Are extra BHP all the same?

[BaldurKn]

Hi, to begin with I know very little next to nothing about tuning but I usually add some extra BHP to my cars and I was just wondering, sometimes my friends and I create races online with a limit on max BHP and few things like the Air filter and the Exhaust upgrade add more BHP but to my knowledge have no affect on handling for example.

Could it be that the Race Air Filter increase my acceleration while the exhaust gives my something else that I just dont know about maybe?

Bottom line, when I have a limit to how much BHP I can add are there upgrades that I should rather focus on or just pick the ones that are the cheapest?

 

[tdogzjoint]

Tires are number one in importance, if you can afford them. Get the best tires you can afford and then focus on suspension and transmission/drivetrain upgrades. Just adding racing soft tires will have a dramatic effect on handling, braking and acceleration.

Hope that helps!
Tony

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Certain upgrades raise the RPM limit of the car (ECU, cat, exhaust itself, and I believe engine tuning stage 3) as well as raising the RPM at which peak power/torque occurs at by the same amount. Generally speaking, avoiding these will result in more torque at the same power output, but less RPM to run through.

 

[BaldurKn]

Thank you guys for the reply.

Yes I know about the tires and the suspension, I also go for Aerodynamics as well.

I'm just wondering about the upgrades that add BHP.
Rotary Junkie so the upgrades that increase my RPM limit like the ones you point out are generally "better" upgrades then for example the Racing Air Filter??

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Rotary Junkie so the upgrades that increase my RPM limit like the ones you point out are generally "better" upgrades then for example the Racing Air Filter??

Depends mostly on how you want to run the car. A car built for 400hp will make 400hp regardless... But emphasizing the non-limit-raising parts will result in more torque, which can result in slightly quicker acceleration in peaky cars.

 

[Ishie]

I generally don't put a stage 3 turbo on anything with less than 500 bhp. Quite simple reasons really. It's more important to have midrange power than top end power when racing. In my opinion anyway. Just slapping on the "best" of everything isn't the answer.
Tires, suspension, weight, gearbox, exhaust, turbo/supercharger, engine (ecu is cheap so u can do that whenever) I feel is a good order to do things. Just tuning the engine with crappy suspension and tires is just dumb frankly.

 

[jjohan35]

I generally don't put a stage 3 turbo on anything with less than 500 bhp. Quite simple reasons really. It's more important to have midrange power than top end power when racing. In my opinion anyway. Just slapping on the "best" of everything isn't the answer.
Tires, suspension, weight, gearbox, exhaust, turbo/supercharger, engine (ecu is cheap so u can do that whenever) I feel is a good order to do things. Just tuning the engine with crappy suspension and tires is just dumb frankly.

Agree. I usually end up getting mid RPM turbo for most of my vehicles. The high RPM turbo eats away power from the low RPM, making accelerations rather difficult.

 

[BaldurKn]

Great replies. Thank you all for contributing.

Usually the first things I buy are the tires, suspension and then gearbox stuff. I just needed a little guidance on the order in which I should upgrade my power, and you all have helped greatly there.