Welcome to 74Customs, in this article we will explore the first 5 modifications you should do to your vehicle. This is the practical and safe guide to making your engine create the power you want for beginners or experts.
What most people fail to understand is that there is so much more to modifying your car than the other top five lists created, and there are some crucial things they miss too
Supporting the build
Perhaps the most overlooked and most important adjustment you can make to your vehicle (especially moving further into any build). It’s all about making sure your car can handle the power and strain you are about to throw its way!
Prevetative Maintenence
Some things that should be done first would be basic maintenance and other preventative maintenance:
- Oil change.
- Coolant system flush
- Checking and Replacing common sensors known to fail in your vehicle.
- Spark plugs (Properly gap your plugs using an online resource and spark plug gap tool).
- Fuel filter replacement.
- Injector Cleaning (for older or high mileage vehicles).
- Transmission Fluid and Filter change.
There are hundreds of things to check and replace but these are just a couple of good things to check and fix to start in ensuring your vehicle is operating well before increasing power.
If you have a brand new car not all of this will apply because of your car’s good condition and (hopefully) factory reliability also. Whereas the older the vehicle I would advise doing all of these maintenance tasks and potentally more.
Regardless of whether your vehicle is new or old doing some basic maintenance helps you to get a feel for working on your vehicle especially if you plan on installing modifications yourself this will come in handy later.
1) Performance Intake
One of the most notorious car modifications and one of the best too! Get yourself a cold air intake, ideally, it’s actually a cold air intake and has a heat shield keeping the cool air on your intake and the hot air in your engine bay away.
You might find, How to Modify Your Intake a useful article!
What is a cold air intake?
A cold air intake utilizes a high-flow filter and a smooth-flowing intake pipe to increase the intake airflow and create more power! A good cold air intake will have a heat shield to divide engine heat from outside air so you get a colder air supply into your engine! The cooler the air the denser it is which carries more oxygen which will be needed to increase combustion.
Why a Performance intake should be first?
A performance cold air intake should be one of the first modifications for anyone looking to enhance their engine power. This is because of the relative ease of installation, low legal interference, and power gain. Cold air intakes help to reduce factory-restrictive airboxes and piping, enhance airflow, and draw cooler denser air which is optimal for performance. You can expect around a 5-15HP gain and depending on your factory airbox restrictiveness and gains in fuel economy also depnding on your driving habits.
2) Exhaust upgrades
Inevitably some will skip this step and cheap out on their exhaust systems, however, I will explain how you should be modifying your exhaust and why you should not pinch pennies apart from exhaust sound quality.
“I would like to genuinely enjoy the sound of people’s builds knowing both performance and the voice of the car are being tastefully expressed.”
Here are the kinds of exhaust setups you’ll be able to run:
Full Exhaust (Most Power)
Changing everything from the headers/manifold back including the downpipe, resonators, and mufflers, this system also usually has exhaust tips included. A completely new and upgraded exhaust system from the factory system.
Cat Back Exhaust (Most Popular)
Very similar to a full exhaust system however it excludes headers and a downpipe, starting from after the catalytic converter but including everything after it, resonators, mufflers, and exhaust tips as well as usually larger diameter and smoother flowing exhaust pipes.
Axle Back Exhaust (Most Affordable)
As the name suggests this exhaust system starts from your rear axle usually featuring aftermarket mufflers and exhaust tips. A nice addition of aesthetics and sound from an affordable price point but usually lacking in power gain.
Custom/DIY Exhausts (Most Work)
Creating and replacing specific parts and portions of your exhaust:
- Replacing catalytic converters.
- Mufflers.
- Resonators.
- Exhaust Tips.
- Pipes.
This will be a good alternative for those with unique vehicles not fully supported aftermarket and of course DIYers. Note be cautious to ensure you craft a safe exhaust, abide by laws if driven on public roads, and with performance in mind to avoid potentially hindering power.
Important:
Depending on your engine and budget will determine which system is best. But as a general rule, I wouldn’t increase the size of your exhaust pipes to more than 1/2 of an inch (13mm) from the factory unless you are making substantially more power than stock in the future.
Smaller pipes will give you better low and mid-range torque and large pipes help with mid to high rpm torque. Does that mean you should put a full 3” Catback on your stock car, likely not but I can’t determine it for everyone as everyone’s engines and build plans are different.
Beginner Recommendation
As a budget-friendly performance booster that also abides by most laws would get a high-flow muffler or axle back exhaust from a known brand as well as a high-flow catalytic converter these are the biggest restrictions in your vehicle stock exhaust system and changing these you’ll free up a little horsepower while also remaining lawful.
If you plan on modifying your car more extensively saving up for and purchasing a Cat-Back exhaust system is well worth it, especially in the long run.
3) Ignition Upgrades
Upgrading your ignition systems should be your next upgrade in your vehicle. There is usually one setback in your ignition system that should be addressed while modifying. The main parts of your ignition system in a fuel-injected vehicle will be:
- Spark Plugs.
- Spark Plug wires.
- Coilpacks.
What should you replace?
Finding the weak link in your ignition system can seem daunting to many but there is one simple and quick way to find out what that weak link is. Forum groups and speaking with other vehicle owners is a great way to discover what you should replace first or if the ignition is even worth modifying.
