Track Daze - Mods

Simple Performance Mods

Simple upgrades or 'Mods' can make a big difference to the performance and even the fuel economy of your car.

Exhaust

One of the most common upgrades is to install a performance exhaust on your car. Performance exhausts usually have a larger diameter pipe, and mufflers with less baffles for better exhaust gas flow. A usually positive side effect of a larger exhaust is a louder and meatier exhaust note. On naturally aspirated cars however, there is such a thing as too big an exhaust. Pipes that are too large in diameter will create less backpressure, which is vital to engine efficiency and performance, and whilst may sound good, will result is slower performance. On a turbocharged and some supercharged cars however, there is no size restriction other than what you can fit under your car.

Extractors

Extractors or Headers are another exhaust related mod that can have excellent benefits. These replace a standard exhaust manifold and are designed to be more efficient for exhaust gas flow. A most desirable side effect of extractors is that the car's engine runs cooler and therefore more efficiently, because the hot exhaust gasses are leaving the engine more quickly than they would from a standard manifold.

Air Filter

A performance air filter is another performance upgrade that can make a decent improvement to your car's performance. There are 2 types of performance air filter; one which is a direct replacement for your car's standard air filter in the standard air filter box which are commonly referred to as a 'Drop in filter', and the other which is a direct replacement for your car's air filter box called a 'Pod' filter. Pod filters usually take up less space in your car's engine bay, and can be mounted in such a way so as to provide the maximum amount of 'cold' air coming into your engine. The effectiveness of pod filters over performance 'Drop in filters' is a source of much discussion with mixed results being reported by many owners of many different cars.

As with anything, make sure any mod is safe and legal, and make sure that it's constructed of quality materials and fitted correctly by people who know what they're doing.