Car upgrades come in different shapes and sizes, ultimately delivering different results. For anyone looking to combine style with improved handling, a body kit made from durable materials designed for your car offers various benefits. Packaged body kits not only enhance your car’s appearance and individuality, but also boost performance by countering oncoming air. Parts are available as original equipment from car manufacturers or from reputable specialist aftermarket brands.
What is a Body Kit?
The collection of exterior modifications, consisting of parts such as front and rear bumpers, spoilers, wings, splitters and diffusers, is called a car body kit. Parts may come factory-fitted, such as the rear wings in the Subaru WRX or Honda Type R, or installed by car enthusiasts as aftermarket additions. While each part has a specific purpose, the best aerodynamic and performance results come from packaged car body kits.
Kits are actively involved in customising your car to your taste, improving aerodynamics and handling, while also adding a performance boost. They allow even everyday hatchbacks, sedans and utes to assume a more aggressive, race-ready appearance, with parts mimicking the look of models higher up the performance and price ladder. Moreover, with different finishes and materials on offer, there’s a higher level of personalisation.
Much of the performance and aerodynamic advantages of a car body kit stem from how each part, and the kit as a whole, manages oncoming air. This is the main source of drag and what slows the car down. Parts, including front splitters and spoilers, disperse air over, under and around the car, reducing air resistance and increasing downforce, keeping the vehicle glued to the road. This helps with steering control, stability in turns, and aids braking performance, while faster acceleration and higher top speeds are a bonus. Ultimately, body kits can transform any vehicle into a machine that’s considerably faster, more responsive and more fun to drive.
Overlooked Benefits
Besides upgrades to handling and performance, a complete car body kit also reduces weight, protects vital engine, steering and suspension components and boosts resale value. Choosing quality materials like fibreglass and carbon fibre can significantly reduce the vehicle’s overall weight. This results in a lower sprung mass, enabling quicker acceleration and reduced fuel consumption.
Well-designed parts can also protect the vehicle from impacts with kerbs, potholes, speed bumps, or minor collisions. With improved designs, particularly in front spoilers and splitters, body kit parts enhance cooling for the engine, brakes, and suspension components, supporting overall vehicle longevity. All this means more money when the time comes to sell.
Body Kit Types
Kits can be packaged with different car parts, leading to different types, each with a specific purpose:
- Full kits: This includes a complete makeover of the car exterior, with parts ranging from front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers, wider wheel flares, bonnet scoops or lightweight roofs. All parts are sourced from the same materials and offered in the same finishes for a cohesive look. They’re engineered to boost style, handling and aerodynamics.
- Wide body: To get a more aggressive stance, choose a wide car body kit. This comes with wider wheel flares, more prominent side skirts and bigger bumpers. A bonus is that this kit leaves space for other modifications, such as revised suspension parts or big brake kits, both adding to the already solid, upgraded handling and braking.
- Bumper kits: Bigger front and rear bumpers are a cost-effective customisation twist to everyday cars. Parts are often paired with wider-positioned side skirts or lifted rear spoilers to attract more attention.
- Lip kits: Pair the factory bumpers with lower and wider front spoilers in bespoke lip kits. The parts disperse more oncoming air, helping with traction and steering control.
- Aero kits: Splitters, front spoilers, side skirts, and rear diffusers increase downforce and reduce lift, or the pooling air underneath that wants to get your airborne. Rear spoilers and wings can also be included to stabilise the rear axle and improve grip.
Choosing Parts in the Right Materials
Materials range from inexpensive fibreglass and polyurethane to pricier carbon fibre. Kits made from fibreglass have good strength to withstand minor impact, the required ductility for intricate shapes and good heat resistance. The material is also easy to work with, easy to paint and install. Polyurethane offers enhanced durability for spirited driving, elasticity to flex under stress, and better heat and chemical resistance for improved longevity.
For serious upgrades, consider aftermarket body kits in carbon fibre. The material not only looks good (with interwoven layers eliminating the need for painting), but also has the highest tensile strength, best heat and impact resistance and lowest weight. Common uses include spoilers and splitters to ensure proper air dispersion, as well as bonnets and roofs to reduce weight. To get the best results (regardless of materials) without the common gripes of misalignment or looseness, consider a professional fit. This warrants clean edges, parts that meld seamlessly together, ensuring both vehicle and part longevity.
