Why ruin your car?

[Shifty]

Then there is the whole topic of modifying yourself. Whilst I love modifying my car to make it how I want it, I find personal modifications quite wrong. Each to thier own

[ruku]

If you don't like it, don't do it...

You don't like lowered cars, don't get it done, it's that simple.

Yes I agree, I'm not a fan of bodykits, and if I see a "chavved up" car, I usually think Why oh why did they do that. But at the end of the day it's their choice.

It's almost like saying, why would people ask for all the optional extra's...

[apd007]

You'd think the millions of pounds that VW spends on designing cars that they'd get the best compromise of performance/safety/appearance/aerodynamics possible within all the relevant laws that govern vehicle design.

And there in lies the reason why people mod.

All car manufacturers design their cars to appeal to the widest number of people possible, ALL car design is a compromise, not just in terms of performance/comfort but also to cost. Modifying allows the end user (the driver) to alter that balance to something closer to their ideals, sacrificing something else, normally performance for comfort.

Personally, I hate the whole spoilers on every panel look on a 1.0 litre Corsa, or indeed pretty much any standard car, but there are very few cars on this forum that have all the looks but no go, the vast majority have had engine and suspension work done so they have the balls to go with the looks.

[Gillywibble]

At what point does modification become tacky?

[WaveyDavey]

At what point does modification become tacky?

Are you trying to say thats tacky?????

Cheers

Dave.

[Duggie]

It's all about making it your own, having something personal and enjoying it. Modifying our cars doesn't make us worse drivers, in fact, i'd say mods like springs and remaps force us to focus more when driving! Someone tell this guy, for god's sake!

[TeflonTom]

Then there is the whole topic of modifying yourself. Whilst I love modifying my car to make it how I want it, I find personal modifications quite wrong. Each to thier own

what you mean like me?? nobody else has touched my felicia, all my own work:confused:

anybody can go to a specialist tuning firm and pay through the nose for them to do everything, but where's the fun in that??

[Shifty]

what you mean like me?? nobody else has touched my felicia, all my own work:confused:

anybody can go to a specialist tuning firm and pay through the nose for them to do everything, but where's the fun in that??

I mean piercings, tattoos, - body modifications. Thanks for the dig at me though

[TeflonTom]

Thanks for the dig at me though

:confused: not having a dig at anybody

[Decron]

Yeah but your only as old as the person you feel dave, you know that.

Careful. Thats what Gary Glitter thought!

[sms]

Im 37 with a chavved up fabia

i wouldnt call it chavved up, nearly everything is missing from the inside

[sms]

It's all about making it your own, having something personal and enjoying it. Modifying our cars doesn't make us worse drivers, in fact, i'd say mods like springs and remaps force us to focus more when driving! Someone tell this guy, for god's sake!

but the insurers playing devils advocate (and to extract more money) will say what is wrong with your car before all this and will look at it as you going to be racing around. having all the above doesnt make you a better driver, just makes your car handle better in the correct hands.

[Mr Wobblytickle]

I bought a Fabia vRS and I have done absolutely nothing to it. This is because the car is very good. Colouring in the grille with a marker pen does not make it look better. Nor does cutting holes in the front and applying cheap wire mesh from B&Q. Why take something that is perfectly good and then try your best to make it look like a chav on acid has spent half a day with his deranged 'crew' making your car look 'sick' or 'hench' or even perhaps like a 'clungewagon'? I also dont understand why somebody should want to lower their car so that there is virtually no clearance between the tyres and the wheel-arch? To my mind, doing that makes your car pretty useless when driving over any terrain other than a perfectly smooth and level surface.

OK then, let's break it down...

It seems some here are attacking a 'straw man'.

As far as I can see, d_milek does not actually state that modifications/personalisations/customisations are the work of Satan himself.

What he does not personally find attractive are cheap-looking/amateurish bodges that detract from the form or function of the car.

And who would disagree with that?

Apart, of course, from chavs on acid etc.

However, saying that cheap-looking/amateurish bodges are not attractive is a tautology and is the same as saying stinky stuff has an unpleasant odour.

The statement is self-evident and literally goes without saying.

I bought a Fabia vRS and I have done absolutely nothing to it. This is because the car is very good.

I agree.

That said, as bonny as the car is, it could still look better.

Skoda themselves apparently thought so too, as is evidenced by the vRS looking considerably better than the base model Fabia.

Other manufacturers seem to be of similar minds also, as their ST, GTi and R-Types etc all look much better than the base models.

It must be remembered that these uprated cars are not the ultimate evolution of the model, but simply what was judged to be worth spending some extra cash in the manufacturing process to get some extra cash back when they are sold.

Clearly, when mods are done tastefully and with respect to form and function, they can easily exceed what the original engineers and designers had in mind (or had in mind, but were not allowed to do).

Colouring in the grille with a marker pen does not make it look better. Nor does cutting holes in the front and applying cheap wire mesh from B&Q.

Perhaps, perhaps not.

