Top 8 tuned cars of 2014

2014 has been an epic year for the automobile enthusiast. Not only have we seen innovative race car technology trickle down into road cars (KERS from Formula 1 installed in the LaFerrari, P1, etc), we have also seen a host of new models from manufacturers from all over the world, all with styling unique and distinct to their country of origin. It has been an equally impressive year for the aftermarket too; new tuners have sprung up globally, providing stunning albeit slightly overstyled kits for otherwise humdrum road cars. Amongst the thousands of tuned vehicles available for purchase, these are the 8 we would gladly park on our driveways!

The Vaydor G35 was created with the aim of producing an exotic-looking but affordable sports car that was easy to build and is reliable. The kit makers, Vaydor Designs, ended up basing their kit car on an Infiniti G35. Not only is it equipped with a bulletproof and highly tuneable VQ35DE, it can often be found for next to nothing (in a sports car context anyways) in many parts of the world. The Vaydor kit comes with a complete replacement fibreglass body for the G35, a superstiff roll cage and all the necessary trim to finish the car. Cabrio models can even be ordered with an electric folding roof!

RWB has had a stronghold on the 911 widebody market for several years now. It seems as though mankind has a strange obsession with ludicrously wide flared arches, wild and exotic colours and overly-elaborate stickers. In the past year or so however, several kit makers have joined the fray, designing and producing their own interpretation of a widebody Porsche. Liberty Walk is one of them. The Japanese firm redesigned the front bumper of the 997, and bolted on their trademark arches, altered to better suit the shape of the 911. There’s no way the larger and wider HRE wheels will fit under the shell, so we can safely assume bits of 911 have been removed to get the larger wheels to fit – a definite no-no for the Porsche purist, although we believe that the end result is so stunning that we may just be able to convince a Porsche fan to love this car!

It seems as though our insatiable love for stupidly-wide flared wheel arches isn't strictly restricted to Porsches only. LB has glued arch extensions to a wide variety of cars over the years, and I do believe their M4 is probably one of the best. Just like with their 911, the designers at LB have altered their signature arches slightly to better suit the shape of the M4. Bumpers both front and rear have been restyled too. In stock form, the M4 looks aggressive enough, but the LB kit takes it to a whole new level!

Rocket Bunny first made a kit for the GT-86/BRZ in 2013. Since then, and after the input of pro-drifter Dai Yoshihara, the Japanese firm has made a Version 2 of their widebody kit. Unlike the first kit, which simply added wide arches to the car, V2 came with redesigned front and rear bumpers, on top of the original arches. By no coincidence, the first car kitted with said kit was Yoshihara’s 2014 racer, which was driven to an 18th place in the 2014 standings.

Nissan’s Juke-R was the obvious inspiration for this creation. SVM describes it as taking the concept to “another level”, and take it they did, fusing an R35 GT-R’s floorplan, complete with the suspension, brakes and engine, to the body off a Qashqai. The engine is then slightly fettled with to produce 1000bhp. The end result? A 4 door SUV that is capable of lugging 4 adults on weekdays and outperforming supercars on weekends.

Whilst LB has kept their M4 relatively simple, Vorsteiner has decided to alter several basic design cues to make their tuned M4 even more unique and eye-catching. The air vents front and rear have been flared and raked, and arches have been sleekly blended into the lines of the original car. A front splitter and custom wheels finish the look of the tuned car.

RWB has done Porsches for eons now, but they have never taken an angle grinder to a Beetle. Shapewise, the 911 still retains several hues of its Beetle predecessor, which makes it almost illogically to not graft the RWB arches on a Beetle. However, that is something the firm has not done until SEMA 2014. Taking a standard 2014 Beetle, Nakai-san added revised widebody arches to the Beetle. It was then painted in a bright orange and lavished with decals.

This list will not be complete without a car from the guys at DMC. The firm is more than capable of injecting vibes and lines from more aggressive Lamborghini models into lesser ones. For the LP988-4, the designers at DMC have obviously been inspired by Lamborghini’s own Veneno. They have done a brilliant job of extracting the essence of the car, before injecting it into the Aventador. The completed car is then equipped with a tuned Lamborghini V12 capable of 988bhp. Form and function in perfect harmony!

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