Car Tuning 101

The Basics: What is Car Tuning?

When we talk about tuning, we mean making modifications to a vehicle to enhance its performance, appearance, or handling. It’s a way to personalise or improve a car beyond its factory specifications. The process can cover a wide range of adjustments, from tweaking the engine for more power, modifying the suspension for better handling, and changing the exterior for a unique look to customising the interior for increased comfort or a more stylish finish.

Tuning is popular among car enthusiasts who wish to express their individuality through their vehicles or optimise their cars for racing, efficiency, or everyday driving. The adjustments made during tuning are tailored to the owner’s preferences, ensuring that the car not only performs better but also reflects its tuner’s personal style and requirements.

Engine Tuning

Engine tuning is the process of modifying the engine to increase its power output, efficiency, and responsiveness. It involves various techniques and modifications that can improve how your engine performs in different driving conditions.

• Cylinder Capacity Increase: One classic method is to increase the engine’s cylinder capacity, often called “boring.” This process enlarges the cylinder bore, allowing more air and fuel to be combusted, boosting power. More combustion means more power, giving your car that extra punch you feel on acceleration.
• Forced Induction: Turbocharging or supercharging your engine introduces forced air into the combustion chamber, significantly increasing the engine’s power. These methods compress the air that flows into the engine, allowing it to use more fuel and generate more power. It’s like giving your engine a dose of adrenaline, resulting in instant power gains.
• Chip Tuning (ECU Remapping): Modern cars come with an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), essentially the brain that controls various aspects of the engine’s operation. Chip tuning or ECU remapping involves reprogramming the ECU to optimise the engine’s performance. This can adjust the fuel injection, ignition timing, and air/fuel mixture to increase power, torque, and even improve fuel efficiency. It’s a non-invasive way to enhance performance without altering the engine’s physical structure.

Brake Tuning

If you’re going to be adding power to your car, you absolutely need to invest in a suitable brake upgrade for improved stopping power. There are a lot of systems to choose from, each suited to different driving needs and conditions. We’ll take a closer look at brake enhancements.

Brake Pads

Not all brake pads are born equal. The standard pads equipped on most vehicles are designed for the average commuter, prioritising initial bite at lower temperatures. However, they quickly fade under the high heat of fast driving. If your weekends involve carving corners on back roads or hitting the track, you’ll want a pad that can withstand the heat without fading.

For a balance between daily drivability and performance, consider brands like Brembo, EBC, and Forodo, which offer compounds that excel in both realms. These pads ensure your drives are supported by reliable stopping power without the need to pull over and swap them out.

Rotors

Rotors are responsible for providing a surface against which the brake pads can press to slow or stop your vehicle. The type of rotor you choose can significantly impact your braking performance, especially under different driving conditions.

OEM Rotors are generally designed for everyday use, offering a balance between durability and cost-effectiveness. While they may not feature advanced cooling technologies, when combined with high-performance brake pads, OEM rotors offer improved braking performance suitable for both daily driving and the occasional spirited journey.

Slotted Rotors offer a balanced solution by providing improved grip for the brake pads through their slotted design, which helps clear away gas and debris. This design enhances initial bite and heat dissipation, making slotted rotors a solid option for drivers looking for an upgrade that supports high speeds without sacrificing significant surface area for pad contact.

Drilled and Slotted Rotors have a unique appearance, featuring holes and slots that help manage brake temperature and reduce rotor weight. This design is particularly beneficial for drivers who demand both aesthetics and performance, making these rotors a popular choice for vehicles that see both street use and track days.

Floating Calipers

• Pistons: Typically have pistons on one side only.
• Mounting: Designed to slide or move slightly on their mounts.

For those seeking a practical solution for their everyday driving needs, floating callipers with their single-sided piston design are a reliable choice. These callipers slide to apply pressure evenly on both sides of the brake disc, a straightforward mechanism that has made them a staple in many vehicles.

Their simplicity, lightness, and cost-effectiveness are not their only advantages. Upgrading to high-performance floating callipers can deliver better heat management and reduced brake fade. This upgrade means sharper, more consistent braking without a full system overhaul, striking a good balance between boosting performance and maintaining practicality for daily use.

Fixed Callipers

• Pistons: Feature pistons on both sides of the disc.
• Structure: Fixed in place, showing no sliding mechanism.

As the name suggests, fixed callipers don’t move. Instead, they use pistons on both sides of the disc to apply pressure to the brake pads. This setup provides a more even and forceful clamp on the rotor, resulting in quicker and more consistent braking. Fixed callipers are typically found on performance and high-end cars. They’re ideal if you’re tuning for speed and need the best stopping power, especially in high-performance or track scenarios.

Suspension

Most road cars have standard suspension designed to meet the general needs of the widest possible range of drivers, ensuring a balance between comfort, cost-efficiency, safety, and handling that suits everyday driving conditions. This is great for your average joe, but not so great for use that want to go faster and as a result, need better handling. Because of this, suspension is often an early upgrade car tuners. Let’s take a look at some popular upgrades.

Lowering

Yes, there are a lot of people who lower their cars for a more sleek and aggressive look. However, the main purpose of lowering a car is to lower its center of gravity. A lower car will have sharper cornering ability, reduced drag, and improved overall performance.

