Even if you buy the car of your dreams, it’s likely you will want to make it more unique. One way of doing that is to improve its efficiency and performance. The thing about today’s cars is that they are often limited to the amount of power they can often.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways to overcome that hurdle. So, if you want to turn your pride and joy into a phenomenal powerhouse, you’ve come to the right place! That’s because today’s blog post will give you some tips on how you can boost your auto’s performance. Here is what you need to know:
Engine rebuild
The first step is to make sure that the motor you’ve got under the hood is in perfect health. What many first-time tuners don’t realize is that some engines might have problems that you can’t see. For example, internal damage to the crankshaft might not reveal itself until you spot metal particles in an oil change.
To verify the health of your engine, you will need to remove it from the car and disassemble it. The central parts of your motor are the block and cylinder heads. These are the areas to focus your attention when rebuilding the engine.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve owned your Dodge Charger from new, for example. Nor does it matter that you’ve followed the service schedules without fail. Sometimes engine troubles have been there since the motor was built at the factory.
Even if the workers built your car to perfection, no-one could foresee any difficulties due to faulty parts, for instance. You might not know this, but your car’s manufacturer doesn’t build the engine’s components themselves. All auto companies outsource that task to third-party businesses.
The excellent thing about doing an engine rebuild is that you can also take the opportunity to install uprated parts. Cams with different profiles are just one such way to improve a stock motor before adding bolt-on parts.
Once you’ve rebuilt your engine, make sure you do a couple of oil changes. Check for signs of metal particles in the drained oil and the filter. Once you’re happy, you can continue beefing up your pride and joy!
Remap your car’s ECU
Now that your auto’s motor is running just like it did when it was new (if not better), it’s time to take things to the next level. Since the 1990s, all cars got controlled by an electronic control unit or ECU.
Those devices communicate with various sensors in and around your engine. They compare data received against a “map” of values. If a sensor reports an issue, the “check engine” lamp will illuminate on your dashboard.
ECUs with stock maps from the factory will only take advantage of a particular band of power from your motor. If you get your ECU remapped by an engine tuner, they can help you to unlock some extra horsepower.
Even in an otherwise standard engine, it’s not uncommon to unleash at least an extra ten horsepower! Remapping your ECU is also crucial if you want to take advantage of aftermarket, bolt-on parts.
Turbocharging
A common and popular method of increasing the power on any motor is to fit a turbocharger to it. Put simply, the job of a turbo is to convert exhaust gas into a usable format that can get forced into your car’s intake.
Aftermarket turbochargers are usually sold on the premise of adding extra power. But, one other benefit you can enjoy is that fuel efficiency gets increased. In layman’s terms, you get better gas mileage from a turbo engine!
There are various makes of turbos on the market, such as Garrett and KKK. To turbocharge your car, you’ll usually need the following parts:
- Turbocharger;
- Intercooler;
- Custom exhaust manifold;
- Boost gauge (fitted to your dashboard).
Exhaust system
The stock exhaust system on your car just won’t cut the mustard if you want to enjoy high power gains. You’ll need to replace it with an aftermarket, stainless steel setup instead. You can do this for naturally-aspirated or turbocharged cars. However, the latter will benefit the most from such a modification.
Yes, you can buy off-the-shelf exhaust systems. But, I always recommend paying for a custom exhaust tuned to the needs of your particular engine setup. It won’t cost you much more, and you’ll end up with a more rewarding exhaust style and note.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s handy guide. Thanks for reading!
