What Car Customisations and Modifications Can You Legally Make?

Some want to make the car more powerful and passable, others improve it for external gloss. But not every modification can be legalized. Red headlights or tires that don’t match the car’s model will make the car inoperable. Or you can find out here https://truckcustomizers.com/tool-boxes/how-to-modify-tonneau-cover-for-tool-box-fitting/ how to modify tonneau cover for toolbox fitting. This information will be very useful to you if you want to legally improve your car to the maximum. The automobile tuning rules, approved by the government, should simplify the registration and make it more understandable. Today we will talk about how to register automobile tuning in a new way. Moreover, if you go to the forum you will learn a lot more information about Modifying Your Ride and improvements to your car. So, hurry up and visit the site and make your trip better!

The New Way of Registration

It was difficult to legalize tuning before: there were no exact regulations for the registration of modifications. Not all departments of the traffic police understood how to act, and the owners of the improved cars even less. Either they didn’t register the changes at all or tried for a long time to put a car with new parts on the registration. The media split into two camps: some of them wrote, the rules for autotuning were toughened, others, on the contrary, that it would be easier to legalize alterations.

The experts don’t give a clear assessment of the innovations yet. The procedure for registration of alterations hasn’t changed. The State Traffic Safety Inspectorate (STSI) demanded a document on the safety of the modified car before. The key difference is that now the information about the changes is entered into the electronic register. And finally, there is a clear scheme of action, but the drivers themselves saw this as a minus: there are “many extra links” at registration. Now the tuned vehicle must be registered after several steps.



Step 1. Get the Preliminary Conclusion of The Expertise

You must not start with the tuning, but with getting the preliminary conclusion of the expertise. You should not apply to any experts, but only to accredited ones. After issuing the conclusion the organization shall enter the information on the changes in the special electronic register maintained by the Federal Accreditation Service.

Step 2: Obtain A Permit from The State Traffic Safety Inspectorate

But even if the accredited experts approved the tuning, the traffic police may refuse to improve the car. There are several reasons:
-there are not enough documents;
-there are inaccuracies in the documents;
-the laboratory is not accredited;
-the conclusion says that the changes are not safe;
-the report is not in a special registry;
-tuning will increase the maximum mass of the car or the body or the cab has been replaced;
-the car or its license plate are wanted
-there is a ban on the registration of the car.



Step 3. Make Tuning

Step 4. Get A Safety Inspection Report

Step 5: Get A Certificate from The State Traffic Police


The car owner will be denied a certificate if he/she submitted an incomplete package of documents or the officers doubted their authenticity. They will not issue a certificate when the car has a ban on registration actions.


Step 6: Change the Data on The Car

Customizations and Modifications You Can Legally Make

Engine and Muffler


You can re-flash the engine management system (chip tuning): with this trick, you can either increase power (along with consumption) or reduce consumption (along with power). The middle (balanced) version is put in the car at the factory. It is also not forbidden to boost the engine. It is prohibited to make changes in the construction of a silencer (straight-through tanks, which furiously scream and irritate other drivers, are outlawed), and also to operate a car without a catalytic converter if its construction provides for it – it adds power, but negatively influences the ecology.

Glasses and Optics

You may slightly tint the windows, where the light transmittance index is not less than 75%, which is acceptable. The color, placement, and type of operation of exterior lights must match the design of the vehicle: the installation of “xenon” not provided by the design is prohibited (dazzles those around you). It is prohibited to use tinted mirror film or too dark. The driver has the right to put more powerful bulbs and additional lights in the bumper, which are turned on with the dipped beam.

Exterior

You can paint various elements of a car in different colors, glue stickers, spoilers, covers for sills and door handles (headlights, gas tank hatch, bumper, etc.). And also, to put moldings, spoilers, antifenders, running boards, and other decorations. But the color should correspond to the data in the technical passport by at least 70%. If not, it shall be necessary to register the changes at the MREC. It is forbidden to change the body type, for example, from a station wagon to a sedan or a truck to a passenger car, as well as to change the shape of the hood and fenders.

Salon

You can install additional noise insulation, change the seats (rear and front), order a reupholstery and install interior wood elements (such as armrests). It is also allowed to put additional lighting (on the floor, on the door panels, on the sills with a luminous logo, etc.). Many drivers absolutely legally put a new shift knob, change the front console cover, etc. It is illegal to replace the steering wheel with another steering wheel (smaller or larger radius). In addition, airbags, seat belts, and head restraints cannot be removed.

What Kind of Tuning Cannot Be Legalized?

The term “car tuning” is not normatively fixed. It is only those changes that are not provided by the manufacturer. Each car has technical documentation. It indicates what parts you can replace the factory parts and what additional accessories can be installed on the car. Such as a towbar. If its installation is provided, it is not tuning. If there’s nothing about it in the documents (for a car or a towbar), it’s already “an improvement” of the car. So, you need to register such a change. It is possible not to pass the verification of changes if the parts or equipment were installed at the factory. If the car was initially made with xenon headlights or its front windows were tinted at once (it is not always possible to do it yourself), it is not considered as tuning.

Chipping, that is reprogramming of the car, “improvement” of the engine, better brakes, increased cross-country ability due to changes in suspension, all these will be tuning. But not every improvement of a car is recognized as legal. The main rule is that car tuning shouldn’t cause defects, which prevent you from using the car. So today we looked at possible modifications that you can make legally and I hope you found this article useful!