Modified cars.... as popular as they once were?

Muckit

Hi Lads

I've been out of the modifying game since 2005. Made a clean break in 2006 when I traded in and bought a bog standard new car left it alone! You know how it is, it's all or nothing.

Anyways, is it just me, or are there not a many modified cars around anymore? Has the recession taken it's toil?

Back then it FC autostyling, Sleek FX and Icetronix that were the big names in the game among the countless other local bodyshops.

Having gone on googling the other night, I see alot of the websites haven't really been updated in about 3years!!

Is modifying dead and buried?

focus_mad

Muckit wrote: »

Hi Lads

I've been out of the modifying game since 2005. Made a clean break in 2006 when I traded in and bought a bog standard new car left it alone! You know how it is, it's all or nothing.

Anyways, is it just me, or are there not a many modified cars around anymore? Has the recession taken it's toil?

Back then it FC autostyling, Sleek FX and Icetronix that were the big names in the game among the countless other local bodyshops.

Having gone on googling the other night, I see alot of the websites haven't really been updated in about 3years!!

Is modifying dead and buried?

I don't know about dead and buried but it definetly has taken a hit..recession etc..not having money to spend on the car.

I suppose depending on what style you are going for in the modifying makes it more "eye-catching" for loss of a better word. I am more of a DUB style (big alloys, big car etc) myself..

People still buying the same base model cars as used in magazines like redline etc but they are just not going to the same extremes when it comes to modifying.

Atomic Pineapple

I don't think so, I just think it's matured a lot more, lots more people into having a normal car and then a track only car these days with proper modifications, no body styling or anything from the Max Power days.

The one thing I have noticed is a huge shift towards diesel cars and felt speccing them out, especially VAG cars.

Muckit

draffodx wrote: »

no body styling or anything from the Max Power days.

God... forgot about the mags. God I bought them all. Redline, Max Power, God I forget them now..... what was the other one that was thinner than them two, Neil was one of the lads that used do his own stuff??? ... Are Max Power gone now? I don't buy them anymore. The shed and attic are full of them!!

Muckit

Muckit wrote: »

what was the other one that was thinner than them two, Neil was one of the lads that used do his own stuff???

REVS!!

challengemaster

Yeah, as draff says, mods have just matured. People now seem to have some taste

--Kaiser--

I don't think it's anything to do with taste or subtlety, I think it boils down to lack of funds, people just can't spend the money on cars anymore.

In one way I think it's a good thing. Too many 'modified car enthusiasts' do dangerous things with their cars like cut their springs and put ridiculous stretch on tyres. Others have crazy loud exhaust on road cars just to get attention.....

I don't think this is will be a popular viewpoint, but most people modifying cars don't have a clue what they're doing. Why would you modify your suspension if you know nothing about suspension dynamics? Why modify your exhaust if you don't have before and after dyno graphs from someone else proving that it improves power? It boggles my mind when I think about it. A car manufacturer spends potential millions designing a car, some guy thinks he can add some horsepower by changing the air filter?

colm_mcm

I think it's just as popular, but people are getting their stuff from the internet rather than retail shops, also the style these days is more subtle thank god.

barone

i think standard is the new modified,or sleeper look, with the harsher nct and gardai regulations its not worth risking your car by modding it to the extreme..

keep it simple,keep it safe

Zascar

My two cents: 10 years ago it was near impossible for a young person to get insured on any sort of decent sporty, large engined car. So guys would buy small cars and spend money on them, the styling, engine, audio etc. Nowadays I think its a lot easier to get insurance on better cars - plus the cost of used cars has come down significatly. So the young lads are simply going out and buying decent cars in the first place instead of getting sh1tboxes and spending loads of money on them!

Testament1

Money is a big factor for people. A lot of people just cant justify spending largee amounts of money on their cars anymore with the way things are here at the moment. I mean just look at the huge amount of Jap cars for sale on DoneDeal at the moment, a lot for fairly small money too.

