Changing or modifying the parts of your vehicle not only increases the risk of voiding your warranty, but it also tampers the complex calculations made by the engineers.
Customising your vehicle is a thing of pride for most. Bringing a personal touch or trying to juice out the last bit of power always enthrals the owner. But with the latest amendment in the Motor Vehicles Act, the Supreme Court has outlawed any modification to vehicles that would come outside the purview of what is mentioned on the Registration Certificate. Keeping that in mind, here is how you can avoid breaking the law.
1. Understand your needs
Since the automobile sector is a vast and growing market, there are millions of products across thousands of brands, with hundreds of options to choose from. In this scenario, the owner of the vehicle must decide whether he needs a change, and if so, which one.
2. Aftermarket woes
In case the vehicle owner decides to bump up his performance using aftermarket parts, he exposes himself to a world of accessories, replacement parts and add-ons, all with their different design and purposes. However, not all parts are suitable across all vehicles, and sometimes cause more harm than good.
3. Trust the maker
Motorcycle and car manufacturers always have the best interest of their customers in mind. Hence, they aim to give the maximum results, at minimum cost. Even if it might seem that the manufacturers have not provided the vehicle with the best of parts, it is to maintain the economy and keep prices low. Changing or modifying the parts of your vehicle not only increases the risk of voiding your warranty, but it also tampers the complex calculations made by the engineers for your vehicle.
4. Aesthetics does not equal performance
Most vehicle owners consider the exterior appearance of their vehicle to be a prime contributor to its performance. Hence, most people prefer to opt for body extensions like spoilers, bonnet scoops, side skirts, or in case or motorcycles, wider tires. While these parts may add to your vehicle’s aesthetic beauty, in a way, it will have little to no effect on your performance. Adding physical parts to your vehicle might, in fact, cause hindrance, as a wider surface area corresponds to increased wind drag and slower speeds.
5. What you see is not always what you need
Vehicle manufacturers follow a term called homologation, which means giving the same looks and styling to all the vehicles in a line-up. For example, the YZF series of Yamaha’s range of supersport motorcycles include bikes ranging from 150 CC to 1000 CC, all bearing the same look and design. However, while these vehicles share similar looks, they have vast, sometimes incomparable differences between each other. In such cases, it would be wrong on an owner’s part to expect or attempt performance figures of vehicles higher up the hierarchy.
Thus, these are some of the precautions you can take to keep yourself within the bracket of law.
