Should you add performance upgrades to your sports car? Most sports cars have highly tuned engines and performance bits, but modifying yours might help.

Not all performance cars are easy to buy and afford. Some drivers can’t afford the higher prices associated with performance cars and what they bring to the driving experience. If you think you’ll be able to grab a new BMW M5, you might be a little shocked by the price of such a vehicle. On the other hand, updating a stock sports car could put you in a much higher performance range.

Pros and Cons of Modifying Your Performance Car

Pro: Improved Performance

In a “Captain Obvious” moment, when you add items that should improve the overall performance of your sports car, you’ll get better performance out of the car. This makes perfect sense and should be expected. There’s a wide range of mods that can be added to give you the added horsepower, torque, steering, handling, or braking desired. One of the best upgrades for your car could be a special set of tires since they are the only part of your car that touches the road.

Con: Reliability Could Be Negatively Impacted

Automakers build cars to precise specifications and exacting qualities. Adding or removing items can change the way the car performs (which is kind of the idea anyway), but it may be detrimental to the overall reliability of the car. Some upgrades could put more stress on the clutch or other working parts of the car, making them work harder than they should. This means those items could break much sooner than they would have if you didn’t modify the vehicle.

Note: In addition to the reliability issues, modifying your performance car could void the warranty if you have one. This can be a costly issue when you change a car that’s still under the manufacturer’s warranty.

Pro: Improved Fuel Efficiency

Adding modifications that improve the performance of your sports car doesn’t typically come with improved fuel efficiency, especially if you add physical changes. That said, an ECU remapping can unlock more power from the engine and improve your fuel efficiency, giving you a double benefit. This could be a significant change that gives you more of everything. This new tuning improves the low-end torque, which means you won’t have to push the car as hard to accelerate.

Con: The Value Isn’t What You Expect

Adding modifications to your stock performance car might negatively impact the value. You could pay thousands of dollars to squeeze out more power, speed, and stability only to find that these upgrades have caused the value of the vehicle to decline. Unless you sell your sports car to another enthusiast who wants the upgrades you added, you’ll likely find that the performance improvements won’t increase the value of your performance car, just the opposite.

Pro: Personalization Options

It’s a lot of fun to add your own personal touches to your sports car. Put a splash of color on it with decals and wraps, give the interior a new look, and let the performance modifications show off with bright colors or chrome. Personalizing your vehicle is one of the best parts of modifying your performance car, giving you the uniqueness you want to enjoy when you head out on the road.

You can also add a new suspension, dampers, and other items that change how the car looks, performs, and even how it sits on the road. There are endless ways to improve your sports car to give you the desired appearance.

Con: Upgrades Are Expensive

Changing many things on your performance car can get expensive. Updating your tires might cost $1,000, a full suspension upgrade could easily run you $5,000, and it’s easy to see the total reach more than $20,000 in upgrades. After that, you might have been able to buy that BMW M5 that you wanted in the first place. Because modifying your performance car can be expensive, you often see some tuners drive around with only part of their tuning done while saving for the next step in the process.

Is it worth your time and money to upgrade your performance car? Modifying your performance ca can get expensive, but it can be a worthwhile hobby for you if you want to have a highly tuned and impressive car to drive. Before changing your sports car, consider the costs, impact, and work required, and then go ahead and get your car tuned up for some fun; it’s why you bought a sports car in the first place.