Though a new set of rims (like a
BBS set for example) or minor mostly aesthetic body kit improvements can definitely make your car look better, if you are aiming for high performance tuning, then you have to go hardcore and change same of your car’s most useful parts with better, more efficient ones. What changes can you make if you want to improve the speed and power of your vehicle? Here is a short list of possible enhancements and tips on how they can affect your car, making it better.
The
air intake. What is an air intake? In essence, it’s a powerful specialized air pump, designed to improve the power and efficiency of a specific engine by optimizing the air flow and slowing down the speed of air when entering the compressor. Especially when dealing with turbochargers and superchargers, a good tweaking of the intake system can make the difference when it comes to performance.
The exhaust system. A car’s exhaust system consists of an elaborate tubing system that serves the crucial purpose of exhausting gases away from the car’s engine, where the controlled combustion takes place. Improved exhaust systems are designed and customized for specific car models, they use different, superior steel (aluminized or not), bending angles, etc. Their goal is simple: making your car faster, more powerful and overall take the car to its maximum performance capabilities.
The
coilovers. The coilover is basically a suspension device consisting of a shock absorber encircled by a coil spring, assembled together and working as a unit. The term is a short for coil spring over strut. Some of the coilovers might be adjusted depending on the targeted ride height or stiffness. The coilovers are different from the strut braces or shock absorbers. When choosing the right coilovers for his car, one should mainly take in consideration the purpose of his vehicle and the way he intends to use it, as manufacturers like KW or Tein have offers ranging from basic to sport, and covering a lot of different car models.
The strut brace (also known as a strut bar or STB) is generally an optional accessory that serves the purpose of providing more stiffness between the strut towers, by tying them together thus sharing the load between them and reducing the chassis flex.
Engine
superchargers or turbochargers. If you aim to improve the power of your car’s engine, and cannot decide if to use a supercharger or a turbocharger, here are a few tips that might help you decide. First of all is good to know they both are forced induced systems. This means they use the principle of compressing the air flow into the engine, thus stuffing more air inside a cylinder, which leads to an overall boost of power (the improvement can go up to 50%).
The main difference is in the way the supercharger and turbocharger are powered. The supercharger, for example, is mechanically powered, by using a belt, chain or shaft connected to the car’s crankshaft. A turbocharged system also provides more power than a supercharged one, but the later has the advantage of a better boost and full throttle capabilities, as the turbo lacks the needed air flow pressure to sustain a powerful enough first time acceleration. It’s actually a matter of what the car is used for that decides between one of these system.
If you opt for some of these more or less radical changes for your car, don’t forget to choose the right models available on the market, so they are compatible with your vehicle.
