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While modified cars are cool, there are some modifying trends that just need to end.

We all want to personalize something at some point in our lives. If we own a car or bike, that will likely be the first thing we choose for personalization.

Unfortunately, not all modifications are “good” for a car, as much as we might like them, neither our car, nor anyone around us will care for certain modifications. Be it a ridiculously loud exhaust that eliminates the catalytic converter or an unusually small steering wheel that could actually make a car dangerous on the road, there are a lot of modifications out there that can both make a car hard to drive and a whole lot worse for the environment.

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The first thing the vast majority of us would be willing to spend money on is more horsepower. This much is understandable, but there really is such a thing as too much power.

If you don’t spend just as much time and money upgrading the suspension and brakes, you will make your vehicle dangerous and illegal. You will also almost certainly break something if you don’t take a holistic approach to your performance upgrade.

The Donk automotive subculture has been around for decades, it is still fairly niche and still fairly difficult to understand. Those that do understand it are pretty passionate about it, though.

It is without doubt an expression of freedom, we just don’t necessarily agree that it is a good way to express freedom. Not only does it ruin the vehicle’s appearance, but it destroys the handling, comfort and pretty much everything else associated with drivability.

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Aesthetics are important to all of us, but there is a limit, and for the most part slamming a car all the way to the ground is exceeding that limit. In all cases, handling is compromised, not improved.

To pull off this “look” you will need to pour thousands of dollars into a car, a bespoke suspension will need to be designed, wheel arches will need to be cut, welded and structural components will be altered. In short, just to get the car looking “stanced” you will compromise the safety and performance of the vehicle, even when it is done by a professional.

Pickups have exploded in popularity and so has the aftermarket for them, one aspect of truck culture is lifting the suspension. We will be the first to point out that there is a good lift, and a bad lift.

Increasing the ride height by a couple of inches to accommodate bigger off-road tires is perfectly reasonable, lifting the vehicle so high it feels like a pseudo monster truck is just a bit pointless.

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For racing teams, getting the camber right is essential if they want to optimize grip on a specific track. For road going cars, camber is equally important, to optimize grip in everyday driving conditions.

Trying to emulate a track car’s camber, or taking it even further negative, means compromising that grip to such an extent that it becomes dangerous. Making your car dangerous is not “cool.”

Often but not always done in unison with the negative camber, we have the increasingly popular JDM car scene to thank for this. For all the good they have done for the automotive industry, bringing out this atrocity is just inexcusable.

For most of us it looks ridiculous, but even if you do think it looks great, making a car a safety risk is simply not acceptable. In the wrong hands any car can be a weapon, maybe one of these guys will have a blowout, or lose control at the wrong moment and put others in danger.

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The dark or “limo” tint is great for privacy but pretty awful for visibility, especially at night, even the highest quality tints will make it that much harder to see at night.

Visibility is a crucial part of any car, removing that quite literally puts people in danger just because somebody doesn’t want to be seen, understandable for criminals, less so for responsible adults.

Arguably, the most infuriating modification might well be the hardest one to see. Adding a high performance exhaust system is a priority upgrade for most of us, but simply deleting the emissions devices is not the way to go.

It is particularly damaging for diesel vehicles that can produce as much as twice their normal emissions without their DPF or catalytic converter. It is unnecessary too because there is a long list of cat-back options out there that still help horsepower, sound, and even fuel efficiency.

Luke Zietsman is an all out automotive enthusiast based in The Philippines. If it has two or four wheels he has either owned it, researched about it or dreamed about it.