It's not necessarily the cost or nature of the materials, but the quality of the workmanship, so each case would have to be judged on its own merits.

Why take something that is perfectly good and then try your best to make it look like a chav on acid has spent half a day with his deranged 'crew' making your car look 'sick' or 'hench' or even perhaps like a 'clungewagon'?

Or, put more succinctly, 'cheap-looking, bodged mods look cheap and bodged'.

Self-evident and goes without saying.

Have I mentioned yet that salt tastes really salty?

I also dont understand why somebody should want to lower their car so that there is virtually no clearance between the tyres and the wheel-arch? To my mind, doing that makes your car pretty useless when driving over any terrain other than a perfectly smooth and level surface.

Fair enough.

Who would disagree that too low is not too low?

Again, it's self-evident and goes without saying.

However, a bit lower, not too low, of course, is fine.

Skoda thought so, as is borne out by the vRS being lower than the base model.

As such, it handles better and still manages to get over speed bumps etc without any trouble.

That said, there is still clearly room for improvement, and while dropping the car a few cms more will sharpen the car up a fair bit, if done with respect to function, then one need not worry about becoming beached on every traffic calming measure.

Edited 21 September, 2008 by Mr Wobblytickle

[Jaymz]

well thats some pretty good breaking down there, think thats the first time on this forum iv seen some trouble being caused :S

[Mr Wobblytickle]

well thats some pretty good breaking down there...

Thanks.

Didn't mean to kill the thread, though.

[Maffu]

If your original statement was correct,then a standard car would beat a moddified one round a track,well having driven both round the same track i can quite honestly say this is not the case.

You have a large obessesion with track performance, which is puzzling given your acquisition of a diesel Fabia. Wasn't there a 106 Rallye showing the way on the Skoda track session this year at Trax?

I think a mild remap will make it a better car on the road. The 'extreme' tuning done to increase performance on track has seen me not want to go down that route. I think a lot is sacrificed for very little, which is why I kinda agree with the OP. [if it's not a banned member in disguise...]

Yes, I'm being a snob, but up until a year ago, the cut out bumpers, neons, lexus lights 'modified' Fabias were few and far between. Seem a regular occurance these days. I think the average age of the Fabia vRS owner is falling - which will mean the average insurance quote will go the other way. Guess the 'tart' modifying stuff just adds to the stereotype.

[Maffu]

It's all about making it your own, having something personal and enjoying it. Modifying our cars doesn't make us worse drivers, in fact, i'd say mods like springs and remaps force us to focus more when driving! Someone tell this guy, for god's sake!

.

No. It'll make you think you can take a corner quicker, or brake that little later. Whilst the car's performance is upgraded, your [no you personally, Doug] driving capabilities aren't. Ergo; crash.

[ap0gee1978]

No. It'll make you think you can take a corner quicker, or brake that little later. Whilst the car's performance is upgraded, your [no you personally, Doug] driving capabilities aren't. Ergo; crash.

:+1: On the practice / appraisal laps round Don Palmer's course at Bruntingthorpe, my Fabia was the fastest out of it, an LS250, an Elise and a race-prepped Exige S. Not that my car was faster, or that I ended the day the best driver, but I was the only one to start with who had a decent handle on how my car performed, and who didn't spin it on the S-bends. I don't consider myself an excellent driver by any means (either before or since the car control course), but there really is more to driving fast than...

POWERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[phil_monk]

just sounds to me like the original poster is either an OAP or wishes his car was like some of ours.....

I Don't agree with the messing with the suspension causes crashes. if i hadn't had my coilovers when I was spun on the motorway I would of been on my side.

Modifications are ok if there done correctly. I happen to think that most of the teenagers on here seem to be good lads with, in my view, good taste on modifications. To be honest would a chav with his "Crew" as you put it ( dont think teenagers even use that word anymore) would be able to finance a 5K turbo conversion.

at the end of the day we all have our own view and freedom of expression is something i think we should all celebrate, by either posting your views here or by modifying your motor......... but i don't think you should suppress peoples freedom to express themselves.

[chris_newell41]

here here to the 1st post! but everyone is different and want to make their own mark on their cars.

I do agree most cars on here that have been fettled quite a bit on the exterior do look absolutley shocking. And there is a reason.

If that person was that good at design / car design then they would have a job doing that or some similar design job. i'm guessing that there probably is no one in that category modding their cars and therefore the majority look like a bag of nails.

End of the day it's thier car, they are just making your car much more desireable and in the end much better off when come to selling as more and more people look to buy a none modded car.

Leave modders be I think. Tis just the way the world is.

[Lady Elanore]

I have read the OP a few times now and can’t see why he is necessarily wrong or even disagreeing with most of the Brisky peeps on here. As I read it,

1) He likes the Fabia in standard vRS form which most will agree with (I do and I have never owned one)

2) He doesn’t like cheap and nasty bodges ie mesh that has been badly coloured say black, does show lots of silver bits where the wires criss/cross and make the whole thing look unseemly. I think we all agree with this too.

