[ChiragM]

A new trend seems to be catching on in the automotive industry, both in the supercar world as well as with mainstream cars. While some owners are removing body panels, some are adding body kits to their vehicles to make them look like facelifted models or performance variants of the cars. This enhances the looks of the cars and makes them more attractive. These cars stand out from the rest whether they are running on the road or parked in the driveway.

Here are a few examples of regular versions of mainstream cars and supercars fitted with body kits to make them look like the performance versions of the cars:

Ferrari 458 to 458 Speciale

Image Source

This must be one of the latest supercars to get kitted. It features a carbon-fibre hood (which looks just like the one on the Speciale), and Speciale front bumpers. We don't agree with the addition of the rear spoiler though.

Lamborghini Aventador S to Aventador SVJ


The SVJ is one of the rarest and most expensive cars in the country. Only a handful are available in India. This Aventador gets twin exhaust pipes and a rear spoiler - just like the SVJ.

Lamborghini Aventador to Aventador SV

Image Source

This was the first instance of upkitting in supercars that I came across. This Aventador was first converted to a purple SV and then to the avatar you see above. This one looks rather convincing with the new front bumper, rear wing, and SV lettering and can be mistaken for a proper SV.

Porsche 911 Carrera to 911 GT2 RS

Image Source

This is a regular Carrera fitted with a rear wing, GT2 RS front bumper, side vents, and vents on the bonnet and fenders, just like the 991 GT2 RS.

Porsche 911 Carrera S to 911 GT3

Image Source

This 911 Carrera S has been modified with GT3 bumpers, a GT3 rear wing and GT3 RS style vents on the front fenders.

Mercedes W222 S500 to Maybach facelift

Image Source

This W222 S500 now has Maybach front bumper and rear bumpers, a Maybach vertical slat grille, multibeam LED headlamps, Burmester 3D rotary tweeter speakers, and 20-inch chrome alloy wheels. Great way to look rich(er)!

Maruti Baleno to Baleno RS

Image Source

Here's a popular upgrade among Baleno owners. This Baleno Alpha was converted to an RS with body kits including front and rear bumpers, by a Nexa showroom. The car continues to be powered by the 1.2-litre naturally aspirated engine. The upgrade was done because the owner wanted an RS, but the car was not in stock.

Maruti Swift to Swift Sport

Image Source

This one looks hot!!! This body kit for the Swift including the front and rear bumpers, have been imported. It even has fake exhausts at the rear. The car, as well as the new body kit, have been wrapped in yellow, a popular colour for the Swift Sport.

Volkswagen Polo to Polo GTI

Image Source

With a large number of aftermarket parts available and the car's mod potential, it's not surprising to see the regular Polo being converted into a GTi, especially when the GTi was sold in India in limited numbers. This car gets a new grille with GTi badging, bumpers and twin exhaust pipes.

Toyota Innova to Innova facelift

Image Source

This one seems to be pretty common. I keep coming across ads that market the facelift body kit for the first-gen Innova. Back in 2013, we felt the chrome-heavy front grille was much too gaudy & loud and even now, our opinion hasn't changed.

BMW to BMW M

Image Source

Gone are the days when we used to see BMWs and Mercs with M and AMG badges. BMW and Mercedes owners now upgrade their cars with body kits for the cars to look like their performance versions. The main upgrades in these cases are usually the bumpers. Some owners upgrade the ORVMs too. BMW also offers M Performance kits for their cars which make it look like the performance versions.

Mercedes to Mercedes AMG

Image Source

Converted Cretas


Not entirely sure this is upkitting, but is worthy of this thread. Many customers of mainstream cars choose to buy the cheap base variant and then add only the accessories and features they want. Check out this link. This way the car doesn't look barebones and the owner doesn't have to spend unnecessarily on equipment he doesn't want.

Old Jeeps to Mahindra Classic

Image Source

Perhaps, some of the most upkitted models in India are old Jeeps which are converted to "Mahindra Classics". This one has copied the bull bar, "Mahindra" brand plate behind the bull bar, roll bar, steering, passenger grab handle etc. While this one is an easy catch, there are a few fake Classics which have been convincingly converted. GTO jokes that there are more Mahindra Classics on the road than Mahindra ever produced! It's a similar story with many MM540s & 550s converted to fake Thars.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[GTO]

Awesome thread! Something different on a Friday morning.

