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Cold Air Vents And Cai Kits

You may have noticed that your car feels much more powerful on cold mornings than it does in the middle of summer.  This is due to the effects of air temperature.  It is a simple fact that cold air carriers are more oxygen and warmer air. An intake vent will help to address this problem, and […]

Aftermarket Superchargers

A supercharger compresses the intake air effectively forcing more air into the engine. More air means you have more oxygen and when this is matched to more fuel you will benefit from more power. There are a number of benefits to superchargers compared to turbos, but there are also some drawbacks. We aim to provide […]

What Is Port Matching An Engine

The ports on the engine allow the air into the engine and the exhaust gases out. There are typically 2 per cylinder, an inlet and an exhaust. The inlets or ports are joined to the manifold or headers via a gasket. Whenever you join two surfaces there is typically a step or at the very […]

Spark Plug Selection Tips

The spark is quite literally the life of the engine. A good strong spark makes the difference between thorough combustion and a misfire. Spark plug technology has come a long way over the last few years. First we will look back at the “good old days”.

Fast Road Cams For Everyday Use

The camshaft is located at the top of the engine and looks like a metal bar with egg shaped lobes on it.  The shape and size of the lobe determines the amount of time that the heads valves are open, and the amount they are open. The valves allow the mixture of fuel and air into […]

Ceramic Exhaust Coatings

Ceramic exhaust coatings are gaining popularity with performance car tuners. We will take a look at why so many people are getting ceramic coatings applied to their exhausts. In very general terms cooler air means greater potential engine power. We can assert this because it follows that the cooler the under bonnet temperature is the cooler the air […]

Blow Off Valves Or Dump Valves

In a turbo engine the pressures build up as air is compressed and forced into the engine. The turbo is driven by the exhaust gases so the faster the engine goes the more air you get forced into the engine. This is fine until you lift off the accelerator. You engine speed does not instantly […]

Turbo Engine Tuning

When deciding on a power train which should you go for? I will admit to being a little biased towards turbos. Here is my take on Turbo Engines. The sheer exhileration and excitement you get as the turbo kicks in is something that sticks with you for a long time.

We all know that cold Air carries more oxygen that warmer air. You may have noticed that when air is compressed it gets warmer. If you feel the connecting hose on the footpump as you put air into the tire you would notice that a substantial amount of heat can be generated. In a forced […]

One thing a performance tuner needs to take into account is the importance of the air to fuel mixture. If this is too lean or too rich the engine power will be reduced and this also impacts upon the reliability of the engine. The more power you are extracting from an engine the greater is […]

The valve springs pull the valves up when they are closed thereby sealing the valve. The camshaft pushes the valve open against the spring. As you can imagine this is a high wear high stress component of the engine.  They need to be fitted using a valve spring compressor – any other attempt at installing them […]

Think of an engine as a series of metal components moving at great speed changing direction frequently.  The faster the speed of the engine the greater the vibration and forces encountered.  There is a limit to how fast and engine can goes safely, and manufacturers set this red line and include a Rev limiter.

Before we look at aftermarket ECU’s lets see what it is and what it does. The ECU (aka electronic or engine control unit) controls many aspects of the modern engine. It takes readings like the intake air temperature and mass, amount of oxygen in the exhaust, engine load, rpm and other factors to calculate the […]

It can be quite time consuming to add a turbo charger to a NASP engine. The biggest problems include avoiding detonation, making space to join the turbo to the exhaust and sorting out the fueling and mapping. Although still a big job the remote turbo is being hailed as the simple bolt on solution for […]

When deciding on a power train which should you go for? Both have merits. The answer really depends on driver style and preference but I will admit to being a little biased towards turbos. Here is my take on NASP Engines. When it comes to petrol engines, there are two types available: naturally aspirated or […]

The job of the intake valves is to control the flow of air and fuel into the engine, and then released exhaust gases after combustion.  The intake valves have quite a hard life due to the rapid opening and closing, and have a big impact on the performance of the engine. 

We all know that one of the best ways to improve a cars performance is to uprade to forced induction. In this article we'll look at adding a turbo to your car and the issues you'll need to be aware of. More air going into the engine means that you can burn more fuel and […]

As all regular Car Tuning Tips readers know, hot air carries less oxygen than cold air. This can have a big impact on your engines performance. As most cars have an air intake in the engine bay it becomes essential to ensure that you keep these temperatures as low as possible. One of the largest contributors to heat in […]