Tag Archives: Vehicle Styling

Vehicle Styling and Lighting

There are a lot of people out there all over the world that have a passion for cars and virtually all of these people value their own cars and consider them to be their pride and joy. The people that seem to take the most pride in their cars are the type of people who would never be seen in a dirty car, people who religiously follow a cleaning routine and people who are always keen to improve their car.

Many people decide to make modifications to their cars in order to improve the appearance, the performance or the ‘feel-good factor’ they get when they drive their car. There are literally thousands of different parts on the market to modify any car and knowing what to do and when to do it is often difficult. This guide should provide readers with an idea of what modifications are considered to be essential and in what order to do them. Obviously this topic is very opinionated but there is nothing worse than seeing a car that doesn’t have its priorities right.

It is important to remember that everybody is different and everybody has their own opinions. The best advice I can give is to do a mod or buy a product because you like it and not because somebody has told you they think it is cool. Obviously there are many experts out there and their advice is very valuable. It is therefore important to be able to distinguish between the valuable information people give you and just somebody’s subjective views.

There are many types of mod you can do to your car but generally, they fall into three major categories: performance, styling (interior and exterior), and ICE (In Car Entertainment).

You should consider working out a budged when modifying a car as this is often the main factor in deciding which upgrade to do next. If you stick to your budget, you should have a good balance of performance, styling and ICE. After all, most people would love a bit of extra power, like their car to look good and like to listen to good quality music at the same time.

I will continue through this article under the assumption that most readers are equally interested in all of these three categories and try to give my opinion on what order to install modifications.

ICE

Without a doubt, the first modification I would do to a car is to get a nice head unit installed. After all, it doesn’t matter what the car looks like if you don’t enjoy driving it. Personally, I like head units that have a cable you can plug into your iPod so you don’t have to mess about with CD’s. Anything that gets your music in your car will do though. 6X9 speakers for the back and component speakers for the front are a must if your budget is big enough. A nice subwoofer and amplifier will make the system sound brilliant, especially if you amp all speakers. Remember, with ICE products, you have to pay for quality. I can’t stress enough how important it is to buy decent audio products. If you buy cheap parts, then don’t expect to get show-winning quality from them.

Styling

Next I would get some nice alloy wheels. However, in my opinion, this is where people make the biggest mistakes. Obviously it is nice to have big wheels but just remember the last thing you want is to make your car look like a tractor. Getting the balance right is very important and the size of wheel you should buy depends on the car. Another mistake people make when buying wheels is to get a set of alloys because they look good in the showroom. You don’t want to spend your hard earned cash on a set of wheels that do not suit the car. Remember, fitting new wheels can change the whole image of the car. Take the time to have a good luck around and get it right the first time round. It will only cost you more in the long run if you rush into things and regret it.

The main problem when fitting alloys is your car starts to look too high. It is very likely that the wheels you buy will be bigger than the factory fitted wheels. Therefore, the car sits slightly higher on the new wheels. Fitting lowering springs or a full suspension kit will solve this problem, as well as improve handling. If you can afford it, I would recommend buying your lowering kit with the wheels and fitting them together. Most people tend to lower their car between 40mm and 60mm but other sizes are available. One piece of advice I can give here is to remember speed bumps. The lower you go, the more trouble you will have with speed bumps.

Performance

Now you have a nice ICE install and a decent set of wheels, a new exhaust is the next thing to buy. This will make your car look, sound and perform better. There are many options when it comes to exhausts but remember, if it doesn’t suit the car, don’t buy it. The size of your budget will probably be the main determinant on whether you get just a back box or a full stainless system. Don’t forget about your insurance company though. It is likely that your premium will go up when you install any performance product.

An induction kit will make your car sound much better and slightly increases power. Therefore, I would get this product installed next. Although you can’t see it, it will make a difference and your car will sound much better.

In my opinion, at this point, all of the essential parts will now be installed. Your next mod depends very much on what you want your car to look like and which of the three areas you are most interested in. Everything in this guide is based upon my own opinions and others may disagree but remember, your opinion is the most important one. There may be cheaper mods that you wish to do in between the ones suggested here but that is entirely up to you.

Whilst modding your car, remember that a standard clean car will always look 10 times better than a modified dirty car. Besides, cleaning your car is cheap!

Written by:
Craig Dixon,