EPA helps in calibrating and adjusting the car for the desired purpose. Examples of which mean that you replace the air filter against one with less resistance, accompanied by a muffler with less resistance. Then you can calibrate the carburettor or fuel injection to deliver more fuel, which – in addition to the surplus of air – delivers more power. The possibilities of engine tuning virtually are endless.

Some people view performance modifications as a justification to increase fuel consumption. I disagree because they aren’t looking at the big picture. Fuel economy is relative to performance. Performance can be measured a few ways including fuel consumption, emissions output and maximizing the kinetic energy your car can produce.

Automotive manufacturers have tuned most of the cars on the road to be much more conservative of their actual potential performance. They do this to prolong vehicle reliability within their sparse vehicle maintenance schedules. Simply, it gives the impression to consumers that their cars are more reliable, when in reality, they have been throttled back from their true potential. For instance, the third and fourth generation Camaro was dialed back just a enough to make sure that on paper, they didn’t compete with the Corvette in terms of performance — they often shared the same engines with improved output on the Corvettes.

The pursuit of improved performance is not necessarily juxtaposed against the pursuit of fuel economy. In the end, most people want their daily drivers to be economical and enjoyable to drive for a variety of conditions. Performance modifications can help you achieve significant improvements on your ride without any major drawbacks.