Performance Tuning
It all comes down to balance when speaking of performance tuning. There is very little room for mistakes when increasing the power of your vehicle, unless you're willing to spend a lot of money and time in fixing errors. To avoid frustration and to save money, one need to carefully plan ahead - this means picking up the right parts, establishing target power and most importantly getting the work done right. We have been tuning cars for over 10 years and as much as we regret to admin it we have experienced failure in the early days - by now we know what could go wrong. Today we can proudly guarantee that we can make your vehicle even more reliable than it would be if you just drive it around in stock condition. We have tuned up cars up to twice the factory power and they are still running on the streets after thousands of miles only getting in the garage for scheduled maintenance.
It is important to differentiate between tuning a naturally aspirated engine car and a forced induction engine car (non-turbo vs. turbo or supercharger). Increasing power of the former is much more difficult and requires a lot of skills and experience. This is because power comes from really fine-tuning the engine internally. When tuning a turbo car one can achieve over 100hp power increase without even opening the engine and this makes tuning of forced induction engine cars easier, more cost effective and efficient. In the following lines we will try to categorize the steps you can undertake in order to increase the power of your vehicle. We will only cover turbocharged/supercharged cars because we know from experience that very few people would engage on seriously tuning a non-turbo car, unless we are talking about a professional competition car maybe. The investment for tuning a non-turbo car for the road is just not worth it.
We would like to stress out that even if your car does not have a turbo, it can always be fitted one! We can offer you consulting and implementation of all following steps. Please contact us, to find out how your vehicle can be tuned up.
Stage 1 - software remap and exhaust system (up to + 50 hp)
The so called "chip tuning" or remapping is the simplest step you can take in order to increase power. Almost all factory turbocharged cars have enough room for improvement and with the right software adjustment they can achieve from 20 to 50 more horsepower. When attempting a software remap you do not have to open up and do any work on the engine itself, but is advisory to unclog the exhaust system by removing the catalytic converters or replacing them with sport catalytic converters. Be careful with CO2 emissions after tuning up the car to avoid possible inspection problems. For even better results you could replace the factory air intake pipes with new slightly wider ones and also the factory intercooler with a bigger one.
Stage 2 - new turbo, new intercooler, new air intake system, new exhaust system, more fuel and software remap (up to + 200 hp)
To get your car really going you would need to buy some parts and materials. It is extremely important to determine the right size for a new turbo based on the engine volume and the targeted dynamic you wish to achieve. Remember - a bigger turbo spools later and feels more laggy in comparison to a smaller one, but it gives you more high end power. If you pick the wrong turbo for your car, you will not only get undesired results, but there is a risk of damaging your engine as well. Depending on the new turbo, you will need a new exhaust manifold - its purpose besides fitting the new turbo, is to lead out the exhaust gases as fast as possible. For increased fresh air volume you need a new wider air intake system and a bigger intercooler. To match the increased air volume you will need to upgrade the fuel injection system of your car: this includes buying a new high flow capacity fuel pump and bigger fuel injectors. Increasing the power would inevitably make your stock clutch no longer hold so planning for a clutch upgrade is also advisory. A lot of factory turbo charged cars can achieve a significant power increase without opening the engine and upgrading parts in there. However, to get out the most power from a stage 2 upgrade it is advisory to at least replace the connecting rods and also perform maintenance on your engine.
All performance parts must be picked up very carefully. They need to fit and work together well in order to ensure maximum power and dynamic for the vehicle.
After all parts and materials have been provided, it is time to weld together the new air intake system and the new exhaust system and put it all together. This might sound simple, but it is far from that. Underestimation of details or lack of knowledge have been failing tuning projects in the past and have been driving owners to give up their tuning ambitions. This is sad, because a tuned up car can be even more reliable than a stock car if the tuning is carried out the right way. We are happy and proud of work, because the cars we have tuned up only come back for an oil change and maintenance, with no other complaints. We will be more than happy to turn your car into one of these, so that you can enjoy more power and less car repairs.
Stage 3 - the same, but bigger :) ( 500+ hp)
A stage 3 upgrade is essentially the same as a stage 2 upgrade, but it requires a bigger turbo and respectively wider air intake system, as well as a fuel system with higher capacity, which means a more powerful fuel pump and even bigger fuel injectors. The exhaust system also needs to become wider. The main difference is that in this stage it is an absolute requirement to upgrade essential parts inside the engine, such as connecting rods and pistons. A full engine maintenance is also required. Understandably this type of upgrade is not suitable for engines with volume less than 2000cc.
This is only a brief summary to illustrate the extent of such a project. There are many more little details that need to be considered. Please contact us to find out more about a specific project.
Here are some images of cars with a stage 2 upgrade (Fiat Uno 1.4 Turbo, Subaru WRX 2.0 Turbo, Audi S3 1.8 Turbo Quattro)
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