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Modify Your Car,
Car Modifications
If you
get it right, a modified car can look and drive great. Get it wrong
and you can risk wasting lots of money on getting little if any
power gains, and make the car look a total embarrassment in the
process!
Any younger
driver who has an interest in cars will more than likely want to
modify or customise their car to some degree, which is great, But
please not fall into the trap of buying useless add ones which promose
stupid performance gains and in reality deliver nothing.
Below
is a list of the main things you may want to consider, and may want
to run a mile from when you modify your car:
Each
item is rated out of 10. 1 is total rubish, 10 is excellent. This
scoring is based on many peoples experience including our own.
| Accessory |
What
they say |
Cost |
What
we say |
| K&N
Filter |
It
increase airflow to the engine, sounds great, and adds around
5-10bhp |
£50-£150 |
On
a standard small engined car, expect between 0-2bhp increase.
They do sound great and look good, but that is about it unless
you have a very high performance engine. 6/10 |
| FSE
Power Boost Valve |
Increase
fuel pressure for quicker acceleration. Also removes flat spots |
£75+ |
May
make acceleration slightly sharper, no increase in power. Don't
waste your money. 3/10 |
| Superchips |
Great
increases on turbo and turbo diesel engines. Can increase power
on non turbo cars (injection) |
£450+ |
Can
give really good gains on turbo diesels (up to 60bhp inc) but
slightly over priced when measuring gains on non turbo cars.
7/10 |
| Fast
Road cams |
Adds
up to 20 bhp on a range of engines. |
£200+ |
Do
not waste your money adding these to a standard engine. a Corsa
1.4 could make an extra 3-5bhp. 4/10 |
| Spax/Koni
Suspension kits |
Increases
cornering ablility and safety. |
£250+ |
Gives
the car a great lowered look, increases cornering ability but
often at the cost of driver and passenger comfort.
8/10 |
| Splitfire
Spark Plugs |
Increase
engine power. |
£40+ |
Total
waste of money. Unless you are running a massively modified
engine they will make zero difference. If you need new plugs,
go for Bosch Super and spend the rest on a night out.
1/10 |
| Splitfore
Ignition leads |
Increase
engine power. |
£40+ |
as
above! |
| Groved
discs and pads |
Increase
braking performance and hot temp operation. |
£100+ |
Look
good and increase stopping distances. However, if your car is
over 5 years old or has more than 50,000 on the clock, your
money will be firstly better spent on ensuring the full braking
system and suspension is sorted, as a weakness in either will
affect the braking power and stability. 6/10 |
| Performance
Exhaust |
Sounds
great, and adds up to 20 bhp |
£150+ |
Sounds
good, especially when combined with a K&N filter. However,
expect no more than 3-5bhp on a basic engine. 5/10 |
These
are just a number of things you can pay out for when modifying your
car. Remember to tell your insurance company if you do any mods,
as otherwise your insurance may be invalid.
If you
start your motoring career like most, in a small car, such as a
Vauxhall Corsa and you want to modify it on a budget, then perhaps
the most cost effective things you can do are:
1.
Get it serviced
-
clogged filters and a poorly tuned engine can be losing you lots
of power. A service will also highlight any other problem areas
which need looking at. You will save money if you can do this yourself.
2.
Reduce the weight
- Not really a practical thing to do. But removing extra weight
from your car increases its ability to brake, corner and accelerate.
Avoid jaming loads of friends in the back, as this will greatly
reduce your performance.
3.
Get good tyres
-
Tyres with less than 1.6mm of grip are not only illegal, they will
greatly impact on your cornering and stopping ability. Makes such
are Yokohamma are great, but are expensive and wear quicker than
others.
4.
Get a decent stereo
-
Once which can be removed. There is nothing worse having a stereo
which does not work or sounds rubish. A decent unit will cost around
£80+. You can also upgrade the speaker for about the same
price.
So thats
about it. It may all sound all a bit boring. but if you want a good
car, forget wasting money on expensive add ons until the car is
running really well.
How do
we know? Well as pat of a project on the Motorsport section of the
website, we run a race prepared 205 GTI, and before we started serious
performance upgrades we rebuilt the engine, brakes and suspension.
Remember, older cars lose power. A standard 205 GTI when new made
around 130 bhp. However, 18 years later most will be making normally
no more than 115bhp - some as low as 95 bhp!
You can
imagine the disappointment of someone when they learn that their
"130 bhp" hot hatch after spending £350 on filters
and exhausts makes no more than 117bhp. Read more on our 205 GTI
car here
Drive
a really fast car - now..!
DriveRS
- Driver
Training Pre and Post Test
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