Performance Upgrades: The Most Effective Ways To Boost Your Engine’s Performance
Over the years we’ve discussed lots of different automotive topics here on Foreign Affairs Motorwerks. We’ve looked at transmissions, how to maintain them and what can go wrong with them. We’ve talked about general maintenance and then focused in on specific marques such as BMW. We’ve chatted about modification and how performance upgrades can enhance your vehicle’s performance.
One thing that we haven’t looked at in detail is specifically engine performance. We prefer to address performance broadly with respect to the entire vehicle. We’ve even looked at how to improve performance without touching the engine. We’re weird that way, okay? However, in this post, we will be looking specifically at what modifications we can perform to enhance only the engine’s performance; power and torque stats. Before we jump into this, one disclaimer is necessary. Improving the raw output of the engine alone isn’t a good idea without also improving the suspension, steering, and braking systems. Y’all have been warned? Good!
Cold Air Intake
We love to think of internal combustion engines as ‘air-pumps’ the more air you can move, the better the performance. How does the temperature of the air affect this? Colder air is denser which means for the same volume of air taken into the engine, lower temperatures mean a greater mass of air and therefore better combustion. Fitting a custom air intake designed for your marque by a company such as Dinan will greatly improve your vehicle’s performance without breaking the bank. It goes without saying that the exhaust system is also an area that restricts the airflow from the engine, but that is a topic for another day.
Weight Reduction
The more your vehicle weighs, the slower it will be. Cutting weight is something that you can do all around the vehicle, but when it comes to the engine, it is usually done by fitting lighter components like pistons, pulleys, covers, and cranks. At Foreign Affairs we only trust what we’ve proven – if it’s good, we stock it.
Stroking
Changing the piston stroke length is more of an art than a science and whether it is suited to your specific vehicle is something that only our ASE Certified Team will know. In some cases, the torque improvement is much needed, while in others, there are better alternatives such as:
Fitting Forced Air Induction
Commonly known as turbocharging or supercharging, this can improve your engine’s power output by up to 50%. It does put more strain on all of the engine components, so be sure that you have beefed up your oil and water cooling systems as well as fitted stronger shafts and bearings where necessary.
Chip Tuning
By now all the techno-kids have been screaming at us, what about chip tuning? Chill, we’ve got you covered at Foreign Affairs Motorwerks with a huge range of different chips available from companies such as RaceChip and Awe tuning. Chipping your modern performance car can produce huge power and even economy gains for very little cost. The best thing of all? Real-time engine and vehicle stats that can be monitored on your smartphone.
We’ve just scratched the surface of modifications that can be made to your engine, not even discussing topics like custom cranks, camshafts, and valves. To really see what is under the hood, why not visit our Pompano Beach shop and have a no obligations chat to our experienced team?