We live in a world where information can
be obtained about almost anything with the help of Google, almost
anything can be bought with the help of Amazon or E-bay and then
there is the opportunity to read reviews written by people who already bought the product to form a better understanding of it. So why is everyone putting
giant wings on fwd cars and fake air intakes? As much as there are
useful modifications which have proven to be beneficial to the
performance of your car there are completely useless add-ons and
mods. Here are 5 useless modifications which are sure to tell any
petrol head you have absolutely no automotive knowledge.
1 Antistatic
Back in the 1980s, in my home country,
there was a car modification which in my opinion can summarize why
people buy these useless modifications. It was called “Anti-static”
and it represented a thin line of rubber that had one end attached to
the rear bumper and the other one left to drag on the road. The
purpose of this breakthrough invention was to reduce static
electricity and prevent petrol fumes from igniting. The problem with
this modification was that the four tires every car has, kind of are made from the same material.
2 Fake wings on FWD cars.
As anyone with a bit of automotive
knowledge would know large rear wings are used on RWD cars to provide
increased downforce which results in increased grip. However the
speeds at which a rear wing is effective are way above the national
speed limit. This is why normal cars, even RWD ones, don't have large
rear wings and this technology is reserved for super cars. If a FWD
car has a large rear wing and does in fact achieve a speed where the
wing actually provides downforce, to the great surprise of the
teenage owner, the car would actually handle worse than before. As
the wing is pushing down on the rear wheels they have more grip than
the front ones and as this is a FWD car the front tyres will struggle
to find traction and the teenage racecar driver will soon find
himself in the nearest hedge because the car understeered as a
“female dog”.
3 fake plastic air intakes
The Lamborghini Murcielago has electric
retractable air intakes that help cool the massive V12 at the back
and the Subaru Impreza STI has a hood scoop so the intercooler
that is on top of the engine can get fresh air. By putting a fake
plastic air scoop on your naturally aspirated family sedan that
already has an optimal cooling system installed by the manufacturer
ricers are not only making the car uglier but also making the car
slower and less fuel efficient. This happens because the fake vents
and scoops are creating drag that makes the car use more fuel as it
struggles to cut through the air with all the plastic scoops sticking
out of it.
4 fake carbon fibre
Carbon fibre is a widely used material
in motorsport because of its lightness and that it is stronger than
steel. Many car makers have adopted this trend an are offering
optional fibre parts or panels. So by now everybody can spot the
difference between real carbon fibre and fake carbon vinyl. I can
cope with small details like hubcaps and trim that are
professionally done and sprayed over with a clear coat but wrapping
the whole roof of the car is unacceptable. The same can be said
about interior trim wrapped in carbon vinyl as seen in many 2000s
BMWs. Why make the dash seem more cheap by putting 2£ vinyl on the
already cheap plastic. The only interior modifications I condone is
either with real carbon fibre trim pieces that are small so they
don't take the attention away from the original interior or to wrap
the whole dashboard in alcantara.
5 windscreen wiper spoilers
Let me first start by saying:
windscreen wiper spoilers do have a purpose after all. They are put
on high performance premium cars that are designed to cross
continents at lightning speeds. At the Autobahn the wipers without
spoilers simply cannot clean the windscreen because they are picked
up by the wind. But the Saxo with wiper spoilers across the street
can't do Autobahn speeds, especially with branded aluminium spoilers with strange holes and sharp angles.
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