Owning a car is not like owning a smartphone or a smartwatch that only needs recharging and maybe a small monthly payment for the subscription. The vehicle needs gas, and maintenance that can be costly or not, depending on how the owner manages and drives it. If he or she wants more power or visible upgrades on the exterior, interior and engine, the costs are raised up to an unknown level, depending on what the owner wants to buy for the ride. Each upgrade costs more or less based on what it modifies or increases.
Just as there are cheap, average and expensive smartphones, the upgrades can also be divided in cheap, expensive or “know-hows”. The last variant can be explained like this: those upgrades made by an owner who knows car stuff and decides what and how to upgrade the car without spending a lot of money, but still gaining power and beauty. Think of it as a DIY method, but with more knowledge and great results. Here is a list with information about ten cheap “know-hows” and ten expensive upgrades that would not represent a priority if the budget is low.
The owner should consider a lot of factors when it comes to car upgrades and talk to a specialist before beginning the upgrading procedures, just to be sure everything is in order and the car can deal with it.
20 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings
Most cars designed after 1973 are fitted with a rack and pinion steering system, according to Jalopnik. This means that the steering wheel moves the wheels through a rack with electric motors or hydraulic fluid.
The rubber bushings that exist between the steering rack and the body of the car can deteriorate in time.
However, there is a solution to this problem: the polyurethane bushings that offer less flex and a more direct steering input. The polyurethane bushings can be bought to replace each bushing that exists on a car. For less than $50, the precise and sporty feel is worth it every dime.
19 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Throttle Adjustment
The throttle response is one of the most important things to find out when the owner wants to see if his or her car could be fun to drive or not, according to Jalopnik. This means more exactly the response of the engine when the accelerator is pressed. On older cars, the throttle body placed on the engine and the throttle pedal were tied together through a cable (cable throttle). While years pass by and the heat works its way from the engine, this cable can stretch, needing an adjustment to function properly. This problem can be fixed with two wrenches in five minutes on most cars. On newer cars, the throttle body has an electric motor that controls it, meaning that a relearn procedure would be needed.
18 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Short Throw Shifter
A short throw shifter can solve the problem of the driver’s hand that ends hitting the DVD player while changing the 1st, 3rd and 5th gears in a sporty mode.
This type of kit modifies the distance between the fulcrum point of a lever and the end of the shifter, offering an easier way to do the same thing mentioned before.
The shifting will be more precise with a sporty feel, but not too easy to handle at the beginning, according to Jalopnik. Depending on the year of the car, the mounting of the kit can take one hour or could need the exhaust or interior disassembled.
17 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Quality Brake Pads
People tend to forget about this cheap mod when all they see is more power and when they believe the car would stop anyway. A set of good brake pads (do not take the best from the rest because this choice would cost a lot) is not expensive at all, under $150 per set. According to Jalopnik, the EBC brake pads can reduce the stopping distances, but they also can eliminate fade when the situation needs repeated brakes. Even if the owner has not got enough money to buy the best and most recommended brake pads, affordable performance parts were also created.
16 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Front Strut Tower Bar
This modification has an important role: the front strut towers of a car are flexing along with the chassis when there is increased stress on the suspension. If the car’s strut towers are old, rusted, weak from the beginning or worn, there will be splits and tears in the metal after a one of those rough days. A front strut tower bar connects both strut towers and the independent flexing will not happen anymore, so the car will be handled easily and more precisely. Keep in mind that there expensive strut bars and affordable or even cheap ones. It depends on the way that car is used in the end.
15 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Manual Transmission Fluid Upgrade
There comes a moment when the manual transmission fluid needs a change because the friction of metal-on-metal can deteriorate it badly.
If the driver is accustomed to changing gears fast or in a sporty manner while driving, the fluid should be changed with one that supports this type of shifting.
According to Jalopnik, Redline MT90 is a perfect manual transmission fluid that can eliminate any notchy shifting feeling when the gearbox gets warmed up. It can also protect all the components from the manual transmission, but one should verify if it is compatible with his or her gearbox before buying and changing it.
14 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Automatic Transmission Fluid Cooler
An automatic transmission can offer as much fun as a manual gearbox, but there is an important thing that should be known from the beginning: the transmission fluid pressure and temperature are very important for the health of the car. When the driving skills include a lot of downshifting and paddle shifting on corners, the transmission fluid get heated up. Even if most new models have already got a transmission cooler inside the radiator, it could not be enough. Automatic transmission fluid coolers can be found at low prices on the market and if it is mounted correctly in the front of the car, it can help a lot.
13 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Boost Controller
Those who have got a turbocharger on their cars can play with the throttle paddle and listen the great sound of the air that gets crammed into the cylinders, according to Jalopnik.
In addition, the power that results can be truly remarkable.
A boost controller can be mounted between the compressor of the turbo (the part that creates the boost) and the wastegate (the part that does not let too much boost get out) to make the wastegate believe it receives less boost than in reality. However, it would not work on any car unfortunately because there are some vehicles with electronically controlled boost maps, on which only an overridden software hack can do the trick.
12 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: Weight Reduction Or Distribution
Any car that weighs less is faster than a car that has more weight. Any car with the same weight ratio on both front and rear axles has a better handling than those with differences between the axles. According to Jalopnik, there are a few things that can be done to make the car accelerate faster and be handled better than before: remove the rear seats, spare tire and tools, remove radio, speakers and subwoofer, relocate the battery from front to back, remove carpets and floor mats, remove the air conditioning compressor, mount a shorter accessory belt and remove any other components that are not of any use for example the stuff from the glove compartment. The example above is extreme, but likely had a huge impact on the cars performance.