3) Over modding your car to the point of making it no longer a ‘Drivers car’ but a Poseurs Wagon will annoy or upset most (but not all) vRS lovers.

4) Extreme Cosmetic modding is more than a little gauche, again a lot of ppl on here would agree with that too.

I think the OP probably doesn’t like modding cars at any level really, but he is only expressing his views and the OP itself didn’t really say anything that was that offensive. I dislike badly modded cars too and even though the owner of such a vehicle would probably be just exercising their aspirations on a tiny budget, the older drivers on here (and some of the younger too) can see the folly of this and wish they could impart their wisdom to the erroneous modder (ie just wait till resale time comes!). Like most things in life that we are passionate about, it is difficult to stand back and be objective. I have made these mistakes myself, with cars and clothes (I still have a Raa Raa skirt in the loft ).

I can’t say whether the OP would dislike a properly performance modded car, one that has had much research and development work done in order to increase power sensibly, sharpen the handling or braking and of which there are several here on Brisky (you know who you are guys) I can personally testify that my Uber wagon has been shown a dirty pair of heals by one of these (no guesses whose car did that, but he did have to take the light stack off in order to do it though:P). So although the OP was certainly starting a thread that will generate discussion, is he really trolling?

:peepwall:

Edited 22 September, 2008 by Lady Elanore

[phil_monk]

The pink hurts my eyes lol

[SwimmerBoy]

...

That said, as bonny as the car is, it could still look better.

Skoda themselves apparently thought so too, as is evidenced by the vRS looking considerably better than the base model Fabia....

Thought this was because they wanted a rally car based on the Fabia, but by Rally rules it has to be based on a production car and be longer than 4m? I'm sure I read somewhere that Skoda decided to release the VRS and lengthen the bumpers to give them the 7cm (or whatever) extra to get over the 4m mark.

Saying that, I much prefer the VRS's looks over standard but I'm saying no more as I flat out refuse to jump on this bandwagon!

[Jigger72]

Well that killed 20 minutes. Thanks everyone :rofl:

As for my Octavia, I'm keeping it sleepy looking to discourage idiots from trying it on, and Christ there's enough out there who think they can race but in actual fact they're just putting my boy's life in danger (yep, that's right, they even try the old lane-weave, sharp-brake, full-revs chestnut, when it's obvious I have a baby in the car seat). All they see is the 20v Turbo badge and assume I'm a **** swinger (I should get it removed – the badge, not my …). However, when I'm on my own and feel the need for speed, it's there and I can have a pleasurable drive on my own terms. The car is still safe and true with the modifications, probably safer with better brakes and steering, so why not do a little modding?

Sorry, had to get the tuppence worth in

[jabba_luke]

Have to agree with the original poster. Whilst I'm extremely grateful for the technical help I receive on this forum (and I try to contribute my experiences where relevant). The whole forum is rather frustratingly dominated by a bunch of chavvy teenagers. One presumes of a slightly better class than one would find on a Corsa forum, but chavvy teenagers just the same. I really don't understand this whole lowering/noisy exhaust thing that goes on. You'd think the millions of pounds that VW spends on designing cars that they'd get the best compromise of performance/safety/appearance/aerodynamics possible within all the relevant laws that govern vehicle design. Then some spotty 18 year old comes along and just trashes it. What I really don't understand is why the Government doesn't regulate this VERY strictly. What's the point of having laws governing Euro NPAC tests, emissions, noise etc., then allow the arftermarket to p*ss all over them. Loud exhausts should particularly be banned - no point to them what so ever apart from to make up for any lacking in manhood and to really p*ss off anyone else around with the excessive noise. Lots of the other mods on here involve chopping the front bumper about (compromising safety in an accident) and otherwise messing with the suspension which again can compromise handling and cause accidents. When you add the total costs of all this together why don't you all just buy a second hand Porsche or something properly racy instead rather than try and turn an old fart mobile (which the Fabia is) into something its not. Some of the final results - like the earlier photos, just make the occupants look like complete kn*bs, I really can't believe that anyone could ever think that it makes you "cool". I only hope that all the mods on here are properly accounted for with the relevant authorities and insurances. Don't even get me started on those that try to modify a 1.4 mpi or 1.2.......

Your one of them people that drives at 40mph on a 60mph limit road in clear conditions but when someone overtakes (when its perfectly clear and safe to do so) at 60mph, you flash your lights at them because you dont think its rite arnt you?

Out of interest, do you think my car looks "chavy" because its lowered and im 20?

certian mods do look gash, but its down to personal preferance,

others modify to account for other things, more power means you will need to stop quicker so you fit bigger brakes, but then you need bigger wheels to clear these, whilst your there you fit some better tyres to keep it on the road and fit better suspension to make the car handle better!

If someone wants to spend THERE OWN money on making THERE car how THEY like it then why moan about it.... it doesnt affect you? there not doing it to your car are they?

If we were all sheeps we would all be driving Civics trying to keep it in v-tec to be able to get up the next hill

Edited 22 September, 2008 by jabba_luke