Ironically, the term was initially in regards to cheap asian performance cars. "Rice Rocket / Ricer" was used for cars you could buy cheap, which had good performance and above average handling. A concept rather foreign to 'performance' american drivers in their heavy Ford Mustangs with webber carbs and big block engines.
And the people who said it wern't saying it to be nice.
Its all history now since Honda is #1 in the american market tuning... heck, I wonder how many kids even think about american cars when they start looking for their first fast ride.
This, I think, is where you see the new definition of ricer evolve. The latest generation of 'peformance' owners have no experience or interest in what actually makes a performance car. They just injest what they see in popular culture mags/tv/internet and slap the same ol shit to the same ol cars.
At least in the UK and europe, tuning seems to have been in reaction to the high cost of big engine performance cars. Young driver just can't afford anything past a 1.0l lupo and decide to spend their time building bigger sound systems and add silly big accessories to the car. I still think its a waste of time, but at least it makes some sence.
Oh well, I guess this is getting OT.
I still think most of this series was shot pre slipped discs, and they drugged up JC as little as possible to fill in the rest of the season. Probably after they reviewed the Ascari video and saw how poorly RH pulled it off. Besides, why would you risk your biggst asset to long term damage?