What do you think of tuning companies?

speedycatz

speedycatz

Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
90
Location
Sendai, Japan
Car(s)
Porsche Cayman S
What do you think of tuning companies, especially supercar tuners e.g. RUF, Novitec Rosso, Hamann, Alpina, Hennessey, etc?

Are they ruining the aesthetics of the car?

Would you tune your own supercar (if you own any)?

I personally like specialists like RUF and Alpina because they are very distinctive and even the German gov't consider them as separate manufacturers. On the other hand, I'm not really into non-specialists (e.g. Hamann). I would definitely go for RUF RT12, but not necessarily TechArt GT Street RS.

Simple and clean.
2005_ruf_rt12_2.jpg


Mad wheelarches and messy.
techart-gtstreet-rs.jpg
 
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Tuners always seem to come with gigantic ugly rims and awful paint, though I've seen a couple Brabus Mercs that are pretty decent.
 
That 2nd Porsche was in FnF4, right?

Anyways, I HATE Hamann. They're horrible. Most tuners make cars look worse, however.

Veilside RX-7= Despite Veilside's other failed attempts, this one is beautiful.
 
I'm all for the tuning companies pushing the limits of automotive power and technology, I'm just not a fan of the obnoxious syling that comes along with it. But in their defence, if you are paying however many 10's of thousands of dollars extra for a tuning company car then you want people to know that your not driving around in the stock model.
 
What ruins almost all tuned cars today is the styling, go-fast looking parts that serve no purpose than making the car uglier. Engine tuning is welcomed as is an aero kit. That's why factory tuners and some with tradition with a specific brand are sometimes the best. For example, this Ruf CTR embodies what a tuned car should be, fast and subtle:

From this:
3147459141_0f39891753_b.jpg


to this:
ruf_ctr_yellowbird.jpg

800px-Ruf_CTR_Yellowbird_engine.jpg
 
TechArt GT Sport (Porsche Cayman S)
http://img35.imageshack.**/img35/9435/techartgtsport.jpg

TechArt GT Street RS (Porsche 911 GT2)
http://img35.imageshack.**/img35/3305/techartgtstreetrs.jpg
 
Tuning companies can be necessary in cases of manufacturers purposefully crippling certain cars so that they don't compete with their more expensive models, like Porsche refusing to sell the Cayman or Boxster with an LSD lest it outperform the base 911.
 
Tuning supercars is normally bad because they don't really need it and it ends up being mostly cosmetic ugly.
Tuning normal cars (ex. minis and fiat 500s) goes well because the stock cars are so low on performance that it makes a huge difference.
So would I tune a Porsche? Probably not. Would I tune MY car, yes please.
 
I have a very mildly tuned car already would be more but it is a financial constraint :p I don't like that most companies put visual elements on the cars, it's unnecessary. On the other hand tuners tend to make a demo car that showcases all the crazy stuff they can do but then sell parts to the public. It is also a good source for information on how far you can take the car.
 
chaos386 said:
Tuning companies can be necessary in cases of manufacturers purposefully crippling certain cars so that they don't compete with their more expensive models, like Porsche refusing to sell the Cayman or Boxster with an LSD lest it outperform the base 911.
Click to expand...

Porsche offer an optional LSd on the Cayman since the introduction of DFI engines. But I agree on the principle.
 
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RUF are brilliant. I often look at their finished result and wonder why the car didn't look like that in the first place.

I love Alpina too. Especially their old stuff.

e12-alpina-own-7.jpg
 
Some tuning companies can create wonders. Most can't.

I'd prefer that tuners to focus on engine, chassis & suspension development, rather than riced out body kits and fugly rims.
 
Win:

Opera, Amuse, Spoon, Roush, Ruf (not all of them), Steeda, Griggs, SLP, Maximum Motorsports, Ford Racing, RE Amemiya <3:drool:

Fail:

Hennessay, Saleen, 9FF, Edo, Brabaus, Callaway, Evo-tech, HKS, Greddy, Mines (basically the ones who do stupid body kits and loads of useless power)

Meh:

Ligenfelter and a few others.



In my eyes, the Opera S2000 or RE Amemiya RX7 is what a tuner car should be
http://www.modified.com/features/0611sscp_opera_performance_honda_s2000/index.html
 
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