- Back in the 2000s, the two hottest cars were the City Vtec & the Lancer. Some Honda City 1.5s were convincingly converted to Vtec versions - a few were so damn good that I actually recommended people buying used Vtecs to open the hood and check the engine! On the Lancer, there were a few deadly EVO converts running on our roads. Most were just cosmetic, but a few were almost the real thing with a used EVO drivetrain imported from other parts of Asia. Tuners were only too happy to do it for you for a couple of lakhs.

Here's one of many in India - thread link (Building a 500 BHP 4wd Beast - Mitsubishi Lancer)



- Loads of 'converted' Octavia vRS too, but seen more on the 1st-gen than the 2nd (Laura).

- A fun discussion on buying the top variant or converting a base variant into one.

- Just like fake Mahindra Classics, there are innumerable 540s & 550s running around with Thar badges. Solid axle lovers, rejoice!



Source

[Turbojc]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

A new trend seems to be catching on in the automotive industry, both in the supercar world as well as with mainstream cars. While some owners are removing body panels, some are adding body kits to their vehicles to make them look like facelifted models or performance variants of the cars.

While I'm all for upkitting - after all it is well within the owner's prerogative to do what they please with their car - I'm more concerned about the trend's impact on the pre-owned market. I fear that many an unscrupulous-yet-enterprising dealer could pass off a base car as a higher-end variant to an unsuspecting customer. There was this orange 320d with an M3 kit posted on the Chennai supercars thread a few years back that flummoxed even the most seasoned supercar spotters . Goes to show that one must always approach pre-owned cars armed with the right knowledge and a healthy dose of scepticism.

Originally Posted by GTO

Back in the 2000s, the two hottest cars were the City Vtec & the Lancer. On the Lancer, there were a few deadly EVO converts running on our roads. Most were just cosmetic, but a few were almost the real thing with a used EVO drivetrain imported from other parts of Asia. Tuners were only too happy to do it for you for a couple of lakhs.

Engine swaps were the rage in the early-2000s .

[Vasanth]

Mod Note : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further. Request to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[captainkevin]

Remember hearing about the 'half-cut Evo conversion' from Karan Shah in his interview on horsepower cartel youtube channel. Extremely enthralling to hear about an automobile engineer's journey from building and installing air filters to being the first one to install an aftermarket turbo, nitrous, have a dyno, etc. and of course the commendable evo conversions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P88kA_e17Zg

Found out there's even a 'half cut market' in Malaysia selling many cars in their half cut version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLU8hZ7Sq_4

[aaaajwedk]

I feel like upkitting base variants to the performance variants like BMW M or Merc AMG is sinful as long as it is just cosmetic, and there are no changes to the engine and drivetrain. Of course owners are free to do what they please since after all, they paid for it, but that's just my 2 cents. IMO the worst offenders are the ones that stick an M badge on a base 3 series and call it a day.

[Ash_vtec]

Upkitting - the preserve of posers.

No matter how good you "up kit" a car its never going to be real mc coy.

A non GT 911 will never become a GT product in a chop shop. It's done for social media mileage and is largely a harmless hobby but it knackers the resale if not done well.

Even legit conversions including drivetrain/engine swaps/frankenstien builds, again are never going to be a 100% but definitely lends more credibility.

The upkitted supercars above, I wouldn't take them free.

Factory fit is factory fit, and factory horses are factory horses.

Tasteful modifications are one thing but the 520d to M5 cosmetically is sacrilege to both products.

This is my personal view, i'm aware of the allure of people liking society thinking they dropped 3cr on a GT2RS when they paid 1.1 for a Carrera.

[Naman_Ferrari]

Great thread. I've never personally done this to any of my cars but I can see why people do it. If you're happy with the performance of your car/don't want to affect reliability with performance mods, but at the same time want your call to look/feel more special, why not?