A lot of people too have gone off the idea of a fancy road car in favour of having a dedicated track weapon. There is a very healthy drift scene in Ireland and a lot of those guys drive "regular" cars as their daily driver. They then pump whatever money they have into their track car. One only has to browse the builds section on a site like DriftIreland to see that car modifying is still going strong, but a lot of the cars will never see a public road, only track time.

dodderangler

i think its gone t the dogs especially with younger lads just buying ordinary decent cars i remember buying a lancer years ago and puttin bucket seats and spraying the panels inside it and then puttin mivec kit and evo spoiler on it and sprayin it matt black ha state of it but still no one does things like that any more think recession has destroyed the business of modified motors

Midnight_EG

dodderangler wrote: »

i think its gone t the dogs especially with younger lads just buying ordinary decent cars i remember buying a lancer years ago and puttin bucket seats and spraying the panels inside it and then puttin mivec kit and evo spoiler on it and sprayin it matt black ha state of it but still no one does things like that any more think recession has destroyed the business of modified motors

Recession has killed nothing...it's simply all about the go and not about the show these days

dodderangler

yeah but if u think bout it its hard to make a 15 year old car look nice now days cuz it costs too much for kits and stuff and even tuning an engine costs a fortune now it sux:(

challengemaster

massive bodykits look shíte anyway, it's a good thing they cost too much

dodderangler

challengemaster wrote: »

massive bodykits look shíte anyway, it's a good thing they cost too much

i know but even lip kits are costing alot lately

Flyer1

People have moved on to putting more focus on the performance of the car.

The whole modified car thing was crazy during the " celtic tiger " era when everyone had money and every joe soap had a modified car.

One good thing to come out of the recession is that it has weeded out all the nobodys who just got cars because it was the cool thing to do. Nowadays we have a lot more people who have cars as a passion in life rather than a phase.

People are going to the effort now of going different.

SupraSonic_26

Im still into big bodykits and show cars just what im into always have been lucky enough for me ive a good job and money to modify the supra other wise id jsut have a normal car, the scene is i feel not as big back in the day its all power now kits are chepaer but people dont ahve the money for full rsprays and run a big powered car, its the diesel era sure lol!!

SupraSonic_26

SupraSonic_26 wrote: »

Im still into big bodykits and show cars just what im into always have been lucky enough for me ive a good job and money to modify the supra other wise id jsut have a normal car, the scene is i feel not as big back in the day its all power now kits are chepaer but people dont ahve the money for full rsprays and run a big powered car, its the diesel era sure lol!!

Its pretty clear what's happened.
As someone said insurance was a bomb back then and all the young lads bought small cars and poured money into them, most of these lads would have been young guys doing trades and absolutely raking it in during the boom years. Which is why there was so many modified cars and alot to high standard. These lads have all now emigrated and the scene that was is dead.

copeyhagen

its all about the drifting scene now.

for a lot of people, insurance and tax was too much of a killer, so they have a cheap daily and a drift car for track days etc.

Mariusz Pudgyanovski

draffodx wrote: »

The one thing I have noticed is a huge shift towards diesel cars and felt speccing them out, especially VAG cars.

colm_mcm wrote: »

also the style these days is more subtle thank god.

dead right. the latest fashion seems to be a diesel engined german 5 door with big alloys and german font reg plate, xenon bulbs and a nurburgring sticker. blacked out windows perhaps.
a €5 M or S-line badge from halfrauds is a must. debadging is a strategy taken to make the ignorant think its an R32 and not a 1.4.

i dont think there is any 1 reason for this shift, but i do think the recession plus better fuel economy from diesels plus the advances in diesel performance are among the largest factors.

also i think the older "enthusiasts" like to differentiate themselves from the younger "boy racers", who typically take little rat petrols with fart trumpet exhausts and stick bright crap on them. older dudes are more likely to have a few bob to put in the car, which leaves the younger people with little chance of employment free to rice up their little jap car on the cheap.

Mully_2011

There still fairly popular but most of its scrap these days its either whats left of the imported jap stuff and alot of that is in bits or tdis that sound like pidgeons lowered on 200 euro coilovers.

There still is clean cars out there but there few and far between

Armin_Tamzarian

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

I don't think it's anything to do with taste or subtlety, I think it boils down to lack of funds, people just can't spend the money on cars anymore.

In one way I think it's a good thing. Too many 'modified car enthusiasts' do dangerous things with their cars like cut their springs and put ridiculous stretch on tyres. Others have crazy loud exhaust on road cars just to get attention.....

