I myself I'm not a big modder fan, but I differentiate between mods that improve looks without hindering performance and those that do. The first group I respect, the second just look darn silly to me, especially on a Porsche, Lambo or Ferrari.

Here are "my personal" rules on a few things:

- A different set of wheels may improve looks and is great, but make sure they are not heavier than the stock ones especially if you go up on size since not only will the unsrprunbg weight will increase but also will alter the suspension dinamics, 18" is borderline, to use 19" sized wheels the car must be designed for them otherwise you are messing up the car (i.e. OK in a F430/F360SC or 997S but not on a Modena or 996). And I would never increase width of tires just for looks either, the tire width is dictated by the cars specs and moving beyond that will hinder acceleration, balance, ride, etc.

- Changing suspensions? the main reason of the suspensions is handling, more so on a sportcar. Going for a lower height look is OK as long as you don't hinder handling, thats silly. So no mismatched springs and shocks, etc. especially since you can easily improve handling AND looks by going for a proven factory or aftermarkit suspension kit with matched and tested shocks, springs, sway bars, etc.

- Engine mods? Great, as long as they are not agressive to the car's engine (superchargers, chips, etc.), or they are mods that actually live up to their claims (intake filters, ehausts, etc). And watch out for voiding warranty.

- Exhausts? Great for improving the sound, combining with headers/bypass for max performance gains, or even reducing kerb weight. As long as they are not too heavy nor hinder performance,or don't distort completely the car's characteristic engine sound.

- Aerodinamic add ons? OK if they don't call too much attention nor interfere with the cars aerodinamics, that means no aftermarket wings on a carrera for looks for me but yes to a tunnel-tested aerodinamic kit, or maybe a different bumper, especially if its OEM like form another model.

- BOTTON LINE, go always for OEM, factory parts are better quality, more tested and develped, do not void warranty nor screw up any part of the cars handling or performance, and also OEM look better than aftermarket becuase the are OEM. Only if you don't find what you are looking for in original factory parts, then go to reputable aftermarket companies. I.e. factory optional wheels (like the Carrera Classics), factory suspension upgrade kits (M030, X74, X73, P17, etc.), factory aerodinamics options (aerikits, bumpers, etc.), factory powrkits (X50, X51, S version, etc), factory exhausts, and so on. The only exception with this is the sound system, factory systems suck if you are somawhat demanding in car audio deparment, you are left with no other option than to go aftermarket, but always maintaining the stock look as much as posible.

My 996C4 is still 100% OEM (wheels, suspension upgrades, aerokit, etc. except for the stereo) however and no mods, but doing like I mentined above is OK for me, especially after the car has a few years and you don't want to upgrade to a new model, then its a nice way to "redo" the car and make it exiting again


Each can do whatever he likes with his car as long as he likes it, this is just my view on it. But treating a car like a Mr.Potato hindering its handling or performance for looks is something I can't understand in such a purpose built car like a Porsche