Rebore the Engine
Performance gain: Moderate
Installation:
Cost: Cheap (from £10 per cylinder)
Reboring a car's engine to increases displacement is another, and our final way to improve its power. When an engine is rebored, each cylinder is bored out (made bigger) to give it greater capacity, and then fitted with larger pistons and connecting rods. This increases the cylinders volume, which increases the amount of air and fuel that can fit in the cylinder. More air and fuel means more powerful combustion, and in turn a higher power output for the engine.
Before you even consider a rebore, it's important to check that you can get a gasket, piston with rings and other components to match your chosen bore capacity. A rebore is irreversible and you'll certainly not want to have to do it again. Another thing to consider is that after reboring your engine, it will be necessary to run the engine in again. This process of bedding in could take up to 9000 miles. That's a whole 9000 miles of sensible driving!
If a rebore sounds too scary for you, another option is to use a stroker kit. A stroker kit changes the length of the crank which, when combined with a lower profile piston, increases the capacity of the cylinder.
Advantages: Cheap, good power gain.
Disadvantages:
Verooom value for money rating: 9/10
Conclusion
Although there are clearly many ways to get better performance out of your car, all with various pros and cons, what gives you most bang for your buck? Well, we think if you're not too worried about servicing your car more regularly, it could be time to get an ECM remap. Affordable, flexible and completely reversible, we think it's the clear winner.
