
Of all the “performance enhancements” you can add to your car, spoilers — not the kind where you give away the story, but the wing- or fin-like attachment you place near the back of a car — are probably the worst. They’re of little to no use on most cars and driving situations, they’re often mounted on the trunk, where their minimal effect is reduced to zero, they’re usually low-quality, and more often than not, they lower the resale value. If you have a spoiler on a car whose drive wheels are on the front and you’re driving fast enough to generate downforce, you’ll actually make your car’s grip on the road worse (think about it: the downward force exerted by the spoiler will be applied to the rear of the car, lifting your drive wheels off the road). They’re a near-certain marker of a person who’s doubly dense, with neither style nor substance.

Still, there are those times when a spoiler can be useful. One such case: when you need to change a rear tire and for some reason, you don’t have a jack:

Or if you’re on the go but still want to eat al fresco:

Or if you’ve got a big function or hot date to attend and want to make sure your clothes look crisp:
