Automobile Tuning

For most common folk, the car that they get at their dealership does the job fine: it takes them from point A to point B, has general comforts and amenities, and is usually stylish enough. But why settle for less when you can have more? The practice of automobile tuning has been around since the invention of the automobile itself. There are a lot of parts and aspects of vehicles that can be tuned up, affecting both the car’s (or motorcycle’s, moped’s, motorbike’s) performance as well as its looks and style. If there is a parallel to be found with auto tuning, it’s probably the PC “power user,” who buys the factory standard and then takes it to the next level.

Engine tuning, as the name suggests, means replacing some or most of the engine’s parts to improve its performance. It can range anywhere from replacing the air filters to replacing the entire engine with a more powerful one. Body tuning makes modifications on the car body exterior, often for purpose of better aerodynamic performance, and can easily be recognized in items such as custom-made spoilers. Often, body modifications serve more of an aesthetic rather than a functional purpose. Another type of tuning is suspension, which is done to improve the car’s overall suspension for better performance.

Automobile tuning is intimately linked to auto racing, although it can be said that while many race cars are tuned-up vehicles, the majority of tuned-up cars are not race cars per se, i.e. they do not participate in competitive auto racing. They serve, rather, to satisfy the individual owner with better performance or an enhanced appearance.

Tuned-up cars can be restored to their factory condition through a process known as auto detuning.

A particular kind of auto tuning that is becoming more and more popular today is “green tuning,” which equips the vehicle with alternative propulsion systems for fuel efficiency (e.g., transforms it into a hybrid, a plug-in electric vehicle, or modifies the engine to run alternative fuel other than gasoline).