Officially, the process is called "making changes to the design of the vehicle", but for the sake of brevity in everyday life is called tuning.
EXTENT PERFORMANCE
It is possible to re-equip a car ad infinitum, but experts working with the domestic “raw material” believe that a reasonable cost limit is $ 15–20 thousand, including the cost of the original facility. Usually practice several levels of tuning, depending on ambition and wallet. The easiest is to fit the characteristics to the upper level of the passport data. The work boils down to eliminating factory flaws, selective selection of parts and achieving optimal working conditions of components and assemblies. For example, replacing discs, drums and pads with imported ones with specially selected friction pairs helps to increase the effectiveness of the brakes, for example. Better yet - change the amplifier to the heap paired with the master cylinder. It is important that the implantable parts are designed specifically for your model, because it’s not far from trouble. To avoid unexplained deviations in engine behavior, it is also good to replace the sensors of the control system. Following this path, the owner will eventually receive a car that matches the manufacturer’s advertising.
If this is not enough, intervention in the design will be required. Many tuning companies have ready-made service packages proportional to the solvency of the client. The proposed changes are usually well coordinated, which is why the final product is balanced. A complete set usually includes refinement of the brakes, suspension, transmission, engine, ergonomics, interior and exterior.
However, you can stretch the pleasure, "tuning" the car in parts. This allows, without spending a lot of money, to determine the personal boundary of the rational. But here a certain sequence has been worked out. You need to start with the brakes, otherwise the money set aside for further improvement may be needed for other purposes. And only having built a chassis reliable in all respects, it is worth taking on the engine.
Aerodynamic weather-cloths are especially dangerous. The results of other works are easy to summarize on the most common stands; aerodynamics require a specialized pipe. Such an expensive pleasure (and then in the form of a short-term lease) can only afford market leaders. The rest work "by eye". Therefore, modesty may turn out to be the best decoration.
CORPUS DELICTI
The initiative is known to be punishable. To avoid trouble, the fruits of tuning must be legalized. You can avoid the tedious procedure in three cases: when replacing spare parts with similar imported ones; if the changes are already certified by the manufacturer (say, if you install the 1500 engine on the VAZ 2106, you will get the VAZ 2106 1 modification); when buying a tuning version at a car dealership (in this case, the car must have type approval of the vehicle, that is, be in the catalog of the manufacturer of the base model). The rest of the road - to the traffic police. Formally, this can be done both before and after making changes. But it is better to play it safe, because if your approach is not approved by the traffic police, then there will be no one to complain about.
In a public place, the sufferer will be given an application form for changes to the design of the vehicle, in which the enthusiast will state his wishes. After considering the petition, the traffic police takes one of the solution options: refuse, allow or submit a conclusion on the possibility and procedure for making changes to the design (in other words, it will require technical expertise). In this case, the applicant applies to an authorized organization - say, to US. The conclusion, in turn, contains a description of the work, recommendations for choosing a production base and a list of operations that can be done independently. For complex alterations, technical documentation is attached. Firms that value the time of the client take part of the paperwork on themselves, having previously drawn up a conclusion on the volume of work performed in the form of technical conditions. After that, you can get down to remaking. At the end of the workshop, the owner issues an application-declaration on the volume and quality of work, attaching certificates for used spare parts. Do-it-yourselfers fill out and sign the declaration themselves. The next stage is instrumental control, obtaining a diagnostic card and (finally!) A certificate on the basis of which changes will be made to the credentials.
Obviously, the scope of the tuning studio should not be limited to fuss with the car and trade in accessories. Someone should enlighten the client in matters of law and help legitimize an exclusive product. However, not everyone is ready to step on the throat of their own song. They know that the steering wheel of small diameter in the absence of an amplifier, the dismantling of the converter, as well as the installation of racing rear wings on road cars, are illegal, but they sell and put it. Is this malice or illiteracy? To check how things are going in this area of automotive life, we visited several specialized workshops asking them to “add agility” to our editorial “top ten”.
FIELD OF DREAMS
All the so-called tuning studios (one name is worth it!) That we met on our way will be conditionally divided into three categories. The first includes dirty sheds on the territory of the ruined research institutes, fleets and garage-building cooperatives. Survived by a hacky repair, woe-masters switched to installing roaring silencers, "zero" filters and other accessories for the amusement of the car owner's vanity. The business is profitable and much less responsible than, say, a motor bulkhead. The main thing is to cheer up your cheeks and insert keywords in the conversation like “throttle”, “backstage” and “sixth row” more often. What they mean is not necessary to remember - a rare client will convict you of incompetence. Of course, they haven’t heard of any certificates here - it’s cooler in the shade.
The next category brought together more literate specialists. They built their strategy taking into account the psychology of the domestic client. What kind of a fool (even a law-abiding one) will go to authorities, assiduously collecting incriminating evidence?
So, let's say, they changed the engine control program for you, transferring it (due to the increase in power) to another tax grid. Formally, now instead of 5 rubles for horsepower it is necessary, for example, to pay out 15. Just because this money will not be taken, you must first issue an appropriate conclusion. But it’s a shame to anyone who can see it, and checking the program is not included in the list of instrumental control operations. Therefore, the classic set offered in these workshops provides a complex of “shadow” operations: fine-tuning the engine, transmission and chassis in combination with procedures that do not require official legalization. This, as already mentioned, includes the replacement of some domestic units with high-quality imported ones.
