Touching on the copy thing for a moment, I agree as well you're screwing yourself and the original company if you buy faked/copied goods. Buying "Mugen-style" visors, for example, when you have available the real product and can get it easily just smacks of cheez, and in most cases the quality really isn't there like the originals. That said however, I don't feel guilty at all about copied aero parts for the USDM Fit since unlike the rest of the world our bumpers are completely unique to our cars and there are like almost no aero parts to choose from at the moment if you want some JDM style for your ride. Of course, if the JDM companies made originals to fit, that's another story, but I don't think they will seeing that it's a niche market for them on a car in its last year or so of production maybe (till the next gen hits).

 

here's my opinion. i don't see spending 1400 dollars on an exhaust system to gain a possible 4 HP as worth it. i didn't purchase the car for it's performance, i purchased it for its economy. i can't let a car be stock, i have to make it my own, so aesthetic parts are my option.

as an example:
if you are complaining, for instance, that people are buying JDM style LED tail lights versus the real JDM tails, thats a hard one to argue. i, personally, can't agree that the real ones are better than the styles; i don't know, but a majority of fit-freakers have gone with styles, and only a few have gone with the true-blues. these JDM styles are probably what i will go with, but i would prefer the real ones, just can't waste the extra hundred bucks or so.

this goes for any part for any car. i believe the difference between a ricey part lies in it's purpose. if i wanted something to look different, but i don't care if it performs better, that is not necessarily rice, and a performance part is a performance part, if it improves something, i guess you can't call it rice.

i do agree that aesthetics that are counter-productive are rice (i.e. a wing on a FWD car) but if someone only wants the look of, say, the MUGEN visors, but don't want their superior quality, to each their own.

 

yes, thats why i own one.

 

I missed your point too. This is a different direction, and I understand not everyone can afford the real or original versions (and sometimes you find something you like that's discontinued). However, I will say that if you're going to buy a knock-off, PLEASE buy something that's at least of a decent quality. I recommend never purchasing from Ebay, unless you either trust the seller or know the quality is good. You would be surprised how many of the products on Ebay are knock-offs and THOSE parts I would consider ricey, regardless of how cool someone thinks they are or how much of a good deal they got. If you can't afford the real thing but are looking at a knock-off, save your money and just buy the original. At least you know the R&D's good on proven parts.

 

I don't know about that, I would say if a company sells a quality product for a reasonable price then they will do well regardless of brand. If somebody makes an exact knock off of an expensive brand with the same quality and then sells it for half... sorry guys, I work hard for my money and throwing it away on a fancy name brand isn't my priority. Call it what you want, I am not srewing the original company, they are screwing themselves by not being competitive. lol, If another company can produce the exact same product for half the price and still make a profit, tell me who is getting screwed if you buy an original.

Ethically of course I don't promote blatent rip off's. *cough cough Kia cough*

If a company like Nike sells a shoe for a high price when another company has a shoe made with the same quality for a more reasonable price, then I don't feel bad at all if Nike dosn't sell as many shoes cause people are "cheaping" out.

Then again, Mugen sells those visors for more than triple the E-bay knock off's. Guess what; the Mugen ones are stiff and durable while the e-bay ones tend to flap around lots and have crappy fitment (so I am told). So in this case I would day a lot of people will buy the Mugen brand.

Anyway, I buy my stuff based on function and quality... never on name brand. Chikubi is right on one thing though; generally speaking blatent rip off's have sh!t quality... lol hence the Mugen visors on my car

 

Like stated before, I tune my car to my needs. I am a college student that does alot of driving. yet, once I dish out a little more money, I plan on taking my Fit to the tracks.

I plan on styling my Fit to my needs. I love cars that handle well so therefore I will go with some suspension work.

 

I croosed my fingers when I got my "styled" visors off E-bay. But i guess some people have had quality issues with them, and yet mine scaved through flawlessly. Perfect fitment, no scratches,etc. Bottom line is, if the product you DO buy is crap when you get it---SHIP IT BACK, its not that hard. I agree on HQ name brand items such as engine mods, wheels, springs/coilovers, brakes. But as for the rest, i'm not going to pay triple for a peice of plastic that goes above my window when quality,looks,function are identicle to that of a higher priced part. As for example----my handy 2 Lithium Ion, Brinkmann Maxfire flashlight.....$20. Same thing as the corresponding "real" brand "SUREFIRE". There price.....~$65 --ding fries are done-- Its a flashlight, who cares. Would I care if anyone made a comment that I went "rice" on my flashlight, absolutely not. dont get me wrong here, I'm not pissed or anything, its just IMO people get so caught up in Brand names that it gets kinda rediculous. My $40 polarized sunglasses work just as good as a $200 pair of Oakleys( that arent polarized BTW). Trust me, been there. Used to care about brand, thats why a long time ago, I bought those $350 Oakley X-metals. Too bad I lost 'em a year later-------never again will I BLOW my money... *Rant is over*

