Offenders could also face a jail term of up to 6 months if caught with these hellaflush mods on their cars.
Cars have long been said to be an extension of oneself, hence why car modifications are so popular as it tailors one’s rides to suit their needs, fancies and personalities. Nevertheless, there are of course some modifications which owners commonly make to their motors that do stray onto the wrong side of the law.
Overly bright HID lights, overly dark window tint and fancy number plates are among the more common illegal modifications to be found over here in Malaysia. That said though, there is currently one particularly drastic auto modification trend that is getting increasingly common in recent times, and that would be the hellaflush.
This has therefore prompted authorities to crack down even further on this type of vehicular modifications. To that end then, it has been reported recently that the police will now be handing fines of up to RM 2,000, or a jail term of no more than 6 months, to owners with any vehicle caught with the hellaflush mod. This penalty here is in accordance with Section 6 of the Road Transport Act 1987, as well as the Rule 138 (1) of the 1959 Motor Vehicle Rules.
Now it is worth mentioning here there were indeed prior enforcement regarding the hellaflush modifications, but it was under the jurisdiction of the JPJ. Back then before this new announcement, those who were caught with this particular vehicular modification had their cars banned from the road for a period of 10 days, in which owners must return the car to stock and undergo a JPJ inspection. Failure to do so will lead a fine amounting RM 300 and eventually to the revocation of the vehicle’s road tax.
To those who are unfamiliar with the hellaflush trend of modification, it is the act of installing oversized rims with stretched tyres over a vehicle with lowered ride height (and sometimes some flared fenders) in the pursuit of that snug, squat aesthetic. Simply put then, it is the type of car you see that are riding impossibly low on the road, with wheels that are incredibly slanted, over tyres that look to small for said wheels.
While there are some out there who would find these modifications tacky, there are also quite a number of reason why this particular modification is dangerous too. Chief among which is the fact that to achieve that squat look, a great amount of negative camber has to be applied to the car’s suspension geometry, which in turn greatly reduces the car’s manoeuvrability while on the road.
Additionally, a car that is riding too low could potentially cause a fuel line or a brake line to rupture when it continually scrapes on the ground, leading to a fire. Furthermore, the in-built safety features in modern cars, like ABS and traction control, might not work properly with all these hellaflush modifications applied.
And just to top it all off, simply the act of stretching the (narrower) tyres over the (wider) rim could increases the chance to premature wear and sudden blowouts. This is because the tyre bead is not seated properly on the rim.
In short then, not only is this hellaflush type of mod tacky looking and rather dangerous to both the driver and to the other motorists around, it also now carries a harsher penalty than ever before locally. So if you were thinking of actually something doing this to your own pride and joy, maybe save up for some quality performance parts or invest in a better sound system instead?
At least that way your car may go faster, handle better, sound nicer, as well as being totally totally legal too.
