Matt Cramer - Do-It-Yourself High Performance Car Mods: Rule the Streets

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Spend time on almost any Internet forum dedicated to cars and youll see a steady procession of beginning car enthusiasts who arent sure where to start. Theres a lot to learn, and a few 200-word messages arent enough to really explain just how everything in a car works. Having spent a lot of time on Internet forums, there have been many times Ive wanted to tell a beginner, I think what you really need is a good book.

There are many excellent books if you want a very in-depth discussion of a particular part of a car, such as the engine, suspension, or electronics, and how to improve it. Ive listed several of these at the end of this book if you want to learn more. There are also several good books for understanding the parts of a car if you want to fix one to work like new. However, there hasnt been much in the way of books that provide a basic working knowledge of the whole car with an eye to modifying it to go faster. When looking for the best single book to recommend to someone whos just getting started, I couldnt really find such a thing. So I decided to write it myself.

This book is meant to be a starting point. While I cant give in-depth answers on everything, I can give you the right questions. If youre looking through a catalog trying to pick the best springs for your Subaru, I cant tell you which ones on the market will be best for you (especially since there are probably going to be a couple of brands that make it to market between the time I write this sentence and the time you read it, and some that have been discontinued too). But this book will explain how to evaluate how your Subaru drives and how you can figure out if you need to stiffen the front or the rear springsor maybe how you need to skip the springs at this point because what you really need is a good set of struts.

Theres a clich about life being a journey instead of a destination. While not original, the metaphor is a hard one to resist for a book about cars. If youre taking a journey into the world of modifying cars, I can show you the on-ramp and how to get to some of my favorite places. I hope youll start from there and go discover more, find where you like to visit, and discover new roads. Happy trails to you!

Matt Cramer

We all have to learn somewhere, and it can give you a big head start to learn from others experience instead of having to experience it all for yourself. Several people Ive learned from who I specifically want to thank, whether they taught me directly or I learned from things they wrote, include David Vizard, Fred Puhn, Hugh MacInnes, Corky Bell, Jeff Hartman, A. Graham Bell (not the one who invented the telephone), Chris Macellaro, Scott Clark, and Daniel Stern. A lot of those guys also have books or websites that Id recommend seeking out after youve finished this book. Id also like to thank Jerry Hoffmann, who I collaborated with on a previous book, and who gave me a job working in the racing industry full time. Actually, thanks for that are probably in order for the MegaSquirt team as well, including Bruce Bowling, Al Grippo, Lance Gardiner, James Murray, Ken Culver, Jean Belanger, Phil Ringwood, Phil Tobin, Eric Law, and many others who made various contributions, big and small.