Think You’re Driving a Beater? Improve Your Car without Shelling Out a Fortune

3 min read By eCompareMo on March 2, 2015

Keeping your vehicle in tip top shape may be a very painful process for some people; this is the reason why others would rather pay for professional services rather than maintain their vehicles themselves. While there are people out there who will willingly tune your vehicle for you—at a price, of course—there are many ways that you can skip the trip to car from being a beater to an almost new cruiser. Ready to pimp your ride and make your car new again? You might want to do these quick and easy steps to give life back to your car.

Declutter your vehicle

Sometimes, we get too comfortable with vehicles that we just toss things in the backseat. The next thing we know, there is a mountain of trash and other stuff in the car that it they start to add weight to the vehicle. By adding lightness, you are removing weight from your vehicle as well as eliminating eyesores that can affect your perception of your car. After all, there is a reason why Lotus Cars founder Colin Champman’s philosophy in making cars is “simplify, then add lightness.”

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Change your exhaust kits

For car owners, a roar of the engine tells a lot of things, and the exhaust actually plays a pretty big role when it comes to the sound of the vehicle. While flashy car owners change their exhaust kits for the size and the noise, there are actually real performance enhancements with getting good exhausts. Installing good exhaust pipes in your vehicle will improve airflow and give you a vehicle a slight performance kick without costing you too much.

Add a good sound system with AUX port

To some car owners, the head unit is only useful when braving through a traffic jam and you have nothing else to do. However, having a good sound system in your car will definitely improve your vehicle’s look and feel. When buying a head unit, make sure to get one with AUX support so that you can plug in your music player and rock out to your tracks. It may not make your vehicle faster, but it can add a whole new level of comfort to your car.

Experiment with motor oils

Car repair shops may have their recommendations when it comes to motor oil, and they can have endless arguments which brand is the most effective. To skip the whole flame war about motor oils, start changing your own oil and experiment with different types of oil. Try to use oils of different viscosities and check if there is a change in performance. Once you’ve found the motor oil gives you the best performance, stick with it and keep in mind to change it regularly.

Get good wheel sets

It seems like people do not give importance to wheels nowadays, and one indicator of this is that people are merely comfortable with the stock tires and rim sets that come with their vehicles. Contrary to popular belief, wheel sets are not merely for aesthetics only. Good tires and rims can significantly boost your car’s braking and handling, and believe it or not will save you from accidents as well as unfortunate costs of car repairs stemming out of them.

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Ditch the rubber bushings
More applicable to older vehicles, rubber bushings used in parts such as suspensions, steering mechanisms, engine, and transmission mount tend to degrade more quickly. When your bushings are worn out, they will give you a very uncomfortable riding experience may damage your components permanently. Instead of using rubber bushings, make the switch to polyurethane bushings. You will instantly feel that your car gets tighter and less shaky the moment you replace the bushings with polyurethane ones.

Get some auto insulation

Even with polyurethane bushings, it is still possible that will still experience some rattling and annoying vibrations with your vehicle. One way of further reducing the vibration of metal parts—as well as adding some nice sound system upgrade, especially if you love the bass—is to insulate your vehicle. There are insulation sheets available in the market which you can install yourself. To save time and effort, try to find precut insulation sheets instead of buying uncut rolls.

Upgrading your vehicle from being a beat-up ride to a very smooth and comfortable transport isn’t actually expensive if you put your mind to it. As long as you are gunning for safety, comfort, and convenience instead of style, you can upgrade your car without even costing a fortune.