12 Tips for Better Performance & Fuel Consumption

Hot Tip #1
Increase the efficiency of your original air filter box by enlarging the size of
the air intake to the filter box. Many models of cars use a resonator box (used
to reduce air induction noise) before the air filter box and conveluted amount
of piping before feeding air to the air filter box. This introduces 'negative' a
ir pressure and reduces the amount of air flowing to the engine. An analogy woul
d be a person drinking with a straw and when you pinch one side of the straw, u
need to suck harder to draw more fluids. By removing the resonator box as well a
s the convulated piping before the original air filter box and replacing it with
a direct cool air feed will give u better perfomance. Making an additional air
intake to your original air box will further improve its efficency, as two intak
es are better one.
Hot Tip #2
Cool air makes more power and this fact is proven in Physics as cool air is dens
er and contains more oxygen molecules for the same volume. Just driving in the c
ool mornings or evenings versus on a hot afternoon can make a difference in the
engine respone with the difference in ambient temperature being only 8 degrees C
. Some standard air intake systems draw super-heated air from inside the engine
bay and temperatures recorded by fuel injection sensors can go up to 78 degrees
C especially when the aircon is switched on. The EFI system will increase fuelin
g and reduce ignition timing when the air temperature is high and this is detrim
ental to perfomance and fuel efficiency. By redirecting the source of air from a
cooler area such as the front of the wheel well or bumper can reduce the air in
take temperature by up to 25 degrees C. This helps to 'Supercharge' the engine w
ith more oxygen.

Hot Tip #3
Increasing the size of the spark in the engine combustion chamber will improve t
he engine efficiency, giving u better perfomance and fuel consumption. Some car
models are adopting twin spark plugs per cylinder for improved combustion as two
spark plugs are better than one. However, as most engines use one spark plug pe
r cylinder, using a perfomance spark plug can help to improve combustion. Perfor
mance spark plugs have smaller center electrodes and materials such as platinum
or irridium to increase the spark and thus, improving the combustion of the air/
fuel mixture.

Hot Tip #4
Air injectors as such E68, Air Max, E-Power, Ecotek and Venturi One allows the e
ngine to draw more air in through an alternative route other than the standard a
ir intake system. These products are essentially valves that use the vacuum effe
ct of the engine to draw in more air, helping it to breathe better. On some engi
nes that utilize air flow sensors such as the Mass Air Flow just after the air f
ilter box, these products can effectively help lean out the air fuel ratio by in
creasing the amount of air versus fuel, making more power and torque.

Hot Tip #5
Improving the electrical efficiency by the addition of Perfomance Ground Wires c
an help with increased engine efficiency. This consists of a number of shielded
heavy gauge wires fitted from various parts of the engine and body directly to t
he battery negative terminal to help improve the electron flow through the senso
rs as well as the ignition system. This in turn improves performance as the ECU
gets its signals more accurately. On some cars, the ignition and battery chargin
g is futher improved and thus the engine respone.

Hot Tip #6
Changing to the lightened crank pulley and under-driven, (components such as pow
er steering pump, water pump and alternator turns slower), there is less load on
the engine allowing for improved performance. Acceleration is improved as will
the throttle respone.

Hot Tip #7
Fuel Ionizing products such as the Max Power, Calski Ion Accelerator, Super Fuel
Max and Fuel Energizer use powerful magnets to help agitate the fuel molecules t
o improve combustion. The stronger the field strenght, the greater its effect. T
hese products are simply fitted on the fuel line to energize the petrol prior to
entering the combustion chamber. This gives better performance and fuel comsump
tion.

Hot Tip #8
Adding an Automatic Transmission Fluid Cooler, essentially a mini radioator, hel
ps to reduce the gearbox oil by up to 15 degrees C. Lowering the ATF oil tempera
ture is especially more important when traveling in slow traffic conditions. Thi
s ensures that the gearbox is operating at the best temperature, offering improv
ed respone such as gear changes and acceleration as well as increasing the lifes
pan os its component.

Hot Tip #9
Fooling the ECU through the use of piggyback computers such as APEXi SAFC, Unich
ip, O-Bit, E-Manage and Buddy Club allow the tuner to change the air/fuel mixtur
e to suit various states of tune and enhancements. These interceptors change the
signals from various sensors and deliver it to the ECU to get it to operate dif
ferently from the factory specifications. A number of these systems even allow f
or change to the ignition timing to squeeze even more performance from the engin
e. However, no matter how elaborate its features are, the ability of the tuner i
s paramount ti the performance gained.

Hot Tip #10

Voltage stabilizers such as Pivot, Silver's and RMK help to increase the efficie
ncy of the charging system by ensuring a more constant voltage to the battery. W
ith improved charging and electrical efficiency, improved performance and fuel c
onsumption can be achieved.

Hot Tip #11

Switching off your aircon or lowering the temperature can improve performance an
d fuel consumption. The aircon compressor saps the engine to the tune of 10bhp o
f power and 15Nm of torque on a 1600cc engine. The effect of this power and torq
ue loss is even greater on smaller engines.
Hot Tip #12
Changing the exhaust system would reduce exhaust back pressure. Less back pressu
re means better exhaust flow and additional power/torque gains and some times, m
ore exhaust noise. Some workshops claim that some back-pressure is good for norm
al aspirated engines. Dynotest have shown that less back pressure means more pow
er across the rpm band. However, the air/fuel mixtures are changed and at times,
need to be retuned