Being competitive by nature, almost every motorist dreams of having a faster ride. No one can resist the urge to race every now and then or to be just a little faster than the car which stops next to us when the light turns red.

This module will be a series on the modifications that a driver can do for his car. There are limitless ways to add up and modify ones ride and with the hundreds or so custom auto parts and car parts around, this is made easier for the newbie.

The first modification to consider in one's quest for more speed and power is the attachment of a free flowing exhaust.

The factory provided exhaust that comes with our car when we buy it, is not made for optimum performance. These are usually made at a noise standard not fit for more power.

As a suggestion, the best exhaust one can use is from the rear of the turbo back. It helps for any modder to know the important parts of the exhaust to look for when attaching a new one. This includes the the dump pipe which is the the first 20-30 cm from the turbo back, the front pipe which connects the dump pipe to the catalytic converter, and the cat back section which is the largest part. The goal of changing the exhaust is to take the exhaust gases away from the motor as quick as possible. This is made possible by having a smoother exhaust with less turbulence.

A split dump pipe is a usual favorite for it allows fast spooling of the turbo and smoother boost transition. Think of it as helping your car breathe better so that it will be more responsive.

This mod will definitely improve your car's performance but this will now bring you to consider what modifications do you really need, how fast do you really want to go and just how much power you really want.

Exhaust and filter mods are just the start of the whole modding operation. After a while, the real enthusiast would want to assess what he wants and should approach the endeavor with care and much study. He must consider which auto parts he want to add to improve his ride's performance.

One can get ideas from a variety of sources. Online there are numerous sources of information that one can visit to learn more about how far he will mod his car. I still feel that nothing beats actually riding a modded car or driving one. If you can get your hands on a modified car, do it, drive it and get a feel of what you want. The last thing you want to happen is to have your car fully modded and then you are afraid to take for a ride. Putting power in your ride and not using it is not a very wise thing to do. Not to mention that it is a strain on your wallet too.

It would also be wise to polish your driving skills while you are planning your mods. Putting a powerful car in the hands of a driver who does not know how to control it is scary. Together they pose a danger to each other as well as to other people.

Very much popular in California, cars modded to hop are called lowriders. Aside from the awesome look of the car lowriders are modded to be very close to the ground.

Early attempts to produce a lowriding car produced the problems of increased sensitivity to bumps and humps on the road. For the problem, enthusiasts resorted to auto parts add-ons like hydraulic lift kits that allow a completely adjustable height for the vehicle. These kits use electric hydraulic pumps and normal hydraulic cylinders that allow the cars to be raised or lowered according to the driver's desire. Imagine connecting the cylinder alongside the shock absorber or the spring, and you get the idea. It's a pretty involved installation and can cost several thousand dollars.

Hopping was then discovered, some say,as an accident. An unpredictable and amazing result of moddings' evolutionary process. What happened was that someone, at some point, realized that with enough power, the hydraulic system could make the car hop!

Lowrider hydraulic systems were then improved to make hopping more and more interesting, until cars could eventually hop 6 feet () off the ground! From one 12-volt or 24-volt pump driving all four wheels in unison, lowriders have come up with cars that have four pumps (one for each wheel) and eight, 10 or even 12 batteries to power them.

For the effects found in the movies, what might be used are an eight-battery setup containing two banks of four batteries, for two 48-volt systems. Twelve batteries create two 72-volt systems. These powerful systems plus the creativity of the driver produce limitless stunts maneuvers when it comes to hopping.

Two cars suddenly made an abrupt stop at the park's gate. Seven men got out of the two cars and were making their way along the foot path when it began to rain. Six of the seven men began to walk faster to escape the rain. The seventh man didn't even bother, yet he was not touched by one drop of water. No raincoats or umbrellas were used. Since all of the men arrived at their destination together how did the one man stay dry?