11 Cheap, Goes A Long Way: General Maintenance
The scheduled maintenance should never be postponed because the car needs a lot of attention when it was already modified.
Check the engine oil level all the time, make sure all the hoses are fitted correctly, check the coolant level and so on.
However, do not forget to check the suspension, brakes and direction because any spare part that starts deteriorating and is not changed on time can lead to more expensive damage. Another important thing is to use quality gasoline or diesel fuel because it can damage the engine or the fuel pump and these need very expensive repairs.
10 Expensive, Not Worth It: Undercarriage Lighting
Remember the Fast and Furious franchise? Can one picture those cars with colored lights underneath their side skirts and that were projected on the ground? Well, this is the undercarriage lighting, also known as LEDGlow or Underglow, according to Goliath. This type of modification does not bring any new horses under the hood or make the car lighter, on the contrary. It is a costly mod just to make the vehicle stand out from the crowd and also attract unwanted attention. It is a thing of the past, not popular anymore in the serious performance circles of people with true modded rides.
9 Expensive, Not Worth It: Xenon Or HID Lights
There are cars that have Xenon or HID lights mounted from the factory and there are cars that had them fitted afterwards (with magnifiers and without). This is an upgrade that every driver with poor lighting wants, but not all of the do it properly. The Xenon bulbs are known to be so bright that they can cause visibility problems for other drivers, according to Goliath. In this case, if the owner wants this type of light, but an aftermarket version, he or she should also buy magnifiers to protect their headlights and the other drivers in the same time. However, if the car has got great lights even without Xenon, the change could be quite useless and very expensive.
8 Expensive, Not Worth It: Spinner Hubcaps
Another expensive and useless accessory is represented by the spinner hubcaps. It was a period in time when the spinner rims (made from two parts, one that was moving with the wheel and one that was independent) were very popular and everyone wanted such a modern upgrade, but nowadays it can only be a caprice to get noticed.
According to Goliath, there are a few U.S. states that have banned them just because they are a distraction for the other drivers and also a safety problem.
Despite the warnings, people still tend to like spinners and buy them even if they are useless and costly.
7 Expensive, Not Worth It: Fake Performance Badges
These stickers do not offer more power and make the car more performant once applied on it. They cannot transform it overnight or bring any respect from the others when they actually find out the truth. The Nissan Sentra from this picture will not become a BMW M car with that sticker. According to Goliath, there are a lot of people who spend a lot of money on stickers just to offer themselves the pleasure, more of an illusion in fact, of driving another car, more than they can afford actually. Others can, in the best case scenario, feel sorry for the guy, but nothing more.
6 Expensive, Not Worth It: Stick-On Hood Vents
Another thing that derived from Fast and Furious, but the cars from the movies did not have fake hood vents at all. This is quite sad, to spend money on stuff that are completely useless and offer others the motif to make fun and comment. According to Goliath, a real hood scoop can increase the airflow through all the vents, in this way increasing the efficiency of air conditioning and heat. On the other hand, the stick-on hood vents are simple plastic pieces that are glued on the hood of the car to make it look like a modified ride.
5 Expensive, Not Worth It: Body Kits
A real body kit that was installed correctly can serve more than one purpose: offer a stunning look and also performance upgrades by reducing the weight and making the car more aerodynamic, according to Goliath. The NASCAR vehicles or other racing types of rides need body kits to perform and have great scores, but a normal car with a normal 1.6-liter engine for example does not require such mods to be driven on the streets.
Some types of body kits can even make the car unusable by lowering the ground clearance too much.
When winter is coming, the front bumpers become the perfect snow plow, not to mention that a body kit is truly expensive.
4 Expensive, Not Worth It: Tinted Front Windows
If a car has tinted windows on the back, it is ok because in this way the sun light that enters the car is reduced and the visibility during the night is increased, but tinted front widows and windshield are completely useless, according to Goliath. There are a lot of money spent on nothing, maybe thrown out the window. There are a lot of countries that have banned this type of modification because it can also represent a safety issue. During the night, the tinted front windows and windshield can prevent the driver to see outside if they were made too dark. It is not a practical mod at all.
3 Expensive, Not Worth It: Fake Engine Sounds
The newest addition to the mods list is the fake engine sound system. According to Goliath, there are people that spend money on speakers and mount them under the hood to fool others in believing they have made some very powerful upgrades to their cars. In reality, those people prefer to make up stories than to actually modify their cars. Despite this, nowadays, some performance vehicles have got a special sound heard in the speakers inside the car that can amplify the real engine sounds, but that is quite all. It is not faked or anything, they still remain powerful cars.
2 Expensive, Not Worth It: Huge Wheels
Another trend in the tuning world is mounting huge wheels on the vehicles. Is it truly necessary? Each car has a maximum dimension limit for the wheels the chassis, brakes and suspension supports, but people do not pay attention to the information nowadays.
Bigger wheels does not mean more power, more exactly less power because it is harder to spin those monsters in comparison to a set of 18-inch wheels fitted on a powerful car.
According to Goliath, big wheels can expose rusting brakes or can look awful on an old unrestored car. Every driver should keep in mind the recommended tire and rim size for his or her vehicle.
1 Expensive, Not Worth It: Wings Or Spoilers
A wing or a spoiler that does not fit the purpose of the car or the vehicle itself can transform it in an awful thing. Do not place expensive stuff just to add something to the list of payments. The real purpose of these mods is to decrease the airflow path slope down at the back of the car, according to Goliath. It also decreases drag while increasing the mileage and keeping the rear window clean. A big wing can make the trunk opening action more difficult if it is placed on a daily use car, not to mention it is useless if the car does not compete in races.
Sources: Jalopnik.com, Goliath.com