At Carshop, we realise that you want to dress your car to impress or stand out in the ever-burgeoning crowd of metal – but here are just a few easy ways to waste away your street credibility, and stick out like a sore thumb.
Keep in mind also the fact that these are all great ways to get the attention of the law, and not in a good way.
1 Undercarriage lighting
Image: XSirSlaughterX - DeviantArt
Hey don’t feel too bad about this one, we were all seduced by the sillier side of the Fast and Furious movies. Red, green, blue and pink neons – they're not functional, not cool and will draw unwanted attention.
There's the beginning of a trend here too, see undercar lighting is quite affordable, as are all the bad tuning mods. But none so terrible as the too-cheap-to-be-tasteful sticker mods.
When it’s okay: When your Lamborghini produces 1000HP, and you live in Tokyo.
2 Sticker mods
Image: Google
We’ve all seen them, Honda Civics with GT-R badges, Volkswagen OPCs and Mazda Mugens. To break it down, it’s the misguided approach at upgrading your car with the sort of R50 badge you can buy at Midas or AutoStyle.
In itself, not necessarily a crime, but folks are sticking Nissan addenda onto rival marques and that is just unacceptable. It makes you look like you know nothing about cars so just don’t do it.
When it’s okay: It’s okay for your Mazda MX-5 to have a TRD (Toyota Racing Developments) sticker on its rump when you’ve dropped a 2JZ Supra motor in it. Then, kudos to you.
3 Spoiler Alert
Image: Reddit
Massive wings are cool. Massive wings on front-wheel-drive hatchbacks and saloons are not. The whole point of a spoiler is aerodynamics. In this case, their job is to shove the driven wheels into the tarmac for extra traction because traction equals speed and grip.
When you do it on your Honda Ballade however you’re creating lift and probably taking the weight of the nose of your car. That means less grip. And less speed. And hell if your credibility ain’t out the window as well.
When it’s okay: Never. Really. Okay, maybe if it’s a factory part and it’s subtle we can sign it off as styling. Or if you’re feeling supremely ironic.
4 Death by exhaust
Image: Youtube
A stainless steel exhaust system is great. Suddenly your car sounds and responds better, till you’re highway cruising when what was a symphony is now just a laborious drone, set to drive you nuts.
By all means upgrade, but ask your fitter for something that’s not going to sound like you’ve roused a hive of metal bumble bees. Also if the back silencer is bigger than a jumbo coffee can and your exhaust tip is big enough to park a Mini inside, you’ve botched the job.
When it’s okay: If you absolutely detest your neighbours.
What do you think? Have you managed to avoid these pitfalls? And would you be interested in a list of things you should be doing, to do it correctly?
