8 Car Modifications That Inadvertently Reduce Performance

The fun and excitement of purchasing a new car is on one side and installing mods and accessories is on the other. We have to agree, that be it either of the two situations, it’ll be emptying your wallet. Keeping that aside, mods can either be for the motion or against the motion, it solely depends on the mod. That said, be it any mod Indians are obsessed with all the modifications available in the market. So without wasting further time, here are 8 mods that do bad rather than good.

1. Overdone Body Kits
   

   

   One has to agree that a well designed and engineered body kit looks and works well. They do help in enhancing the performance of the vehicle by making the vehicle more aerodynamic. But things start to take a wrong turn when these kits are used to enhance the aesthetics or rather overdo the aesthetics. A poorly manufactured body kit may lead to the worst aero making the vehicle slow and heavy.

2. Large spoilers
   

   

   If you are not aware of the fact that the Spoilers do enhance something in the car. Additionally, they are not well informed of what exactly does a spoiler do. Spoilers? they provide downforce to the vehicle to increase the cornering capabilities of a vehicle. An active spoiler or aero enables the car to take corners at high speeds at the cost of straight-line speed. But on the contrary, it is not of any use if you wanna drive straight. In short, it increases drag and hence slows you down on the road. One should also consider the weight of the spoiler as they are not light.

3. Aftermarket (Cheap) Alloy Wheels
   

   

   Developing an alloy wheel is not a child’s play. Carmakers spend their kith and kin researching an alloy wheel specific for a car. For you to know, many variables are considered before making an alloy. On the contrary, here in India alloy wheels are readily available in the aftermarket shops. Yes! we agree that they surely enhance the aesthetics of the vehicle. But if they are not well engineered or are not from a reputed brand they are of no use. They’ll do bad rather than good. Many of local aftermarket alloy wheels are often heavier than the steel rims that the car gets from the factory. Increasing the unsprung mass is something you would not like to do it’ll decrease many attributes more importantly power and efficiency.

4. Ultra-Wide Tyres
   

   

   These are the mods that are more prominent in SUVs and we bet that people are obsessed with wide tyres. If in an SUV does not have wide tyres, (how wide? Well, wider than the fenders) it is no SUV mate! But let me tell you they are not good for the vehicle. Commenting on the aesthetics is not right as it varies from person to person. With that said, wide tyres have a negative impact on the suspension, on the steering system. This is because it puts unnecessary load on those components. These components get affected as wire tyres increase the overall unsprung mass of the vehicle.

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5. Straight Pipes (Without Tuning)
   

   

   Loud exhausts save lives, but is it exactly the case? In some way or the other, it enhances the vehicle’s presence on the road. Keeping the positive part aside, it is not good for the environment for obvious reasons. Secondly, each and every vehicle running on EFI does require tuning to run straight pipes (Which is expensive). If not tuned, the vehicle will have a drastic dip in performance and life. (For more technical things, the modern engine requires some backpressure to run and straight pipes are deprived to provide that)
   PS. Running a vehicle on straight pipes does enhance the performance of the vehicle when tuned properly. But it is not recommended as the emission are thrown straight out in the atmosphere.

6. Aftermarket Air Filter (Without Tuning)
   

   

   Similar to the aftermarket exhaust, running a car on a performance air filter requires ECU tuning. Though modern engines are smart enough to detect changes in attributes such as the amount of air entering the intake manifold through MAF or Mass Air Flow Sensor. Despite that, the ECU is not able to extract the max potential out of the air filter. But when properly tuned with a proper exhaust system it does wonders to the power figures of the vehicle. But when using it as a stock filter, you’ll be wasting your money.

7. Bullbar (Illegal) & Roof Rails
   

   

   Adding weights of any sort to a vehicle will have a bad impact on the performance. The vehicle has to pull more weight, hence more power has to be drawn in turn reducing efficiency drastically. Heavy bull bars also hamper airbag actuation, decreasing the overall safety of the vehicle. This was also the first and most prominent reason to ban the aftermarket bull bars. Even additional roof rails and aftermarket sunroofs increase the overall sprung mass of the vehicle making it even difficult for the engine to run efficiently.

8. High Octane Fuel
   

   

   One would agree, high octane fuel is mouth-watering and it is even better when we consider the price over the conventional fuel (Wink-Wink). That said, unless not mentioned in the user manual of the vehicle, one should NOT run the vehicle on premium fuel. Usually, high compression petrol engines require a high octane fuel to run efficiently and extract the most out of the engine. This is because premium fuel has a higher octane number than conventional fuel. But putting the high octane fuel in an engine with low compression ratio will result in problems. This can lead to pre-ignition or detonation for one and this would lead to more carbon deposition in the engine.

Also, Read Tata Sumo: The SUV you know, Its Origins you don’t!

So, there were the mods that one should avoid doing, as mods cost money and if they hamper the performance in a negative way that’s even worse.

Fun Read: Types of Automatic Transmission Systems Available In India Explained