Irrespective of which brand tempts you to part with your cash, not everything is as it first seems. For decades, we've endured fake wood and leather trims in the name of "cost savings". Now it seems faking performance is acceptable; vents, grilles and exhausts, all faked in the name of sporty appearances.
It's a crazy notion that some designer exhaust tip delivers improved performance, but car manufacturers seem to think gearheads believe the hype and buy in to it. We don't, rather the opposite, spending tens of thousands of dollars on any new car only to find the last few inches poking out from the rear bumper are in fact fake is insulting. However, it doesn't stop there, fake air-intakes, yep they are plastic too, grilles serving no purpose with zero air-flow, cheap plasticky "ricer" style add-ons that have no place on modern cars. Worryingly, It's not just cheaper car manufacturers that use plastic illusion trickery to bolster their image, the big names are in on it too.
9 Kia Stinger
Kicking off the world of fake plastic add-ons is Kia's otherwise superb Stinger. Perhaps as a nod towards its Asian import cheap performance coupe mantra, it has its share of plastic trim that serves no purpose.
Available in three trim levels, even then the range-topping GT2 is a bargain at just over $52,000, equipped with a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6, all-wheel-drive and enough grunt to hit sixty in 4.6-seconds. It even looks the part with a deep, full-width bumper and grille design adding a touch more aggression. That is, until you take a closer look at the hood, Kia opting to "glue" a pair of fake vents that even the most novice gearhead will spot as a sham.
8 Fiat 595 Abarth
Cutsie retro-modern styling and a tiny Abarth-tuned T-Jet 1.4-liter four-pot motor churning out 140 hp is one of the least likely candidates requiring a high downforce/grip splitter and diffuser package. Up front, a splitter sort of makes sense, with a low curb weight of 2500 lbs and front-wheel drive, more grip over both the driving and steering wheels is a plus.
Venture round back, and you’re greeted by a plastic race-style diffuser set-up, mimicking the high performance traction-boosting Venturi tunnels found on supercars. In the Fiat, with no flat under-tray, this is another case of faked imagery that does nothing for performance.
7 Lexus IS-F
Lexus' arrival on the luxury sports sedan scene served as a wake-up call to established brands back in 1989, giving gearheads an alternative to overpriced European machinery. In 2008, that same level of quality-built performance featured in the IS-F, fresh off the production line and powered by a muscular 5-liter V8 dishing up 416 hp.
More is better, right? Well that depends, Lexus not content with the IS-F's class leading performance decided to embellish on its credentials with arguably the least convincing quad tail pipe fakery we've seen. While the upper tips are attached to the mufflers, the lower ones are purely cosmetic and are left unconnected.
6 Audi A6
Audi's svelte mid-sized A6 luxury sedan face-lifted in 2019 came with a new line-up of greener engines. The entire range featuring, at the bare minimum, a mild hybrid system intended to reduce emissions and improve the car industry's image amid the wide-ranging emissions' scandal. Diesel's in particular coming under increasing pressure to clean up their act.
Audi, like other European car brands, were forced to angle their exhausts downwards to lessen the sooty reputation. In the process, creating a void normally occupied by the car's exhausts tips. On the A6 TDi's case, you get a pair of plain black plastic inserts that won't fool anyone.
5 Honda Civic Type-R
It's spot the fake time. At first glance, the Civic Type-Rs triple rear exhaust might lead you to believe it's a fake, in reality, the 306 hp 2-liter turbocharged engine doesn't always produce a powerful sounding exhaust note, some gearheads complaining of a drone-like sound.
The fakery here is much more prominent, almost hidden in plain sight at all four corners. Up front, those deeply dished fog lamp housings textured in a grille-like fashion are fake. The same level of poorly disguised plastics adorns each of the rear corners too, only here adding little more than a housing for the rear parking sensors.
4 Subaru BRZ
Subaru/Toyota's collaboration project is a good example of when and where not to fake vents. With both the GT86 and BRZ sharing the same basics chassis and drivetrain set up being a dead give away. On the Subaru, behind and above the front wheels, a pair of vents hint at extracting the 2-liter boxer's excess heat.
We're all for individualizing badge engineered cars, but on Toyota's GT86 the vents are deleted, either Toyota has managed their cooling requirements much better, or Subaru went down the ricer route with some chrome and black plastic stick-ons.
3 Mini Cooper S
Pocket retro wonder, BMW's revitalized Mini Cooper S is a popular choice with younger gearheads craving a piece of motoring history without sacrificing comfort and reliability. Building on the Cooper name, Mini has stretched the small car idea, so it's no longer a mini, but a more midsize compact.
Bigger bodies equal bigger, more powerful engines, here again Mini dropped their original supercharged motor for a lag free 1.6-liter turbo unit pumping out 181 hp. Normally we'd expect a turbocharger installation to produce more heat, hence the hood mounted air-intake. However, on closer inspection it's all for show, serving no cooling purpose whatsoever.
2 Mercedes-Benz CLA250
For sheer simplicity, we've taken the CLA250 as a showcase of Mercedes-Benz' recent trend of exhaust fakery. Boasting a 2-liter turbocharged motor producing 208 hp, good for a maximum speed of 149 mph, it is a near perfect balance between comfort and performance.
Bizarrely, Mercedes had other ideas of the perfect car, across its production range opting for the now-trademark rhomboid exhaust tips that you'd expect to find on AMG models with more power. It comes as no surprise, it's all a bit of a con, take a peek under the rear end, and you find the exhaust stops a good 12 inches before the bumper.
1 BMW 850
BMW, once proud masters of the most naturally talented induction and exhaust soundtracks, are playing gearheads for fools. In 2019, the newly updated 850 Coupe looked stunning, from nose to tail, a mass of swooping lines and curves hinting at the 4.4-liter V8s performance.
Other road users are most likely to see the 8-series rear end as it powers towards the horizon, utilizing 523 hp to reach sixty in 3.7-seconds. On the rare occasions you get up close and personal with the 8-series, those twin cannon-like exhausts reveal their true nature, half dozen inches of chrome trimmed plastic hiding the much less visually impressive conventional pipes behind.