The Fast and the Furious: Transform Your Car into a Speed Demon

As anybody who's ever been in a fight will tell you: winning it can be largely attributed to looking tough. And whether you're in the ring, at a bar, or revving up on the line, the same holds true in each situation. The guy who looks like he'll win probably will. Luckily, transforming your ride into something fast and furious is a lot easier and more affordable than you might think. You can quickly go from sideline sucker to speed demon in a single afternoon by adding a few of the following upgrades.

Exterior Upgrades: Body Kits, Spoilers, and More

Starting on the outside, one of the simplest ways of adding a racing appearance to your ride is with a body kit... because the smallest details can often make the biggest impression. Body kits, like the Civic body kit or Mustang body kit, enable you to achieve the flush appearance on your bumper with a roll pan, take your low-rider even lower with a bumper cover, or just add a spoiler or window louver for a subtle edge. Whether you're going for the race-ready look or just want to add some finishing touches for a more powerful appearance, body kits are created vehicle-specific to your make, model and year and provide just about anything you need to custom-tailor your ride. They also come with all the necessary mounting equipment for a quick, seamless fit.

If this particular selection of components sounds familiar, it should. It's the exact same thing your dealer offered as part of that sport package. But if you're willing to spend a day on the weekend and do it yourself, you can easily get the same look for a fraction of the price, with name brand parts from leading manufacturers like CIPA Mirrors, Street Scene and Bushwacker.

Interior Upgrades: Performance Tuners and Manual Shifters

If you are a do-it-yourself guy, you're in good company. And, quite often, doing it yourself means upgrading your ride one piece at a time. So, if you have to choose where to begin, start with a spoiler. It's the quickest way to turn heads on the line or just cruising around town. Custom spoilers, like a Camry spoiler, customize your vehicle and get you away from the carbon copy look of stock parts at a price that can easily fit into your budget.

Looks are important, but you have to be able to back them up under the hood if you expect to earn a reputation. That's where performance tuners can help. Performance tuners, also known as an engine tuner, allow you to quickly tap into user-adjustable timing curves, fuel curves and speed limiters to achieve smoother, wider and more controllable power delivery. Some performance tuners will even allow you to adjust rev limiters, shift points, shift timing and shift pressure, though these variables are also dependent upon the specifics of your engine.

Sound complicated? It's not. An engine tuner installs in minutes, with no computer skills required, and instantly provides quicker acceleration, firmer shifts, additional passing power and improved gas mileage. In addition to performance tuners, a manual shifter adds race-quality shifting. A manual shifter changes the inner workings of your stick by cutting 20% off the range of motion. In doing so, it removes the clunk and grind of a stock stick, replacing it with the smoother, faster feel of a track-ready speed demon. Specifically, the first gear is lower, second is higher, and the entire range will have you thinking you're behind the wheel of a racecar.

Conclusion

Whether you add a complete Civic body kit, Mustang body kit, or just a Camry spoiler, upgrading the exterior of your ride is a quick and affordable way to give yourself the competitive advantage. And, whether you're on the line or just out to grab some attention, it's always the little things that make the biggest impact.