Mitsubishi Lancer Interior

Mitsubishi Lancer Interior

Car tuning is the English terminology for the American version of car modification. A car is modified in order to increase its performance handling and to give a unique style to the driver. Performance cars such as Aston Martins, Porsche and Ferrari, have to be continually modified and perfected to keep up with the high standards of competition.

Modifications allow the owners and drivers of performance cars to personalise them. They can bring in characteristics that vary from making the car more aesthetically pleasing to giving a car an improved fuel consumption rate. Performance cars are modified for different reasons, sometimes the owner wants to stamp their own personality on their car and other times the owner believes they can transform an already fantastic creation into something even more splendid. They can be modified to look better, run more economically friendly and perform at a higher standard.

Performance cars are often built purely for the gratification of driving a vehicle that shows wealth and beauty. Modifications can be done to improve a car's interior and exterior, ranging from as little to changing the upholstery to creating a totally new look.

When purchasing a car such as a Bugatti or a Rolls Royce, it is regularly done for its egotistical massaging of the consumer. Performance modifications to the outside of a car, range from changing the aerodynamic characteristics by adding bumpers, spoilers and splitters to using lighter wheels, air-vents and side skirts. As well as looking different, the changes also affect the handling of the car.

Areas of Modification

There are many different ways to modify a performance car. Suspension tuning is popular among the cheaper performance cars like Sierra Cosworths and Renault 5 Turbos which are popular cars within the boy racing culture. Changing the shock absorbers and springs make a car lower to the floor which gives the look of a higher performance cars such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris which are originally built very low to the floor to give a more stylish look. It also gives a lower center of gravity which tightens the steering and handling.

Hydraulic and pneumatic suspensions are very popular in America with cars such as Oldsmobiles and Impalas using the unique system that make the cars bounce. In more extreme modifications the tyres actually leave the ground. The suspension is tuned so that the height of each individual wheel can be rapidly changed by a system of rams and can be done to the extent that the car can jump up and down as it is driven.

Off-road vehicles are often modified by lengthening the suspension travel and give them larger tyres to allow an increased ground clearance.

Strut braces can be added to improve the geometry on cornering and improves the handling of the car. They work by shifting the dynamic weight into the centre rather than by leaning to one side. This can be reinforced by adding stiffer shock absorbers which resist the natural lean when a car is cornering. This strengthens the grip from the inside tyres on the surface which improves the handling response.

Car Tuning

Tuning is another way to describe modifying. Body kits can be added along with spoilers and various other components. The main reason for modifying the body of a performance car is to improve the look of the car but it is also done to change the aerodynamic performance.

Body kits generally only add weight and rarely improve performance. The drag from the extra weight reduces the performance of the car but it is believed that it improves the appearance and therefore the performance can be substituted slightly for a better looking car. Body kits are mainly used to make the car more attractive by adding wider arches, spoilers and air intakes.

A vehicle can be lightened by changing the bonnet and wing mirrors for ones made of lighter materials. Bumpers and wings can also be modified and are often replaced by carbon fibre. This again allows the car to lose weight and therefore increase the speed. A cheaper way of creating the same look without the loss of weight is by attaching imitation carbon fibre stickers that give the same appearance of a carbon fibre product.

Legal Requirements

As with any laws the legal requirements for what you can and cannot do to your car differs according to which country you are in.

In the United Kingdom, it is illegal to have blue lights fitted as the head light bulbs or anywhere else on the vehicle as the emergency vehicles use blue lighting and police are concerned they can cause confusion among other drivers. It is the same in The Netherlands, however they are allowed under lighting to be blue if the car is on display but they must be switched off if the car is on a public road.

Belgium is amongst only a handful of country's who state that body kits must be approved for safety before being fitted, a law that many believe should be imposed by many other countries.

The only country to impose restrictions on who can modify their cars is Australia. If you are on a P plate i.e. you have passed the driving test but believe other drivers should be aware that you have little experience in driving, you are prevented from driving modified vehicles.

In The United Kingdom it is illegal to have an exhaust without a silencer attached as they can cause massive noise pollution. Number plates are also an issue that is a trend amongst the younger performance car drivers. They opt for the fancy italic writing and many like to create words using numbers that look similar to letters, an example being the number 5 instead of the letter S. This causes confusion if there was ever a need to read the number plate, i.e. in a robbery or accident.

Different Terms

There are many different terms and slang words used by car enthusiasts to describe their performance cars and the modifications that are applied to them.

For a car to appear cleaner and svelte, it is common to use a technique known as "flushing" or "shaving". This involves removing any disruptions to the bodyline of the car like key locks, door handles and bumpers and replacing them with remote controls.

Another way of tuning a performance car to the owner's idea of perfection is by changing the way doors, bonnets and boots open and close. "Lambo doors" open outwards until they are clear of the body then rotate upwards. "Suicide doors" open the opposite way to conventional doors as the hinges are placed on the reverse edge of the door. These are popular amongst owners of the high end of performance cars like the Lamborghinis and Bergattis as the owners of a car such as these are likely to have immense amounts of money to spend modifying their already beautiful and unique cars.

The terms "Strooted" or "Tuner cars" refer to Japanese performance cars that are popular in the United Kingdom, such as the Toyota Supra and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. These cars are often modified using the most expensive modifications available, including turbos, exhaust systems and upgraded engine chips.

"Detuning" is the term applied to returning a modified car back to its original status. This is often done to ensure automotive restoration and improve the re-sale value.

Modifications in performance cars seem to have no limits and with increasing technologies, a very standard car can be turned into something spectacular and already spectacular cars into magnificent machines.