Modification- Not just for Boy Racers?
Discussion
Modification is often regarded by the normal motorist as something adolescent teenagers do to make their Clio's sound as arrogant as possible. But, what if i told you that there are solid benefits to modification, providing you have basic car knowledge, a simple tool set, and some extra cash to invest in your motor, would you be willing to get your hands dirty?
There's a fine line between modification that increases and decreases a cars resale value. It often depends on how stealth the modification is, and the quality of the part. An example of a stealth modification is a window tint, as long as you have a light shade, and limit it to the rear screen and rear side window's, as this can look like a factory option if your non the wiser.
True modification enthusiasts should be most interested in driving dynamics and down right power, so that's where ill begin.
A simple modification is an 'ecu remap or chip', whereby your cars engine computer that controls ignition timings and air/fuel mixture is configured to unlock the engines full potential. This modification has few drawbacks, besides initial purchase price, because fuel economy stays the same, or is even decreased. An ecu chip is most effective on turbo charged cars, e.g. high performance petrol’s or modern diesels. The manufacture limits the engine management to remain consistent with its competition. Limiting the engines performance can also allow a manufacture to save costs, because they can use the same engine across the range with varying outputs, e.g. the sports car in the range may share the same engine design as the compact executive but have an extra 20bhp. If you wish to research the costs and benefits for your car visit superchips.co.uk or evolutionchips.co.uk.
The next modification i am going to suggest often divides opinion in the petrol head forum community, and that is aftermarket induction kits. A standard factor airbox and filter is supposedly restrictive, because of the paper filter and box design.
There are many filter solutions, with the cheapest being an aftermarket panel filter. This is often cotton gauze or foam and replaces the standard paper filter with a less restrictive design. These filters are cheap and popular because they are the simplest modification to do to your car. People often say that there are no direct performance benefits, but there are indirect benefits because you can wash and re-use them, therefore you can refresh your filter every time you wash the car rather than just between services. Avoid oil coated filters for fire safety.
Another air filter is the cone/pod filter, which does away with the air box altogether, clearing up room in the engine bay for other modifications. These filters are the least restrictive but still only offer a maximum of 5bhp gain realistically. Make sure you use a heat shield and pipe the filter to a cold air access point in the engine bay.
Another performance gain is high octane fuels and fuel additives. Octane is the chemical component in a fuel, basically the higher the RON- the more control the engine management has over the combustion, hence the saying controlled combustion. This can make the engine more efficient as the fuel air mixture will be combusted at the most efficient times. Premium fuels also include cleaning properties, to reduce grime building up within the engine, reducing emissions, friction and wear of the mechanical's. I recommend Tesco momentum 99RON for the casual motorist and Shell V-Power 99RON for the enthusiast. Another alternative to premium fuels is fuel additives, such as 'NOS octane booster', however quality ones are more expensive per tank than premium pump fuels, so I can't recommend as a valid alternative.
A more obvious modification is an aftermarket exhaust. Standard exhausts have large silencers which increase back pressure and reduce the waste flow. This results in the engines transfer of waste being less efficient. An aftermarket exhaust reduces the silencer size to reduce the restriction and increase the fume flow, meaning that the engine has less exit pressure to limit performance. The only downsides are the cost and the resultant noise.
There all of the basic performance modifications covered, now for handling.
The most obvious upgrade for sharper handling is tyres. Tyres are an important part of how a car feels on the road as they are the only component that has direct contact with the road and are the direct transfer of the momentum. Good tyres are not only a performance investment, but also in the interest of safety, as stopping distances can be reduced, and stability increased.
There's a fine line between modification that increases and decreases a cars resale value. It often depends on how stealth the modification is, and the quality of the part. An example of a stealth modification is a window tint, as long as you have a light shade, and limit it to the rear screen and rear side window's, as this can look like a factory option if your non the wiser.
True modification enthusiasts should be most interested in driving dynamics and down right power, so that's where ill begin.
A simple modification is an 'ecu remap or chip', whereby your cars engine computer that controls ignition timings and air/fuel mixture is configured to unlock the engines full potential. This modification has few drawbacks, besides initial purchase price, because fuel economy stays the same, or is even decreased. An ecu chip is most effective on turbo charged cars, e.g. high performance petrol’s or modern diesels. The manufacture limits the engine management to remain consistent with its competition. Limiting the engines performance can also allow a manufacture to save costs, because they can use the same engine across the range with varying outputs, e.g. the sports car in the range may share the same engine design as the compact executive but have an extra 20bhp. If you wish to research the costs and benefits for your car visit superchips.co.uk or evolutionchips.co.uk.
