If you drive a passenger car but daydream about speeding down a track or back road in a car built for speed, performance, and competitive advantage, there are upgrades you can make to bring your dream a bit closer to reality. Now certainly, you're not going to be able to entirely transform your vehicle into a racecar, but there is a plethora of aftermarket parts available that can enhance a vehicle's top speed capabilities, performance capacity, and even its efficiency. This article will attempt to break down several upgrade options that are widely used, some which are good for some drivers, others which are better for others. This way, you will get an informative, widespread view of potential upgrades, so you can make a decision about performance upgrades that best suit your driving aspirations.

Performance Chips

On the scale of installation difficulty, a performance chip would certainly be on the easy side of the spectrum. Passenger car performance chips often take well under an hour to install, even for novice car enthusiasts, and most recent versions of these chips don't require ECU reboots in order to be activated, saving you even more time. As far as results go, chips are middle-of-the-road performers. You'll get up to a 60 horsepower boost and fuel savings amounting to about 4-7mpg depending on several factors, which is certainly substantial but not quite up to par with the gains provided by a turbocharger. Then again, a performance computer chip is a small fraction of the price of the typical turbocharger, so your wallet won't feel so empty afterward.

Performance Add-ons

Outside of chip enhancements to the air intake sensor/ECU, there are more physical additions you can make to your passenger car that can provide even more powerful upgrades to your vehicle's on-road performance. A turbocharger, for instance, can add up to an extra 400 horsepower, and can help to optimize your vehicle's efficiency as well. There are some negatives, such as steep prices for higher end add-ons and longer, more complicated installation processes. If you're an advanced car upgrade maven with no limits on expenses, a turbo kit or other major performance add-on may be just the thing for you, but for an average user, it may be just a bit much.

Body Upgrades

Not every performance upgrade is a brand new piece getting welded on or synchronized with your current vehicle. Some upgrades are body replacements, changing out stock parts for improved components. Among the best for speed improvements are hoods. Stock hoods can be very heavy, and weigh down on passenger vehicles. Aftermarket hoods, on the other hand, can be very lightweight and sleek, such as carbon fiber hoods or custom fiberglass hoods. Along with spoilers, air dams, and more, there are plenty of body pieces that can really make an impact on the overall performance of a passenger vehicle.