STOP CALLING IT A BUILD.

Let’s clear something up.

Buying parts does not equal building a car.

And that’s fine. Modify your car. Have fun. Spend your money. Just don’t call it a build when you’re bolting on whatever the algorithm fed you this week.

If your “build” is just a growing cart of trending parts, that’s not a vision. That’s consumer behavior with horsepower attached.

A build implies intent. Direction. A defined outcome.

Most cars out there aren’t built.

They’re assembled.

Random turbo because bigger sounds impressive.
Random intake because noises are cool.
Random coilovers because someone said they were “the best.”
Sway bars tossed in because a forum thread promised sharper turn-in.

No alignment strategy.
No cooling plan.
No brake consideration.
No understanding of how any of it interacts.

But hey, the dyno number looks great on Facebook.

There’s a concept in psychology called the Dunning–Kruger effect. The less someone understands about a subject, the more confident they tend to become. Car culture is full of it.

Install a turbo kit. Post a graph. Confidence skyrockets.

Real builders don’t sound like that.

They talk about balance. Trade-offs. Heat management. Brake bias. Weight transfer. They understand that changing one system affects five others.

Manufacturers spend years engineering balance into a platform. Then we show up with three boxes and a Saturday and decide we’ve improved it.

That’s not evolution.

That’s parts-bin roulette.

And the brutal truth?

A lot of these “builds” are objectively worse than stock.

Harsher ride. Sloppier balance. Heat soaked after two pulls. Overpowered for the tire. Under-braked for the speed. Dramatic in a straight line. Nervous everywhere else.

“It rips.”

Sure.

Until it doesn’t.

Real building starts with intent.