Car mods / trends that need to die

[Grog6]

Well, it Is a Mustang...
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Hey, if you have all the autozone accessories, stick on chrome,aoogah horn and all, we still like you!

 

[Zep5.0]

This looks so cheap on a street car:
And this is worse - looks like you failed to compete your project:

 

[Jae 'Bird]

I think more than any physical mod, a trend that needs to die (which unfortunately never will) is the ego that some (feels like most) people get with cars, they exclusively want to be better than the next guy and flex the "money" they have and alot of people do it exclusively for social media. So often the only reason they have a car is for social media or they got it with dirty money etc.
Hot take, I would rather spend my time with nice, chill people that used auto-zone mods and understand that it doesn't make their car fast but that its all they can do right now, then spend it with some ego maniac who thinks their lamborghini makes them better than everyone else.
I guess the other thing that makes me sad is how many people are willing to go into heavy debt just to mod a car to look cool I know what this stuff costs cause I constantly look to see what I want to do in the future, it's why I feel like a fraud calling myself a "car person", when somebody sees my cars its just...a bone stock thunderbird and a bone stock Honda... when in reality, I prioritized maintenance and fixing it so that its safe, clean and reliable before I do any actual mods, its not visible but I did do the work myself.

 

[XR7-4.6]

This looks so cheap on a street car:View attachment 17926
And this is worse - looks like you failed to compete your project:
View attachment 17927

Yesterday I was behind a brand new sky blue BWM M2 (2M?) with an aftermarket carbon fiber trunklid and all I could think was “way to make a $80,000 new car look like a beater overnight”

Literally this…




On this…




…and here I am upset my bumper paint is a shade off!!!!

Leaving carbon fiber bare is most definitely a trend I eagerly await to see die.

I think more than any physical mod, a trend that needs to die (which unfortunately never will) is the ego that some (feels like most) people get with cars, they exclusively want to be better than the next guy and flex the "money" they have and alot of people do it exclusively for social media. So often the only reason they have a car is for social media or they got it with dirty money etc.
Hot take, I would rather spend my time with nice, chill people that used auto-zone mods and understand that it doesn't make their car fast but that its all they can do right now, then spend it with some ego maniac who thinks their lamborghini makes them better than everyone else.
I guess the other thing that makes me sad is how many people are willing to go into heavy debt just to mod a car to look cool I know what this stuff costs cause I constantly look to see what I want to do in the future, it's why I feel like a fraud calling myself a "car person", when somebody sees my cars its just...a bone stock thunderbird and a bone stock Honda... when in reality, I prioritized maintenance and fixing it so that its safe, clean and reliable before I do any actual mods, its not visible but I did do the work myself.

Yeah this combined with what Eric mentioned in the first post that the “scene” has been way too full of monied clout chasers, and the social media followers all have gotten hive mind with what makes a car or build cool. It wasn’t that way 10-15 years ago, I don’t know if it’s a self consciousness/identity crisis thing where all builds have to beat plaid Teslas in the quarter mile to be worth a damn, but it really seems that way culturally lately. Just liking the cars one likes or building one the way you want to or can afford to build it makes us lesser car guys I guess.

 

[Generalee0527]

All the trucks and sun's where the front is lifted 6-10 inches and rear lowered as low as possible. I mean how you see over the hood? No seat and standing in floorboard?

 

[Grog6]

Several years ago, I did some CF stuff for work. It makes good MR machine test targets, apparently.
I had the idea to cover my red cougar hood, which the paint peeled off of, mostly due to my touch up efforts.
I still have a big piece of CF. I'd need to get new epoxy and other consumables, but I know how to bag the whole hood.
If I did it in black cf, with red and black CF shelby type stripes. I'd cover it in deep clear epoxy, possibly with metalflake, and polish the fuck out of it. Then you cover it in urethane clearcoat for uv protection.The big piece I have is standard weave, the red/black is a 2x2 twill. However, I was assured by multiple experts I worked with that it will rip itself off in a year, the expansion of the metal hood vs the cf/epoxy cover would eventually tear the epoxy loose, either winter or summer. Stefan said it would make a killer frisbee, at 100+ mph, lol.
Needless to say, that project went nowhere. I'd hate to kill somebody with a car mod. Composite envisions.com is a good co for cf.

