Mad about mods: will LTO ban car modifications?

JUNNIE Crisostomo, who asserts his “right to enhance,” owns this classic 1981 Mercedes-Benz 280CE AMG.

Lately, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has been busy stirring one hornet’s nest after another. First, there was the issue of the license plates, the controversy around that stemming from confusing LTO directives that prohibited private car owners from using protective plate covers and other accessories that may—or may not—hinder traffic officers’ view of the plates.

That issue hasn’t even been laid to rest, and now comes to life a new story that another LTO order is about to be handed down—this time directed at vehicle modifications. We’ve been hearing that soon, the LTO will require owners of modified vehicles to secure permits for such modifications (as stated in the Department of Transportation and Communications’ [DOTC] Order No. 2010-32).

Inquirer Motoring recently called LTO spokesperson Jason Salvador, and he clarified that his office is still holding consultations with key industry players (such as the car manufacturers, importers and dealers) before formulating the implementing rules and regulations on modified vehicles.

Salvador cited DOTC’s Order No. 2010-32, formulated Sept. 8, 2010, “The harmonization of motor vehicle classifications of LTO and LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and

CRISOSTOMO asks, what is an illegal mod versus a street legal one?

Regulatory Board).” In it, he read out the “Guidelines and Requirements” of modified motor vehicles under Section 5.2: “Modifications involving safety and enforcements shall not be allowed such as the following … chassis modifications, extended chassis body, additional sidings of dump trucks, extended overhang, change of rim size, modification of handlebar and muffler, reconfiguration of body dimension and design.”

Salvador stressed, “We are trying to define everything once and for all so it will be clearer and there will be no confusion.” He also said that after four years on paper, the LTO is keen on finally implementing the guidelines.

The bottom line, he said, is that the DOTC and the LTO seek only to ensure the safety of motorists and of the riding public in general. If certain modifications already compromise safety and proper functioning of the vehicle, then it becomes a serious concern and subject to restrictions.

THE LTO should even campaign for modifying stock cars for these to perform better and be actually safer, says Crisostomo, who owns this 1981 Toyota Starlet.

This would also mean that, once implemented, these guidelines require that LTO authorities are required to actually inspect the vehicles for any declared (or undeclared modifications), along with the usual checks for roadworthiness and vehicle emissions, during registration.

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) president lawyer Rommel Gutierrez confirmed that the LTO had already consulted with the chamber regarding vehicle modifications.

“We are currently discussing this matter within Campi, particularly with our technical committee. We will continue to coordinate with the LTO to come up with definitive guidelines to implement this regulation. We have to be clear on the objective of this regulation and question what constitutes modifications that will be violative of the regulation. As Campi president, I want to see this regulation as within industry standard and within the bounds of the law. As a car owner, I wish that the regulation can be reasonably implemented, for the protection of car owners in particular and the public in general,” Gutierrez explained.

Open to loose interpretation, abuse

Car Awards Group Inc. president Ferman Lao,  who is also a car enthusiast, stressed that the department order is “open to loose interpretation and abuse by corrupt law enforcers, which will be prejudicial to private car owners, while ignoring the glaring facts of unsafe conditions of poorly maintained public utility vehicles.”

THE CIVIC with 18-inch original TSW Snetterton rims

Lao added: “If the LTO and DOTC choose to enforce that order with poorly thought-out guidelines, then it also affects a large majority of car accessory businesses. For example those stores that sell or import alloy rims. Also, all car owners with wheels larger than stock could be subject to apprehension.”

“The likely target of the corrupt enforcers will be private car owners, if the department order is poorly implemented. Maybe the real story lies in the sudden enthusiasm on the part of the LTO to enforce the order, when it is more prone to abuse and a source of corruption than actual enforcement that places a big burden primarily on the middle-class motorist and a good chunk of automotive-related businesses,” Lao mused.

