Your car is your prized possession. It’s beautiful and it takes you everywhere you want to go. You can spend hours in it, listening to the radio and watching the scenery. You might be stuck in traffic, but when you have a great car, you can put up with the traffic. It’s important to maintain your automobile, so that it can stay in top condition and keep taking you everywhere you desire. Before you take it to a performance shop, consider these ways to keep your car rolling along:
- Remove anything extra from your car: Extra stuff in your car adds more wear and tear on your suspension, brakes, and your fuel efficiency. Take out all those extra books, bags, boxes, sports gear, and whatever else you happen to be storing in your car.
- Add a cold air intake kit: Cold air is denser, which allows it to use more air when needed. This will help you accelerate more quickly when entering freeways and use fuel more efficiently. If you get a lot of rain or water on the ground, make sure the intake is not exposed to water, as this could lock your engine.
- Get the right set of wheels: If you live in an area that is sunny most of the year, you might want to invest in some “summer tires.” Summer tires have a harder rubber compound that keeps them from wearing out as easily. Their unique tread pattern keeps them from grabbing down on the road, thus lasting longer and increasing fuel efficiency.
- Replace your spark plugs and their wires: This should be done about every 50,000 miles. Spark plugs and their wires wear out over time due to weather and age. When spark plugs corrode, they have to work harder to produce a spark, resulting in slow acceleration, inability to start the motor, engine misfiring, and poor fuel performance. It costs very little to replace spark plugs, but can produce a big difference in your car’s ability to start up and drive smoothly.
- Install a cat-back exhaust system: A cat-back exhaust system involves a process of straightening the pipes from the catalyst to the back of the car. This lets a car release exhaust more quickly, allowing for more air and fuel to enter the engine, which results in greater power and performance.
Many of these upgrades or improvements can be done by a skilled car owner. However, for expert knowledge and more skilled work, consider consulting a car performance expert at a performance shop to see which improvements will work best for your specific automobile, based on your needs, the car’s age and make and model.