 

[Kenz]

Leaving carbon fiber bare is most definitely a trend I eagerly await to see die.

But carbon fiber = lighter and more faster. It's true in Need for Speed, and in the Fast and Furious... It must be in real life too!

All the trucks and sun's where the front is lifted 6-10 inches and rear lowered as low as possible. I mean how you see over the hood? No seat and standing in floorboard?

This IMO is the winner! In rural Florida the ass dragging pickups are everywhere. I have even seen squatted Tahoes and mid size SUVs. It's unbelievable idiots still do this. They should save the money and just put on a damn clown suit when they drive their truck, they would get about the same reactions from people

 

[Irv]

Since it's banned in both Carolinas now, it should be excommunicated and renamed the Florida Squat.

Here's a small one that doesn't truly bother me, but it's done wrong and looks cheap and cheesy: LED brake light bulbs that strobe before turning solid. First it was an aftermarket mod, then GM did it, and now there are aftermarket drop-in bulbs that do this. In Europe, extra hard braking/rapid deceleration triggers the LEDs to strobe, which means they're conveying something very specific: the person in front of you is mashing the brakes and you should be extra alert to react accordingly.

Here, it's the complete opposite where the lights strobe from the beginning regardless of pedal effort and the strobing doesn't provide any additional context. If I'm looking at the CHMSL of the car in front of me, off-on is all the info I need. Off-onoffonoffonoffon is meaningless. Also, for a split second, that first "off" in the strobe cycle forces you to guess whether the driver just tapped the brake or is standing on it.

I noticed there's a common link to a lot of these annoyances: GM tries to reinvent the wheel too much and many of their ideas suck. Which genius there thought it was a good idea to illuminate the reverse lights for keyless entry/remote locking?

 

[XR7-4.6]

I saw a car with those strobing brake lights the other day and I legitimately thought there was something wrong with it’s BCM

On the subject of lighting I have a few simultaneous modern peeves, old cars designed for round or rectangular sealed beam/halogens with modern LED/HID retrofits, complete with halos or weird shaped random shaped DRLs and often blacked out inner housings






These are by comparison less offensive but just look like a harbor freight flashlight…



I’m not fundamentally opposed to upgrading output but these are ghastly and every time I see an old car or truck with upgraded lights they have a variation of these examples.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also wish this light trend would die, though it’s not quite as prevalent on old muscle cars as it was 10 years ago…

 

[Green T]

I am seriously considering getting a Bronco Sport, so I rented one this past weekend to check it all out.

I am still not entirely sure about the Bronco, but I was reminded about how much I detest auto engine stop. I just can't stand it!! I push the button to turn it off almost immediately upon start up, it does not appear you can permanently turn it off. Inevitability, I forgot to turn it off at start up and at the 1st stop sign/light the engine turns off and I am reminded. I just think there are so many potential failure points here. I do not believe the supposed fuel savings is going to be worth it. Also, it is just annoying to have the engine turn on and off all the time.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

there are so many potential failure points here.

New car, so most buyers/lessees don't care as the warranty exceeds their intended time of ownership.

I do not believe the supposed fuel savings is going to be worth it.

This has been documented and tested all over youtube. Either you drive regularly in stop and go traffic, then it actually produces significant fuel savings; or you don't, and then it happens so rarely that it becomes a non-issue.

The deeper aspect of "worth it" is the fuel savings vs. the cost of added equipment. But that question doesn't present itself, if the feature is standard equipment.

Also, it is just annoying to have the engine turn on and off all the time.

