Euro-Essentials
Exterior modifications and accessories to make your car deny its Japanese roots.
ACCESSORIES
European license plates
Commonly known as Europlates, this is the first step to let others know of your intentions to make your car Euro-looking, whether they have their true counterparts in Europe or not (marami sila, tulad ng mga AUV at iba pang sasakyan na wala naman talaga sa Europa).
They come in a variety of formats, and it�s all up to you what type (or style) suits your taste. The different types also mean different prices. The normal series come in at Php1800.00 for a pair, to as high as Php4500.00 for the export and provisional plates. The prices apply, of course to the authentic plates. There are other alternatives to the authentic ones if you�re on a tight budget (or if you don�t like to pay that much because those plates are just going to be covered anyway).
There are also other accessories that you could slap on to your plates like the county seals and plate holders or frames.
Headlamp washers/wipers
It has been the law in European (and some Japanese) states to have these little water-squirting mechanisms for car headlights. The purpose? Of course to get dirt, road salt, and mud out of the lights. According to their studies, the dirt increases a very dangerous glare that could dazzle oncoming drivers when driving at night.
And our purpose? To make our cars look like their cars. There are very little laws regarding automotive lighting here in the Philippines, so there�s no need for these washers. Installing headlamp washers are mostly for aesthetic purposes only, which is really our goal here, but if you�re after the real working headlight washers, it�s your choice.
There are many designs for different applications. Most of our cars here have their European counterparts, so there�s no problem. They range from plain black plastic or rubber material to some fancy retractable ones found in high-end cars. Some adapt headlamp washers from other car makes or models to solve their problem (tulad ko!).
Rear foglamps
To conform with road laws again, European cars are required to have auxillary lamps like these. Most of their cars have them integrated in their taillights, and some do not. They really need these lights because their weather goes real bad at times, like snowstorms and thick fog. These lights glow bright red (more like a brake light) and help reduce the chance of having a rear collision due to bad weather conditions. They are not recommended for use in clear conditions because their intense illumination could dazzle drivers behind you.
And our purpose here? Wala. Pampapogi ulit.
Front foglamps/Driving lights/Daytime running lights (DRLs)
Whether we�re into making our cars look Euro or not, these lights help us to see better at night or help others see us better at day. They provide sufficient light to spots that our main headlamps fail to illuminate.
In some European countries like Ireland, there are laws mandating the use of driving lights. Driving lights should only be used with the low beams off if used during night time. During daytime, you can use your driving lights whenever you like and they act as DRLs. But here in the Philippines, we know that there are no restrictions (or if there are, they are not strictly implemented) on automotive lighting, so we can put on all sorts of lights on our cars.
Roof-mounted communications antenna
Just plain �antennas� (or antennae??), their function is to provide clear signal reception for car radios or phones. Common antenna designs are short ones that jut out the roof at the very top of the rear windscreen. These are usually found in high-end luxury cars, and very few ordinary cars have them. As for our case here, we have various non-functional designs that we can buy at automotive accessory shops, and we can find them mounted on almost any vehicle make on our streets.
Purpose? Ewan.
Rear sunscreen
These are factory-installed equipment on most European cars. Their sole purpose is to reduce heat coming from outside, to lessen the suffering of our passengers seated at the rear because we intentionally remove the window tint to let passers-by see how clean our interiors are (!). These may come in manual or motorized types, original or replacement, but they offer the same heat-reducing properties. They provide real functionality and add an aesthetic touch to our stock cars.
Wheel covers (hubcaps)
For those who have a tight budget for car rims, this might be the solution. Just make sure you�re putting on the right hubcaps to the right car. Mitsubishi hubcaps won�t look right on a Corolla.
Ingat na rin po sa mga magnanakaw, baka mamaya makita ninyo hubcap n�yo na pinaghirapan n�yong hanapin nakakabit na sa tricycle (no offense sa mga tricycle operators at drivers).
