Car Mods For Performance

This is the first mod everyone usually gets. If not a full cold air intake, then a short ram intake, or just a K&N filter. This is highly recommended for any car. At least a high flowing air filter. Not only is that good for a few horsepower, but it saves gas mileage, so it's a no brainer.

I would either recommend absolutely making sure no water can splash up in your cold air intake, or going with a short ram. You can find splash shields, but you must make sure they will not allow water near that thing, or else you will hydro-lock your motor, trust me we have done it. The simplest and just about equally effective way to go is to get a short ram.

They may pick up a tad of heat, but the combination of the high flowing filter along with the removal of any restrictions that came with your factory intake tubing will be significant in both a bit of added horsepower and improved gas mileage. This also lays a nice foundation for motor upgrades. If you are already looking that far ahead, make sure your intake is compatible with whatever you decide to go with.

There are a whole ton of different types of intake systems to choose from. I am going to say this a couple times here, because it has helped me so much... read your forums based on your car for user reviews, and look at lots of them, not just the ones written by the vendors that are trying to sell them to you. If you are making plans for more than an intake system, you may want to consider looking into seeing if you can buy one included with your turbo kit if you are going that route. There are a few companies out there who will do package deals like that.

The next most common car mod after the intake is an exhaust. You should easily find a plethora of exhaust options for your car. You will want most likely a full three inch exhaust all the way from the motor to the tailpipe.

There are also some nice three inch straight flow muffler options that you can find. I go with a Magnaflow, and it's pretty quiet, as tickets are not something I am willing to take a chance with. Look this up locally, as different states have various emissions requirements. Most will require a catalytic converter and a muffler, but I believe some states like Florida aren't as restrictive.

You can get a high flowing catalytic converter for your system, which it likely already comes with. Another option is a race pipe that you can switch with the catalytic converter if you intend to take your car to the track for some racing and need to run leaded race fuel. Shop around and ask around for this, as exhaust prices are all over the place. You neither want a junk exhaust, nor do you wanna get ripped off.

I live an hour away from the shop who made my exhaust, who I found out about from the forums, as most of the locals use his exhaust systems. That is a great convenience if you have the sort of luck to find a decent exhaust shop near you. True mandrel bends are something you want to look for, as they bend the exhaust without wrinkling it at all, so there is minimal air disturbance, which kills your power, makes the motor push a tad harder, hindering your gas mileage a bit as well.

This is the next avenue if you are hard core. Make sure your can handle what you want for goals. This part is where you need to do lots of research, and save your pennies, as it's expensive compared to an intake and exhaust. You will need a fuel system, and a clutch that can handle all the extra power for starters.

You want to read up on this for awhile if you want to be successful for your first time, and I would recommend hiring a person who knows what they are doing if you don't, or else you may end up wasting a lot of money. You want to know about the best sized turbo for your motor, the power potential that your motor can take, and then you need a tuning system for this, to tune the fuel.

For fuel, you will need injectors and a fuel pump, and possibly an injector driver, depending on your set up, along with a fuel return line, to maximize your fuel flow. The turbo kit can potentially come with all that you need for this, as there are many many turbo kit options out there, so it's worth studying up.

You do not want to skimp out on the turbo quality, for that can be very expensive if you have premature turbo failure, so just go with tried and proven for now, until you know enough to decide that type of thing and differentiate quality from less than ideal. Here is where being a member of a forum based on your car is a huge plus. The learning curve on a forum is super fast, for you have thousands of people from all over the planet all putting their heads together and sharing ideas and solutions.

I will put in a plug here for dual ball bearing turbos, such as the one I have pictured above, That is a Garrett GT series dual ball bearing 3076R, and it has lasted me for nearly 200,000 miles, well, like 185,000, but still, that is a long life out of a turbo!

For a turbo system you are going to want an intercooler that is upgraded from the factory one. The intercooler cools down the compressed air coming out of the turbo, returning back into the motor. For making power, hot air going into the motor is not good.

Not only does it rob you of power, but hot air will add to the increased risk of knock. You will also need a set of intercooler pipes, hose clamps and a blow off valve. Look into the details of your particular car for all of this, as each detail counts, and you don't want to end up with the wrong parts. A lot of people use t-bolt clamps for their intercooler pipes.

You can do this, although you will want to make sure you have steel pipes over aluminum, or else you are looking at easily crushing the pipes, which you absolutely do not want. All of your power is invested in that air staying compressed and sealed basically air tight in the system. Otherwise, any leaks, called boost leaks, will rob you of almost all of the power that you are striving to add to your vehicle.

A clutch is another component that will be essential once you increase your horsepower to a certain level. You may want to do this while upgrading anything else significant, such as a turbo kit, as it is a bit of work, and also, you don't really want your stock clutch to go out on you.

I have gone through my fair share of clutches with my car. I did leave mine in after the turbo install, and when I turned the boost up, it slipped pretty soon after, one night at the dragway. As soon as that happened, I ordered mine right away, for I have seen what happens when a clutch explodes, and that is not a pretty sight, and can be very dangerous.

The stock clutch in my car is a full face disc, which is a bit smoother than pucked clutches, although I hear twin discs aren't so bad, yet I haven't tried one. i went through two more upgraded full face clutches, both spec stage 3 plus. Each of them handled between 400-500 horse power to the wheels, which I was happy with.

My first aftermarket clutch lasted for 75,000 miles, and the second 55,000. The second saw more power and lots of high rpm launches at the track. Then I went with a 6 puck ACT Extreme, for it's rated for 714 foot pounds of torque, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't over power it, ever. I am happy with this one also, as it has lasted pretty well, just like the other two.

This is a very significant car mod for anyone looking to modify their car, as all sorts of suspension components help in a whole manner of events, if you are looking really for any sort of enhanced performance.

There are many suspension components that you may want to consider upgrading. You have the basic springs and struts, that is what comes to mind for most people right away, and yet there are a lot of other parts that you can add. There are probably over 100 bushings throughout your car. Maybe not quite that many, but there are a lot. There are a number of major mounts around the engine and transmission area, that when replaced, help to stabilize the power train so unwanted movements are avoided, that can inhibit performance as well as save certain parts from being damaged.

Then there are front and rear strut bars, front and rear sway bars and bushings, and sway bar end links and bushings, lower control arm bushings, some cars have upper control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings and a few various others. I have replaced most of these on my car, including full race coilovers, as every little bit counts, especially if you are competing.