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Maximise your Caterhams driving pleasure
Caterham car tuning tips and advice. We have a wide range of tuning articles covering all models of Caterham from small classic Caterhams, bike engines models right up to track day set up race spec models. Following our tuning tips you will avoid many of the common mistakes and actually achieve the car setup you desire. Please join the forum for model specific questions and answers and to meet other owners and see what modifications they have done.
TorqueCars started providing Caterham modification help, car track day setup and car tweak suggestions and advice and tips back in 2003 and have grown from strength to strength with a fast growing membership of all types of cars including many, Caterham owners. We are currently one of the fastest growing car tuning clubs around and certainly one of the friendliest. In 2007 we also organised our first full car show.
Our Caterham comprehensive modification articles on tuning and styling are kept upto date so for the very latest Caterham modification,track day setup and tweak suggestions and advice, tips and pointers please check back regularly – we aim to cover in more detail the superlight, R300,R400 and R500 which are already great track day cars and not very expensive to run and the latest evolution of the Caterham – the CSR and SP/300R. We strongly recommend that you join our Caterham forums and swap modification ideas with like minded Caterham owners in the modification forums.
If you have a Caterham project underway we would love to hear about it, the Gallery section in the forum contains some interesting projects. Scroll down the page to see our latest tuning articles for your Caterham.
We look at how spoilers work? We also explain the difference between a spoiler and a wing. Spoilers are generally closer to the body of the car and help diffuse the air.
Wings are mounted much higher up and have an aerodynamic effect of creating downforce
Vents – adding performance with Bonnet vents.
Performance gains are possible with the addition of bonnet vents.
Warm air really does kill performance. This is due to the air intake temperatures being hot and air at high temperatures carries less oxygen.
When driving an engine hard the under bonnet temperatures quickly build up and the engine has no choice but to suck this air in reducing your power.
Stage 1,2,3 remaps and mods
We wish people would stop using stage to describe a tuning option or plan but while they do we’ll define here what we mean and expect when we talk about the term.
We get asked so much about this that we wanted to spell out what we mean and most car modders mean when talking about stage 1, 2 or 3 remaps and mods. We look at the various stages of remap available and the mods that would work best on stage 1, 2 and 3 upgrades. Each level of remap carries risks and drawbacks so we will outline them here.
Remote turbo charger kit guide
All you need to know about remote turbo kits "What are the benefits of Remote turbo kits?" If you have limited […]
Todays featured car tuning articles
Anti lag systems
We look at Anti lag systems in cars and how these keep the turbo spinning ready to provide boost from low RPM speeds. When you lift off the throttle the engine power cuts and the turbo starts to spool down.
From this low spool state there is a delay while the turbo spins up again before it can provide any useful boost. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ALS and look at alternative options.
Read the full guide...Electric water pumps
In a performance engine you should never underestimate the need for adequate cooling.
All water cooled cars work on the principle of water being pumped around the engine and then to a radiator where it releases the heat.
Most water pumps are mechanical and run off the crank.
Read the full guide...Alloy wheels and their impact on handling and performance.
Some rally style alloy wheels are lighter – (less weight = more speed) and also are designed to increase the cooling of the brake disks.
Some designs hold up better to being curbed than others and some break very easily when hitting a pothole or curb at speed.
Always go for the best quality alloy wheel that you can afford and read the reports and reviews. If you do go for a different overall size you must get the suspension and tracking realigned to avoid uneven wear under acceleration.
Read the full guide...