Are Body Kits Passe?

With the stance movement in full swing, it seems that a lot of car enthusiasts have swung away from buying body kits and have instead opted to buy a coilover suspension kit to follow the herd. Some years ago, body kits were a big business, but the influx of cheap (read inferior quality) and ugly kits turned off a lot of users. But use judiciously and with the proper stance and wheels, body kits do have a place in today’s car world. We’re not talking here though of kits that make a Civic emulate a Ferrari Testarossa. Those days are gone – at least we fervently hope so. Today, putting on a tasteful body kit can give your car a unique look that pleases the eye instead of giving it a ricer look.

To get an idea of what we’re talking about, take a look at the high performance models of base cars from the likes of BMW and Mercedes. BMW’s M models replace the air dam/bumper with subtly deeper lips, add side skirts and a slightly taller lip. It’s also common nowadays to see rear diffusers that are paired with quad tailpipes. As for Mercedes, their AMG models are actually more aggressive looking, with gaping intakes in front and in the case of the Black Series cars, actual wings instead of just mere spoilers. These ultimate Mercedes also have wider fenders with rear vents to prevent pressure buildup in the wheelwell that can increase drag. Paired to these bodywork upgrades are suspension upgrades that, while significantly improving handling performance, still leave room for coilover suspensions that allow the knowledgeable owner to fine tune the way the car behaves.

So who’s to say that body kits are passe? Some automotive forums that we have visited have a lot of a opinionated people who say that putting a body kit on your car is so year 2000. That the look to emulate nowadays is to drop to car to the point where you can’t leave a sloping driveway without a plank on hand. We say there’s room for everybody. This is what makes the car scene so interesting, where new ideas are tried out by daring souls who dare to defy convention. In the end, a car is an extension of the owner’s tastes and philosophy, so that what may be ugly for some people is something uniquely personalized to others.