The practicalities of car modifications

It can be quite easy to tell when someone has put a lot of love and care into their car. Many of the vehicles you see on the road have modifications that weren’t there when they rolled out of the factory, though most people assume that these changes only impact the appearance of a car.

In reality, many of the most common car modifications you see on the market have very good reasons for being there. To give you an idea of what each of these changes will do, this post will be exploring some of the most popular car mods on the market while highlighting their practical benefits.

Stereos

Cars have long had stereos, providing entertainment for those driving them. The stock stereo that comes with your car is likely to be quite cheap, lacking features like BlueTooth, internet connectivity, and the ability to play uncompressed media files.

Options from companies like Alpine can change this for you, giving you access to everything you could want from the sound system in your car. Speakers can also be replaced in most vehicles, giving you even more options when it comes to improving your care without having to throw money into it in the process.

Body kits/spoilers

Next up, it’s time to think about the physical shape of your car’s body. Body kits are designed to make your car look like something else, with many options reflecting the sort of cars you see on race tracks. Spoilers can also be added to the rear and front of your car, but they do much more than simply looking good.

Body kits and spoilers are primarily designed to use air to pull a car closer to the road. This helps to increase traction, making it far less likely that a car will skid out of control when going around corners. This is most useful at high speeds, but will still make a difference on normal roads.

Wheels & tyres

Wheels are possibly the most common car modification on the market, with even those who don’t care about the look of their car going down this route from time to time. A wheel with thick spokes and exposed nuts will be great for outdoor adventures, while a more refined option would be better for showing off around your city.

Tyres can also make a huge difference, with smooth options being faster on smooth roads and chunky tyres with heavy grips being great for use off-road.

Tinted windows

Tinted windows are often associated with gangsters and criminals, as this is how they are portrayed in the media. Along with making just about car look cool, though, tinted windows have a lot of practical benefits that can’t be ignored. For example, tinted windows give you greater privacy, and this can be great when you want to drive somewhere that worries you, as you can keep the occupants of the car free from the glares of those outside.

Of course, though, you have to make sure that you follow the law when you’re choosing something like this, as it can be all too easy to choose a mod that isn’t legal in your location.

Seats & seatbelts

Cars that are designed for race tracks often have very strange looking seats and seatbelts. The seats will have raised sides and wings, wrapping themselves around the occupant, and making it much harder for physics to move them around.

Harness seatbelts spread the pressure that is put on your body during an accident, making them far less likely to cause injuries thanks to compression. These are one of the main features of any sportscar, and they can be great for safety-conscious drivers on normal roads, too.

Suspension

Suspension is another crucial element of any car, with the bumps in most roads being ironed out when you have this feature. You can upgrade your suspension to make it better for racing, off-road use, or simply commuting, with different levels of hardness being good for different tasks.

For example, a car that is designed to travel at high speeds will usually have very hard suspension, limiting the amount of energy that is wasted by stopping the chassis from moving. Some cars have advanced systems that let you change your suspension on the fly, making it easy to adapt your vehicle to the roads being used.

Turbo/superchargers

Turbochargers and superchargers sound like something out of a sci-fi universe, though they are actually very common. These components are designed to use the emissions from your car to squeeze a little bit of extra power out of them. This is usually achieved by compressing and releasing exhaust fumes, recycling them and drawing extra energy to make your car move faster.

While options like this are often viewed as a speed enhancement, they can also end up saving fuel. You don’t need a large engine to reach high speeds with a turbo or supercharger, and this means that your car won’t consume as much while driving.

New paint

Finally, as the last option to consider, it’s time to think about new paint and wraps. A new paint job can be very expensive, but it can also provide great benefits. Some paints are simply better than others, enabling you to make sure that your car’s outer coating will last as long as possible when you put this effort into it.

Wraps can also be a good option for those that want to change the appearance of their car, protecting the original paint while also providing you with a skin that can be removed whenever you get bored of it.

Modifying a car can seem like a scary process, and a lot of people don’t see any reason to do this to their own vehicle. In reality, though, the benefits of many of these options can apply to anyone, making it well worth putting in the time to make sure that you’re not missing out on simply mods that could drastically improve your driving experience.

** This is a collaborative post