The definitive way to make others get out of your way on the fast lane of the highway in your Toyota Alphard.
Attention Alphard owners everywhere. Think the styling of your Toyota is just a bit too mundane and ordinary? Bored of the common folk not immediately jumping out of your way while speeding on the fast lane? Want to make your luxury minivan into a transformer lookalike? Well help is now at hand to solve all these problems thanks to a totally menacing looking bodykit by Rowen International.
Now normal people when looking at the Alphard will think it is already plenty menacing enough, especially with this latest generation’s overly chrome and overly brash front grille capping off its imposing front end design. This Japanese tuning house however thought otherwise and came out with this complete body kit for the second generation Toyota Alphard to turn this Japanese people-mover into something out of a sci-fi novel.
Just the new front grille alone on this bodykit warrants a deeper discussion into the mind of both the designer of this kit and the buyer who puts it on their own Alphard. Supposedly aping the design of the Lexus LM variant of the Toyota Alphard, the spindle shaped grille replaces the already outlandish factory one that is most commonly seen three inches of your back bumper on the fast lane of any interstate highway.
The horizontal slats on the grille is perhaps there to add a touch of sporty flair to the front of this Japanese minivan, but what it does instead is draw the eye to the massive Alphard emblem that is front and centre on the nose of this people-mover. A large chrome trim that sits on the bonnet further emphasises the size of the massive grille and equally massive emblem.
Moving on to the equally aggressive bumper design, the twin ducts certainly further add to the imposing aesthetic the bodykit is going for, though it is uncertain if it is actually functional. The same story goes for the front splitter sits below quad-LED spot lights at the base of the bumper, as is the quad vents on the bonnet.
Speaking of vents and scoops, the side of this (heavily modified) box on wheels is certainly full of them. The front fender alone features two vents already, a pretty conventional side vent and an accordion style one below that. On the front bumper too there seems to be a vent at the side that is connected to the duct at the front of the bumper. Naturally, the rear bumper also has a set of vents on its side. And although the new enlarged side skirts don’t seem to feature vents themselves, the graphics on it make it look like they do to tie the side profile aesthetic up ‘nicely’.
Continuing on the side profile, as with any self respecting modified Alphard, this Rowen bodykit allows one to slam their Japanese luxury minivan into the weeds. All the while riding on huge alloy wheels with thin a thin veneer of rubber wrapped around it. Presumably done all in the name of style, ride quality be damned.
Round the back, the rear bumper that juts out massively is the highlight here. Eclipsing the fact that this kit also features a rear spoiler for this minivan, and seemingly pointless vertical slats on either side of the tailgate. An exposed rear diffuser on the rear bumper is flanked by quad exhaust tips that are joined to the custom titanium or stainless steel Rowen exhausts optional with this body kit.
A complete bodykit as seen here would cost from 125,000 yen (RM 4,950) for one that is made from fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP). A premium style kit consisting of ABS and FRP bits will cost upwards of 280,000 yen (RM 11,000). That said, there is the option to buy these parts separately and pre-painting services are also available, at an extra cost of course. Prices for those custom exhausts meanwhile range from 132,500 yen (RM 5,250) for stainless steel to a whopping 318,000 yen (RM12,500) for the titanium option.
So to atas Malaysians everywhere, any takers on making your Alphard look like a transformers?