I don't think this is will be a popular viewpoint, but most people modifying cars don't have a clue what they're doing. Why would you modify your suspension if you know nothing about suspension dynamics? Why modify your exhaust if you don't have before and after dyno graphs from someone else proving that it improves power? It boggles my mind when I think about it. A car manufacturer spends potential millions designing a car, some guy thinks he can add some horsepower by changing the air filter?

You are probably right that a lot don't quite understand the reason why they are making the mods that they do.
I suspect that a lot of the time the mods are done for purely aesthetic reasons.
There'd also be an element of people fitting stuff just so they can say they fitted it, like I fitted a Blitz this or a Brembo that, etc.

As far as deviating from the manufacturer's design, well, the manfacturers are constrained by things like noise and emissions levels as well as having to produce cars that will last for a reasoable length of time.
De-catting / upgrading an exhaust is an easy way to considerably increase power on a turbo-charged car but it's unlikely that a mass produced road car is going to leave the factory like that.
It's the same with remapping.
The manufacture will have limited the car somewhat to keep it from operating at a level that could cause damage but the safety margin allowed is probably excessive.
Power can be increased by reducing this safety margin somewhat without really putting the car at any extra risk.

Even air filters can give moderate gains but you would have to wonder when you see them being fitted to 1.2 L beasts.
I agree that there are plenty that are clueless but there are also plenty of proper enthusiasts that really know their stuff.

JimmyCrackCorn

Ill allow the bump

Mariusz Pudgyanovski

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

Ill allow the bump

well it was either that or repost/not use search function

String

oem+ for me with nice wheels and low and this is what I am mainly seeing these days, but I am in the dub scene. I dont know much about the jap scene. I tend to concentrate more on interior stuff and performance stuff nowadays.

little big planet 2

if anything its coming back on jap cars like the civic coupes and eg6 but the days of the bodykit are long gone its carbon fibre and red rotas now

--Kaiser--

Armin_Tamzarian wrote: »

You are probably right that a lot don't quite understand the reason why they are making the mods that they do.
I suspect that a lot of the time the mods are done for purely aesthetic reasons.
There'd also be an element of people fitting stuff just so they can say they fitted it, like I fitted a Blitz this or a Brembo that, etc.

As far as deviating from the manufacturer's design, well, the manfacturers are constrained by things like noise and emissions levels as well as having to produce cars that will last for a reasoable length of time.
De-catting / upgrading an exhaust is an easy way to considerably increase power on a turbo-charged car but it's unlikely that a mass produced road car is going to leave the factory like that.
It's the same with remapping.
The manufacture will have limited the car somewhat to keep it from operating at a level that could cause damage but the safety margin allowed is probably excessive.
Power can be increased by reducing this safety margin somewhat without really putting the car at any extra risk.

Even air filters can give moderate gains but you would have to wonder when you see them being fitted to 1.2 L beasts.
I agree that there are plenty that are clueless but there are also plenty of proper enthusiasts that really know their stuff.

I thought most of the post was quite sensible but then you typed the highlighted bit. Do you have any proof that an air filter can improve power? In many cases in can decrease power. Here is a test that shows that standard air filters provide little to no restriction, so changing them most likely won't have any positive effect. (I'm assuming we're not talking of cold air feeds).

The fact of the matter is that most factors around car performance are incredibly complicated and there are a lot of companies willing to sell pointless mods to these car enthusiasts. A louder exhaust does not automatically mean better performance, a lower car does not automatically mean better handling (especially if we are talking road cars)

Armin_Tamzarian

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

I thought most of the post was quite sensible but then you typed the highlighted bit. Do you have any proof that an air filter can improve power? In many cases in can decrease power. Here is a test that shows that standard air filters provide little to no restriction, so changing them most likely won't have any positive effect. (I'm assuming we're not talking of cold air feeds).

Note the use of the words 'can' and 'moderate' in my post.
Your link does actually state that an aftermarket air filter can improve power.
"So a K&N probably does yield some power on higher output race motors where every last ounce of power must be squeezed out."
There are plenty of surveys out there showing gains being made by various filters though I wouldn't like to say how reliable the test data is.