Well, that's subjective. I owned a 2019 Jetta, the only car with it I ever owned. It was perfectly smooth. I've also test driven countless other FWD cars where it was equally smooth. On RWD cars, starting an engine is more likely to be felt due to engine rotation.

Smoothness aside, I don't like it either. It does inevitably cause a slight delay on take-off which, incidentally, is especially annoying in downtown stop and go traffic. On VWs, you can program a setting where the engine starts up when the front radar senses that the car ahead of you is taking off; that eliminates that delay.

I owned that Jetta in NYC, and it just made good sense to me then. I didn't dislike it enough to ever turn it off, except if I had passengers, because they hated the A/C cutting out.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I am seriously considering getting a Bronco Sport, so I rented one this past weekend to check it all out.

I am still not entirely sure about the Bronco, but I was reminded about how much I detest auto engine stop. I just can't stand it!! I push the button to turn it off almost immediately upon start up, it does not appear you can permanently turn it off. Inevitability, I forgot to turn it off at start up and at the 1st stop sign/light the engine turns off and I am reminded. I just think there are so many potential failure points here. I do not believe the supposed fuel savings is going to be worth it. Also, it is just annoying to have the engine turn on and off all the time.

Stop-start is purely there to game the EPA test cycle, same reason automakers spec ultra thin 0w20 oil on most new cars, in an ideal set of laboratory scenarios it works, where in real life not so much. I agree it’s annoying and ultimately wear and tear is worse than without.

Bronco Sports are a curious thing, the name is cool and they look much more SUV rugged, but it seems like a modern interpretation of the original Escape, where the modern Escape got pushed more into the soft edged breadroll crossover shape. Both models seem to be targeting the same market but are splitting it on styling approaches









But for some reason sedans are too unprofitable to keep in the lineup

 

[XR7-4.6]

It does inevitably cause a slight delay on take-off which, incidentally, is especially annoying in downtown stop and go traffic.

This was what I hated. If I’m the first car at a light, I tree the light like I’m John Force, no matter what I’m driving, if my car is in effect “stalled” when the light changes it really irks me… likewise when I’m behind somebody I get a little heated if they have an abysmal reaction time to a light change, but sympathetically I do give them a break now a days because of this damn feature…. Unless they clearly have a car that doesn’t have it *Hooooooonnnnnkkkk*

The only cars it intuitively works well in are hybrids, first time I drove a Prius the engine shut off at a light and instinctively I thought “oh crap” but light goes green the electric motor is still there eager to propel you without delay so no problem, it behaves like a normal car, it just feels/sounds weird as a gearhead. Start/stop in a gas only car it feels exactly like it is, a constantly stalling engine with an automatic starter to fire it back up. Whatever cost savings it provides in the most ideal of scenarios it’s effective I’ll gladly pay the difference not to experience it.

 

[gunn]

Oh no, I have seen a large wing comeback lately; both aftermarket and factory. That's why I mentioned it is because it is a fad that should have died long ago. I saw one in traffic just 2 weeks ago that was so absurdly large I was going to take a picture, but I had left my phone at home.

Swan neck/Goose neck mounts are the new "cool" way to hang a giant condor on the back of your car.

My biggest beef is an older one: smoked tail lights AND especially head lights. Both defeat the purpose of the light itself and just annoy me.

 

[Fred Smailes]

Yes, the old Thunderbird and Cougars were cool. Then when they did it on the late model Mustang it was like "oh yeah, cool nod to the late 60's Fords". Then it seems like everybody had to have sequential turn signals on everything.

I built my own, and no they don't have to go!

 

[XR7-4.6]

Giant truck exhaust tips, this is a peeve associated with coal rollers but I’ve seen them on as many gas pickups too. This is the stupidest looking appendage ever and ironically I’m fairly certain the very same owners of these brodozers would have been the first people to make fun of fart cans on rice burners back in the day.

I built my own, and no they don't have to go!

