Let’s say you like muscle cars and want to get one that provides you with some serious power and speed. You probably know all of the top car brands and varieties. You may also know about some of the aftermarket modifications to further enhance your driving experience.
For instance, you might get yourself an Audi R8. It’s one of the hottest sports cars on the planet, and it’s also not priced at a point where only the wealthy can afford it.
Once you have it, though, you may start to look at aftermarket customizations that will give it that extra boost. An ECU tune might attract your attention, so let’s talk about it in detail right now.
An ECU tune for an Audi R8 is a particular modification that some car enthusiasts love. Some of them also call it remapping. You’re changing the car’s engine control settings when you remap or tune it.
You can do this if you want the vehicle to perform better. “Better,” in this case, means giving it more horsepower and torque. However, if you do this, you may sacrifice a little control for those extra ponies.
An ECU tune gives your vehicle 576 HP. The Audi R8 normally comes with 517 HP, so that’s a significant difference. The torque is the other area that changes dramatically if you make this alteration. The Audi R8 comes with 391 feet per pound, but if you do this upgrade, that gets you up to 427 feet per pound. That’s a 10% boost.
Part of why many muscle car buffs like the Audi R8, and Audis in general, is because you can modify practically any part of them. That’s true with many car makes and models, but you can find tons of aftermarket parts that will custom-fit an R8 like the Audi company made them, even if that’s not the case.
For instance, you might upgrade the intake and exhaust systems, but you can also look toward the tires and suspension. If you get high-performance tires and tinker with the suspension, you can add even more horsepower than the tuning process alone provides.
If you’re going to completely retool your Audi R8, you might do what some enthusiasts call a Stage 1 and Stage 2 modification process. Stage 1 usually involves the tuning that we already mentioned. You can shop around and find a good price on an ECU tune. That will help you supercharge both your fuel injection system and the vehicle’s ignition timing.
The air-to-fuel ratio is also usually part of the Stage 1 modification. That’s how you increase the car’s raw power potential and raise both the horsepower and the torque.
Once you move on to Stage 2, that’s where you’ll look at the exhaust and intake systems. With the Audi R8, you have a cold-air intake system. That’s perfect for modifying.
You also get a cat-back exhaust. Again, you can find aftermarket parts for that on the open market with no issues. If you can’t get them at a brick-and-mortar store close to you, you can always order them online and get a seller to ship them to you.
Once you have the parts for your Stage 1 and Stage 2 modifications, you’ll need to decide whether you can make those changes yourself or whether you need to hire someone to do it for you. If you’re a car expert, you can handle the installments yourself. If you’re not so sure of yourself, you can always talk to a trusted mechanic.
There’s nothing illegal about modifying an Audi R8, but once you push the base model past a certain torque or horsepower threshold, you’re capable of going a lot faster than your local speed limit allows unless you live close to the Autobahn. Just because a car can go 150 miles per hour, though, that doesn’t mean you’re going to push it up to that on your local highway.
Always look at local ordinances to see whether you can make these modifications or not. If you can’t, and you decide to move forward anyway, you risk a costly ticket if a cop pulls you over.
It’s easy to modify a muscle car, but if you do, make sure you behave responsibly. Street racing isn’t safe, and just because you feel confident you can win, that doesn’t justify any rash actions.