Drivetrain PSA: Owning a modded vehicle = Owner's Expectations and Responsibilities.

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06-24-2018, 10:19 PM

Bytetronik

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PSA: Owning a modded vehicle = Owner's Expectations and Responsibilities.

As car modding and tuning has become the new 'normal' in the car world, it is imperative that we keep ourselves grounded with our expectations as well as responsibilities. From the owner's perspective, there is a lot at stake b/c you have a lot invested in your car. So these are the steps that must be followed to ensure that your modding experience is a positive one.

Before you begin to do any upgrades, note the following Rules:

Rule #1: GOD did NOT built your car! If it's MAN made, it will break ... eventually!

Rule #2: There are 3 METHODS to built a fast car: CHEAP, FAST or RELIABLE. Since GOD is not your mechanic or tuner, you can only pick 2 out of the 3 methods and stick to them. If you want FAST & Reliable, then it's not going to be cheap! If you want to do it Cheap & Fast, then it's not going to be reliable.
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Now that you have decided on which 2 methods to use in building your car, then proceed with the following steps:

Step 1: Do your homework. = Do your due diligence and do lots of research and have reasonable levels of expectations. What is your budget and what are you looking to gain from your mods?

Step 2: Establish your baseline & benchmark = Get to know your car and know how it behaves prior to performing any mods. What do you like about the car and what DON'T you like about the car in it's current form? Do you have some data logs in OEM form? Do you have dyno graph while it's stock?

Step 3: Set your target / goal = what is your budget and what are you trying to achieve? Is it realistic and attainable? Are you trying to make an extra 100 HP while only willing to spend $500? Keep in mind the law of diminishing return; the first 20 or 30 HP are the cheapest to attain... but anything after that will be increasingly more and more expensive.

Step 4: Post-modification monitoring = now that your car has been modified, do you have ways to monitor its health? Do you have gauges installed to give you early warning signs that something might be wrong with your car? Do you have ways to data-log it and be able to spot the first sign of trouble?

Step 5: Be vigilant and practice common sense trouble-shooting techniques = now that your car has been modified, it is likely the parts are pushed beyond the limits set forth by the manufacturer. So if something doesn't feel right to you, "Stop, Let Off, then Troubleshoot". Check your data and view the gauges to see what might be the issue. If a part is recently added, remove this part and see if the problem goes away. If you have the ability to go back to stock, flash it back to the previously known good tune or back to the stock tune to see if the problem persists. Rule out any hardware issue before you beat your engine to death.

If you ignore your Sixth sense and keep driving the car hard while it doesn't feel right, then Rule #1 will bite you in the butt.

Step 6: Maintain open communication with your tuner, and most importantly, listen to their advice. If you're going to ignore or not adhere to their advice, then what's the reasoning in selecting them in the first place? If the tuner had sent you a 'revised' tune based on your data logs and you insisted on running the old tune b/c it felt more powerful, then you must own up to your actions.

Summary:
Modding a car is just one step and the beginning of a long and continue process. If you are not willing or ready to do your part in maintaining your vehicle, then Rule #1 will hit you real quick. A tune is designed optimize the performance of all the mechanical parts, and it is NOT a solution to solving any hardware issues. So if you think that your car will be trouble-free b/c you have a tune on the car, then you're quite mistaken... A tune can not overcome or fix your failed O2 sensor or a bad injector or a failed coil pack. If you do not understand the undertaking required to maintain a modded vehicle, then perhaps modding is not an option for you.

Keep in mind, the internet has a wealth of information... and there are tons of experts with "degrees" from Google University. Just because the info is found on the inter-web, that doesn't make it factual.

Happy Motoring!

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