Upgrading your vehicle can be a great way to boost performance and rejuvenate your driving experience, without getting a whole new vehicle. Some upgrades make your vehicle feel and drive better, while others are purely cosmetic. There’s nothing wrong with customising your vehicle to your preferences. After all, your car says something about you.
Before you make any upgrades to your car, you should consider how it will impact your wallet and your vehicle. It might be beneficial to contact a mechanic and ask how this upgrade will affect your car. Some upgrades keep your vehicle driving for longer, but others may have knock-on effects that you may not have considered.
1. Get Better Tyres
It’s a fairly obvious and arguably boring choice, but your tyres are an incredibly important component of your vehicle. If you plan on boosting your vehicle’s power and performance, then you also need to consider the grip that quality tyres deliver. Otherwise all, that extra power will go to waste. Even worse, you may end up with a car that’s harder to handle.
Tyre upgrades are also vital if you want your vehicle to easily tackle all weather conditions. Different tyres are best suited for different conditions, so invest in a set of summer and winter tyres for the best options. Thankfully, you can change the tyres yourself so you can just keep your spare set in the garage.
2. Improve Your Brakes
Your brakes are another vital part of your vehicle that you should consider replacing. Better brakes are important for safety. When combined with good tyres, your brakes can save your newly upgraded car from turning into scrap.
However, brakes can also upgrade the performance of your vehicle. If you have high-quality brakes, then you can afford to wait longer before engaging them. This means that you can take corners more quickly. You can keep your upgrade simple by only replacing the brake pads or you can upgrade the whole system. In any case, you’re sure to notice the difference.
3. Upgrade Your Exhaust System
The exhaust system of your car prevents it from getting clogged up as quickly. Different exhaust systems have different effects, but some of them can make a real improvement to the performance of your vehicle.
By increasing the size of your exhaust system, more air gases can escape, which can increase your power output. As well as that, there’s something wonderful about the sound of an upgraded exhaust system showing off the power of your engine. True, that’s not the only reason to switch it out, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying it.
As well as the exhaust itself, you should consider investing in an exhaust wrap. An exhaust wrap has brilliant heat protection properties, reducing the temperature in the engine. This can result in an increase in horsepower, as the heat is kept in the header.
4. Add a Turbo Charger
If you’ve ever heard a turbo engine in action, you’ll likely be familiar with the glorious whine of the turbo kicking in as you accelerate. That sound signals that your car is burning more fuel, giving it a kick and a significant increase in horsepower.
As well as improving your car’s power, a turbocharger is surprisingly efficient. While it can burn more fuel each second, turbochargers also improve fuel economy. Depending on the engine, your car could see a huge increase of 20-40% in fuel economy.
When upgrading your engine to include a turbocharger, you should swap out your standard rubber hoses with silicone ones. Silicone hoses have far superior heat resistance, which means that they can better handle the increased power and heat that your engine generates.
Swapping your hoses out is a good upgrade in any situation. Rubber hoses also have a bad habit of cracking, stiffening up, or getting dry rot. They will need replacing at some point. You might as well replace them with silicone, which is stable enough to stay like new for a long time. This means that any hose leaks are in the past.
5. Upgrade Spark Plugs
Have you ever had your vehicle misfire on you? That could be the spark plugs playing up. Standard spark plugs can have issues firing, which reduces the speed of your car. This also decreases the reliability of your vehicle, increasing the likelihood of irritating breakdowns.
The good news is that newer, high-performance spark plugs are less likely to misfire. As you’d expect, this increases your car’s reliability, but it’s also better for the environment and your fuel economy. Every time your car misfires, it’s burning fuel. Preventing misfires reduces car emissions and increases fuel efficiency.
6. Install a Cold Air Intake
Cars, like people, need to breathe. The better that your car can breathe, the better it will run. When you install a cold air intake, you’re freeing up the airflow to your engine. This allows it to be more efficient. Even better, a cold air intake feeds it colder, condensed air.
This seriously boosts the power of your engine. You can simultaneously increase the horsepower and fuel efficiency of your vehicle, just with one upgrade.
7. Gadgets and Comfort Upgrades
As well as upgrading the components of your car, you can greatly improve the quality of your ride with a few gadgets and modern conveniences. Some of these gadgets are vital for helping you to drive more safely and to protect you in an accident. For example, a dash camera can capture a collision as it happens, providing an accurate picture of the crash. This is great for settling insurance claims, especially if it wasn’t your fault.
Another great upgrade to consider is air conditioning. Most cars have decent heating systems, but sometimes the air conditioning amounts to blowing hot air into your car. On those days when even opening the windows doesn’t cool you down, proper air conditioning can be a lifesaver. A BlueTooth system is also a great upgrade that lets you listen to music or safely speak to someone on the phone.
Read Also:
- 7 DIY Car Repair Tasks You Can Handle
- A Guide For Taking Care Of Your Vehicle Properly
