The car modifying scene includes a variety of trends, and one in particular has caught the attention of the Road Transport Department (JPJ). In Malaysia, the “stance and fitment” or “hellaflush” trend has quite a number of steady followers among locals, but are such modifications allowed?
For the uninitiated, hellaflush involves installing oversized and offset rims (greater than that of the stock rims) and installing tyres that are too narrow for the rim, with the latter resulting in the tyre having to be stretched in order to fit the rims.
From there, the car’s suspension and ride height are significantly lowered to create a “snug” look with the tyre wells. This look is further accentuated by changing the car’s camber angle to a more negative one, giving it a “squatted” look, and further lowering the car’s ride height.
The issue, which JPJ views seriously, stems from a few vehicles owners who excessively modify their cars according to the trend, like using rims that are too wide until they extend beyond the wheel wells, as well as extremely negative camber, making it “squat” a little too much.
Around three years ago, a viral Facebook posting stated that JPJ officials were actively “hunting” individuals who modified their cars that adopted the hellaflush trend. The post revealed that the department will apprehend any vehicle that used ROTA rims (referring to replicas made with large measurements, popular among modders) with a width beyond 8jj.
This posed a problem for those whose vehicles that are factory-fitted with rims of that size, like sports cars and other luxury cars. Many accused the department of making vague rules that resulted in more questions than answers.
To clear the air, we posed the issue to the director of the JPJ’s automotive engineering department, Datuk Mohamad Dalib, to find out the department’s standpoint on those involved in the modifying trend.
According to Mohamad Dalib, all cars sold in Malaysia must first obtain the department’s approval under the United Nation Regulation 0 (UN R0), equivalent to the Road Transport Act 66(1)(PP) Vehicle Type Approval (VTA). Once a vehicle is approved under the law, it can then be marketed and purchased by consumers. However, if any vehicle is modified after it is purchased, indirectly it is already counted as an “unauthorised modification,” and therefore, illegal.
“If any vehicle owner is apprehended for offences such an unauthorised modification, a PG 1 notice will be issued, whereby the vehicle in question is banned from the road for a period of ten days, in which time the owner must return their car back to stock condition before sending it to JPJ for inspection.
“Once the department is satisfied that the illegal modifications have been removed, the ban is lifted. If the owner fails to revert their vehicle back to its stock configuration within the allocated time, then the department will issue a RM300 summon,” said Mohamad Dalib.
However, if the owner fails to do the necessary within the allotted time, with good reason, the department is willing to provide an additional ten days. Should removing the modifications require an additional ten days, it will provide a further ten days, but by the fourth appeal for an extension, it will request that the owner hand over the vehicle’s road tax, and will only return it once the unauthorised modifications have been removed.
Mohamad Dalib adds that the department will not issue summons hastily in such situations because JPJ’s director-general Datuk Nadzri Siron prefers the act of educating the public, rather than punishing them, which helps to “humanise” the department’s service.
When asked why JPJ bans the hellaflush modifying trend, Mohamad Dalib explained that the look upsets the car’s centre of gravity, wheel track and wheel circumference. This not only results in extra fuel being used, it can also cause a loss of traction when driving on wet surfaces, increasing the risk of an accident.
“It’s not a problem if vehicle owners want to change their original rims, but the modification should not conflict with the car’s original engineering specifications, and not affect its centre of gravity, wheel track and wheel circumference. Changing rims should not only provide a car with a better look, but should not deter its handling as well,” he said.
He added that lowered cars may be more advantageous on the track, but it is not comfortable for use on regular roads. They also cause an inconvenience to other drivers when dealing with speed bumps, with some even getting their cars stuck if the bumps are too high.
Furthermore, heavily “squatted” cars cause unnecessary burden on the shock absorbers, as well as changing the car’s steering angle and wheel track. These negative points are not only costly (uneven and quicker tyre wear), but also cause certain suspension components to break while driving, posing a danger to other motorists.
When asked to comment on those who accuse the department as restrictive of people’s creativity, Mohamad Dalib answered: “JPJ is involved in organising several car shows around the country. Creativity should be displayed at these shows or on track, not on public roads, which can be troublesome to other road users.”
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All these mods to the original bodyworks are akin to teenagers in their bell bottoms and straight cut pants.
They think they’re dressed to impress. But one day, when they look at the photos with their mates, they’ll question themselves why they have poor fashion taste.
Only difference, car bodykit fans take longer to realize it.
Very ugly body kit.
these people look ridiculous… plain and simple. any modifications beyond manufacturers specifications should be illegal.
dont understand why the authorities need an ops to enforce the law. why not just enforce it everyday?
Some of the rear spoilers look like guillotine.
It is meant for the corrupt enforcement guy who bang into the rear of these fast and furious cars ,and get CHOPPED.
