When they buy your first car – whether brand-new or used – most car enthusiasts can’t help but get that itch to modify or simply add something to their new car.
It depends if you’re an aesthetics guy or someone who needs to quench a thirst for speed, but getting your first mod (or modification) is vital as even the slightest change can transform your car.
Most of the time, keeping it simple nails it; that’s most of the time. As the saying goes, too much of something (or anything) is bad. There are simple mods available in the market that can make improvements on your car’s performance.
Cars today are so highly developed to meet stricter emission requirements and fuel-economy that, at times, it’s usually not possible to improve over the factory design.
But here are some mods that should work for you and your car – and I’m not talking about stainless air filters that suck the same hot air inside your hood.
Cold-air intake. This kind of air filter is probably the easiest and cheapest way to give your horsepower some juice. Replacing your factory air filter with a cold air intake dramatically increases your vehicle’s acceleration, shooting up your car’s horsepower and torque. With more air in the combustion mixture, the engine uses lesser fuel to power itself. More air means more power. This mod gives you around 11 to 15 horsepower gain. A good cold-air intake ranges in price from P12,000 to P15,000 depending on the make or model of your car. Some cars don’t require cold-air intake filters (meaning, it disagrees with the mod). An optional drop-in filter can be used with such vehicles.
Spark plugs. Not all spark plugs are created equal. There are four types of spark plugs: copper core, iridium core, platinum core, and double platinum core. Spark plugs are usually overlooked, but if your car is experiencing rough idling, or is yielding low fuel economy, replacing the spark plugs will help. Copper-core spark plugs are the cheaper ones that last between 20,000 to 40,000 miles and have the highest conductance and performance. They don’t suffer from overheating issues.
Wider wheels and tires. The easiest way to improve your car’s handling is by switching to wider wheels and tires. A switch should improve your car’s road-holding, turning precision, and braking. It entails reducing sidewall height and increasing wheel diameter. A better grip on the road should give you more confidence when stepping on the throttle – providing more stability to your car.
Those are just three simple bolt-on components that will surely propel your car’s performance in an instant without the need for permanent modifications.