Tuning, Your Thoughts?

[Jake Raby]

Some of "Tuning" is related to classic hotrodding.. Its the modern version of manipulation.

Any engine/ car can be made "Higher Performance" through manipulation and outside the box thinking.

The M96 is an excellent engine to "Hotrod" because the factory imposed some constraints on the engine for mass manufacturing and time/ money conservation and to allow the engine platform to grow for over a decade before being phased out. This is the reason why our gains with earlier engines are so dramatic over their factory output.

As you can see below, it is possible to "Hotrod" the M96 to get real power increases... This wasn't done with modern "Tuning" as much as classic hotrodding.. This is the same engine before and after being transformed from a 3.2 to a 3.6 big bore built from the same base engine.

[70Sixter]

This thread didn't go the way I had thought it was headed. Tuners to me are companies like Gemballa, Ruf, AMG, 9ff etc.

What a lot of young car enthusiasts have tapped into is the other side of hot rodding from the hp that Jake accurately mentioned and that is personalization.

Just like the post-WW II car crowd, they want something that screams ME!. Instead of the ubiquitous Model Ts or 32 Fords of that period or later 57 Chevys they've got a different choice of affordable and upgradeable blank canvases.

Look what it has done for the aftermarket entrepreneurs. And the SEMA show! And Hot August Nights.

Here's to the young car lovers of whatever car culture.

[Lobo1186]

To me Tuning is what you make of it. some tune to go as fast as they possibly can with what they got (maybe a civic or mustang hell i even see tuned lamborghinis out here) but they wont turn one wrench for themself, there are others who love the fact that tuning is a product of their hard work and dont car if its the fastest because it is their baby. the list goes on and on, and it can be a complete mixture of any factor also.

for me i just like sharing something cool with others. thats why i always let my friends ride with me if i want or let them help me work on my car or even drive it. but ill tell you some little boy came up when i was washing it and he was like " is that a race car" of course its not a racecar but i told him it was cuz hey its as close as i have! and let him sit in it and what not it was pretty cool and im pretty sure it made his day.