lol.

Like Lhd and 4 lug conversions. Ah, I can see it now lol.

fungus mungus

Let's see, things we couldn't get here in the US:

B16A1, Gathers rear interior setup (w/super-cool fold down seats, trunk storage compartment, and twin-speaker setup), nicer-looking spoiler, real climate control, traction control, rear sway bars?

Yeah, that stuff is useless. :p

To be honest, what I find puzzling is bolting on folding mirrors that you can't see out of. Or a JDM climate control faceplate. Or a lip that is exactly the same as the USDM lip. Or a JDM center console that is the same as the US, except the cig lighter is flipped. But if someone went whole-hog and actually installed a fully-operational climate control from a JDM car w/sensors, heater core, etc, I'm all for that.

If you haven't guessed, I'm a JDM *****. But I install JDM stuff that makes sense on my car. Oh, and BTW, my cluster isnt' JDM, it's UKDM, because I like to read in MPH.

I lived in Japan for several years and have seen plenty of rice there too. No, they don't like USDM parts, in general, though I did see a Civic with chrome fender moldings once. I about laughed my @ss off.

fm

Luke G.

These stupid posts come up constantly. Why do you argue about what style someone likes on there car. As long as its clean and functional i don't see the problem. Diversity of parts is what makes cars stand out from one another. If the dumb *** wants to buy expensive parts then let him do it, why does it concern you??

accord2civic2prelude

See that makes sense fungus mungus..motor, climate control and sways are legit. but come on..I would not pay extra money to get a spoiler because it has a little more arc to it! I can understand getting a motor cause proven fact motors made for Japan dont go through the HP decreasion process(EPA and SMog and whatever else is out there) But honestly who really needs a trunk storage compartment or twin speaker setup? I just dont see the fact of spending all this money on parts that Japanese actually rip up and give to junkyards...lol!

Yes it is...i think its because its different. i mean a lhd car in predominately rhd country and vice versa here. and the 4 lug conversions are big there..But as far as parts i.e. interior, they just go with full aftermarket. But i did see a lot with the USDM center console w/o the arm rest. they says its uncomfortable banging your elbow when shifting hard..lol!

SergEK

There are crews there that read Super Street and mimic what they see in the mags...no joke

Its funny to consider but whats common here is rare there and vice versa...aka american B series parts etc...Skunk2 etc..

To OP:

JDM parts are USUALLY of a higher quality, fitment and WERE hard to get years ago

Now its become more of a baseball card collector hobby with hardparkers being the worst offenders.

JDM RACING parts will always be sought after because RACING is what Hondas were/are about to the die hards.

We have come a long way from Japanese tuners being the go to guys for power and the shift from JUN/Spoon/Feels to more home grown stuff shows. As far as Hondas go our cars are faster...I would put our guys up against them anyday...

Anyway...like anything else...different/rare/special/limited/exclusive = cool = $$$

I would bet a Gold copy of Zelda signed by the designers in mint condition would be worth more than the $5 swap meet copy you might find...make sense? Oh...you never played Zelda? Never mind...

fungus mungus

Ah, but you're forgetting that it has that cool long LED brake light. Better to see you with, my dearie!

Actually, more like they just sell whole cars to Gaijin who import them to their home countries and cut them up for parts. BTW, I DO need the trunk storage compartment and twin speaker setup...see my thread.

I don't think USDM in Japan is quite as big as JDM is here. I haunt Yahoo Auctions all the time...lots of USDM stuff for sale, but none of it ever sells. :p Believe me, I wish it would, because I'd be hitting up every junkyard here and selling USDM armrest deletes.

BTW, I've gotten almost all of my JDM stuff directly from Japan...had my inlaws send it to me. So, I'm not out the $$ that most JDM fanatics are out. I simply wouldn't pay a lot of the prices you see. The exception was my rear interior, which was purchased at a really, really reasonable price, especially considering it was complete with all brackets necessary to install it.


fm

fastrxu

Its for the same reason people buy european/ name brand clothes. Or imported/aged wines. Or the analogy with the zelda game.
I cant tell the difference from box o' wine and $1000 wine. But theres wine connosieurs that can and are willing to shell out the cash.

99 out 100 people wont know that 5 lugs on a 99 civic is extremely rare but you and 1 out of 100 people WILL know. I guess thats special and worth money to some people.

ShAgGy O'ChiTtT

2 me itz all about rarity. u mentioned earlier an aftermarket shift **** vs the stock 1, of course they do the same thing, but i dont see anythin wrong with having a rare-er (if thats even a word) shift **** if you can afford it. if i could afford it id buy all the options they had on the jdm version of any car. civic sir-s, 4 example, is extremely rare. not because of the foglights or the gathers speaker unit, but because it came with ALL of the options offered in any eg hatch 9or so ive heard). im not trying to be all-knowing or pretend, but i can honestly understand, and even envy, those who have UBERrare jdm parts. shock value? just imagine rolling into a local meet in a pair of hayashi sakura's, arguably the rarest japanese wheel.

forcefedferio

the question is, why does this bother you enough to devote an entire thread to it?

