Race Tuning Your Ride

While many tuners will never take their ride to the track (to perform, at any rate), many others demand that their vehicle provide the utmost in performance. Tuning a vehicle for racing is much different from tuning one for road use. The goal of racing is to have a lightweight vehicle, with the most power possible, without going over the power-to-weight ratio of the vehicle. To this end, most tuners begin the process by lightening the load on their car.

The more weight your vehicle is forced to carry, the slower it will be. You can milk a substantial amount of horsepower from your ride simply by ditching many of the trappings of a run-of-the-mill street ride. For instance, you will not need those back seats, so get rid of them. Interior trim can also be removed relatively easily to great effect. A substantial amount of weight can be removed from a vehicle by eliminating unnecessary seats and trim.

Once you have lightened the load, it's time for power enhancements. Remember, exceeding your vehicle's power-to-weight ratio will give you poor results, so start with smaller enhancements. A cold air intake is a good place to start, as are performance plugs and wires. New fuel maps, ala chip tuning can help your vehicle burn more fuel per stroke, thus giving you more available power. Performance tires will also help you grip the track better. Another very popular option is what is known as "porting and polishing" this widens the engine cylinders and polishes the metal for smoother operation.