I do agree with you that most of the time filter changes are pointless and the stock one will do an equal if not better job.
In some instances they can serve a purpose, small though it maybe.
Fitting aftermarket filters in a modified position to increase air flow and/or avoid heated air would obviously improve things more though this wouldn't be down to the filter itself.

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

A louder exhaust does not automatically mean better performance.

Of course it doesn't, but a less restricted exhaust with an increased airflow most probably does.

--Kaiser--

Armin_Tamzarian wrote: »

Note the use of the words 'can' and 'moderate' in my post.
Your link does actually state that an aftermarket air filter can improve power.
"So a K&N probably does yield some power on higher output race motors where every last ounce of power must be squeezed out."
There are plenty of surveys out there showing gains being made by various filters though I wouldn't like to say how reliable the test data is.

I do agree with you that most of the time filter changes are pointless and the stock one will do an equal if not better job.
In some instances they can serve a purpose, small though it maybe.
Fitting aftermarket filters in a modified position to increase air flow and/or avoid heated air would obviously improve things more though this wouldn't be down to the filter itself.




Of course it doesn't, but a less restricted exhaust with an increased airflow most probably does.

You're skipping the bit where it talks about removing the filter altogether

it says worst case one can see a 2 inch of H2O differential pressure loss due to the air filter. This is equivalent to 0.072 psi or very nearly nothing. The air filter posses very little restriction at all in this application. As long as an air filter is properly sized for an application, the lost airflow will be very minimal. This means that there is very little if any power to be found from removing the air filter, much less changing the filter type.

For a road car, it is a waste of money.

As for exhausts, less restrictive doesn't mean it's going to be more powerful at all. For NA cars especially, less restriction means less back-pressure. less low-down and mid-range torque and frequently less drivability. Maybe you'll get an extra 5 HP in a dyno test, in the real world the car could still be slower. Don't forget that car manufacturers spend millions designing these parts, it's not impossible to engineer them to be quiet as well as high performance (e.g. the exhausts in Levin BZ-Rs and Integra Type Rs both have a valve which makes them less restrictive once you go above certain rev range)

Armin_Tamzarian

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

You're skipping the bit where it talks about removing the filter altogether

I quoted directly from the article that you linked to.

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

As for exhausts, less restrictive doesn't mean it's going to be more powerful at all. For NA cars especially, less restriction means less back-pressure. less low-down and mid-range torque and frequently less drivability. Maybe you'll get an extra 5 HP in a dyno test, in the real world the car could still be slower. Don't forget that car manufacturers spend millions designing these parts, it's not impossible to engineer them to be quiet as well as high performance (e.g. the exhausts in Levin BZ-Rs and Integra Type Rs both have a valve which makes them less restrictive once you go above certain rev range)

I specified that I was talking about turbo charged engines, not N/As.

JimmyCrackCorn

MOD: Please steer it back on topic

If you want i can split the thread to discuss the air filter argument. Pm Me

4wd

modified cars in the mainstream are a sign of a good ecnomic climate

think to the start of the 2000s when everyone had a few extra bob all ya could see for miles was modified cars
with the downtrun modifeying has returned to its roots involveing only those who have a passion for it

dont mind all thoses early 00 shops and bodyshops
all there skills are in canada and oz now

but for those who have a need to modifey it can still be found

see attached

SupraSonic_26

its all money im going down to cork on saturday to ig car solutions to get price on redoing my sound system in fibreglass or plexi glass and get door cards done with speakers moulded in, all this just for heatwave going to cost me a good bit id say to get it done.

4wd

Mod Snip

No advertising here

frozenfrozen

4wd wrote: »

<Mod Snip>s

You should probably get your pr sorted out so

SupraSonic_26

where you from what kind work you do?

4wd

<Mod Snip>

Again, no advertising
pics sud be 2 posts up its my lexabuishi

focus_mad

I think all of the threads have now seen that Sh1tbox

Any photos of the award winners?

JimmyCrackCorn

focus_mad wrote: »

I think all of the threads have now seen that Sh1tbox

Any photos of the award winners?

MOD WARNING




Can we go easy, stay on topic and be nice.

No more advertising, handbagging, Dutch ovening.

If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing.

focus_mad

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

MOD WARNING

Can we go easy, stay on topic and be nice.
[/B]

Sorry mate I couldn't resist..