I agree though, parking poles and **** like that is gay. But they have alot of other cool things like interior, exterior, and drivetrain parts we are deprived of.

Also, what shift **** are you talking about that is $300 exactly?

PaulMc

iTrader: (1)

The term "ricer" is actually used correctly here in the states. Ricer refers to big body kits, bizarre modifications, ect, that you'd see originally in Japan. The term "ricer" is used to describe cars in the states, or outside of Japan, that imitate the scene in the place where RICE is one of the most common foods! Japan!

ShAgGy O'ChiTtT

omg.. were all ricers =O

accord2civic2prelude

Basically thats what PAULMC said!!! All Import guys in the states are ricers...so all japanese guys using American parts are CORN's...Come on, realy...Noooooo! lol!

tomoko

in my country, the word ricer mean
ric⋅er
–noun
an implement for ricing potatoes, squash, etc., by pressing them through small holes.

n. A kitchen utensil used for ricing soft foods by extrusion through small holes.

Linked

i like to think of it as:

people dont buy jdm because they are attracted to it.

people ARE buying jdm because its jdm and jdm is a trend

back when pokemon cards were a trend, there were the people who had the japanese holographic cards and thought they were the ****. they were stupid little cards and the pokemon was a weaksos anyways but it was still cool cause it was a japanese holographic

scottdh20

just like linked posted

jdm = the current trend

body kits, non functional huge spoilers on fwd cars, neon lights, ect....rice = the trend in the 90's


the way i feel about it is mixed, in the late 80's early 90's it was about having a falshy car, having a car that not only performs very well but also caan grab your full attention in a split second. however the flashyness (i dont now if thats a word and if it is im sure its misspelled) was to be the biggest down fall for the import comunity as illeagle street raceing took off. by the late 90's and very early 2000's cops started cracking down big time, cali got so bad that they would impound and/or crush your car if they thought you were maybe street racing and i think hondas got the blunt force of it. so i think it was a little evolution started happening about that time, no more neon paint colors, they started respaying in a more suddle tones, sourcing jdm parts because they could stand out ever so slightly from the masses but not so much to get the cops attention. finding those rare parts soon became the norm, and those still living in the 90's got hated on for being "rice".

i think there are many bodykit that look good on civics, well hondas in general, i have no problem saying it. and if everybody want to flame that go ahead while there are many excepted bodykits out there.....take the bys bumper for the ek's for example. although i prefer FUNCTIONAL body kits, like they originally were ment to be. larger opening for better cooling or to mount that big fmic, or larger side holes for say an oil cooler, brake ducts, or whatnot. but over time ebay and other places started coping and other smalll janky shops with shody quality and horiblle fitment are the norm in bodykits today. that there is the problem, there are a handfull of companys still around that manufactur and produce quality products that are actually track tested to be functional and look better.

i like some jdm stuff, yeah i'd love the jdm rear interior....not because its jdm but because it much more functional than the usdm interior. but for the most part i like what i like, and thats what makes my car mine, at one point about year and a half ago i had f1 fenders on my car....why cuz i liked em and didnt care what others thought because its my car. they were taken off simply cause the fitment was a little off and i didnt like the bumper strip didnt follow into the fender design. and it just didnt follow the body lines well.

BUILD WHAT YOU LOVE, BUILD IT HOW YOU WANT IT, BECAUSE ITS YOURS........NOT THIERS

Ferio4ya

JDM FTW even though its technically a trend like others have stated above, I believe it looks the best. Cool functional simple modifications, rare, and it just makes your Honda that much more CLEANER without going overboard and looking to "flashy" such as, rice. damn showoffs, and for NO reason! lol

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Indeed. The JDM rear spoiler with LED CHMSL (Centre High Mount Stop Lamp) is actually safer because it reaches a full-intensity red signal 200 milliseconds faster than incandescent bulbs. This means that at about 60mph (100km/h), drivers behind you have 20' more reaction time (Source: Daniel Stern Lighting).

On this note, I would argue that all of my modifications to date (be they JDM, EDM or other) serve a functional or practical purpose, though with one exception that I readily admit. No, it's not the parking pole: I park in a very narrow back alley behind my house that was built in the mid-1800s -- never designed for cars. The pole (and the folding mirrors, incidentally) help me navigate in and out quickly. So for me, it serves its purpose every time I leave the house. I can see, however, how it could be construed as useless bling for anyone spending most of their lives in the suburbs.

