How-To Make your "Average" Car More Fun

Not everyone has the money to buy a track toy or weekend cruiser. For these people, it is necessary to transform your car into both a daily driver and a joyride. How could you successfully make your car fun without compromising its daily drivability? Check out this step-by-step guide dedicated to taking your car from boring to engaging.

Step 1: Understand that any car can become something special. 

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The first step in making your car more fun is to have the right mindset. Many people think that their 2003 Toyota Camry is destined for a life of A-to-B commuting and that there is no way to be able to actually enjoy the driving experience. This is a common misconception and many people would be shocked to drive versions of their cars with only light modifications with the difference each one makes. This is possible because even though you might think that the difference between performance cars and regular cars is fairly large, in reality most cars contain the same basic engine, suspension, and braking components. With the right modifications, any car could put a smile on your face.

Step 2: Research your car

If you don't already know all of the features your car has, look through your owner's manual and find out what type of engine, suspension setup, and wheels/tires came with the car from the factory. This allows you to have a greater understanding what is and isn't possible when it comes to modifying your car. For example, knowing that your car is equipped with an Inline-Four instead of a V6 may mean that a turbocharger is available for your engine that does not exist for the V6. Also, discovering that your car came with a sport package may influence your decision of whether to buy polyurethane bushings or a set of coilovers. After researching the features of your specific car, start by doing a google search of potential modifications. This will give you a good idea of the tuning community behind your vehicle (there almost always is one, Toyota Nation and Camry Forums exist for Toyotas). While online forums may look questionable, many of the users likely have experience modding your specific car and can give valuable insight into what works and what doesn't. Join the forum that is most viewed and ask where to start and which upgrades will yield the best results. For my 2006 Audi A3 I have used audi forums for everything from replacing my blower motor to finding out which summer tires yielded the best grip.

Step 3: Lose Weight.

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As Colin Chapman once said "adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere". While the end goal of modifying your daily is to make the car more fun and not win on track days, better acceleration and handling will make your car more engaging. Reducing weight is truly a win-win as virtually everything from a driving perspective is improved. The simplest way to reduce weight involves exactly what you think, taking unnecessary parts off of your car. The first way to do this is to make sure that you aren't carrying any extra baggage along with you that you will never need. Clear out your glove box, center console, and trunk and you'll be amazed how much weight you'll actually be removing. From there weight loss becomes more of an effort but no less beneficial. Things like removing the rear seats in a coupe, removing the spare tire (make sure you have a compressor if you do), and any other parts you don't need rounds out the "stage 1" process of weight reduction. "Stage 2" involves replacing heavy parts with lighter ones. Investing in a fiberglass hood and other body panels is a common way to shed weight on the (relatively) cheap. Replacing springs, shocks, and other suspension components with aftermarket parts almost always reduces weight as well. The most crucial part of the car to drop pounds is the wheels. This is because the wheels represent "unsprung weight" and therefore are not held up by the suspension. This creates what is essentially dead weight and minimizing this is imperative to improving a car's handling. Opting for a new set of rims will therefore not only set your car apart but also improve steering response; making the car more fun to drive.

Step 4: Improve Handling Characteristics

By far the most important upgrade you will make to your car as a whole, let alone handling, is upgrading your tires. As this is the only part of the car that actually makes contact with the road, choosing the right tire is crucial. My first message would be to forget all-seasons especially for performance driving. All-season tires are regarded by many in the automotive community to be "no-seasons" as they do not excel in any road conditions. If you live in the mid-west like me, you might want to buy both summer and winter tires and change them out when necessary. While this may seem like too much extra work, one drive on dedicated summer tires will change your mind. Improved road feel, grip, and even fuel economy are just some of the benefits that summer tires can bring. Winter tires, while not fun in the conventional sense (snow drifting is a blast-don't ask me how I know) are also much safer than all seasons when things get icy. As mentioned before, stiffer shocks and springs along with anti-roll bars and strut braces can all stiffen up your suspension and ensure that your car corners flatter and, thus, faster.

Step 5: More Power

This is step 5 in the list because I don't feel as though adding more power is crucial to having more fun. Many people disagree with me on this but in some ways I feel that slower cars are actually more fun to drive on the streets as you can get much closer to the car's limits. If you have a need for speed, however, there are plenty of cheap ways to add power. One way to add power and give your car a better sound is by investing in a cold air intake. These are available on any car and almost always add at least 5 horsepower because of the more direct flow of air into the engine. Air intakes are usually DIY-capable even for those with little to no knowledge of cars. Another way to add power is to upgrade your car's exhaust to a freer-flowing unit. This is another mod that is available for any car and usually adds about 10 horsepower while also giving the car a racier sound. Part of having more fun behind the wheel is sounding like you're going faster than you are, as I learned in my Mustang. Beyond these, many aftermarket catalogs include turbocharger and supercharger kits which I would avoid unless you are absolutely in love with your particular vehicle. This is true because not only are these units expensive in terms of both labor and parts, they also can compromise the car's reliability.

Step 6: Aesthetic Mods

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The whole goal is having fun right? Body kits, paint jobs, underglow, etc. may seem tacky but they give your ride a unique personality and give you something to talk about at car meets. These mods are also the cheapest and are really the only thing non-car people will actually see.

Step 7: Keep Honing Your Car

Those on a budget will likely not be able to do all of these things at the same time. Modifying your car is a continuous process that almost never ends in a finished product. You'll find out that once you start making modifications and seeing tangible results it becomes an addictive hobby where you constantly search for improvement. For those that follow these instructions, you will gain a better understanding of how cars work and own a vehicle that is truly one-of-a-kind.









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