This article is being updated to include pointers from Raj Hingorani - who has personally penned this list and thought it to be useful for anyone thinking of modifying their cars:
1. While performance tuning, always first address the breathing cycle of the engine
2. Work first on external control systems outside the engine, before touching the engine. Examples include air filter, throttle body, intake system, exhaust system etc.
3. Engines of today are generally equipped with efficient cylinder heads which do not really require any reworking until much later in the list of modifications. The same applies to high lift cams.
4. Address the intake manifold design next. More power can be gained by analyzing, replacing or improving this component.
5. Address the flywheel weight - fit a lighter flywheel alongwith a better clutch unit at this stage. This improves drivability and throttle response.
6. Address the gear ratios to suit your driving style. Most engines are fitted with poor gearing from manufacturers due to mileage concerns and driving habits of the general public.
7. If one can afford it, fit a properly designed turbo system as a power booster. Good systems will very marginally reduce the mileage, but give a good improvement in power. Limit boost to 10-11 psi due to fuel requirements for the street.
8. Nitrous is a cheaper option - but not very practical for the daily driver due to bottle pressure. Monitoring this and frequent refill is excellent for drag racing but has limited utility for street use.
9. Do one modification at a time. Only then go to the next one.
10. Good tuning requires patience and attention to detail. There is no quick solution to tuning vehicles for ultra-high performance.
Towards this, searching for "quick and cheap magic solutions" is not recommended. Only a lot of hard work and attention to detail will get you the desired results.
11. Every engine has its own set of individual modifications that work best for that engine. Evaluate each carefully.
12. Focus on the fundamentals of internal combustion engines. Only this will serve you the foundation to reaching your performance goals.
13. Any engineering fundamentals will always follow laws of fluid mechanics, physics, chemistry and thermal dynamics. These laws cannot be violated irrespective of requirements. Team-BHP officially thanks Raj Hingorani for his contribution above.
Last edited by theMAG : 5th September 2008 at 00:01.
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