No one trust civil servants anymore….look at sabah watergate.
Even at JPJ Wangsa maju lately,insiders r nabbed for a staged robbery.
Trust no one.It is a scary world out there.
True true. If the big man on north island cannot be trusted too, who else can u trust?
This modification should be banned. Imagine waiting for one to turn forth and back just to park because of almost non-existent turning radius.
TLDR. Just say we dun wan these cars to go kura-kura on rightmost lane in hiway and oso 5 minute “crab walk” when going over even the smallest road hump. Oh, dun forget the neon and rainbow LEDs r burning our eyes at night.
jepunis overlords invading the culture..
I’ve seen a few of these Personas around here with extreme offset to their wheels. They then cause a jam behind them everytime there is a speed bump. Really retards, those owners.
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Nope, we just call you retard for sticking up to this traffic nuisance.
the real ferrari owner will never use road that has a speed bum.
Yes
most cars that are stupidly lowered from factory, as of late, has front lift kit installed, just pointing that out…
So rude….When you point 1 finger at someone, 3 are pointing back at you.
You must be one of those negative-camber retards too. JPJ should just impound those cars and send them straight to the scrapyard.
Instead of wearing sticker saying “be patient, i’m lowered”, it should be “be patient, i’m retard”.
Ahahaha good one! :)
Many dark-tinted luxury cars OTR.
They will soon find out that by the time they sell the car, it would make no much difference in the market price of that car. Car value depreciates over time. The amount of money the spent on modification could had channelled into buying properties that appreciates in value. Just saying. Yeah, please do ban all these bling bling cars from menacing our roads. These people tend to be dangerous drivers too.
They would have to return it to stock standard to pass the inspection. That means fitting back the original wheels and no oversized body kit. The body would have been cut at the wheel well to fit the tyres, first indication to the new buyer not to buy the car.
Surprisingly, I’ve seen these ugly cars with stickers everywhere being sold at second hand car yards, and even more surprisingly, there’ll be retards who buy them. There’s not shortage of retards in the world.
JPJ should concentrate on other important matter i.e- Strob light and heavily tinted glass.
Wait a minute, I thought pipu telling JPJ shud concentrate against modded cars rather than heavy tinted glass?
So apamacam mau?
Sudah kena batang hidung sendiri, what…
JPJ should educate people not to install strob light and illegal headlamp that is too bright or a high illumination angle (under dip beam setting).
These type of modifications are very irritating and may cause accidents. Strobe light can cause some person to get unexpectaly anxious and go out of control. It will cause major accidents.
“…the look upsets the car’s centre of gravity, wheel track and wheel circumference. This not only results in extra fuel being used, it can also cause a loss of traction when driving on wet surfaces, increasing the risk of an accident.”
The car is literally on the floor,
increase in fuel usage should not be JPJ’s concern, hellaflush cars can’t even speed up past 60kmph even in wet roads.
no one wants to hear the bodykits scraping on the floor (which is ironic)
tl;dr people who mod their cars got money, lets harras that specific car mod culture.
good, they are friggin ugly and take 2 days to go over a road hump
This got to be the stupidest modification you can do to your car.I dont know what the owners are thinking.Maybe for them it looks good.But in reality nobody is complimenting their cars except for their own kind.The worst and the one I hated most is the bumper stickers that says “Be patient Im lowered”.Can somebody pass me the Bazooka pls..
Not to mention most of them are running bald tyres
UNECE regulations does not have a standard tyre size. JPJ Road Transport Rules does not limit the tire size or ground clearance. The only thing that is required is for the fenders to completely cover the wheels and tire when viewed from above. So the only summon they can give is for the tires and wheels sticking out of the wheel arches. Cars are a part of someones expression, concentrate on those that really do damage like overloaded lorries and speeding express buses.
Cause eye ache even looking at it. Already a poorman car,make it into idiot car. Can these guys save the money for the sick of their kids, born or unborn, to get better formula milk?or just drive this car and jump off the cliff, dont stay here and waste the earth resources. Earth already very crowded.
Kudos to jpj. This guy seems to really know what he’s talking about.
Why not use all that energy to apprehend the thousands of mat rempits?
Who says they dont?
In Puchong Jaya, Jalan Kenari 4. There is a Satria Hellaflush with Gargantuan Exhaust making noises everyday. The noise pollution & the sore eyes generated by this car is horrendous. Please JPJ, come & catch this car/guy.
You snap a pic and send to JPJ’s twitter, see if they take action or not.
Good idea Rip. Thanks
This kind of modification almost make me hit their back twice.. #%*+^%<}
Cause you are a bad driver?
ugly & tasteless body kits…..that’s all
Most of these modifications are done on Myvi ..the ultimate customisable car in the galaxy . The more negative the camber angle the more bohsia one can bang . Geng MLM rejoice !