 

Keep in mind, what I was trying to say wasn't that you should go and buy something because of the brand name, but that you should buy something from a brand that has a good reputation for quality products, irregardless of price. For example, no one can argue that the Progress Auto rear stabilizer is a very well made product at an exceptionally reasonable price, so with something like that available why buy a Cusco knock-off that's poorly made and may even break and cause damage to your car, you, or both? It doesn't make sense. And like you said, I've seen VERY few knock-offs that are even close to the original product in quality.

But jumping back to what I was saying originally, and what justinfox was getting at too, is why do people buy cheap mods when they know the company is crap instead of saving up a little longer and getting the good stuff? Case in point, Megan Racing. I have no idea why people buy their junk when it's known all over the place that their products are mediocre at best. I particularly remember everyone jumping on their headers 'cause 'hey, they're cheap and they're good enough', then one person found out he had leaks in the welds, told others, they found leaks as well, and then everyone was like 'damn, what am I gonna do now?'. Luckily, Megan replaced them w/o too much hassle if I recall, but if you think about it -- was saving the $100 or so really worth the time & hassle of having to deal with a faulty product, let alone the potential dangers as well (exhaust gasses are not healthy for you by any means)? I mean, DC Sports headers are infinitely better built, and not much more expensive, so why can't someone just wait a bit longer and buy those? I just don't get it.

 

I live in Thailand and its not all Rice here, i dont know about Indonesia but Thailand have some quality Jazz/Fits's. I dont know if you saw Jazz/Fit's when you went on holiday? Yes alot of the Jazz/Fit's are owned by girls here cos its an easy car to drive, and that means rice. However on the other side there are people here with Quality modifications to their Jazz/Fit's.
I have some photos to a Jazz/Fit meet in Thailand that i posted befor and there are some poeple that have done engine swaps to B16's and K20's Nitto Turbo systems until HKS and J-Racing turbo systems.
I personaly am in the mist of buying a J-Racing turbo kit my self.
On that note my friend here bought a AT 1.5 VTEC Jazz here and put a Turbo system from Nitto and it muched his tranny. just for those of you thinking of getting a turbo make sure you have the nessercery cooling on the tranny and the correct oil. Especialy if you have a AT and live in a Hot Hummid part of the world.

 

Yeah I get what you are saying, I totally agree with you in principal.
However go back about 10 years to when I was driving my first car and I probably wouldn't have agreed at all Cash was tight and it was tough to hold down a job because the economy where I lived was bottoming out, back then I couldn't even afford the knock off's!

With that in mind, the Fit is probably a lot of people's first car because it is inexpensive and cheap to run. I would guess that saving up for the expensive stuff for some people is acutally just buying the knock off's. All a matter of perspective I guess.

lol, I was just thinking that somebody who drives a fancy sports car (say a 350Z or a Posche) and spends money on souping it up must look at people who soup up the Fit and feel the same way.

 

rice and beans are good

i just bought mine and i haven't seen anyone in GA w/ a modded fit, much less anything "ricey"

 

all i have to say is...why everybody is modding their cars lately to be JDM?
many of these peoples tend to say that what's not JDM or JDM style is just Rice. Me instead, for example, got off buying another style of LED taillights for my Fit, since i thought they looked cool and nobody has them, or had them when i got em. I too have gone with a little of japanese theme on to my car, but it is because of my preferences. PEople just call rice some car mods they really dont like.

Another example, many years ago having a bodykit was the sh!t. Today It's not too much, unless its a simple bodykit made by a reputable brand.(mostly japanese)

Rice= "i dont like"...nobody cant really tell what rice is since its like saying whats cool or not. Its about personal thoughts...

 

Spoon and Mugen is rice in my opinion, because their engine mods are often(or always) don't gain as much as USDM parts do but cost so much more and just look shiny and cool.

I don't own Fit, i have EP3 and for k-series engines JDM stuff is not the best stuff out there. It is overpriced. Like Toda stroker kit,cams, header and what not.

So maybe what you are trying to say is that ppl should do more engine and suspension mods.. just my opinion