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The Ultimate Guide to Modifying Your Car

The Ultimate Guide to Modifying Your Car

All types of cars need to be approached in a similar manner when it comes to adjusting them for performance gains. Acquiring the correct mods, applying them in the right order eventually helps to maximize the power gains from your car as well as keep your investment low.

As you look at the list of the top 10 performance modifications below, you should be aware that the popularity of a mod does not necessarily mean it is effective. It also does not mean that the modification will have an actual performance effect on your engine.

You should remember that every tuner comes with specific modifications that are preferred. When it comes to certain types of engines, you may be required to use different approaches.

Turbo Upgrades

Adding forced induction or a larger capacity turbo to NASP engines offers one of the most substantial power gains. Combining a turbo with a NASP engine requires engineering prowess and a deep pocket. Adding a supercharger and turbo (twin charging) is fast becoming a popular trend among motor enthusiasts.

Chip Tuning and Remaps

Your engine’s timing parameters can be changed, fueling and boost altered to provide you with enormous power gains. Turbo engines are particularly responsive and offer about 30 to 40% power gains without affecting reliability. On the other hand, NASP engines are not quite as responsive and tend increase their power output by about 10%.

Speedy Road Cams

Changing the camshaft will dramatically change the exhaust and intake durations making an enormous difference in the power pushed out by your engine. However, you should be aware of some catches since this modification will push power up to the upper ranges of your RPM band. Selecting the perfect cam for your vehicle’s configuration is an art that requires you to take into account other modifications performed.

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Upgrading Intake and Exhaust

Perking up the engine’s airflow usually results in greater power gain. Larger engines with high RPM ranges indicate a dramatic rise in power. Larger capacity engines, as well as turbo engines, are responsive to performance sports exhausts, air filters, and induction kits. However, this modification is laden with many pitfalls and items that should addressed.

Porting and Polishing

Porting and polishing involves getting as much air into your engine as possible to increase its efficiency when fuel is burned more efficiently. If running anything lower than 14.7 to 1 A/F ratio, consider offering your engine as much turbulence as you can get. The turbulence will help in atomizing the fuel dispersion to the A/F mixture as it enters the combustion chamber on the intake stroke, all at the same time. Automotive manufacturers regard turbulence so highly that they have crafted squish (a tumultuous phenomenon) into new engine blocks.

Polishing and grinding is best left to professionals with the right tools and flow bench. The success of the process depends, on a large scale, on the engine’s characteristics, notwithstanding whether it is turbocharged or NASP.

Upgrading Fuel Options

After you have carried out other modifications and fuel starvation is becoming an issue, consider performance fuel pumps and larger injectors. Adding a faster flow rate fuel pump changes little. One alteration that will correct the situation is increasing fuel pressure. Next, feed more fuel to the engine.

Carrying Major Upgrades

Major engine upgrades include crank grinding and polishing, cryo treating, reboring, and balancing. This type of mod is not for the faint hearted since you need to strip down and rebuild your engine from scratch. The power gains from internal engine modifications are comparatively modest, but you get a reliable engine that allows you make the most of high RPM.

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Modifications to Handling

To transform the car’s handling, consider uprating your suspension and have it correctly adjusted. A harder, lower ride does not necessarily offer you better performance. Modifications to the suspension are more subtle such as a lower center of gravity that improves cornering.

Upgrade Your Brakes

The ability to stop your care faster makes sense. Consider installing bigger brake disks that will dispel brake heat generated quickly. This means that your brakes will last longer. Cheaper options include installing high-friction performance brake pads or grooved and vented disks.

Modifications to Your Transmission

The power from your engine is delivered to the wheel through the transmission. Power losses occur within standard gearboxes and the clutch. Choose different ratios that will tremendously improve your acceleration and choose a straight cut to avoid most transmission losses.