Basic Modifications

Basic Modifications

This will help you through the basic modifications of a vehicle.

Intake
The main idea of a vehicle's intake is to obtain the coldest air possible. To do this, the open end of the intake is usually placed as far away from the engine block as possible. Most aftermarket intakes run to a small cavity next to the bumper to get air below the car. The ones that are designed to this are usually called Cold Air Inakes, because they get the coldest possible air. This will allow more air to flow into the engine and at a cooler temperature. Don't except to see any real gains with this mod: this is just a starter.

Exhaust
Exhaust is quite often the first modification done to a car, and quite often it is not done properly. Every engine produces a certain amount of exhaust, so the stock system is usually quite effective if you have no other modifications done to allow more air into the engine. When adding an exhaust set up to your vehicle, consider how much air flow you will have when you reach the goal you had set out. If your piping is too large, the exhaust will loose it's velocity and you will loose a substantial amount of torque. This means if you have a small displacement engine, a true dual exhaust system would be very illogical for you to install. On the other hand, if your exhaust is too small your engine is being limited. Usually only a cat back system installed, that means it starts immediately behind the catalytic converter and runs to the exhaust tip(s). A full exhaust system on a naturally aspirated vehicle would include the following:

Headers
Hi flow catalytic converter or test pipe
Choice to remove or keep a resonator
Properly sized piping
Muffler
Muffler Tip


You can either have a pre made cat back system installed, or take your car to an exhaust shop and have them do a custom set up. Just be careful about where you go and be specific. It helps to have a particular muffler in mind and what size piping you plan on using before going up there, they will usually have a selection of tips. You can also order the parts you want, then take it to a shop just for the installation. For a better description of the headers and hi flow cat, look into the naturally aspirated modifications page.

Fuel
Fuel is one of the most important modifications that can be done to a car, so it most be done properly. And, there are quite a few fuel modifications. Injectors, fuel rails, and fuel pumps will be in the Naturally Aspirated Modifications page since they are not basic.

Fuel Pressure Regulator-Used in naturally aspirated vehicle. What this does is feeds more psi of fuel into the injectors or carburetor at a time. When your engine consumes more air, you will need more fuel to achieve the performance and this will help you do just that.

Fuel Management Unit-Used in force induction vehicles, this is basically identical to a fuel pressure regulator except this one uses a raising rate system. This means that when more air is compressed into the pistons, the fuel management unit then adds more fuel to compensate for the extra air. The higher the boost, the more fuel you will need. Remember that with a fuel management unit you must choose

a ratio of fuel to air. This is controlled by using differently sized disks they will either allow a higher ratio or a limit the ratio to a smaller number. This will either prevent the car from running too rich or too lean.


Banjo Bolt-Many vehicles use a banjo bolt to hold the fuel pressure regulator or fuel management unit onto the fuel rail, and to feed the fuel. To do this, they use a cross drilled bolt, the Banjo Bolt. To increase the fuel, simply make the hole slightly bigger that the fuel flows through into the fuel rail. You will not notice the gains in this, but the improvement is still there regardless.

Short Throw Shifter
The vehicle's OEM shifter can be replaced with a shorter, more precise one. These are called short throw shifter, since the throw of the shift is shorter. These shifters offer a more precise, and faster shift because of these. The feel is well worth the money even if you don't plan on modifying you car.

Electronics and Electrical
Many cars are run my computers, and use either an OBDI or OBDII system, and currently an OBDIII system is in the makes. These systems are a all diagnostics, so if they sense something is wrong they will present what is known as a "code". Each code has a specific meaning and can tell you what is wrong in many cases. Below are some basic electronic modifications, for more information on Ignition upgrades, coils, and standalone systems will be on the Naturally Aspirated Modifications page.
Computer Chip-This modification is usually very exaggerated, often manufacturers will claim 25 wheel horsepower, when in reality it's closer to 3-10. Also a very expensive modification. These chips alter the settings of the car to make the engine run slightly more aggressive than it was set to from the factory.
Spark Plugs-One modification that can be done is to replace the spark plugs with some that will allow a stronger, more precise spark. These often do cost more than the basic spark plugs, when doing this and if you are serious about your modifying, don't settle for the cheaper ones. You really won't notice a large gain, if any.
Spark Plug Wires-The spark plug wires work in the same fashion that the upgraded spark plugs work, they do slightly alter the performance, and in higher performance engines you would probably notice the difference. The wires allow a certain amount of electricity to flow into each spark plug with a certain amount of resistance. If you get wires that offer less resistance, the electricity flows easier to each spark plug. Plus these are a great offer a much better look inside your engine bay.
Timing Advancement-This is not for all cars, and research thoroughly before thinking about doing this. Some cars engines are very un-tuned from the factory, and the timing is set slightly forward or slightly back, but by adjusting many times you can free up some performance of the engine. But if you don't research this well enough, it's very easy to suddenly have a broken distributor, crank position sensor, valves in some cases, obtain some crank walk, and a whole list of broken items.

Spacers


Many vehicles have an aftermarket item called phenolic spacers, or block spacers. They really have quite a few names, but all do the same thing by applying the same rules of science. They increase the distance from the intake manifold, throttle body and heads from the block itself. These causes more heat to dissipate rather than being transferred to the vehicle's air passages. They often replace gaskets and things of that nature.

Weight Reductoin
Although few people realize it's full potential, one of the best ways to improve a car's over all performance and handling is to reduce the amount of weight on that vehicle. This is actually the cheapest way to modify you car. I do not know all of the ways to reduce weight, but here are quite a few.

Replacing the seats with aftermarket ones, or taking them out.
replacing the steering wheel with an aftermarket one.
Take out sound deadening material.
Lighter wheels.
Removing interior panels and carpet.
Removing spare tire, accessories and trunk paneling.
Removing the air conditioner and plumbing.
Leave less gas in the tank.
Remove unnecessary engine parts.
Remove power antenna assembly if applicable.