Car modifications are a thorny subject. The law around cars and what you can and can’t do to them is very strict. To see how much you know about modifying cars, take our cunning quiz. And if you do decide to go ahead and fix up your car, remember you must tell your insurer or your cover could be invalidated.
Results
Bad luck! However, some of the car modifications in this quiz have big safety implications so probably best to brush up on your knowledge
#1. It is illegal to modify the exhaust system of a car to make it noisier
You can be fined £50 for an excessively noisy exhaust so it pays to know the law. The answer is ‘true’.
#2. Which car windows can you tint to exclude more than 30 per cent of light?
The answer is 2. You need to check out the law on tinted windows soon! It’s vital you can see the road and other road users clearly
#3. What happens if your car’s Diesel Particulate Filter fails?
The answer is 3. The DPF is an important part for minimising a car’s impact on the environment so you should brush up your knowledge
#4. Is it legal to lower your car’s suspension?
The answer is 2. This is a safety issue and if you do decide to lower your car, don’t just cut the springs, get an expert to do the job
#5. Does the law allow neon lights to be fitted under a car?
The answer is 1. Lighting is a tricky business and it’s very easy to fall foul of the law so it makes sense to know what’s what
#6. Can you put a much louder sound system into your car?
The answer is 1. Aside from being distracting to drivers, there are laws about playing loud music in your car
#7. Which one of these laws to do with car number plates is NOT true?
The answer is 3. New number plate laws were brought in during 2001 to address the problem of people altering their reg plates too much. You should probably find out about them!
#8. Is the craze for stretched ‘Eurofit’ tyres (above) legal
The answer is 2. Tyres are so safety critical that UK law around them and what’s allowed or not is very strict
#9. Is it legal to fit a spoiler to my car?
The answer is 3. Compared to some others, this is an area of the law that is fairly relaxed but it’s still worth checking up on it if you’re thinking of modifying your car
#10. Which of these laws about car lighting is true?
The answer is 3. Lighting is vital to see and be seen so make sure you know the law
Got 9/10 but got question 5 wrong and there doesn’t seem to be a way to find the correct answer. Interesting to hear that aftermarket loud exhausts are illegal as they are a real problem around here but how do you get anyone to do anything about it? How about a web-site where you can leave registration numbers for insurers to follow up (assuming they are even insured/have a licence). Louder exhaust=higher premium so no cost to responsible drivers.
Plenty of after market performance exhaust or even OEM exhaust fitted for better performance or for weight saving are by their nature louder but certainly not illegal.
Exit and start test again
The correct options are below. Bear in mind that whilst these are the right answers, not all the statements below are true. For example, for #10 the questions is ‘Which of these laws about car lighting is NOT true?’ Thus the answer given is correct, but not true. The same is true for number 7.
#1 True
#2 The rear side windows and screen
#3 You must get it fixed or replace it with a working one
#4 Yes you can lower your car as long as it doesn’t interfere with the steering or the height of the headlights
#5 Yes as long as no colour other than red can be seen from the rear
#6 Yes but if you use it loudly so it disturbs others you can get in trouble with the police
#7 You only need to show a number plate at the back
#8 Definitely not
#9 Yes, as long as it’s securely fastened and doesn’t obscure your vision or have any sharp edges
#10 You can have any colour of light showing as long as it’s not blue and flashing
full answers and reasons would be very useful as someone would not learn by this test.
Hi Christopher. We hope that taking the test again and trying to improve scores is a great way to learn.
Unfortunately the ones I got wrong you haven’t said which one’s where right you’ve written something below each wrong question but not the answers
Hi Ron. The hope is that people will try the quiz again and get the answers right.
It has been suggested that there is a de facto relaxation about numberplates characters being replaced to look more like names
So what are the correct answers? – not very helpful!
I was surprised at my lack of knowledge
Take it again you have 1out of 2 chances of getting it right if there are 3 answers to choose from.
Haha good fun .no idea what a eurifit stretch tyre is though.
I like these Quizzes. Made me think though! Happy with 9/10
Yes good quiz
The exhaust noise question is not correct. It can be louder as long as it is within certain noise limits for a road vehicle.
The question is vague.
Interestingly, the first question is wrong. Of course you can have a noisier exhaust as long as it falls under the correct decibel limit. If I have a ford fiesta, I can make it sound like a production line Porsche if I desire as long as the dB limit isn’t exceeded. Correct or not?