The next modification i am going to suggest often divides opinion in the petrol head forum community, and that is aftermarket induction kits. A standard factor airbox and filter is supposedly restrictive, because of the paper filter and box design.
There are many filter solutions, with the cheapest being an aftermarket panel filter. This is often cotton gauze or foam and replaces the standard paper filter with a less restrictive design. These filters are cheap and popular because they are the simplest modification to do to your car. People often say that there are no direct performance benefits, but there are indirect benefits because you can wash and re-use them, therefore you can refresh your filter every time you wash the car rather than just between services. Avoid oil coated filters for fire safety.
Another air filter is the cone/pod filter, which does away with the air box altogether, clearing up room in the engine bay for other modifications. These filters are the least restrictive but still only offer a maximum of 5bhp gain realistically. Make sure you use a heat shield and pipe the filter to a cold air access point in the engine bay.
Another performance gain is high octane fuels and fuel additives. Octane is the chemical component in a fuel, basically the higher the RON- the more control the engine management has over the combustion, hence the saying controlled combustion. This can make the engine more efficient as the fuel air mixture will be combusted at the most efficient times. Premium fuels also include cleaning properties, to reduce grime building up within the engine, reducing emissions, friction and wear of the mechanical's. I recommend Tesco momentum 99RON for the casual motorist and Shell V-Power 99RON for the enthusiast. Another alternative to premium fuels is fuel additives, such as 'NOS octane booster', however quality ones are more expensive per tank than premium pump fuels, so I can't recommend as a valid alternative.
A more obvious modification is an aftermarket exhaust. Standard exhausts have large silencers which increase back pressure and reduce the waste flow. This results in the engines transfer of waste being less efficient. An aftermarket exhaust reduces the silencer size to reduce the restriction and increase the fume flow, meaning that the engine has less exit pressure to limit performance. The only downsides are the cost and the resultant noise.
There all of the basic performance modifications covered, now for handling.
The most obvious upgrade for sharper handling is tyres. Tyres are an important part of how a car feels on the road as they are the only component that has direct contact with the road and are the direct transfer of the momentum. Good tyres are not only a performance investment, but also in the interest of safety, as stopping distances can be reduced, and stability increased.
MikesRover25 said:
Modification is often regarded by the normal motorist as something adolescent teenagers do to make their Clio's sound as arrogant as possible. But, what if i told you that there are solid benefits to modification, providing you have basic car knowledge, a simple tool set, and some extra cash to invest in your motor, would you be willing to get your hands dirty?
There's a fine line between modification that increases and decreases a cars resale value. It often depends on how stealth the modification is, and the quality of the part. An example of a stealth modification is a window tint, as long as you have a light shade, and limit it to the rear screen and rear side window's, as this can look like a factory option if your non the wiser.
True modification enthusiasts should be most interested in driving dynamics and down right power, so that's where ill begin.
A simple modification is an 'ecu remap or chip', whereby your cars engine computer that controls ignition timings and air/fuel mixture is configured to unlock the engines full potential. This modification has few drawbacks, besides initial purchase price, because fuel economy stays the same, or is even decreased. An ecu chip is most effective on turbo charged cars, e.g. high performance petrol’s or modern diesels. The manufacture limits the engine management to remain consistent with its competition. Limiting the engines performance can also allow a manufacture to save costs, because they can use the same engine across the range with varying outputs, e.g. the sports car in the range may share the same engine design as the compact executive but have an extra 20bhp. If you wish to research the costs and benefits for your car visit superchips.co.uk or evolutionchips.co.uk.
The next modification i am going to suggest often divides opinion in the petrol head forum community, and that is aftermarket induction kits. A standard factor airbox and filter is supposedly restrictive, because of the paper filter and box design.
There are many filter solutions, with the cheapest being an aftermarket panel filter. This is often cotton gauze or foam and replaces the standard paper filter with a less restrictive design. These filters are cheap and popular because they are the simplest modification to do to your car. People often say that there are no direct performance benefits, but there are indirect benefits because you can wash and re-use them, therefore you can refresh your filter every time you wash the car rather than just between services. Avoid oil coated filters for fire safety.
Another air filter is the cone/pod filter, which does away with the air box altogether, clearing up room in the engine bay for other modifications. These filters are the least restrictive but still only offer a maximum of 5bhp gain realistically. Make sure you use a heat shield and pipe the filter to a cold air access point in the engine bay.