4) Porting & Polishing
Porting and polishing are not for the faint of heart when it comes to modification but if properly utilized can drastically enhance the power of your vehicle especially if it is older.
The most overlooked modification in the car scene today especially considering it can be completely free! Perhaps some people see this modification to challenging or perhaps have never heard of this before.
What is Porting and Polishing?
Porting and polishing is, in theory, removing a part from your engine and widening (Porting) an opening to allow more flow of “X” thing and then smoothing (Polising) it to maximize how easily “X” flows through it in your engine. The increased flow allows for more efficient function within your engine which can enhance power and lower Knock Retard (KR) in some senarios.
Do yourself or Buy Ported parts?
Now the question is, do you think you should try this on your own or should you buy ported parts? I would only encourage you to do this if you have the necessary tools and mechanical knowledge to perform a task that involves disassembling parts of your engine and making changes to these parts including grinding, cutting, and polishing in an appropriate way that will not interfere with factory functions.
If you do not feel fully confident in your abilities it would be advisable to purchase ported parts instead.
Porting By Yourself
You’d first want to figure out parts that can be modified and a list of things to check when beginning to Port & Polish (obviously there’s a lot more but we’re keeping it simple in this guide):
- Throttle body.
- Intake pipes.
- Intake manifold.
- Exhaust headers/manifold.
These are some good things to try porting especially if you didn’t replace your headers during your exhaust modifying!
Important:
If you are going to do any of this make sure you know a few things beforehand.
First:
Do not try porting with any parts intact, take your parts off completely, if metal pieces get in your engine you could permanently damage your motor or cause other unwanted issues!
Second:
Make sure you clean off any of your parts before you reinstall them so that once again you mitigate any problems!
As with any mod you can take it too far so ensure you make alterations safely and with caution as well as the proper instructions, but this modification can improve the performance of your vehicle for virtually no price!
5) Tuning and Increasing Boost
With all of these modifications added your engine’s factory ECU (engine control module) might not be able to keep up so it is advisable to begin tuning your vehicle.
Kinds of Tuning
There are a few kinds of tuning that are common, all effective in varying degrees and at different price points.
- Dyno tuning.
- In-person tuning (no driving or dyno).
- Remote tuning.
- Shipping your ECU/PCM to be tuned.
There are other ways of tuning your vehicle but these are very common and will cover all that you need.
I’d also recommend finding a tuner that specifically works on your kind of vehicle. I often send my ECU into the States (I live in Canada) to have some tuning done, I could be getting dyno tuning (which is your best option) done, but these guys know my car better than anyone In the world so they understand the fuel trims and how the mods will affect the car best.
Turning Up Boost
If you are naturally aspirated this section won’t apply to you however if you are interested in making more power see How to make more power after simple bolt-on modifications.
Natrally Aspirated: A naturally aspirated engine (NA), also known as a normally aspirated engine, is an internal combustion engine where air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and vaccum created by combustion cycles. These engines do not have forced induction through a turbocharger or a supercharger.
Increasing Turbo Boost
First I’ll touch on turbochargers these are the most common. Turbos from the factory operate where they can create some power for reliability and safety reasons, however, that will allow you to increase boost and create more power with a factory turbo/s.
Upgrading your turbo/s will be most beneficial for increasing boost but will likely require more preventative maintenance and tuning to operate and create power safely.
1) Wastegate
A common way people change/increase their boost is by adding a wastegate/changing the wastegate spring for something stronger. This monitors the amount of boost in your turbo without any consideration of throttle or environment just purely boost levels.
2) Manual Boost Controller
The other way would be to add a manual boost controller which is a very similar concept as a wastegate. This controls the pressure in the tube from your turbo to your wastegate so that your turbo creates more boost before the wastegate reads full and depressurizes. Which creates more boost without losing the function of your wastegate simply by splicing in a simple instrument. However, if you are trying to achieve a large amount of boost this isn’t the safest and smartest option.
3) 2 & 3 Port Boost Control Solenoid
For achieving more boost you can use a 2 port boost control solenoid or a 3 port boost control solenoid however this is beyond the scope of this article. If you plan on increasing boost extensively I would recommend buying a better turbo first!
Increasing Supercharger Boost
1) Smaller Supercharger Pulleys
The way to increase boost for your supercharger (SC) is a pretty simple process compared to Turbos. You’ll want to get yourself a smaller SC pulley. This will allow for more Revolutions which will spin your supercharger screws faster which in turn creates more boost.
Use caution, understand what is safe and for your supercharger and for your vehicle because you likely only have a few supporting mods at this point, and increasing your boost to the maximum amount you can will likely not be safe for your engine. If you are unsure of what pulley and boost you should run check out forums and speak with other vehicle owners.
Conclusion
If you can’t afford something right away do not cheap out just make sure your vehicle maintenance is taken care of and save up. Your vehicle will always be there to modify, so save up get the correct mods, and enjoy your build each step of the way.
Whether you are putting on a new set of mufflers, installing a new intake, porting your intake manifold or even turning up the boost on your Turbo, enjoy your build each step of the way and respect this sacred community.
Thank you for reading this article if there are more modifications or any other info you’d like to see here make sure you let me know at 74customscompany@gmail.com. Thanks again, happy modifying.