Deetz

To the OP.....i love many things about both JDM and EDM parts...mostly oem stuff though. I mean, why "wouldn't" you want a unique high quality upgrade from a specail model over sea's????

let me show you some examples, i can't find anything wrong with, i'll start with my crx

inside i've got a full oem leather wrapped steering wheel, and SiR cluster with 9500prm tach


Upgraded seats....they have the CR-X stitching right from factory, pretty cool, plus lumbar!


These Regamaster Evo's i got from Japan dirt cheap, full forged and LIGHT!! 8.8lbs each!


My 00 EK....i haven't been building as long, but added a couple of tasteful parts, once again can't see any reason why someone "wouldn't" want these as tasteful upgrades!

Engine bay, JDM spec B18C stock at over 200hp. Nicer valve cover with the H and Honda motor company on display, plus oem chrome oil cap...looks cool! Also a Type R strut bar


Nice plug and plug cluster upgrade from a CTR, i love it!


I also have and RSX. The only JDM thing i added to it was an OEM Type R rear sway bar. It is thicker, and solid, no hollow like our model here, it was a great upgrade that was inexpensive and made noticeable upgrade in handling!

Now, i ask you OP, what do you get the point yet???????

PURP

I don't get what all the hostility on this topic is about...? I have several JDM parts, but only the ones that I feel are an improvement. It has nothing to do with the JDM stamp.

One person mentioned in this thread about not being able to see out of the folding mirrors... I laughed when I read it because I have the folding mirrors and I know what he's talking about. The passenger's side mirror is fine, but the driver's side one doesn't move far enough away from the car. At first I thought it was something to do with them coming off of a RHD car, but after examining them I noticed that the range of movement for the left and the right were identical... Maybe Japanese people tend to sit with their face closer to the windshield then I do....?

Any ideas????

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I usually buy whatever part improves the certain aspect I'm looking for. I'm a non denominational mother fu#$er.


If a different steering wheel catches my eye and it looks bad ***...I'll probably set out to buy it.

If a JDM seat was more comfy than stock and had the OEM look and quality, I might want that too.

If I wanted a red clock instead of a yellow backlight clock...I'd buy that.

If something functions or looks a certain way that appeals to me...I'll set out to get it. Doesn't really matter if it's JDM or not. It just depends on what I WANT. I'm not a hard parker...I run HPDEs and autocrosses a lot...but I do like my stuff to look good. and there is a certain something about having a rare part.

The advanatage of buying OEM JDM is that there really is no quality like OEM quality. The JDM part may function better for performance or looks or feel...but it will have OEM fit and finish, which, IMO is worth paying for sometimes.

It's easy to get caught up in it, though. My friend was the BIGGEST douche when it came to buying JDM useless *** crap. He just bought it because it was JDM and he thought it would get him MAD TYTE HELLA POINTS when people looked in his car at his new $1500 JDM cup holder or something stupid. Which would have been fine...except for he was actually interested in real performance as well.

Eventually, he ended up spending so much money for so little gain in actual performance..and he noticed that the JDM parts buying bug was never ending. Once you bought the clock..you had to get the coin pouch to match it or people would laugh at you...then you had to get the arm rests..who would be caught dead without the JDM armrest with the one extra stitch on it that you had to look through a microscope to notice. etc. etc. etc.

He started noticing that his actual performance parts were lacking. He had D2 coilovers...which were garbage...but he did have $500 OEM CTR headlights...

He's changed since then. I told him that back in the day, if I would have told him that $250 was a great price to go to a 2 day HPDE event, he'd say he would have rather spent it on some JDM door panels which were a slightly different shade of gray or something. Then be pissed off about needing the $400 panel inserts to make it all look right.

But some people just want their car to be a certain way. Iduno. Nobody mods a car the same way as everyone else, hopefully. Some people just have different priorities.

I buy whatever works the best.

My S2000 was made in Japan.
The KW coilovers were made in Germany.
I have no idea where the Recaro Pole position seats were made...where is Recaro's country of origin anyway?
The ADVANs were made in Japan.
The Carbotech pads were made in the U.S.
The EBC rotors were made in the U.K.

My EM1 was made in Ohio.
The GC coils were made in California.
The Tokico shocks were made in...Japan??
The wheels were made in a sweatshop in Taiwan.


You get the point....I won't list off every mod.

It is easier to get caught up in the JDM bug if you have a car that has lots and lots of differences between US and Japanese models like Civics/Integras.

I will say that the great thing about owning a S2000 is that all the JDM parts are mostly identical to the USDM parts anyway. All the body parts are the same except for the headlights and some other small things. The engines all have red valve covers. If I want a JDM cluster, I just hit a button lol.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Yes, I explain this in my Power Folding Heated Mirrors DIY write-up, as well as detail how to swap the internals! For starters, the steering wheel is on the RIGHT-HAND side on a Japanese car, so the mirror mount angles are going to reflect this difference. Have another look -- the mounts ARE different. Read below.

An excerpt: