BOYS N THE HOOD
A Zen that can give a Lamborghini a run for its speedometre. A Lancer that’s tweaked to take on the world. A City that vrooms its presence felt on the roads. A Skoda that’s the toast of the drag domain...street cars are no longer just about fuel efficiency and cautious pep. Welcome to the world of engine modifications where being power hungry is being a convert. ET AutoMania talks to the top tuners across the country to come up with the complete guide on engine modifications. ENJOY!
John Sarkar
HP costs money, says Fazal Khan of FRK Racing. Is that the reason we get misers beneath our bonnets in India? There are two extremes to the story. Raw power and fuel efficiency are always at loggerheads when a car manufacturer readies a new launch for this market. Cars with stonking power delivery are handicapped with rev limiters, and tuned for lower power on desi roads. The concern for fuel efficiency is understandable but then this asks an uncomfortable question—don't we Indians have adrenaline flowing through our veins? For years they have patiently fiddled around with cars, burning the midnight oil and getting their hands dirty, while everyone slept. Now, they have their foot on the gas pedal. ET AutoMania speaks to a cross section of car experts in the engine modification business and breaks the myth that Indians lack the hunger for speed. Raj Hingorani, an Indian legend among car tuners, has been in the business of speed for almost 40 years now. Tuning cars for neck breaking performance, he transforms your ordinary fuel-sipping domestic four wheels into an octane guzzling hot rod. “And it does not cost the earth,” he says. Replicating a Lamborghini's racing pedigree might be difficult. Nor can its handling prowess be equalled. But it can be hit where it hurts the most. Speed. Hingorani is presently working on Zens. The advantage of modifying a Zen is that it can accommodate the 1.3 litre Esteem or the 1.6 litre Baleno engines without any fussy modification. “The engines can be just bolted on,” says Hingorani. Immediately, with the change in power to weight ratio, the car becomes much faster than the stock. Hingorani also believes that the Zen is a cheap car to play with. “Since tweaking a Zen doesn't need a lot of upgrades the cost stays low,” he adds. The latest from the Hingorani stable is a 270 bhp Zen that has clocked 13.8 seconds in the quarter mile sprint. Phew! Keshav Arora, a modification expert from Bangalore says that there are three stages for modification. “In the first stage people usually go in for a free flow exhaust, engine headers and K&N filters. This increases the power by 6-7%,” says Arora. Stage Two mainly consists of porting, ECU swaps, and removing the rev limiters and putting in bigger throttle bodies. “Stage Three is mainly for serious car buffs since the slam-dunk fuel NO2 comes into the picture. Then there is a bit of playing around with valves, camshafts, gear shafts and turbo charging that can boost the power beyond imagination. Arora further adds, “The trend among the masses is mainly the modification of Zens, Esteems and older Honda VTECS. We also import the more powerful Swift engines from Japan and bolt them on to the Swifts here. Another interesting move might be transforming the Zen into four wheel drive that will set you back by Rs 25,000.” Karan Shah runs KS Motor Sports in Mumbai. People in Mumbai prefer doing up their Honda Cities and the Lancers. “We have engine modification solutions ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs 2.5 lakh. For the Cities we import Honda engines from Japan that increases the power by 70-80%. For converting an Indian Lancer into an all-wheel drive Evo 5 or 6 with a 2 litre engine, the cost might go up to Rs 8 lakh, excluding the price of the car. After the power increase the car might generate 260 bhp.” The scene in Chennai is no different. Kamlesh Patel of Electra Automobiles says, “People in the age group of 25-35 years usually go in for the modification. The older Honda VTECs and the Lancers get the maximum attention.” Patel has transformed quite a number of Lancers into asphalt scorching Evos till date. “The best way is to implant the parts after importing them, because these have been tested and they don't require any further drilling or cutting.” So how much would an 'Evo' cost? “I can give you the Evo 3 at Rs 5 lakh excluding the price of the car,” says Patel. In the meanwhile, it would help to know that the fastest car to be built or rebuilt in India belongs to Fazal Khan of FRK Racing. Operating from Bangalore, which seems to be the hub of performance enthusiasts, Khan had modified a Toyota Supra with 800bhp on tap and established a quarter mile record of 11.5 seconds. He recently bought a Civic for himself and is waiting for the warranty period to end. “A Race Series B16A engine with turbo charging can propel the Civic to finish the quarter mile really fast,” he says. Khan's personal choice would be the Baleno since it generates higher torque at lower RPM. “The interchangeability of parts, its low cost vis-à-vis a Honda makes it my favourite car to modify for performance,” he says. Delhi's Arush Vohra of Autopsyche has also satisfied many a power hungry car owner. He loves the Skoda. “The main disadvantage of the Skoda is its weight. But it has a strong engine that can take stress. There are many packages for an engine upgrade. The maximum power reached can be around 250 bhp,” says Vohra. Other than that Vohra says that the suspension has to be fixed a bit and performance brake pads can be used to increase the stopping power. Fazal Khan says, “To modify a Skoda RS to enable 250 bhp power generation the cost can set you back by Rs 3 lakh.” A Zen that can drag race a Lambo, an Evo that can evoke goose bumps or a time-thrashing Civic, car manufacturers cannot limit the revs of your imagination now. Indians are not far behind in the speed race. If you own a DVD of The Fast And Furious, if you are still aroused by the howl of the engine and if your last wish is to grab the steering wheel of a Lambo, it's high time you got in touch with a modification expert. And remember Indian roads are getting better by the day.
A Zen that can give a Lamborghini a run for its speedometre. A Lancer that’s tweaked to take on the world. A City that vrooms its presence felt on the roads. A Skoda that’s the toast of the drag domain...street cars are no longer just about fuel efficiency and cautious pep. Welcome to the world of engine modifications where being power hungry is being a convert. ET AutoMania talks to the top tuners across the country to come up with the complete guide on engine modifications. ENJOY!
John Sarkar
HP costs money, says Fazal Khan of FRK Racing. Is that the reason we get misers beneath our bonnets in India? There are two extremes to the story. Raw power and fuel efficiency are always at loggerheads when a car manufacturer readies a new launch for this market. Cars with stonking power delivery are handicapped with rev limiters, and tuned for lower power on desi roads. The concern for fuel efficiency is understandable but then this asks an uncomfortable question—don't we Indians have adrenaline flowing through our veins? For years they have patiently fiddled around with cars, burning the midnight oil and getting their hands dirty, while everyone slept. Now, they have their foot on the gas pedal. ET AutoMania speaks to a cross section of car experts in the engine modification business and breaks the myth that Indians lack the hunger for speed. Raj Hingorani, an Indian legend among car tuners, has been in the business of speed for almost 40 years now. Tuning cars for neck breaking performance, he transforms your ordinary fuel-sipping domestic four wheels into an octane guzzling hot rod. “And it does not cost the earth,” he says. Replicating a Lamborghini's racing pedigree might be difficult. Nor can its handling prowess be equalled. But it can be hit where it hurts the most. Speed. Hingorani is presently working on Zens. The advantage of modifying a Zen is that it can accommodate the 1.3 litre Esteem or the 1.6 litre Baleno engines without any fussy modification. “The engines can be just bolted on,” says Hingorani. Immediately, with the change in power to weight ratio, the car becomes much faster than the stock. Hingorani also believes that the Zen is a cheap car to play with. “Since tweaking a Zen doesn't need a lot of upgrades the cost stays low,” he adds. The latest from the Hingorani stable is a 270 bhp Zen that has clocked 13.8 seconds in the quarter mile sprint. Phew! Keshav Arora, a modification expert from Bangalore says that there are three stages for modification. “In the first stage people usually go in for a free flow exhaust, engine headers and K&N filters. This increases the power by 6-7%,” says Arora. Stage Two mainly consists of porting, ECU swaps, and removing the rev limiters and putting in bigger throttle bodies. “Stage Three is mainly for serious car buffs since the slam-dunk fuel NO2 comes into the picture. Then there is a bit of playing around with valves, camshafts, gear shafts and turbo charging that can boost the power beyond imagination. Arora further adds, “The trend among the masses is mainly the modification of Zens, Esteems and older Honda VTECS. We also import the more powerful Swift engines from Japan and bolt them on to the Swifts here. Another interesting move might be transforming the Zen into four wheel drive that will set you back by Rs 25,000.” Karan Shah runs KS Motor Sports in Mumbai. People in Mumbai prefer doing up their Honda Cities and the Lancers. “We have engine modification solutions ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs 2.5 lakh. For the Cities we import Honda engines from Japan that increases the power by 70-80%. For converting an Indian Lancer into an all-wheel drive Evo 5 or 6 with a 2 litre engine, the cost might go up to Rs 8 lakh, excluding the price of the car. After the power increase the car might generate 260 bhp.” The scene in Chennai is no different. Kamlesh Patel of Electra Automobiles says, “People in the age group of 25-35 years usually go in for the modification. The older Honda VTECs and the Lancers get the maximum attention.” Patel has transformed quite a number of Lancers into asphalt scorching Evos till date. “The best way is to implant the parts after importing them, because these have been tested and they don't require any further drilling or cutting.” So how much would an 'Evo' cost? “I can give you the Evo 3 at Rs 5 lakh excluding the price of the car,” says Patel. In the meanwhile, it would help to know that the fastest car to be built or rebuilt in India belongs to Fazal Khan of FRK Racing. Operating from Bangalore, which seems to be the hub of performance enthusiasts, Khan had modified a Toyota Supra with 800bhp on tap and established a quarter mile record of 11.5 seconds. He recently bought a Civic for himself and is waiting for the warranty period to end. “A Race Series B16A engine with turbo charging can propel the Civic to finish the quarter mile really fast,” he says. Khan's personal choice would be the Baleno since it generates higher torque at lower RPM. “The interchangeability of parts, its low cost vis-à-vis a Honda makes it my favourite car to modify for performance,” he says. Delhi's Arush Vohra of Autopsyche has also satisfied many a power hungry car owner. He loves the Skoda. “The main disadvantage of the Skoda is its weight. But it has a strong engine that can take stress. There are many packages for an engine upgrade. The maximum power reached can be around 250 bhp,” says Vohra. Other than that Vohra says that the suspension has to be fixed a bit and performance brake pads can be used to increase the stopping power. Fazal Khan says, “To modify a Skoda RS to enable 250 bhp power generation the cost can set you back by Rs 3 lakh.” A Zen that can drag race a Lambo, an Evo that can evoke goose bumps or a time-thrashing Civic, car manufacturers cannot limit the revs of your imagination now. Indians are not far behind in the speed race. If you own a DVD of The Fast And Furious, if you are still aroused by the howl of the engine and if your last wish is to grab the steering wheel of a Lambo, it's high time you got in touch with a modification expert. And remember Indian roads are getting better by the day.
1 comment:
hi sidhart, nice article on car modification. have a request for you. you know any place in bangalore where car modification are done? or if you can find out from you known sources. will be of great help. do reply at agpurohit@gmail.com
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