Another performance gain is high octane fuels and fuel additives. Octane is the chemical component in a fuel, basically the higher the RON- the more control the engine management has over the combustion, hence the saying controlled combustion. This can make the engine more efficient as the fuel air mixture will be combusted at the most efficient times. Premium fuels also include cleaning properties, to reduce grime building up within the engine, reducing emissions, friction and wear of the mechanical's. I recommend Tesco momentum 99RON for the casual motorist and Shell V-Power 99RON for the enthusiast. Another alternative to premium fuels is fuel additives, such as 'NOS octane booster', however quality ones are more expensive per tank than premium pump fuels, so I can't recommend as a valid alternative.
A more obvious modification is an aftermarket exhaust. Standard exhausts have large silencers which increase back pressure and reduce the waste flow. This results in the engines transfer of waste being less efficient. An aftermarket exhaust reduces the silencer size to reduce the restriction and increase the fume flow, meaning that the engine has less exit pressure to limit performance. The only downsides are the cost and the resultant noise.
There all of the basic performance modifications covered, now for handling.
The most obvious upgrade for sharper handling is tyres. Tyres are an important part of how a car feels on the road as they are the only component that has direct contact with the road and are the direct transfer of the momentum. Good tyres are not only a performance investment, but also in the interest of safety, as stopping distances can be reduced, and stability increased.
WTF...again...There's a fine line between modification that increases and decreases a cars resale value. It often depends on how stealth the modification is, and the quality of the part. An example of a stealth modification is a window tint, as long as you have a light shade, and limit it to the rear screen and rear side window's, as this can look like a factory option if your non the wiser.
True modification enthusiasts should be most interested in driving dynamics and down right power, so that's where ill begin.
A simple modification is an 'ecu remap or chip', whereby your cars engine computer that controls ignition timings and air/fuel mixture is configured to unlock the engines full potential. This modification has few drawbacks, besides initial purchase price, because fuel economy stays the same, or is even decreased. An ecu chip is most effective on turbo charged cars, e.g. high performance petrol’s or modern diesels. The manufacture limits the engine management to remain consistent with its competition. Limiting the engines performance can also allow a manufacture to save costs, because they can use the same engine across the range with varying outputs, e.g. the sports car in the range may share the same engine design as the compact executive but have an extra 20bhp. If you wish to research the costs and benefits for your car visit superchips.co.uk or evolutionchips.co.uk.
The next modification i am going to suggest often divides opinion in the petrol head forum community, and that is aftermarket induction kits. A standard factor airbox and filter is supposedly restrictive, because of the paper filter and box design.
There are many filter solutions, with the cheapest being an aftermarket panel filter. This is often cotton gauze or foam and replaces the standard paper filter with a less restrictive design. These filters are cheap and popular because they are the simplest modification to do to your car. People often say that there are no direct performance benefits, but there are indirect benefits because you can wash and re-use them, therefore you can refresh your filter every time you wash the car rather than just between services. Avoid oil coated filters for fire safety.
Another air filter is the cone/pod filter, which does away with the air box altogether, clearing up room in the engine bay for other modifications. These filters are the least restrictive but still only offer a maximum of 5bhp gain realistically. Make sure you use a heat shield and pipe the filter to a cold air access point in the engine bay.
Another performance gain is high octane fuels and fuel additives. Octane is the chemical component in a fuel, basically the higher the RON- the more control the engine management has over the combustion, hence the saying controlled combustion. This can make the engine more efficient as the fuel air mixture will be combusted at the most efficient times. Premium fuels also include cleaning properties, to reduce grime building up within the engine, reducing emissions, friction and wear of the mechanical's. I recommend Tesco momentum 99RON for the casual motorist and Shell V-Power 99RON for the enthusiast. Another alternative to premium fuels is fuel additives, such as 'NOS octane booster', however quality ones are more expensive per tank than premium pump fuels, so I can't recommend as a valid alternative.
A more obvious modification is an aftermarket exhaust. Standard exhausts have large silencers which increase back pressure and reduce the waste flow. This results in the engines transfer of waste being less efficient. An aftermarket exhaust reduces the silencer size to reduce the restriction and increase the fume flow, meaning that the engine has less exit pressure to limit performance. The only downsides are the cost and the resultant noise.
There all of the basic performance modifications covered, now for handling.
The most obvious upgrade for sharper handling is tyres. Tyres are an important part of how a car feels on the road as they are the only component that has direct contact with the road and are the direct transfer of the momentum. Good tyres are not only a performance investment, but also in the interest of safety, as stopping distances can be reduced, and stability increased.
I predict the OP may not be around for too long at his rate.
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