What Is JDM?

So you have heard all about JDM cars and are wondering what all the fuss is about. Well let me give you a prior warning JDM Cars are ADDICITVE! In fact if you finish reading this page and you’re not hooked ill eat my own muffler.

So what are JDM Cars?

JDM is an acronym and stands for Japanese Domestic Market… Great, but what does that mean i hear you cry. Well it literately means “cars that are from Japan, and sold in Japan”.

Now this doesn’t narrow it down much does it!

The description above pretty much covers all cars from all Japanese manufacturers… This is where things get a little more complicated. When talking about car modification JDM cars means something slightly different. Let me explain….

There are two main types of car styling when it comes to Japanese vehicles these are called “Rice” and “JDM”. (See our page on JDM cars for young drivers)

JDM Cars – NOT RICE!

What is JDM.. NOT RICE! Rice is the typical boy racer style of making your car as loud and  as visible as possible. Adding things  to you car like huge spoilers that belong on aircraft, exhausts with holes in trying to make a 1.3 litre Honda civic sound like a twin turbo Nissan skyline. Under car neon’s so bright you can see the car from space… All without enhancing the performance noticeably at all.  See the picture below – you get the idea..

A Ricer, The Enemey of JDM Cars!

As you can see this is a horrible styling option, and essentially paints a huge sign on your car saying “im a looser”. 9/10 JDM cars enthusiasts despise rice and ricers (the owners of rice styled cars).

So TELL ME what IS JDM?!

The reason JDM is used as a term to classify a type of modification is simply because its what the car enthusiasts in Japan do… Despite what you have seen in the fast and furious Tokyo drift, JDM cars are styled totally the opposite to their evil rice cousins.

What is JDM? JDM is a much more subtle and sophisticated styling method, with a large emphasis on keeping the original styling of the car visible.

Cleanliness is a HUGE part of styling JDM CARS. If you think you know how to clean a car well, you need to see how some of the top dogs in the JDM cars world do it. Its another level of clean, hospitals are dirtier than some of the engine bays ive seen.

Dents, rust, chips, scratches – no good repair them!  Polish that paint to a mirror shine, get all the brake dust off your rims, take the seats out and carpet clean your interior… You get the idea.

JDM cars are much more attractive when they are hyper clean, in fact its key to the styling of JDM cars. Not a super clean car? Then its going to look a lot like any other standard car… The first step to modifying JDM cars is to CLEAN them! What is JDM? JDM is clean.

Instead of totally different fenders that look like they belong on a space ship that you would find on a ricer, JDM cars fenders will be much like the original but with a slight twist. Subtle, sophisticated.

Many times fenders are not even replaced, simply lips are added to the bottom of them to give a unique and subtle appearance.

Performance is usually the main factor in JDM cars, and if the parts make the car look sexy – then its a bonus!  This is why some JDM addicts have pristine engine bays so clean you can eat your dinner off them. Its the visual aspect of the power and performance that looks sexy. And once you learn to love it – there is no going back. You’re hooked

However with all of this power obviously comes higher insurance premiums. Due to their value and performance JDM cars are often targeted by criminals for theft. They can be used to commit a crime and escape, and then be broken down into parts and sold for further profit. Several car insurers make insurance for jdm cars much more expensive than domestic cars. Specialist insurers are hard to come by but we personally use (and highly recommend as they give low prices to JDM car enthusists) bestquotes.com…. If you like the idea of getting a JDM car then the first step should be to see if you can afford the insurance.

So there you have it – a basic answer to what is jdm.