You can measure a car’s performance and compare it with other vehicles. The most common way is by measuring its horsepower, which is how much power the engine pushes out. Horsepower isn’t fixed and can be increased, but how?
To increase horsepower, you should improve the engine’s incoming airflow with a cold air intake and performance air filters. For the outgoing airflow, you’ll need a performance exhaust manifold and cat-back exhaust. Besides that, engine tuning, synthetic lubricants and lightweight wheels will also increase horsepower.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to increase horsepower using one of the methods mentioned above, or you can combine several methods to your benefit.
What Does Horsepower Mean?
There’s a lot of hype in the car world about increasing horsepower, even when not everyone fully understands what that means.
So, let’s go back to basics before we dive deeper into the topic of giving your car more horsepower.
In one short sentence, horsepower is the measurement of how much power an engine produces. Horsepower has become a helpful metric for people to use when comparing the performance of two different cars and their engines.
On the more technical side, horsepower is measured by calculating how much power it takes to move 550 pounds by 1 foot within 1 sec. We’re not going mathematical here, but I hope you get the gist.
Also, you must have heard of ‘torque’ mentioned alongside horsepower in the same sentence. The torque measurement is a vital part of the horsepower calculation. On its own, it refers to the twisting force produced by the engine onto the crankshaft.
Here’s another way to look at it: horsepower is the measurement of torque over time and distance.
Horsepower and torque are metrics for comparing the performance of one vehicle to another, whether you're in a race or at the auto dealership.
Still, it's crucial to understand the ins and outs of horsepower so you don't get distracted by marketing hype that loves to exaggerate horsepower-related benefits.
And trust us, that hype is real, and it’s all over the place.
The auto market is full of car accessories and consumables like fluids that promise to increase your car’s horsepower. But, unfortunately, a lot of them will take your money without giving you the results you want.
Don’t worry, though, because that’s what this article is all about. The following sections will show you the real (and easy!) ways to increase your vehicle’s horsepower.
Does More Horsepower Increase Speed?
Yes, horsepower directly influences how fast your car will go. So, more horsepower means your vehicle will go faster.
A big reason why many people want to add horsepower to an engine is to increase the vehicle’s speed, but what’s the relationship between horsepower and speed?
As you saw earlier, horsepower is the measurement of torque over time and distance. Therefore, increased horsepower will translate to better acceleration and higher top speed.
Now, let’s be clear, horsepower isn’t the only factor affecting how fast your car will go. However, everything that your vehicle does starts with the engine, and horsepower measures its power output.
What Are Cheap and Easy Ways to Increase Horsepower in Your Car?
So, let’s say you want to learn how to increase horsepower in a naturally aspirated engine. There are plenty of upgrades and performance parts that you can invest your hard-earned money into, some requiring more effort and money than others.
Before you look at the more complex options, let's look at our picks for five easy ways you can increase horsepower in your car:
1. Cold Air Intake and Performance Air Filter
A significant part of a combustion engine’s performance is airflow, both air flowing into the engine and air flowing out through the exhaust.
So, the first step to increasing horsepower is to improve the engine's air intake. You have two options to choose from, though doing both will work even better:
- Invest in a cold air intake: Your engine’s standard air intake is good but not the best. Manufacturers design them to minimise noise but compromises the air intake. Upgrading to a cold air intake will make your car a little louder but will increase air intake and improve horsepower.
- Buy a performance air filter: Regardless of the kind of intake you have, the air must flow through an air filter. Again, standard air filters are good, but a performance air filter allows more air to flow in so your engine can produce more power.
2. Engine Tuning
Cars have become increasingly computerised over the years, and that’s only going to become more accurate in the future. Take your car, for instance, its electronic control unit (ECU) manages all its functions.
There’s your clue—another way to increase your horsepower is to focus on that ECU and tune it accordingly. Remember: the ECU controls everything, down to the fuel injection and how the throttle functions.
So, getting your engine tuned can maximise those functions that increase the engine’s overall output.
3. Exhaust and Exhaust Manifold
Think back to what you saw in #1: airflow plays a significant role in a combustion engine’s performance. Tip #1 was about incoming airflow, and now, tip #3 is about outgoing airflow.
More specifically, you can increase horsepower by improving your car’s exhaust and exhaust manifold.
The exhaust manifold (also known as a ‘header’) is the part that connects to the engine’s exit ports. You can think of it as the collection point for all exhaust gases coming out of the engine.
Investing in a performance manifold or header will increase horsepower by improving outgoing airflow from the engine and reducing backpressure. In addition, these parts are bigger and less restrictive, allowing for more gas to flow through faster.
More improved airflow will also happen when you invest in a cat-back exhaust system.
Like the performance header, a cat-back exhaust has bigger pipes, smoother bends, and other qualities that let exhaust gases flow out faster.
Combine both, and you’ll see significant increases in your vehicle’s total horsepower.
4. Synthetic Lubricants
Aside from incoming and outgoing airflow, never forget that your engine has many moving parts inside. Wherever there are moving parts, friction wastes energy that would otherwise add to your horsepower.
Here, an easy way to maximise horsepower is to upgrade to synthetic lubricants. These fluids have plenty of benefits, but the most important is reducing friction around your engine's moving parts.
Less friction means less wasted energy and more power output from your engine.
5. Lightweight Wheels
Last but not least, you can invest in better wheels to improve horsepower. In this regard, ‘better wheels’ means ‘lighter wheels’.
Some of your engine's power gets used up by its various components before that power touches the road. For instance, some of the engine's power is used to turn your four heavy wheels.
As such, lighter wheels are easier for your engine to turn, leaving your car with more horsepower overall.
You can find excellent deals on the parts mentioned above at CarpartAU. Buy them on the Marketplace or use the Part Finder to locate car parts sellers fast!
By Ray Hasbollah