Tuning between creativity and riot

Guilty, I admit to having a passion for tuning. I love how people care about their cars down to the smallest detail. How they tinker, screw and optimize until the vehicle not only looks unique, but also has an individual signature. Of course the tastes differ – and that’s a good thing.

Personally, I’m less into extreme lowering with air suspension or playful conversions that are barely drivable. For me the appeal lies in contemporary tuning from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s. To improve performance, everything legal, approved and registered.

But while technical creativity is celebrated in Sinsheim, a different picture emerges elsewhere. In my home region of Bad Oeynhausen (NRW), an illegal tuning meeting that was organized via social media recently escalated. Over 1,000 participants and thousands of onlookers blocked the parking lot of a shopping center.

In addition to showing the cars, things quickly go to extremes: howling engines, accelerations, burnouts and fireworks. The police had to call for reinforcements and eventually block access roads to contain the chaos. This event had nothing to do with real tuning.

For me it wasn’t “Fast & Furious” but “Dumb & Dumber.” This incident highlights a sad new rivalry: tuners vs. car posers. Some live their hobby out of passion and respect, often for years. They invest in technology, design and individuality – in short, they let the car speak for itself.

The others, the posers, are only interested in show and clicks. They occupy city centers and parking lots, often without regard to losses. While real tuners value the responsibility and technical sophistication of their hobby, posers don’t care about respect and community. They care about self-expression and reach on social media. The car is just a means to an end.