ABU DHABI // Motorsports enthusiasts are advocating a centralised testing centre to ensure modified vehicles are safe, adhere to emission and noise limits, and comply with the law.
“I feel the best way to regulate the registration of modified cars is by having a vehicle testing centre, just like any other vehicle would have to go through,” said Kamui Mahtani, 27, a Dubai resident from Japan who owns a modified Honda S2000.
“The major difference is that it would also check each of the components that have been modified and its safety.”
For instance, the power output of a vehicle would be checked and compared with a standard vehicle. Brakes would be tested to calculate if the car has sufficient stopping power to match the engine power, he said.
“Suspensions, wiring and every component of the vehicle would be checked in detail for safety,” he said.
“Making sure the car is not too loud is also very important.”
Adnan Khalil, who has had work done on his Honda Accord since 2009, agreed.
“There should be a separate section for modified cars because after-market modifications both should be safe and legal,” said the 29-year-old, who is a sales consultant at a used car workshop in Dubai.
“A lot of people don’t understand what’s legal and what’s not, and a lot of car modifications aren’t safe.”
In Abu Dhabi, 6,630 vehicles were impounded last year because of modifications that increase vehicle noise.
It is strictly prohibited to modify cars to amplify their sound, said Brig Gen Hussain Al Harthi, director general of central operations at Abu Dhabi Police.
Mr Mahtani, who has a modified exhaust, said he did not like to make any noise on the roads, and was against racing on public roads.
“Unless I am pushing the car on the track, it is quite quiet and civilised,” he said. “I don’t find it difficult at all to drive it quietly, within the speed limits.
“For me, I use the increased performance of my car for the track, and not on the road because you cannot mess up,” said Mr Khalil, who increased his car’s horsepower from 174 to 290.
“I made a mistake once and damaged my car. You learn from your mistakes, and what I’ve learnt is not to race on the streets. If you lose control on the street, you’ll hit two or three other cars.”
Car modifications can also lead to deadly crashes.
“Badly modified engines can result in failures, stalls and accidents,” said Glenn Havinoviski, a transport expert in Dubai.
“Vehicles which are jacked up too high have high centres of gravity, making them more difficult to handle at high speeds on the road, and susceptible to loss of control in high winds.”
Mohammed ben Sulayem, a champion rally driver and president of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, has described some modified cars as "moving bombs". Alterations can be lethal when carried out by naive motorists or at unqualified workshops.
An agreement was signed between the touring club and the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology to produce federal regulations for car modifications, Mr ben Sulayem said at last year's GCC Car Modifications Conference in Dubai.
“An annual safety inspection is usually mandatory before you receive a licence plate or registration renewal for the year,” Mr Havinoviski said. “It would make sense for the emirates or even the federal government to set this up for modified cars and they become a prerequisite for renewal of one’s vehicle registration.”
At the end of the day, a car is a car, Mr Mahtani said.
“It is the driver who controls the car and it does not matter if the car is modified or not,” he said. “If the driver speeds, the car goes fast. If the driver slows down and drives carefully, that’s how the car will behave.”
rruiz@thenational.ae