What you get out of your car tuning project is very much dependent on what you put into it. The more you spend the better the return and the larger the base power the greater the performance benefit. The aim of this site is to give a sensible overview on engine tuning modifications and realistic expectations.
The obvious hidden costs of tuning are reliability and economy both of which will suffer due to the fact that you are pushing the engine harder. It will also put an extra strain on the standard components of the engine and weakspots will show up.
There is of course a compromise between power and reliability and economy and the majority of tuners aim somewhere in the middle. It is possible to improve the reliability of an engine by machining it and adding higher quality components For added protection you can reduce the length of the service intervals and this will help keep things running smoothly.
The best gains come from Turbocharged cars which are generally made from stronger materials and are among the easiest cars around to tune. Simply getting the ECU remapped can provide power gains in the order of 50bhp (upto 40% more power) or more without sacrificing reliability.
Turbo diesel engines will also similarly gain power from a remap and will not suffer unduly from lower economy. In fact most remapped TDI engines boast better fuel economy if driven the same, but the temptation is to put your foot down and enjoy the power.
This site will offer practical advice and help a driver to weigh up the “hidden cost” of car tuning. We will not subscribe to the greater noise=greater power mentality and if a modification is purely cosmetic or has no performance benefits you will not find it listed here among our pages.