by Joe Symmes

Created on: October 25, 2008

Blazing down the back roads of his sleepy little home town, Bobby could feel that his car had more power. Yea, it might have come from the factory as a basic four cylinder, produced for economy rather than power, but his recent upgrades had really brought the little "four banger" alive. When deciding to add a few performance car parts to his ride, Bobby knew that an engine is nothing more than an air pump. The key to performance is efficiency and the key to efficiency is air flow. "Increase the flow and you will increase the go" is what he told his friends.

If you are looking for high performance car parts whether for a muscle car or high performance import car, its best to start with airflow into and out of the engine. Look for sources of restriction that can be improved or eliminated.

Cold air intakes are commonly available from many on-line retailers and performance part wholesalers. These are relatively simple bolt on pieces that can be performed at home with a few hand tools. For about $100-$300 and an hour's work, you will actually be able to get a performance gain which can be felt in the seat of your pants. As a side benefit, many of these kits come with an oil soaked, cloth, air filter which can be cleaned and reused periodically, saving you money on disposable paper air filters which are more restrictive.

Now that you have more air flowing into the engine, the next step is to get the spent (exhaust) gas out. Again, check on-line or whole sale performance part retailers or even your local performance shop for high flowing exhaust systems. Most vehicles will have some sort of bolt on "cat-back" system available for $300-$900. These kits get their name from bolting onto the existing catalytic converter and replacing the stock tail pipe and muffler or everything from the "cat-back". A big advantage for these systems is that they do not change any of the stock emissions equipment and thus keep your vehicle smog legal. Additionally, most of these systems are stainless steel and will last longer than your stock exhaust system.

With more air coming into my engine will my vehicle's mixture be thrown off and it will run to lean? Most modern fuel injection systems will be able to compensate for this additional airflow. The engine's computer will simply tell it to supply more fuel to balance out the combustion mixture. However, a new computer chip or computer re-flash will guarantee your engine is taking full advantage of its additional airflow. These reprogramming

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