5 Essential Tips for Upgrading your Vehicle
Your vehicle is a reflection of yourself, so keeping it in top shape is essential. Buying one itself is an investment, but you can even upgrade an older model to bring it up to the level of a newer one with better specs.
Upgrading your car can help you achieve acceleration and efficiency for less than half the cost of a brand-new vehicle.
Read on to learn some essential tips, besides routine maintenance, to upgrade your car and improve your driving experience.
Key Takeaways
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High-quality brakes can maintain speed and aesthetic requirements while maintaining the safety of your vehicle.
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Alternating between sets of summer and winter tires can boost your car’s performance on the road with a better grip.
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A cold air intake system helps your car breathe better and increases horsepower and mileage, helping you save money in the long run.
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Silicone hoses offer durability that rubber hoses can’t give and reduce the chances of a leak.
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A new exhaust system can improve performance and emit less toxic gasses, avoiding air pollution.
5 Tips to Upgrade Your Car
Upgrade the Brakes
Being able to stop smoothly and effectively is a massive indicator of good performance. This can range from buying better brake pads to replacing your entire brake system; it’s a worthwhile investment.
High-quality brake parts are more long-lasting, reduce stopping distance, perform better in extreme conditions, and thus improve the safety of your vehicle. The aesthetic appeal of oversized, vented rotors behind the rims is hard to resist, as it gives your vehicle a more modern look.
With a top-notch brake system, you can ensure safety while maintaining speed which is always a good upgrade for your car. Speed limits should always be kept in mind, of course. However, this can also be beneficial for emergencies where you need to drive fast.
Get Better Tires
This is one of the most apparent upgrades and for a good reason. Maximizing speed and efficiency requires a good grip on the road, which high-quality tires can provide. Your vehicle’s tires are the only part that comes in contact with the road, so new tires can do wonders for performance.
Weather is an important factor to consider when choosing new tires. If you want your vehicle to perform in all seasons, you will need to select specific tires for each season. We advise against all-weather tires as they compromise on performance. Plus, they don’t always meet legal requirements in every country.
Instead, we recommend selecting a good set of summer and winter tires. Each is designed explicitly for their weather conditions.
Summer Tires
These have the best grip in warm, dry conditions but are also designed to work safely in wet conditions. Given their all-around performance, they are the default choice for most drivers.
Winter Tires
Specialized winter tires are made of a rubber compound that stays flexible in cold temperatures. These will perform better than summer tires in weather below 7 degrees celsius in terms of grip.
They also feature tread blocks with small cuts called sipes, essential for safety on slippery surfaces. They improve friction on snow and ice but wear out much quicker if used in the summer. Changing between sets of tires according to the weather is a great way to upgrade your car, keeping it at optimal performance and grip for all seasons.
Install Cold Air Intake System
A cold-air intake’s purpose is to find cold air in an ordinarily hot under-hood environment. It can accomplish this by taking air from above the hood, under the front bumper, or a cool spot inside the engine compartment.
If your car breathes better, it will perform better. The quantity of air used in the combustion cycle is a significant factor in determining an engine’s power output. Cooler air burns fuel more efficiently because it contains more oxygen. Installing a cold air intake system also helps an engine burn fuel evenly throughout the system, giving you more power.
Improving your mileage is always a good upgrade for your car. A cold air intake system can help achieve this by enhancing the air-to-fuel ratio due to increased airflow.
Silicone Hoses
Another improvement would be to replace your car’s standard rubber hoses with better-quality silicone ones. Silicone has a higher heat tolerance than rubber. Additionally, if you add a turbocharger to your engine with rubber hoses, you could drive all that extra heat into hoses that won’t withstand the heat.
Overall, silicone is also a more durable material than rubber. Over time, the latter is prone to cracking, stiffening and becoming dry-rotted.
In contrast, silicone is much more stable and behaves brand new for years. Switching to this material can save the hassle of dealing with a hose leak, which is common with rubber.
Upgrade your Exhaust System
A new stainless steel exhaust on an older car will make a significant difference because exhaust cats can become clogged over time. This results in a gradual decrease in performance.
Additionally, a new exhaust system can make your car sound and look better. A mark of a well-performing car is a low purr, which you can achieve with a high-functioning muffler and new headers. Getting a custom exhaust system can also save you money on repairs. For instance, it will make replacing a catalytic converter easier and raise your vehicle’s value.
Outdated exhaust systems also use toxic chemicals in the environment, increasing your carbon footprint. Upgrading to a new, fuel-efficient system will benefit you and help save the planet.
Conclusion
Optimizing performance, speed, and fuel efficiency are all goals to strive for. Features such as new tires, a new exhaust system or something as simple as switching rubber hoses for silicone can help you upgrade your car and add longevity to your car’s life. Overall, these upgrades are cheaper than buying a vehicle with these specs, so they’re also lighter on the pocket!
We at Auffenberg of Carbondale offer the best car service for all your oil change, tire change and repair needs. You can also browse our inventory of new and pre-owned vehicles with a wide range of models. You can consult a professional through our 24/7 chat service on our website if you have any queries.