What “not” to do while modifying your car

There are many of us for whom cars aren’t just a medium of transport from place A to B. They are much more than that. All the car enthusiasts out there would understand exactly what we are trying to say here. For us, cars are a reflection of our personality and character. We treat them as a member of our family, don’t we? They are special to us. And in our never-ending endeavour of making them more special, we tend to modify them.

There is a huge market for car modifications here in the Philippines. There are a plethora of aftermarket parts available that can totally change your car’s nature. Yes, you can explore a lot of methods of modifying your ride, but it’s extremely important that you don’t push it over the line. Building any car requires a lot of R&D and there’s a reason why a car manufacturer decides to go ahead with a particular part on a particular car. That’s why you should always keep your car modification orgy in control. Here are a few points about what "not" to do while modifying your car.

Don’t go bizarre with the lighting

People usually tend to put extra lighting on their vehicles. We understand that you want to have more visibility at night or perhaps want to make your car more noticeable in the dark, but going overboard with lights can lead to serious safety issues and violation of rules. For example, the headlamps of a car should throw a white or yellow light. Going for any other colour not only puts you high on the police radar but also makes your car look very immature. Also, putting extra lights on your car could be a distraction for other motorists on the road and can cause accidents.

Ditch the loud aftermarket exhaust

This is a common modification that most of the users make. Nothing sounds better than an aftermarket loud exhaust system, right? However, not everyone feels the same. For you, revving up your car and getting those backfires shots would be thrilling but for others, it could be very irritating. It’s nothing else but noise pollution. You can get a ticket for this as well. If you do want to get an aftermarket exhaust, make sure you get it from a reputed company and it’d be even better if you use it only for track purposes.

Never tinker with the registration plate

Registration plates should always be placed where they are clearly visible. There should not be any object blocking them. That’s why you get the plates fitted on the front and rear bumper of your car. Never tinker with its location as it might put you in some legal trouble. If you are performing some modification on a part of your car that involves the registration plate, make sure that the registration plate is clearly visible after the customisation process is completed. And it’s not just the location of the registration plate, both the font and content of the plate have to follow a certain prescribed pattern. Don’t change that or add some cheesy one-liners on the plate.

Avoid modifying parts which might affect the handling

Each and every part of your car is tried and tested by the company. There are some really significant parts like suspension and tyres which play a crucial role in your safety. Parts like these affect the handling of your car as well and that’s why you should avoid modifying them at all. Don’t get us wrong here, you can, of course, replace your set of tyres with better ones but make sure that the new ones match the configuration.

So, these were some of the tips regarding what "not" to do while modifying your car. Let us know if there is something you would like to add and also if you have done any modifications to your car.