Very cool especially with the incandescent bulbs, the effect is so much better than harsh LEDs!!

 

[Grog6]

I noticed that immediately., very nice! I may revisit that. I'd put it in the trunk panels. I doubt a 3057 will fit.

 

[Irv]

Giant truck exhaust tips, this is a peeve associated with coal rollers but I’ve seen them on as many gas pickups too. This is the stupidest looking appendage ever and ironically I’m fairly certain the very same owners of these brodozers would have been the first people to make fun of fart cans on rice burners back in the day.

View attachment 18055

Put a banana potato orange grapefruit cantaloupe watermelon in the tailpipe.

 

[Grog6]

addresses some wd40, and fart can becomes potato cannon, lol.
at the marina by the lake, we were trying to hit a sign on the other side of the lake.
Cops roll up. In rhe 70's, they gave us tips on windage, '80's, threatened us with arrest, '90's they arrested people for loitering at the park.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Here’s a primarily BMW specific one that’s not quite obnoxious like the pop tunes but more annoying in the Jeep with rubber ducks culture sort of way(does that count as a mod? Because if so also that!)…



And it’s even made its way onto other brands, like this Volvo with Sweed themes.



It’s out of control!

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

That's the automotive equivalent of a tattoo that seemingly everyone is getting. Like that tribal pattern around the upper arm.

 

[Irv]

Jeep with rubber ducks

I don't know why, but when I read that, my mind went somewhere else in the Stellantis cinematic universe, which was leaving the yellow splitter guards on new Chargers and Challengers. Or even worse, posers who go out of their way to add them on cars that didn't have them when they acquired the car.

 

[Kidd-7]

 

[Vicinity]

EVs that follow too closely... Is there somebody actually driving it, or do they just set the speed to the limit and squint?

 

[Kenz]

Jeep with rubber ducks culture sort of way(does that count as a mod? Because if so also that!)…

Most accurate explanation as to why Jeeps trigger me...

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CiC5bZipK/

 

[Kenz]

EVs that follow too closely... Is there somebody actually driving it, or do they just set the speed to the limit and squint?

It's a common complaint with Tesla owners. In Full Self Drive they have a tendency to tailgate like they are driving in city traffic. Unfortunately vehicle distance in FSD can't be adjusted like it can with the Tesla autopilot driving mode. To their credit though the FSD is so advanced and good at driving, it will slow down instantly when the car it's following brake lights turn on. The system reacts faster than a human can.

It can be annoying though. I often turn off self drive to get a bit more room between cars. Usually it backs off after restarting it. It's a very impressive technology, unless you have ever been in a new one using FSD; it's hard to believe it's even possable that a car can drive itself so well.

 

[XR7-4.6]

My bigger EV peeve is following them, regenerative brakes can briskly pull them down to a stop without the brake lights coming on. I’ve had a few oh shit moments from that. In due credit, Tesla seems to have that figured out but Ford, Chevy, Hyundai, Audi EVs are on my “don’t get behind” list.

I don't know why, but when I read that, my mind went somewhere else in the Stellantis cinematic universe, which was leaving the yellow splitter guards on new Chargers and Challengers. Or even worse, posers who go out of their way to add them on cars that didn't have them when they acquired the car.

It’s especially weird seeing them on 10 year old Challengers where the rest of the car hasn’t aged super well in the elements(they tend to get lower rocker/quarter rust just like MN12s do).

 

[Green T]

Saw this yesterday. Does he think that wing makes it faster?

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

View attachment 18214
Saw this yesterday. Does he think that wing makes it faster?
View attachment 18216

And the wheels don’t match. I like Mustangs, but ones that are all hacked up and look like hot garbage I call them Shitstang.

 

[Green T]

And the wheels don’t match. I like Mustangs, but ones that are all hacked up and look like hot garbage I call them Shitstang.

Also does not appear that they know how to properly fill up with fuel.