Muffler tips
These add up to our list of accessories to make our cars look legit Euro. Commonly, European cars have slash-type exhaust tips to make them flushed with the contour of your bumper. They provide a clean and elegant look to the rear end of your car. We have a variety of options on installing them, either directly bolting them on to the existing tailpipe, taking the old pipe and replacing it with these, or just installing a new muffler.
Signal horns
After making your car look like it�s from Germany, it also should sound like one. Installing new horns not only make you noticed when you honk, but it�s also a nice safety addition since most of these horns produce a really loud sound compared to the stock ones. You could also gain some respect from these horns, other drivers will think they�ve got a big car behind them demanding some space.
We have a variety of choice in horns, depending on your taste and budget. The original equipment found in European market models are the electromagnetic-type fanfare horns. They come in different brands but they all produce the distinctive �pot-pot-pot� sound. Their price range from as low as Php500.00 and soar to Php3000.00 depending on the brand.
Another variation (I don�t know what they�re called) are the big, round type ones producing a mellow but strong sound. They sound like the stock ones but more refined, sounding like �bim-bim-bim� to me. They cost a lot more than the fanfare ones, the popular choice has a 3500-peso price tag.
And if you haven�t had enough sounding unique, another choice is the air-horns. They utilise strong compressed air to produce a shocking and very loud sound, sending pedestrians back to the sidewalk. They sound very much like the half-time buzzer in the PBA.
Decals
To complete that Euro-look without having to spend a fortune, these are little stickers that you can put on anywhere on your car. Most of these are the logos of car clubs from Germany (particularly ADAC), car dealers, insurance companies or the county coat-of-arms. Regardless of what they are, they look cool just the same.
BODY MODIFICATIONS
Sunroof
For the Euro-freak who has enough budget on dressing up his car, this is a necessity for turning your car into a real Euro-looking one. Installing this one is not to be taken lightly,
because you don�t want ending up a soaked raisin inside your car. Try to find a good shop that installs sunroofs properly, preferably those with a warranty on parts and labour. For budget-conscious individuals, this is a pretty serious modification since acquiring the parts and having them installed for you don�t come cheap. But after having them on your car and you enjoying the warm rays of the morning sun, the attention you get from the public is priceless.
Others
Converting your car into its European-market counterpart isn�t just about slapping on the various parts we have mentioned awhile ago. It�s also about creativity and a keen eye for details. Our domestic model cars here don�t differ much from cars that are found abroad. For people who don�t really care about the looks of cars, this Corolla, for example doesn�t look much different from all other Corollas. But for the keen-eyed one, we can see that it has a different bumper and grille design from ours.
Also, if we look real close, we can also notice that it has a different clearance lamp design. This particular model is only found in Great Britain, and it�s our goal here to make cars as if they came there. These are other pictures of European-market Corollas (the same AE112 body as ours) but the fascia is very different from ours. Other details include painting some of your body parts to black like the side mirror mounts, some parts of your bumper, side body mouldings, door handles and window sills.
I don�t know whose car is this but all I can say is you did a great job of converting your Corolla into a genuine Euro-look one. We can see his ingenuity here and a real sense of style (at least sa atin na nahihibang sa euro-look na porma!)by the addition of headlamp washers and adapting Corolla Altis wheels to his car. Astig auto mo, man!
This is a European domestic model Pajero Classic, and we can apply its details here on our local models. Since the body is perfectly similar to ours, all we need to do is adapt the parts found on it, as well as painting some black-coloured body parts that can be easily remedied with a can of flat black spray paint.
There still may be other little details that I forgot to mention, but it�s all up to you to add those.
Now, if you observe your car after putting on all those parts and doing all the modifications and you can already feel that it�s shouting �HINDI AKO PINOY!!!�, you did a great job.
I think the reason why we're doing all these (unconsciously we might not notice it) is to make our cars different from all those stock cars on the street without having to spend a lot. The change is subtle too, only those with a keen eye for detail will notice what we've done.
Enjoy the look of your new ride because you�re now riding with LEGIT.
