Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Body kits: Looks or performance?

When Looking at body kits for the Celi, I can't help but wonder are these just for looks or do they actually give you a lower drag coefficient? I'd like to do what I can to make the car faster, but unfortuneatly I'll never have all the money to invest in it as a show car. I've got some great plans for the exterior and when I'm done I'll post them here, but as of right now, I really don't see the need for a body kit. Any thoughts?

body kits usually weight much more then stock components... in addition, side skirts are add-on parts to something that is already aerodynamically working just fine.

and I'm sure that the designers of several of the top body kits spend several hundreds of hours in wind tunnels testing out wind drag on their $400 production body kits

bodkits are just for looks...

on an imports, its called "bodykit"
on a domestic, its called "ground EFFECTS"

...

I doubt that the creators of underbody NEON lighting made these things for any sort of improved driving functionality

body kits... look fast

if you want to be fast, i reconmend taking schwag off ur car and out of it, instead of adding more weight...seems logical right?

yah makes sense, just was wondering if it would help with the aerodynamics since the skirting helps prevent under draft. All I've added to my car is the TRD Hoodspoilers as I figured that being FWD wings on the front should help somewhat with downforce.

I'm considering taking out my backseat as its nearly useless anyway and just putting in cargo netting to seperate the trunk from the front. Then going with the body reinforcing bars to stiffen it up some.

Would love to add the AEM CAI but I'm kinda worried about resale value later on if I do any real engine mods like that. Especially if you have to cut the wheelwell. Trust me, this will look awesome even without a body kit

hey caerie, I don't know if you or the rest of you guys know it but if you start being a smartass to a cop when he pulls you over, He can legally give you a ticket for removing your standard equipment back seats. This is not a rumor. A friend of mine got this citation!

Go on a diet! loose that 10 lbs of weight!!! thats like 1-2 HP gained!!!

LMAO Steven, 1 to 2 hp, i don't think it'll make much of a different does it? a guy taking out the back seats of his celica is the worst thing he could ever think of doing. trust me! you'll regret it!

2001 celica backseats; 14lbs
all plastics behind the driver; 10lbs

sacraficing looks for weight reduction = 24lbs TOTAL

...

sorry, I dont have weights on the dohnut, jack and tire iron.