I think it's a great way to differentiate your car and get many times more satisfaction from owning/driving it. If I ever get an opportunity to buy a used petrol BMW, I will definitely do a subtle body kit and a nice wrap. I would debadge it rather than put an M though

[yd_gli]

Upkitting is just a fancy word for "maine car modify kiya hai"! That one line alone gives more than enough bragging rights to an average Indian customer. It doesn't matter if it is only a sticker job but it gives bragging rights nonetheless. We are an immature society when it comes to this.

In my opinion, less than 5% of upkitted/modified cars are actually done to improve performance. The rest are just cosmetic. Earlier it used to be big woofers and an obscene number of speakers. Now its things like wraps and some awful looking white strips on the tire sidewall. Music I can still understand, but the cosmetic ones are just baffling to my mind. I mean, why would one want to add white strips to the sidewalls on their 330i tires? Why?

[adi.mariner]

I remember when we got our Maruti 800 as my mother's office car in the 90s. There was no DX version (with factory fitted AC) available and hence the dealer gave a regular Maruti 800 with an externally fitted AC. In his enthusiasm for putting DX badges, he has put one inside on the dashboard as well. My father had an original DX version and I don't remember any significant changes other than the factory fitted AC.

[sanojrawap]

Originally Posted by Naman_Ferrari

I've never personally done this to any of my cars but I can see why people do it. If you're happy with the performance of your car/don't want to affect reliability with performance mods, but at the same time want your call to look/feel more special, why not?

I think it's a great way to differentiate your car and get many times more satisfaction from owning/driving it. If I ever get an opportunity to buy a used petrol BMW, I will definitely do a subtle body kit and a nice wrap. I would debadge it rather than put an M though

I can understand the itch to differentiate ones car, but surely adding the full "E63 AMG Kit" to a regular E200, etc. can't really be termed differentiating if one is just copying the looks of the real E63 that may already be roaming around your city. that's just fraud

I'd rather go for an aftermarket body kit (e.g. Prior Design), or just a wrap, few carbon bits and bobs, and an aftermarket set of wheels (e.g. Vossen/Rotiform), depending on the car of course!

I've also had this long lost dream to get a C63S sedan, with those "basic" standard wheels and no exterior carbon trim, and badge it a C200

[clementw]

Upkitting for owner happiness or vanity is not a bad thing. Hell it may even save them some money but the owner must specify the changes when he intends to sell. Again the owner can be restrained some upkitting fails can kill the look of the car itself.

[ynike99]

I have done it to both my Cars, Seltos and Ignis. Ignis is upkitting is basic though, just the top model headlights. In seltos I have the HTK+ Diesel model, and I have done Alloys, Front bumper with GT extensions and Led drls to make it look like GT line.I have deliberately not gome for headlight and Icecube fogs as halogens offer much better illumination. Next in Line is Tail lamp upgrade and a Remap after all the farkles.

[SenPai_GTi]

Although a bit rare in our country, Mugen kits are quite a rage in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Here are some official kit examples:

10th Gen Honda Civic

Comes with a carbon front grill, Front rear and side skirts, diffuser and 19inch wheel rims(excess IMHO) along with some mild performance mods like full exhaust system, high performance engine oils, brakes (full system with brake pads) . But it does look more aggressive than the stock.

Third-generation Honda Fit/Jazz

Definitely going to the weird & wacky mod jobs thread, enough said. But the wheels do look awesome.

Upkitting cars is a sensitive affair. If done properly, it will have everyone's appreciation. That said, upkitting is a wise choice towards the pocket as it makes the car look upmarket. But the only danger to the real world is when the car goes on sale in the used market. Being able to differentiate the models is going to be tough in shady markets(fake paper work, visual tampering of crucial differentiators, etc.), especially for non-car guys

Originally Posted by ChiragM

With a large number of aftermarket parts available and the car's mod potential, it's not surprising to see the regular Polo being converted into a GTi, especially when the GTi was sold in India in limited numbers.

Since our market has seen a rise in GT/RS variants of popular cars and a few models shedding the variant badge, it wont be long before we see every other car being either the top end model or the GT/RS variant.