The styling of your vehicle tells people what kind of person you are, and it’s right most of the time.
JPJ need to do something so that this kind of “creature” from using the roads.. Sumpah menyusahkan bila dekat bump, this stupid turtle car need to turn left lah , right lah so that tak sagat.. Perbuatan mereka ni dah menyusahkan dan melambatkan perjalanan pemandu lain di belakang dia.. Kau kalau kau nak modified kereta sangat, kereta ni jangan guna on the road, use other car for daily transportation.. Menyusahkan orang, especially geng2 bajet kereta JDM.. Wehh, Maibi, Kenari, Kelisa, Kancil, Axia, Viva kau made in Malaysia.. Sedar sikit…
i also see alot of fat/wide tyre these days, where u can see the tyres are abit out by mayb 1 inch from their body…guess its another new trend ^^
This is the first time JPj has got my vote. Go catch em all!
many ricers on the road often seen with rims with spinner wheels, cheapskate lowering springs, cheap muffler all no problem la…keyword, takda duit tapi mau juga modify.
but this! Hellaflush ka toilet flush ka….please lah all u fans there. bangun lah.
u people are worse than Ferraris or Lambos trying to get pass a speed bump. u org punya suspension langsung takda travel lagi lah. sudah cukup pakai rim cap ayam tu ada risiko keselamatan, u org tak cukup lagi dgn buat negative camber berabis siap hari hari grind fender.
kalau kereta tu kereta spare takpalah, ni kalau daily driver….apu….ni….habis bayar CCM ke?
Dear Tuan JPJ,
First of all please compile your statistic about how many of this modded lowered cars are involved in accident ?
and have speed summons ??
i believe its better than those standard car owners u guess, coz speed bump also never stop , speeding beyond d limit..
if this cars were driven in fast lane and hogging the road pls saman them. but i see only stock cars does this hogging the road for no reason..
I’m surprise the tyre can still stick to the rim after being stretched like that. Looks dangerous, like it will dislodge from the bead seat at any time
These clowns are going to get their cars sangkut on the speed bump. Worse the axle may break because of excessive load since tyres are too far apart. My advice… Try getting a proper driving licence first.
These so called “modifications” ruin the car, ruin the driving experience, ruin other motorists on road. And those nasty stickers and hashtags plus obscene wordings.
Ratchet, Cheap, Tedious and Wasteful.If only they had the logic to use that amount of money modifying these kind of ricers into smarter uses!
The thing is, car modders in Japan and in the US installed an airbag suspension to replace the stock suspension to increase height for driving or lowered for show. Similar to what we see in SEMA, American movies i.e. Training Day or those who play GTA San Andreas. This system is also being used by Lamborghini to increase the height of the car when approaching an embankment, road hump or uneven road. Unfortunately, airbag suspension is very costly to install and most Hellaflush modders skipped that part. In terms of controlling the car, a tire has an area which is called Contact Patch. The tire tread to the surface of the road bywhich more contact on the road means more grip, less contact means less grip. Hence, supercars have tires with wider Contact Patch so the the car have more grip when speeding. Minimizing or compromising the tire contact patch to the surface of the road will affect how the car is driven and with massive negative camber poses more loss of tire grip and uneven tire wear which can cause tire blowout.
The thing is, car modders in Japan and in the US installed an airbag suspension to replace the stock suspension to increase height for driving or lowered for show. Similar to what we see in SEMA or US movies i.e. Training Day (Denzel Washington’s character – Alonzo drives a black 1979 Chevy Monte Carlo with some modifications – Dayton wire wheels with bullet caps and hydraulics system for suspension) or those who play GTA San Andreas will know the low-rider scene. This system is also being used by Lamborghini to increase the height of the car when approaching an embankment, road hump or uneven road. Unfortunately, airbag or hydraulics suspension is very costly to install and most local Hellaflush modders skipped that part. In terms of controlling the car, a tire has an area which is called Contact Patch. The tire tread which is on contact to the surface of the road by which more contact on the road it has means more grip, less contact means less grip. Hence, supercars have tires with wider Contact Patch to enable the car to have more grip when speeding and the driver will have more control. Minimizing or compromising the tire contact patch to the surface of the road will affect how the car is driven and with massive negative camber poses more loss of tire grip and uneven tire wear which can cause tire blowout.
How much does it cost to do these? I thought Malaysian all “Tertindas”? Still got a lot of
extra money meh?
Whatever… I see lots of these mod car when I pass by police station, jpj, and lots of other authority department centre. Try educate them then.
When yr car is a dengerous to other’s in public road…it should be band inmidiately…