bodykits: purely cosmetic?

[batfink21]

Is a bodykit going to do anything for the performance of the average track driver in a MkV GTI or is it a purely cosmetic modification?

Could it actually reduce performance / handling?

I'm not talking about replacing doors and hoods with huge sheets of CF, I mean the bolt on Reiger, OSIR, Votex, etc stuff.

 

[FIJIParisi]

a buddy of mine who works at a vw dealership said that his experience at 120+mph on a car with and without votex is that the votex actually makes the car feel more stable and planted in the front because of the lip...

I have only ever driven my car (with votex) at those speeds and can say that it was pretty damn stable each and every time - its hard to believe that you are going that fast

 

[GTIMKV20]

I have the stock US lip and at 120 the GTI feels incredibly stable... can't imagine the votex spoiler makes much of a difference. Maybe, but the car feels good regardless! Just my 2 cents ;-)

 

[SloppySRT]

I would seriously doubt that VW (or almost all manufacturers) would have put time, effort, and money into designing a front lips that would actually produce noticeable gains.

 

[audiracer2002]

I would say in most cases, the only kit that is going to have any potential for helping performance will be a factory kit. I know that on my G35, when I had it, that the body kit also included under body pieces to reduce drag and help downforce. Any aftermarket kit is not likely to help at all, and in many cases may actually adversely affect the aerodynamics of the car as I doubt those manufacturers put in any research for anything other than fitment, and we know how well that works in most cases.

 

[danger dan]

they will probably reducle performance to some miniscule degree because of the added weight and probably added drag on the car.

 

[veedubin]

No body kit is manufactured to help handling. People are not putting cars with bodykits into wind tunnels to see what helps drag, downforce etc. They make what looks good and sell it for a very high price.

 

[Meat]

I'm going to go ahead and say no. Most kits are purely cosmetic. The only exceptions I can think of would maybe be a widebody kit that would allow you to run wider tires. That or maybe a front lip with an adjustable splitter, but I don't know of any available.

 

[DarkstaR]

Purely cosmetic.

 

[BlaineWasHere]

Unless you add a fully adjustable front splitter and adjustable rear wing.

 

[PyRo H4cKeR]

i think most kits will create more drag than anything else. the only cosmetic add on that would make any difference would be a splitter and that would only work at high speeds.

 

[Raddicted]

No. Just adds weight.

 

[lancGTI]

At 120, I felt ZERO difference in the ride or stability of my GTI after I changed from the US lip to the Euro lip.

 

[xyouthx]

Real JDM body kits such as top secret, veilside, etc are designed to actually be functional and help keep cars planted at high speeds. But like anything else, the "race" look became popular, so everyone got into the body kit fad, and now it's 90% cosmetic use which is fine, but just saying, at a time (atleast for japanese cars), body kits were on for a reason.

 

[Meat]

Real JDM body kits such as top secret, veilside, etc are designed to actually be functional and help keep cars planted at high speeds. But like anything else, the "race" look became popular, so everyone got into the body kit fad, and now it's 90% cosmetic use which is fine, but just saying, at a time (atleast for japanese cars), body kits were on for a reason.

That's true, but we also have a "performance" body kit option akin to the Veilside kits for the JDM scene. But like the Veilside kits, it's also nearly 5 times more expensive than a "standard" kit like the Reiger, ABT, Osir, etc. kit.