Performance Shop Wish List: Top Mods Every Enthusiast Wants
As South Florida’s premier luxury vehicle customization and performance shop, we see all manner of car enthusiasts come through our door. Whether you’re into vintage domestic muscle or modern exotics, all enthusiasts share one common trait,: the uncontrollable urge to squeeze just every drop of performance out of their ride. We sat down with our performance shop pros to get the inside scoop on the wishlists of the customers who pass through our doors.
Big Brake Kits
One of the most desirable and functional modifications that gets requested at our performance shop is the big brake upgrade. Having a huge set of calipers peaking through the spokes of your rims is one of those looks that simply cannot be topped, and that’s before taking into consideration that the added stopping power means you can go for even more power.
While manufacturers, such as Audi, have begun adding 6 and 8-pot calipers to their performance models as standard, these kits can still be improved upon by adding softer compound brake pads and braided hoses for more stopping power. The downside is lower lifespans and increased brake dust generation.
For older cars, you may need to opt for a complete kit from someone like Brembo, which would include everything to get the kit to work, and may include, but is not limited to, new Calipers, braided hoses, disks, pads, and in some cases, even an upgraded brake fluid reservoir. No brake upgrade would be complete without some high-temperature brake fluid that won’t boil over when you put your new setup to the test.
Wheel and Tire Packages
Now that you have your big brake kit, you don’t want to hide it behind some boring OEM wheels. A new set of wheels and tires is the next most -wishlisted items by customers, as good wheel fitment can change the complete look of your car. Wider wheels, altered tire profiles, spacers, or custom offsets all really help you dial in the exact look you’re going for.
Of course, wheels aren’t all about looks. Choosing a quality rim helps lower unsprung weight, which allows our car to accelerate faster, brake better, and even corner harder. Combining this with a high-quality tire, like Michelin’s Pilot Sport, will ensure that you can not only put all your power to the ground, but also get the most out of your braking without skidding.
Suspension and Handling
Suspension work is one of those modifications that really go hand in hand with a new set of wheels. Opting for a high-end suspension kit, like coilovers from Bilstein, offers a full range of adjustments, from ride height to camber. Adjustable coilovers offer the option to fine-tune compression and recoil, so you can dial in your suspension setup for your needs, whether that’s city cruising, B-road blasting, or track use.
Coilovers and tires can only do so much to keep your car glued to the road. If you’re looking for increased handling conformity, there are aftermarket solutions for every piece of your suspension setup. Rennline has built a reputation for offering upgraded options for most Porsches. Stiffer bushings allow for less power to be lost to the drivetrain, control arms allow you to adjust alignment and ride heights outside of manufacturer specs, and sway bars tie either side of your car together to decrease body roll.
Suspension tuning is one of the parts of modifying a car where we strongly recommend getting professional assistance, as buying the wrong component or neglecting to upgrade multiple parts at once can not only ruin driving characteristics, but could also put your safety at risk.
More Power Baby!
Once customers are confident that their car can handle an increase in power, and can stop from the higher speeds they are bound to reach, the next item people dream of is performance upgrades. Performance upgrades can be achieved by increasing one of the three ingredients that are used to create power. Air, Fuel, and Spark.
Air
The most obvious way to get more air into your engine is by forced induction. Turbo and Superchargers. If your car was either Turbo or supercharged from the factory, simply upgrading to a bigger turbo or smaller ratio supercharger (Combined with an appropriate tuning map) is an easy way to unlock bucket loads of more power.
While naturally aspirated cars can be fitted with forced induction kits, they require substantial amounts of fabrication and often require changes to the internal components of the engine. Smart ways to get more air into a naturally aspirated engine are by letting the engine breathe easily. This can be achieved with larger air intakes, free-flowing exhaust branches and exhausts, or simply by porting and polishing the head to let air move through it with less turbulence.
Fuel
Fuel. Petrol. Gas. Whatever you call it is the main ingredient in getting more power. There aren’t many ways to get more fuel into your engine other than higher flow fuel pumps and larger capacity injectors, but it is often an overlooked modification that can cause a bottleneck when chasing more power.
The alternative to getting more fuel to your engine is to go with higher octane fuel. The higher the octane, the more violent the combustion, and the more power can be generated. There are two ways to use higher octane fuel. The first is hard tuning your car with a map to use non-standard fuels, or the more practical flex fuel sensor. Flex fuel sensors identify the octane you’re using and can adjust the tune to suit it, and even allow you to swap between different fuels, like gas and ethanol, on the fly.
Spark
Air and fuel are going to do nothing without a spark to set it all off. When chasing more power, we often recommend going down in temperature of your spark plugs to ensure that you are getting clean, consistent sparks. However, sometimes a good spark plug simply isn’t enough, and you may need to consider a higher amperage coil pack to create a stronger spark, as well as a wiring system that can safely support the increased current.
When upgrading your coils and coil harness, we also suggest a big three cable upgrade. This upgrades the cables that run between your battery, alternator, and engine to thicker gauge cables, lowering resistance and allowing more current to flow.
The Best Luxury Performance Shop in Pompano Beach
We only discussed the very tip of the modification wishlist; there is still so much more we can offer. Standalone ECU upgrades, aero packages, forged rebuilds, transmission swaps, and even full engine swaps, the limit to the modifications we can do to a car is endless.
If you’re interested in learning more, or finding out what our performance shop can do to your car, please feel free to call Foreign Affairs Motorsports at 954-746-0488 and book an appointment to have one of our performance shop specialists go over your car and plan your next modification!