Installing chrome trims, adding roof rails and a body kit, buying a sports steering wheel or modifying the interior panel is one thing... Touching the engine design, overhauling the suspension and brakes is quite another. Although both are called tuning – a virus that has infected car enthusiasts worldwide. Well, shall we begin? Making your car stand out in traffic is difficult, expensive, but possible. Before starting modifications, be sure to read the article and think carefully about what the changes will be. Installing chrome trims, adding roof rails and a body kit, buying a sports steering wheel or modifying the interior panel is one thing... Touching the engine design, overhauling the suspension and brakes is quite another. Although both are called tuning – a virus that has infected car enthusiasts worldwide. Well, shall we begin?
How does a cold start? Eyes redden, throat tickles, breathing becomes difficult, discomfort and weakness appear, which force us to fight the illness. Some treat it with herbs, some firmly believe in doctors, the result is the same – we are cheerful and healthy again.
Just don't think this is an article about “home self-treatment.” We're talking about TUNING – a virus with English roots that affects motorists worldwide. And this is already an epidemic...
Guessing that the virus has entered your body is not so easy. At first, minor discomfort – everything seems fine, but not quite. Then the immune system kicks in. After that, some vehicle owners limit themselves to replacing seat covers or installing roof rails, while others reflash the “brains,” modernize the suspension, install various body kits, and move on to relatives' and friends' cars, and so on down the list...
Where there is demand, there is supply. Auto repair shops have massively acquired tuning specialists, and offline and online stores compete to offer specialized products. True, the market is still held only by large importers, because the economic aspect is especially important for our car owners. But let's take things in order...
Let's go
As Chekhov said, “Everything about a person should be beautiful: clothes, soul, thoughts.” The same goes for the “iron horse” – both appearance, engine, and interior. And there is nothing shameful in wanting to make our car stand out among its factory “brethren.” The main thing is not to overdo it.
Let's start with the body
Or, paraphrasing the classic, with the appearance. We turn on our imagination, open the body kit catalog in an online store, for example https://ddaudio.com.ua, look at photos, assess our financial capabilities, buy, not forgetting about a sense of proportion and taking into account the information below.
• Aerodynamic body kit – spoiler, rear wing, window and hood deflectors, specially shaped rear and front bumpers. As a rule, this is the first thing we hang on our car, since the laws of physics, aerodynamics, and kinetics have not been canceled. All these elements enormously improve handling, increase downforce to the road, make the car more obedient at high speeds and when taking sharp turns. And importantly, they reduce “appetite” by 1-2 liters.
• Side steps – this is not only a way to protect the side part, but also a very convenient element for passenger entry/exit. They are made of stainless steel, aluminum, or plastic. You can view the range of side steps here - https://ddaudio.com.ua/kenguryatniki-podnozhki.html
• Protective body kit (also known as bull bar) – front and rear bull bars, steel protection for bumpers, side sills (also known as side steps). All this looks not only beautiful and aggressive. Such tuning helps minimize negative consequences for the driver, passengers, and body in collisions with obstacles or other cars.
• Various trims – for mirror housings, door handles, interior and exterior sills, license plate, bumper, window trim, etc. All this is not just a tribute to fashion... It is protection of the listed body elements from external influences (stones flying from under wheels, women's heels and nails, aggressive environment, rain, and snow). Moreover, it's a great way to hide existing body defects from prying eyes (for example, from a car buyer).
• Roof rack, roof rails – look original on any car, and also double cargo capacity. If there are no standard mounting points on the roof, such a kit can be installed on double-sided tape.
Let's add power
How cool it is to launch from a traffic light, showing off the straight-through exhaust to others, and then fly through the streets, leaving behind the roar of the muffler and a trail of bass from the subwoofer... But we won't describe all the features of engine modification; that would take more than one such article. And before “torturing” the power unit, doing chip tuning of the “brains” and so on, think about it. Increasing the number of “horses” under the hood is not only expensive but also imposes a lot of obligations on you (besides increased road tax costs).
And if you've added mares to the herd, you must skillfully drive the car so as not to fly off on a turn and brake in time before pedestrians. A car is already a means of increased danger and responsibility. And when under the hood there is a true “dinosaur,” whose power is not balanced with braking dynamics, you need to think about how to protect yourself and others from trouble.
Of course, a car enthusiast who decides to add power to the engine will not drive like a “pensioner.” Speed will increase, and factory components and assemblies will no longer cope with the tasks set before them. The suspension will also fail, and the braking system will begin to function in a critical mode. So simply boosting the engine won't be enough here. You'll have to modify the entire car structure. Those whom the tuning virus has fully infected, and whose immunity has refused to activate protective functions, will not be stopped by anything – neither financial costs, nor wasted time and nerves. But still, we recommend approaching the issue comprehensively and thoughtfully.
There is no limit to perfection
For a true car enthusiast, a car is a whole world where you close the doors, drive, and indulge in thoughts and dreams. Therefore, we modify something in the cabin, improve it, redo it to suit ourselves, creating our comfortable and cozy little world. Of course, there is a category of drivers for whom the main thing is that there is gasoline and the car doesn't break down, and everything else is nonsense. But our article is not for them...
• The first thing we recommend starting with is installing sound insulation so that nothing creaks on uneven surfaces and the hum of cars outside doesn't disturb blissful solitude.
• The next stage is car audio. For true connoisseurs of quality music, we recommend professional products from Digital Ukraine – the official sponsor and organizer of car audio competitions in Ukraine.
• Next, we perfect the direct components of comfort – install sports seats and steering wheel, add trims to the gear shift knob and dashboard, if desired, change the upholstery and create a unified color and stylistic solution. For more exclusivity, you can order or make hydrographic printing yourself (you can read about the technology, buy film and other materials on the tuning store website ddaudio.com.ua).
Result
1. With comprehensive modification (engine, suspension, braking system, aerodynamic body kit, etc.), roll on sharp turns is reduced, side-to-side rocking is minimized, the car becomes more responsive, reacts faster to steering wheel turns, and accelerates from a standstill.
2. People turn around to look at you. And the same Chekhov quote “beauty will save the world” – that's exactly about exterior tuning. As long as they don't envy...
3. You enjoy not only admiring glances from others but also incredible comfort in the cabin; the car becomes a second home where you want to return again and again.
4. And finally, the virus that doesn't let you live and sleep peacefully leaves you. Unless, of course, you haven't made plans for your wife's, friend's, brother's, husband's car...
Attention!
After “charging” your car, don't forget that you are not the only driver on the road!
• Be more tolerant towards pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles.
• Don't cut off or squeeze poor “newbies” who are gripping the wheel until their fingers go numb. They feel bad and scared without you.
• Don't scare pedestrians with a bull bar or an extremely loud horn. Mothers with children, grandmothers and grandfathers – they are our dear and beloved ones. We just forget that they all exist, walk the streets, cross the road... Usually, only one phrase is in our head: “Faster!”
The road is not a place for mistakes and races. And if you want adrenaline, sign up for extreme driving courses.