But mods enhance safety, too

Ermine Potenciano, a car enthusiast and an active member of Team FD Eastpeeps chapter, eighth-generation Civic, said: “I am against the prohibition of modifications in cars. The installation of HID (high-intensity discharge) lights can be regulated because they can blind fellow drivers. However, projectors should not be banned. With our road condition—having unlit roads full of potholes—clearer headlights will help drivers get better visibility. The LTO should not generalize the abandonment of retrofit lights.”

Junnie Crisostomo, founder of the Classic Toyota Club Philippines and EVP of Mercedes-Benz Club Philippines, calls the impending order a curtailment of an individual’s freedom of expression.

MODS ON Potenciano’s Civic include an original Mugen twinloop chambered muffler.

“As a car enthusiast and a road taxpayer, it is our right to have our cars enhanced, to give us better performance. Most of us spend for these aftermarket products to give us security and safety on the road. Bigger wheels with tires are better at cornering and road grips, bigger brakes and better suspension system are common ‘enhancements,’” he said.

Not mods, but alterations

Crisostomo even ventured to say that “modification is actually too strong a word.”

“In my book, modification is actually altering body panels, such as turning a two-door coupe into a cabriolet/convertible, a four-door sedan into a two-door coupe, or into a pickup or wagon. But installing a body kit, like adding aerodynamic bumpers/spoilers, side skirts and rear skirts, are considered mere ‘enhancements’ or ‘add-ons’ to the existing body to give better fuel mileage and performance, since the coefficient of drag will be reduced,” he explained.

“The LTO should even campaign for ‘enhancing’ stock cars because it would perform better than the factory specs, meaning it would also become a safer car. Enhancements should be

POTENCIANO’S Civic has lowering coilover suspension

allowed unless the add-ons that were done would endanger other motorists and pedestrians,” he stressed.

Potenciano has installed various modifications on his car, such as lowering springs, bigger tires and mags, and projector lamps. He said these mods could be quite expensive, setting him back at least P50,000.

Crisostomo, for his part, has his Classic 1981 Mercedes-Benz 280CE “enhanced” with the AMG body kit, suspension, wheels, engine performance parts and exhaust system—all from AMG. He also has a Classic 1981 Toyota Starlet 4K engine with twin side draught Weber Carburetors, performance cam, valves and valve springs, TRD headers, Scav exhaust, upgraded suspension and brakes, TRD alloy wheels, and front and rear spoilers. The extent of these mods has cost Crisostomo hundreds of thousands of pesos.

Defending the mods

So when the dreaded time comes when owners of such modifications will have to explain their mods in order to keep them come registration time, how do they plan to reason out?

Potenciano quipped: “I’ll take photos of dark roads and ongoing roadworks with no warning devices, and submit them to the LTO. If the LTO can provide motorists with a blueprint of

ERMINE Potenciano has installed various mods on his Civic, such as lowering springs, bigger tires and mags, and projector lamps.

urban road lighting and better roads, then I am willing to remove my modifications and follow the LTO standards. LTO should go to the source—the importers of aftermarket parts. Items that should be brought out from Customs should adhere to the local standards and regulations. Enforcers should be fully trained, and there should be no exemptions for government officials. Apprehensions should not be deputized to the PNP (Philippine National Police) nor the MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority). It should be the sole responsibility of the LTO.”

Crisostomo said: “The problem is that it is subjective. There will always be an issue. The LTO should identify what is ‘modification’ versus ‘road legal’ modifications or enhancements.”

Crisostomo pointed out that in the United States and Europe, there are “road legal” parts and modifications. Illegal parts are seized even before  entering the market. Identification and proper implementation at the source is the key.

And then the LTO has to contend with probably the most modified or altered vehicle of all, the jeepney. Virtually thousands of these public conveyances roam around the country’s streets, sporting all kinds of mods and enhancements (not to mention distracting ghetto-type body art), and not a single one is fitted with seatbelts.

“What do the LTO and LTFRB do about them?” asked Crisostomo, quite rhetorically.