A Beginners Guide to Modifying A Car. Its easy for a seasoned car guy to give advice on what he or she thinks is best when it comes to modifying your car or truck, but many times that advice is biased based on their own belief of what is best and based on what they read on their forum. What a beginner needs is advice that comes from the basics of automotive performance and what makes or doesnt make power. Its hard not to get tied up in manufacture claims, so were going to create this guide on what every beginner should know when it comes to modifying their car for the first time, or even picking a platform to modify. Back in the day, street rods were built based on bigger is better. Z Injen Cold Air Intake Installed' title='350Z Injen Cold Air Intake Installed' />Hey, i have a 2011 Mazda 3 GS 2. I am interested in the short ram intake and a exhaust system and i was wondering if you had any. Carl Davis 2001 B15 with VVL SR20VE install complete with JGY clutch and Greddy MSS. Yes, thats right, we took out the roller rocker SR and installed a superior 11. Shop from the worlds largest selection and best deals for Car Truck Air Intake Systems. Shop with confidence on eBay Cold Air Intake vs Short Ram Intake Whats the difference We get this question a lot. People ask us the pros and cons and which is better daily. Today, with technology being at the forefront of automotive performance, bigger isnt necessarily better. Today its about creating power from a lean and mean engine in addition to a lightweight chassis that both work with well together. Why its important to plan your mods. Many of our customers, and myself included, like to buy parts on a feel good basis. We want that intake or want that exhaust because we want the car to sound good, and make more power. But then we find later that we decide to go a different route, and then all of a sudden the exhaust is too small or too big, and the intake wont work any more. At that point weve learned that we wasted money and should have come up with a plan first on what goals we have for the vehicle. Do we want a car for drag racing Auto. X Road Racing Street Performance Every setup would be different here, so planning that out would help you to not only save money, but ensure the parts you purchase work well together and compliment each other. Worlds Largest Nissan 370Z Enthusiast Forums. Youll Find Nissan 370z Z34 specs, Engine VQ37VHR info, Pictures, Videos, Reviews, Test drives All in ONE Place. Select your platform. If you dont already have a car or truck to modify, then you need to decide first which platform you are going to go for before you come up with a path. Again, this comes down to deciding what type of racing or performance you want from your car. Many of us already know that we want an import or domestic, and a specific brand. Others are limited by budget or other criteria. For flat out power, nothing beat starting with a platform that is already turbo from the factory, or already has a V8 motor. Some examples of great platforms to start your mods Subaru WRX or Subaru WRX STi. Mitsubishi Lancer EVO all generationsMitsubishi Eclipse Turbo FWD or AWD and Eagle Talon or Plymouth Laser. Mazdaspeed. 3Ford Mustang. Chevy Camaro. Corvette C5 Z0. Dodge Charger or Challenger. Nissan 3. 50. Z or Nissan 3. ZNissan 2. 40. SX great drifting platformHonda Civic Acura Integra Great platform for anything other than drfitingToyota Supra Turbo can be had for a good price now. The above list is just an example of good platforms on a budget. Sure you can go the more expensive route and go straight for a Nissan GT R, but the majority of people wont go that route, and so we wont explore that platform in specific. Our goal here is to give you general advice that you can use on any platform. Usb Game Edition Mini Va Jobs. Drag Racing. So, you decided that drag racing is for you Welcome to a highly competitive world primarily dominated by high horsepower. The goal of drag racing is to get your car down 1. This means your car needs to be as light as possible, launch as hard as possible, and have as much useable power as possible. Typically, drag race setups are not very comfortable on the street. If you have a front wheel drive, you will need a good set of slicks and a limited slip differential. You cant drive around with slicks on the street typically, so you will need a special setup of wheels and tires for the track. If your car is rear wheel drive, you can get away with using street slicks, but for serious drag racers, this might not work. Youd want to setup your suspension to keep the rear stiffer than the front, so as the weight transfers to the back for launch it helps with traction. Brakes arent too important except you want to be able to stop at the end of the drag strip. Road Racing. Unlike with drag racing, road racing not only requires power, but requires all around incredible handling and braking. Where as drag racing requires only 1. Cars that are lightweight and handlebrake well could have faster lap times than cars making twice the power, so its really a game of balance. For competitive use, youd need to get a set of road racing tires and a set of wheels to go with it, as tires are extremely important. Once the brakes and suspension are ready to go, youd want power to match. The key here is balance, you dont want a car that has more power than the chassis can handle, more power than the brakes can handle, or more brakes than power. Start road racing with a bone stock car, then add race tires the next time you are out, and then start to modify your car. Youll appreciate your car much more when starting road racing with a stock vehicle. Auto. XAutocross or Auto. X really wears out your tires from parking lot racing. Youd want a car that is nimble, has good torque, and a usable power band as most of the time your speeds will be under 6. This type of racing is usually around 1 2 minutes at a time. Most important here would be your tires and your suspension setup. Tires are an interesting aspect here because with 1 2 minutes of racing they dont really get much of a chance to warm up. So you would need to get tires that are able to handle well on gravel and heat up quickly. A typical road racing or street suspension should be plenty for a fun Auto. X day. Safety. Safety is extremely important, and you would need a fire extinguisher, and possibly a roll cage depending on the performance of your car, and the type of racing you choose. You would also need a helmet and possibly a 4 or 5 point safety harness. You also need to make sure you have great brakes. Many cars brake well with just upgraded rotors and pads, others need a whole new big brake kit. Planning your modifications. Now that you know the general idea of what you need for each type of racing, you need to decide what route you are going to take with modifying your car. Below we will touch on the basics of some of the major areas of modification and you can decide which is right for you, and which is within your budget. Not all of these modifications need to be done at once, but some will require a mod or two before you go to the next step, so plan that out too. Intake System. Ok, so one of the basics would be the intake system. If your car is not turbo but you are going to add a turbo to it later, skip the intake. When you get a turbo, the intake system is completely redone, so the old intake you had wont work with the new system any more. Also, if you go with a turbo kit, most of the kits come with an intake kit for it. Should I get a drop in air filterIf you are never going to modify your car past an air filter, then sure. An air filter such as a K N is a good way for an extra 1 2 horsepower and its an air filter that you wont have to replace again for a lifetime, but its not going to give you nearly as much power as a short ram or cold air intake. Short Ram Intake vs Cold Air Intake Whats the difference This is a big question we get asked a lot. A short ram intake has a shorter intake tube, and typically has the air filter in plain sight under the hood.