“Chip” of the engine
For most, the car’s sophistication comes from a desire to go faster than the rest. Therefore, the most popular tuning object is the engine. It is inexpensive: the flashing of the control unit, the so-called chip tuning, costs 20-60 thousand rubles. This is today the price of one scheduled maintenance, and not yet the largest.
Whether the finish will be great depends on the engine. Atmospheric “chip” adds only 5-7% on average, which you will not feel. Although it is possible that the modified torque characteristic makes the bike more fun in medium modes. But the “turbo” is easy to throw 15-20%, and sometimes even more. And this is without damage to the resource: its reduction begins with a deeper intervention. This is a general rule, regardless of the brand, because owners of different cars are interested in the “chip”.
“We can make software for almost any machine. However, most often in our walls there may be “Germans”. Although you can meet “Koreans” and “Italians” and some “Japanese” and even modern “Chinese” – who, by the way, have an interesting topic. The “Chinese” sometimes have “skewed” factory software for the Russian market. Customers come not only to tune but sometimes to fix bugs in their own software so that everything works correctly,” — said the founder of the tuning studio Seven Force Kirill Stulov.
Tuning studios stuff the author’s software into the engine and gearbox control units. Therefore, you should responsibly approach the choice of a company: errors in the program can cost you hundreds of thousands of rubles.
The whole procedure takes several hours. In a decent studio, they will always first conduct a thorough diagnosis of the engine, so as not to get to work a very sick one, which quickly stops chipping. After tuning, the characteristics are taken again and recommendations for operation are given. You will therefore have to drive strictly on the type of petrol for which the software is written. It is also made under the usual “ninety-fifth”, but it happens that it is impossible to pour under AI-98/100 or in general have only high-octane fuel.
It is strongly recommended to shorten the oil change interval to 5000-8000 km. But it is not necessary to change the type of oil, the one poured into the stock engine is also suitable. In addition, the current shortage of motor oils is not a cause for concern for those who have already done chip tuning or are only planning to. In the lines of Russian brands there are enough suitable and worthy lubricants. For example, the LUKOIL GENESIS line of motor oils from the Russian oil giant LUKOIL: there is also a sports oil with a viscosity of 10W-60 for use in tough racing conditions and a range of zeros (0W-40, 0W-30, 0W-20) for state-of-the-art petrol and diesel turbo engines. In general, they have the right oil for almost every engine.
inlet-outlet
Do you want even more engine performance? After the “chip” opens the widest perspectives to spend more money. The second step is to make the engine breathe easier by adjusting the intake and exhaust. The range of possible investments is enormous. Remember the time not so long ago when the “proper” front-wheel drive VAZ was unthinkable without a cent-zero filter made in China.
“With the exhaust, in general, the whole song. From installing a downpipe instead of a catalytic converter, which, in addition to increased throughput, gradually makes the exhaust of the turbo engine 15-20% louder, to custom development, partially or completely. Well, or you want a branded titanium exhaust for a million rubles, but then save 20 kg of weight, “ – explains Sergey Gervash of tuning studio Seven Force.
In the third phase, the turbocharger is completed. And already the last stage is intervention in the interior of the engine with the replacement of parts with reinforced ones.
There are even options for turning a naturally aspirated engine into a supercharger. There are even kits for VAZ engines: Vesta can be “charged” up to 200 forces. In addition, the developers have adapted everything to our reality: after installing the “turbo”, it turns out to be almost invisible under the hood, which makes it possible to do without the hassle of registering changes.
Just remember: any improvements to the engine after the “chip” will already affect the resource. Albeit to varying degrees depending on the specific engine.
Transfer
Let yourself be carried away by pumping the engine, do not forget about the capabilities of the transmission. In most cases, the gearbox is worth a margin, and chip tuning can in any case be done without fear. But it is better to know the parameters in advance. There are exceptions on both sides. So the Niva Legend, with all its stock low power, needs to be “charged” very carefully by the engine so as not to damage the transmission units. Installing a turbine on Frets is generally only practiced with mechanics as the AMT robot also works in stock through a stump deck. But there are legends about some versions of DSG robots that they can withstand a hard sport mode better than a measured city mode.
Of all types, the variator is weaker than the others. Mechanics, classic automatic and preselective robots, as a rule, adequately survive the increase in power. If necessary, as in the case of the engine, you can rewrite the software or install more durable parts.
The engine and gearbox can be tuned not only to improve performance, but also to extend service life. For example, programmatically reduce operating temperatures that plant engineers overestimate to please environmentalists. Or shift the moments of shifting to the zone of higher speeds. Because of all those ‘green’ cars, modern cars strive to keep the speed just above idle, forcing the engine to run at the point of detonation.
Suspension and brakes
Tuning of the suspension in diversity is not inferior to the engine. Formally, it even includes the installation of non-proprietary struts and stabilizer bushings. By the way, a typical phenomenon for some models, in which native parts like to crack or have a small well. If you want a change in performance, look for different shock absorbers and springs. Perfectionists can supply shock absorbers with adjustable compression and rebound settings. There are options for cars on the “pneuma”. Specialists can change the clearance in different modes and stiffness. What’s up: you can put air suspension on any car.
The situation with the brakes is interesting. For a slight increase in power, most cars do not need to modify them, and motorists use it. With serious tuning, without effective delay, nowhere. However, there are also interesting special cases.
“On a Land Cruiser, brakes are an issue, and this is just a mandatory set-up. Even on a standard engine. And there are models with carbon ceramic from the factory. For example, on the Audi RS6, they have unrealistic dimensions and efficiency. Therefore, even with a heavily loaded motor, the braking torque disappears”, Sergei continues.
Bodywork and interior
Interior improvements – clean water pointing beauty to your liking. Often the body kit is also not functional, but only beautiful (sometimes – only in the opinion of the owner). But the right bumpers, spoilers, fenders and diffusers really work to improve aerodynamics. They make pretentious offices from carbon fiber. Such parts are lighter, but that only matters for race cars. And for ordinary – just a way to emphasize the cost of tuning.
How can you customize your car and not damage it? In which systems and areas can action be taken? What does registration with the traffic police require? Answers to the most important questions about tuning – in this article.
