How do you improve car performances?

Answer 1

To modify your car for better performance, it will costs money and time, and requires a great deal of knowledge to do yourself. Car power is determined by the amount of air and fuel burned.

First thing to do is whether you want to upgrade your own car or by a rubbish stock car such as pickup truck and modify it, in mechanical terms the second one is know as a " sleeper".

Here's 3 ways you can start off

• If you are planning to go N/A (natural aspiration) rather than the turbo route, your best bet is changing the bore, stroke or compression ratio,for example a Nissan skyline GT-S R33 has a compression ratio of about 9.5 to 1, the 9.5 represents the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder before compression, the 1 represents what its being compressed to,so in this case raising it to 10.5 to 1 would give a nice increase of power over the low end of the RPM band.
• If you wanna go with a turbo you don't need a very high compression ratio because you already have forced induction. But be wary of changes of more than 2.5 over factory settings, too high compression ratio could send your spark plugs through the hood. You could use a small car with a large engine installed. For example a Ford Mustang V8 forced into the body of a little Ford Focus. Keep in mind that a heavier engine will likely change the front-rear weight ratio. This change could significantly affect handling, traction and braking.
• Or to save time and possible money get 2 similar size cars like Chevy LS-1 and Ford 302 (5.0L) powered Mazda Miata's. It's a pretty easy swap and pretty cheap too for the performance these motors can be made to deliver

Secondly. once you've made a decision on what route you want to aim for, you gotta consider what upgrades can be put onto your car and how much time and money is required. usually this can cost from $1,000 - $50,0000 not including car price), this depends on what car you're planting to use. Simple modify can take 5-7 Hours but if you want a top class job to be done then it take from several days to a month or 2.

After, varying on what the car is, it's best to think about if you can do it by yourself or you want to hire an professional. Prices for hiring a professional will start at around $2,500.

Thirdly, you can choose to either: to have a turbo kit or go with N/A (natural aspiration), install a small bottle of nitrous(before installing nitrous oxide in a used car, get a compression test) and upgrade the transmission but also be sure to install forged pistons, it is not a must but it will help to stop internal damage. More than likely, keeping a car naturally aspirated will cost a lot more than a turbo set-up, however, this makes for the best kind of sleeper.

Once you'v planned it all out, you gotta need to purchase and collect parts you;re going to use. This includes but not demanded;

• Plumbing
• Inter-Cooling
• Oil return line to deliver lubricant oil to the turbo (If you got one and/or planning to use/modify it.
• Better intake manifold
• Boost gauge
• Turbo management system

Next, once you got the parts, Install a cold air intake and an after-market exhaust. The reason for this is if you want power, you need to be able to move more air than the stock system will allow. The intake option may be removed in favor of an inter-cooler set-up once you've decided to go turbo as opposed to N/A route. If you would rather stay N/A but can't afford the amount of fabrication needed to drop a V8 in your import, there are other options such as port and polishing your intake manifold, installing performance cams with overlapping grinds and the use of high compression pistons just to name a few.

Also, it would be good to get an ECU (Engine Control Unit), this can control and improve;

• Air/Fuel Ratio
• Ignition Timing
• Idle Speed
• Variable Valve Timing
• Electronic Valve Control

When buying a ECU, you gotta check for the following; You can check data, You can check your fuel map, make sure it has a sophisticated dyno(this can improve the overall car performance).

Fourthly, you got to understand that this kind of tuning may not be applied to a carburetted engine (static fuel map), however, carburetors have the higher torque potential. If this is a N/A track application, consider four independent motorcycle carburetors per cylinder. This should specifically be restricted to the track as this kind of set-up creates a nasty amount of power.

Finally, you would need to upgrade your tires to make sure this new power can make it to the ground without unnecessary wheel spin and over, under or torque steer. You will most likely need:

• Sticky tires ( which will last at least 1,000 miles.)
• New bushings for your control arms.
• New ball joints
• Stiffer shocks with shorter coils.

Here are some tips:

• Don't use nitrous if you don't have to. The turbo maybe causing more than enough stress on the engine and using nitrous should be restricted to the track anyway. If you're going to go beyond 10 psi or possibly 20 psi, it is absolutely necessary you build a better motor. You don't necessarily have to replace the whole engine, but new camshafts, cranks, pistons, connecting rods, and maybe a better head wouldn't hurt.
• Don't use Nitrous as your accelerator. Save it for when you need it.
• Turbo is much more expensive than nitrous, with the average being 3,000.00 non inter-cooled and 4,000.00 with an inter-cooler. Installation is also expensive with the average time of 22 or more hours for install. So spending over 1,500.00 for install alone might be too much for someone with budget needs.
• nitrous oxide is not as bad as it is made out to be by some people.
• there is a lot of hysteria surrounding N2O (nitrous oxide),things like "it will blow up your engine" and other myths. N2O can ruin your engine but that is only if engine cant handle it or if you use a to high level of PSI. N2O isn't just good for power but running it through your intake will lower temperature because of how cold it is when it leaves the bottle.(the Boiling effect) like i said before get a compression test and if your car is used check the state of your engine.
• If you plan on racing the car than build up a big engine for huge amounts of power.
• horse power costs money. If you want to get an idea of how much power you can make your car put out, look at how thick your wallet is
• Nitrous also is the best application for HP gain in terms of cost for parts and labor. You can get a Dry shot system with purge kit for under $1,000.00 depending on the shop.
• Installing nitrous into a stock engine isn't always a good idea. retarding your cam timing a little is a good idea with nitrous to stop you ruining your engine.

However, there's a lot of risks and warning when doing this:

• All work should be done under the supervision of a professional or if possible, by a professional.
• Racing on the street is illegal in almost all places.
• A lot of insurance companies consider performance mods as a liability. Expect more expensive charges from them dropping you.
• Turbo charging a vehicle isn't as simple as bolting on a kit. Along with the complexity of installing it there's the risk factor in damaging valves, heads, pistons, manifolds or even totally blowing your motor and cracking the block.
• Adding Nitrous to your vehicle is dangerous. You can destroy your motor running large shots. Start conservatively, reinforce your motor, and slowly dial up the shot until your running the amount you want. This will prevent you from blowing your pistons 10 feet under.
• Be Careful-too much torque can twist your frame and cost 3 times more than trying to "fix up" your car.