When it comes to customising a car, some people are all about performance and handling. But if you’re cruising through the city on a saturday night, then sometimes performance can take a back seat to aesthetics. How your car looks can be just as important as how it drives. Luckily, there are plenty of purely aesthetic car modifications to turn your stock ride into a custom street machine.
Interior LED Lighting
Adding some cool interior lighting is a great way to give your car a little individual style without blowing the bank. There are plenty of affordable LED lighting kits available that you can use to create a custom interior. Carefully chosen lighting can be used to highlight specific interior features and create eye-catching lighting effects for passers-by. However, make sure you don’t overdo it, as too much interior lighting can be a distraction while driving and can even make your car look like a tacky nightclub if you’re not careful.
Sidewalls or tyre lettering
Adding whitewalls or lettering to your tyres is a great way to make your wheels stand out and give your car that high-performance racing look. When it comes to tyre walls, there are a number of options including solid whitewalls, F1-inspired racing stripes, saw blades and more. Tyre walls and stripes are available in a range of colours and can be matched to your paintwork.
Tyre lettering is another great way of capturing that high-performance look. There are a range of custom tyre lettering kits you can use to create your own desired look.
Coloured Brake Calipers
Coloured brake calipers look cool and evoke an aura of high performance and exclusivity. Generally associated with luxury sports cars like Ferraris and Porsches, aftermarket brake calipers are available in a wide range of colours and are suitable for most disc brake systems. They can even be custom finished or laser engraved for that one-of-a-kind look.
Racing stripes and vinyl wraps
Vinyl racing stripes or graphics are a great way to give your car a custom look or pay homage to classic racing styles. While a custom paint job can be extremely expensive, vinyl racing stripes, graphics or full vinyl wraps are much more affordable, quick and easy to apply and can be fully customised to create whatever unique look you want for your car.
Raising/lowering the car
While raising or lowering your car can be used to improve performance and handling, it can also be used as a purely aesthetic modification. Lowering a street car or raising a 4WD can create a cool custom look that isn’t generally available in stock models.
There are a number of ways to raise and lower a vehicle including custom suspension kits, coilovers, airbag suspension and body raising or lowering.
Besides changing the look of your car, raising or lowering it can also have practical implications. Adjusting the ride height can affect handling, ride quality and even vehicle safety. It can also be a costly modification that can require ongoing maintenance. Before proceeding, it’s worth discussing the changes with a mechanic or suspension expert.
Custom rims/new wheels
Stock wheels are usually pretty conservative and boring. Adding a set of custom rims is a great way to personalise your car. There are plenty of different styles to suit all kinds of vehicles and budgets. You can also experiment with larger or wider wheels, lower profile tyres and combine options with lowering your car.
Window tinting
First of all, tinted windows look cool. That in itself is reason enough to get it done. But there are other benefits. Tinted windows reduce glare while driving and can make driving during the day more comfortable. They also improve privacy in the car.
It is important, however, to be aware of the legal guidelines around window tinting.
Body kits
Body kits are one of the most dramatic ways to alter your car’s appearance. There are a wide range of kits available for all types of cars, including kits manufactured and supplied by the vehicle manufacturer and aftermarket kits. Kits include replacement bumpers, widebody kits, lips, spoilers, wheel guards and more. Materials can vary from budget fibreglass options to top-of-the-line and costly carbon fibre kits.
Be aware that fitting custom body kits can affect your insurance and vehicle warranty. In most cases, fitting a body kit may also mean you need to pay for a paint job to match the kit to the body paint.
Whatever your budget and your desired look, there are plenty of modifications you can carry out to create the custom look you want for your car.
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