
Our members frequently talk about their latest mods and power figures. Many of our members have remapped their diesel engines and boast of more power, better economy and unchanged reliability.
But do the claims live up to reality? What sort of power figures can you get from a diesel remap? Diesels have really come so far in a very short time.
What is an induction kit and what does it do.
As induction kits are probably one of the most popular modifications for car tuning projects we thought we should add a introductory article to explain what they are, what they do and the theory behind them.
An induction kit is quite simply an air filter. Most cars have air filters mounted in an air box. These filters are generally constructed of paper which filters out the particles from the air and prevents these from getting into the engine. The airboxes are designed to reduce the noise of the engine and have various vanes and angles cut to maximise this noise reduction.
Suspension settings, lowering and stiffening
On the track your priority is fast cornering and suspension plays a large part in this. Track conditions are quite forgiving and you can make some compromises like using hard suspension and lowering the car for optimum aerodynamics and a low centre of gravity.
This works well because tracks are fairly flat and you do not have a carrier bag full of eggs in the car from your return trip to the supermarket.
Chip Tuning – better engine management.
The days of fiddling around in the engine bay with a spanner to make the car go faster are numbered.
Modern engine computers (ECU’s) take over many of the controls of all aspects of engine management from timing to fuelling and more.
This actually means you get better power, a cleaner burn and more reliable engine but it does not mean the end of tuning.