It’s a pretty good idea to upgrade your engine’s horsepower to get the best out of your ride. Theoretically, there are several ways of achieving this without blowing anything. Whichever method it is, the basic trick is to increase the amount of air that enters and leaves your ride’s engine. Based on the principle, here are 7 ways to increase your car’s horsepower.
7 Efficient Ways to Add More Power To Your Car Engine
- Cold Air Intake
One of the commonest tricks to give a boost to your engine’s horsepower is to make the incoming air cooler. Engine produces power by taking in air, mixing it with the fuel and then burning the mix. As cool air is denser, the engine is able to produce more power. A cold air intake filter increases the amount of air that gets to your engine and can be as big as 3 times to your car’s original air filter. In addition to providing an increased surface air for pulling air, a cold air intake filter may also help in reducing air flow resistance and undesired turbulence. - Forced Induction
With the aid of forced induction, achieved via superchargers and turbochargers, you can increase your ride’s performance by 50%. A forced induction system compresses the air that flows into your engine resulting in an enhanced acceleration. Both superchargers and turbochargers have their own advantages over one another. Superchargers are easy to install and provides instant power, while turbochargers are more efficient. - High-Flow Catalytic Converter
A catalytic converter helps in reducing emissions. Likewise, a high-flow catalytic converter a.k.a. high-flow cat does the same but at an increased speed. With a high-flow cat, not only your engine’s horsepower is increased but it also boosts your engine’s torque by increasing power in the lower RPM range. Being an exhaust mod, a high-flow cat increases the flow-capacity of your car engine. An increased volume and a less dense internal cell count aids in achieving the function of high-flow catalytic converter. - Reduce Weight
The easiest way of increasing power of your car engine is to make your ride free from unrequired heft. The lighter your ride is, the better acceleration it’ll provide. The main advantage of using this engine power boosting technique is that you don’t have to worry about adding sophisticated equipment to your car. - Reflashing
If factory programming is the limiting factor of your car engine, then reflashing can help you add several horsepower to your car engine. Remember that reflashing only works if your car runs on turbochargers or superchargers. Other than adding power to your ride, reflashing can be easily undone whenever you feel like doing so. If you’re ready to spend a hefty sum of money for the power upgrade, then replacing your stock computer with a new one might also help. - Test Piping
Cat-back systems a.k.a. test piping increases horsepower by running from your car’s catalytic converter towards the end of the exhaust piping. You can either go for a DIY unit or purchase an installation kit. The former method helps in saving you quite some bucks. - Tire Tweaks
You can tweak your ride’s tires to increase its overall performance. An aggressive tire alignment can help in some instant upgrade in horsepower. Adjust your stock wheels in such a way that they are pointed straight ahead. This will help in an increased in-line speed. Replacing stock tires with shorter ones will aid in a boost in acceleration. If you can afford, then you can replace short tires with carbon-fibre wheels to lighten up your ride’s overall load.
Summary
Before you decide to use any of these horsepower boosting methods on your car, be sure to consult an expert for some advice.