The key is to align your upgrades with your driving needs as well as your aesthetic preferences. Whether you plan to set a PB on the track or turn heads, lowering needs a considered approach.

Lowering Springs

Lowering springs are a go-to choice for tuners looking to optimise their vehicle’s stance and improve handling. By design, these springs are shorter and stiffer than the standard, leading to a reduction in body roll during turns and a quicker response to steering inputs. This modification not only adds a more aggressive look to your car but also sharpens its performance on the road.

However, you need to pair these springs with the right shock absorbers. The factory-installed shocks are rarely suited for the firmer and shorter springs associated with a sports setup. Using the original shocks with lowering springs can result in less-than-ideal ride quality and might even accelerate wear on your suspension system.

Go for shock absorbers specifically designed for use with lowering springs. These shocks are designed to accommodate the altered spring rate and reduced travel, ensuring your vehicle remains comfortable to drive and performs optimally.

Sports Suspension

By combining firmer shock absorbers with shorter, performance-focused springs, sports suspension systems offer an instant upgrade to your car’s handling and aesthetics. 

The use of stiff coilovers, alongside springs and shocks, plays a crucial role in transforming your car’s performance. This setup lowers the vehicle for a sleeker and more aggressive appearance while improving the handling by lowering the center of gravity. The result is a car that stays more stable through tight turns and is less likely to experience oversteer or understeer.

Stabilisers

Made from steel and designed with multiple bends, stabilisers span across two wheels on the same axle of your vehicle. Their job is to minimise the amount of leaning or “rolling” your car experiences when handling turns. This enhances how your car feels and responds when you’re driving while allowing for safer and faster cornering.

By adjusting the stiffness of the stabilisers, you can fine-tune how your car steers. For example, increasing the stiffness of the front stabiliser can help prevent the rear end from swinging out too freely (oversteer), or it can make the front end more likely to lead (understeer). Similarly, tweaking the rear stabiliser can either dial back the tendency of the front to lead first (understeer) or make it more pronounced (oversteer).

Strut Mounts and Struts

Strut mounts link the strut to the car’s body. Their main purpose is to soften the impact of road noise and vibrations, making your drive smoother by keeping those unwanted jitters from reaching you inside the cabin.

If your car has a sportier setup, especially with a lowered suspension, it’s a good idea to consider upgrading the standard strut mounts. Higher-quality mounts are typically made from durable materials like high-strength aluminium, which are known for their longevity and performance. These upgraded mounts aren’t just tougher; they’re adjustable, allowing you to fine-tune your suspension for better handling and a tighter feel on the road. This means a drive that’s not only quieter but also more responsive.

Struts are strategically placed to reinforce your car’s structure, especially across the engine compartment and sometimes the boot. They connect to the car at points called strut domes, adding rigidity to the vehicle’s frame. This added stiffness, known as “torsional stiffness,” is crucial for keeping your car stable and responsive, particularly if you intend on pushing its performance limits.

Adding strut braces is an effective yet relatively simple way to enhance your car’s handling capabilities. The braces join various parts of your car’s frame, increasing its overall stiffness. The result? A more stable, responsive ride that feels connected to the road, turning corners with confidence and precision. What’s more, installing these braces is straightforward and won’t break the bank, making them an intelligent choice for tuners looking to get the most out of their vehicle’s performance.

Suspension Bearings

Suspension bearings significantly impact your driving experience, affecting ride comfort, safety, and how well your car handles bumps and corners. In performance-tuned cars, the suspension mounts, which connect the suspension components, often become a vulnerability.

As standard, these parts are designed primarily for comfort. However, rubber-to-metal parts can wear out faster under the strain of a tuned setup, leading to increased noise and a decrease in steering precision. Upgrading these mounts is essential to upholding the improved dynamics and comfort levels that come with tuning your vehicle.

Rims (Alloys) & Tyres

In car tuning, rims, often called ‘alloys,’ are instrumental in defining your car’s identity and enhancing its performance. Wider wheels are a smart move for tuners with high-performance cars, allowing for broader tyres that deliver greater traction and enable you to get more power down. Beyond power and grip, alloys are one of the signature elements of any car and the first upgrade for tuners.

High-performance tyres are engineered for exceptional grip in both wet and dry conditions, drastically improving the car’s responsiveness to acceleration, braking, and cornering. Switching from factory-installed all-season tyres to high-performance summer variants can unleash your vehicle’s full driving potential, providing more grip and traction.

Additionally, tyre upgrades can enhance braking performance, offering quicker and more secure stops. Another benefit is improved fuel efficiency; high-performance tyres are designed to reduce rolling resistance, meaning your car needs less energy to move. This efficiency, paired with the reduced weight of lighter alloys, improves performance and saves fuel costs over time.

Exhaust Systems

Upgrading your car’s exhaust system can enhance its performance and give it a unique sound signature. There are several options for exhaust upgrades, each offering different benefits:

When considering an exhaust upgrade, it’s important to balance your urge for performance gains and a distinctive sound with the more practical aspects like drivability and the law.

Cat-back and axle-back systems offer a mix of improved performance and sound without extensive modifications. Headers and high-flow catalytic converters push the performance envelope further but require more careful consideration of legal and environmental factors. Straight pipe systems, while delivering a dramatic sound, may not be the best choice for street-driven cars due to legal restrictions and potential negative impacts on performance.