In this edition of Tech Tips, we thought we'd highlight material from some of our past 1000 articles - that way, as well as bringing up points that you may have forgotten (or never even read in the first place!) we can also make it easy for you to expand each point if you want to.
Air Intake
The cheapest, easiest and most bang for your bucks performance mod is to build a new (or additional) cool air intake to your car's standard airbox. The only downside is that you'll need to closely monitor dirt build-up on the filter - it'll happen at a faster rate than with the factory snorkel. Typically, though, you'll lift peak power by around 5 per cent.
For more: "Heavy Breather"
Immobiliser
Most immobilisers cease to work if the thief steals your keys - or carjacks your pride and joy. But this one is different. Once your car is switched off, it won't start until an easily concealed movement of your hand places a magnet at just the right spot near the dash. It's cheap, easy to build and very, very effective. And if you don't like that particular design, there are plenty of other kill switch approaches that you can take. Better than an alarm in my book...
For more: "The World's Best DIY Immobiliser"
Water Air Intercooling
Water/air intercooling has some distinct advantages in some cars and situations. In a turbo road car it is ideal because it is very effective at absorbing temp spikes. In a circuit race application, or where you are on boost a majority of the time, it's not so good. However, its packaging flexibility means that some cars can be intercooled (or have their intercooling upgraded) that would otherwise have been struggling. DIY modification of an air/air design into water/air is also not too hard.
For more: "The Complete Guide to Intercooling - Part 2"
Intake Pipe Lengths
Almost totally forgotten on NA cars is that the intake tuning in front of the throttle body can make an enormous difference to mid-range torque. Factory set-ups are almost always optimised in this regard, because OE engineers value driveability hugely. So if you make major changes to the intake structure in front of the throttle, always perform testing to see exactly what's going on. Sometimes, all is not as it seems!
For more: "Pipe Dreams"
Wheely Light
The lighter the combined wheel/tyre, the faster that your car will accelerate (assuming that the traction remains the same!). Why? Because those spinning pieces of alloy and rubber need to be accelerated up to speed - and that takes power. The less power required for that function, the more power left over to make your car go faster.
For more: "Heavy Action"
Fast Grab
It might not actually improve your performance times, but your delight in driving the car and changing gears will certainly make it a worthwhile upgrade. These days, short-shift kits are available for most cars. All that they do is reduce the 'throw' of the gearlever - that is, the distance that the lever must be moved to engage a gear. While their installation difficulty depends very much on the car in question, generally they can be in place in less than half an hour.
For more: "Quick Grab"
FWD Engine Swaps
While it's common to change the engine and gearbox in rear-wheel drive cars, doing the same in a front-wheel drive is still a relative rarity. But the main problem to overcome - driveshafts - these days isn't the hassle it once was. Why? Cos now you can get driveshafts made in pretty well any shape and form.
For more: "Front Wheel Drive Shafting"
WRX Clutch Upgrades
The Rex is one car to be very careful about if you're considering a clutch upgrade - a really grabby clutch is almost sure to cause gearbox problems. Why? Because the extra shock loads transmitted to the teeth tend to destroy them... But if you have a dog-box or are having problems with the standard clutch slipping in-gears, an aftermarket multiplate may be the answer.
For more: "WRX Clutch x 2!"
Free Air Sub
If you want a simple bass boost to your sound system without the hassle of building (and fitting in!) big and heavy subwoofer enclosures, a free-air design that uses the whole boot volume may be more your thing. (And it helps too if your car has a boot!) The free air approach is used in most factory cars that feature subwoofers, simply because of the major packaging advantages.
For more: "Installing a Free-Air Sub"
Oil/Air Separator
If your engine is breathing a lot of oil mist from the rocker cover vent, chances are that combustion is suffering when that oil is put back into the engine. In really bad cases, you'll lose effective fuel octane and maybe even blacken plugs. A way around this problem is to build an oil/air separator - easy enough to DIY too. One approach is to use this Mazda/Ford engine bay item, or you can use the basic idea and build it from something else.
For more: "DIY: An Oil/Air Separator"
Detonation Detection
Despite common belief, your ears are still the best way of detecting detonation when tuning a car. However, they can be aided by a small amplifier, microphone pick-up and headphones. While Dick Smith Electronics no longer sell the device we used to make a DIY detonation detection many months ago, a similar approach can be taken with a small amplifier module, microphone and earphones.
For more: "DIY Detonation Detection - Part 2"
Cool Breaths
While the use of cold air intakes has now become widespread (hell, people now even just abbreviate them to CAI!), the same can't be said for using manifold insulators. So what are they? Well, if you realise that the intake manifold and plenum on your engine is made of the good conductor aluminium, and it's bolted straight to the very hot head, you'll not be surprised that the intake air is well heated as it passes through the runners. Manifold insulators simply bolt in between the head and the intake, keeping the intake system cooler.
For more: "Cool Stuff - Manifold Insulators"
Brilliant Water Injection
Adding a stream of small droplets to the air going into the engine has been a long-used (and very successful) approach to reducing peak load fuel consumption and lessening the chance of detonation. But almost universally, water injection systems are about as crude as they can be. But what about adding water actually with the fuel? If you're tricky, there's no technical difficulty in doing so - as at least a number of patents show. It's certainly something worth thinking about...
For more: "The Patent Files: Putting Water in the Fuel!"
Overheating
Very often when a car has an overheating problem, everything but the water pump is blamed. People upgrade radiators, install new electric fans, have the block flushed and so on - never checking the flow performance of the water pump! But assessing how good the pump is can be done in an easy afternoon. Many aftermarket (and even factory) pumps vary in both flow and their propensity to cavitate, and so just because there's water going around and around it doesn't mean that you know the whole story.
For more: "Water Pump Testing"
Lights-On Alarm
If you've ever left your headlights on when you've parked - and got a flat battery for your troubles - here's a very simple fix. It will take you about 15 minutes to connect it up - and once you've done that, a buzzer will sound whenever you open the driver's door with the lights on! Easy, huh?
For more: "Lights are On (But No One's at Home?)"
Pushing Dents
Nothing is more depressing than walking back to your car and seeing all of the parking dings highlighted by the rays of light shining down the side of the car. But since getting panels straightened and repainted costs the earth, what are you to do? Well, these days paintless dent removal experts can push out little dents. If the paint hasn't been broken, nary a trace of the original impression will be left.
For more: "Dent Magic"
Wave Bye Bye
It's an expensive little tool but the Leatherman Wave really justifies its cost. Not only is it beautifully made and usable, but it's just so damn handy to have around that you'll find yourself using it on a daily basis. A mixture of pliers, screwdrivers, knives and files, the stainless steel tool folds right up into a safe and compact package.
For more: "The Leatherman Wave"
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