All in One Beginner’s Guide to Car Tuning

There are many modifications that you can do legally in Singapore be it improving the looks of your vehicle or improving the response and horsepower. If you are looking to improve the overall driving dynamic and satisfaction, this article will help you start off!

ECU Tuning

For those who are unfamiliar with this term, the ECU(Electronic control unit) in layman terms controls a series of actuators of an engine, this allows for optimal performance and is done by reading values from a multitude of sensors. Manufacturers often tune engines to provide reliability in high volume. Which means that your engine will have some more power that you can squeeze out of it. That is where the aftermarket comes in allowing you to get more power and torque. For this, there are usually a couple of “stages” that you can progress. With each increasing stage usually requiring more hardware upgrades such as an aftermarket air intake, intercooler etc.

We would recommend to only go for an ECU Tuning if your car is turbo-charged. For example, A small displacement naturally aspirated engine will most likely only gain 7 to 10 horsepower after a tune. A turbo-charged vehicle is easily able to get 30 and up to 70-80 horsepower with some hardware changes.

Upgrading your Suspension Components

There are many complicated parts that make up the suspension and may seem very complicated. However, the main purpose when upgrading is to further improve the contact between the tires and the road surface, improved vehicle dynamic and handling. With upgraded suspensions, commonly known as coil-overs, what you can expect is a lowered ride lower centre of gravity (often improving the looks as well), reducing the tendency of “roll” which occurs usually when you perform a hard cornering, where you feel that your vehicle sinks or slants a little to the side that you are cornering. Additionally, anti-rollbars are a cost-effective option if you want to further increase your vehicles resistance to body roll.

Do note that the stock suspension that comes with your car is usually comfort-oriented and with an upgraded suspension you may be sacrificing some of this comfort for added performance.

Tyres and Rims

This is another popular modifications that many Singaporean drivers love to do when they first get their vehicle. Today, we will be sharing with you what to look out for when you are upgrading your rim and tyres.

Rim:

For your new rims, we would suggest getting a one that is lightweight. There are several process used when manufacturing a car’s rim and we suggest getting one that is either flow-formed or forged to ensure that it is durable yet light when compared to cast rims. If upgrading your rims is your first upgrade, you may wish to stick to same rim size(unless looking to upgrade to a big brake kit). If you have tuned your vehicle or have made other modifications, you may wish to get a larger rim so as to pair with wider tyres for improved grip.

(There are many things to look out for when getting a new set of rims such as offset, PCD and width.)

Tyres:

When it comes to tyres, it is essentially your only point of contact to the road and we urge all not to skim on it. Performance tyres will be recommended just to give you that additional advantage when it comes to braking and handling. You will be surprised how many times a reduce in stopping distance will help even in normal driving. As said, if you have tuned your vehicle, here is where you may want to increase the tyre’s width improving on your grip.

If you are getting your rim and tyres separately, be sure that they are of the same size. If you got a 17” rim, you can only pair it with tyres that are in 17” as well.

Big Brake Kit

Having upgrade your rims, you may feel that your vehicle’s brake looks out of place and perhaps even “ugly” and chunky.

Now you may be looking to upgrade into a big brake kit. These not only look good and comes with added braking performance. They offer good stopping power compared to the stock brakes and is able to handle the track easily with little to no brake fade giving you consistent braking power. We recommend this if you are intending to go on the racetrack such as the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. With constant braking at high speed the rotors temperature will be immense. A stock brake is just not going to make the cut.

However, if just for normal street use, there is little to no brake fake that can occur and what normally limits the braking power is the ABS system to prevent the wheel from locking up. For now, as the borders are closed, we suggest keeping to your stock brake as these costs a lot of money.

Image Credit: Ejiroghene Kelly Orhorhoro

Exhaust Upgrades

What is all your modifications without upgrading your exhaust to tell everyone around you that you are driving a modified car? However, not only does an exhaust upgrade improve the sound that it produces, but it also able to improve a vehicle’s performance output.

There are two kinds of exhaust upgrades that you get here in Singapore either the Catback or the Axleback. Catback changes the entire exhaust from the catalytic converter to the tailpipe while the axleback only changes from the rear axle to the tailpipe.

If you are looking into audible changes only, the axleback exhaust upgrade may be a more cost-effective upgrade. Whereas having a catback exhaust would provide better sounding exhaust nodes as well as a slight bump in performance output. If you have a ton of budget, you may want to look into titanium catback exhaust as they are lightweight and produce the best sounding exhaust.

Do take note that there are restrictions that come to play when you are looking to get an aftermarket exhaust system. If it is a new exhaust, be sure to obtain the legal certification provided by the official retailer and/or reseller of the exhaust. If it is a used exhaust, be sure to make a change of ownership on the certification.