Practical upgrades to your car

You’ve got yourself a car, and you’re happy with it – for a while. You realise that your car could be a little better, but don’t know how to go about doing this. We, your friendly neighbourhood OnCars team, give you suggestions on what you can do to better your ride.

Headlamps:

 In a country where you share road space with motorcyclists who could give Rossi a lesson or two on sneaking past the competition, bicyclists with no more balance than a lame drunk, pedestrians who think the pavement is for them and cows who live life in the fast lane, the ability to see further at night is invaluable. Cars usually get fitted with halogen bulbs rated at 55/60W – that’s 55 Watts for the low beam, and 60 Watts for the high beam. If you find this insufficient, you can upgrade your bulbs to 90/100W or 100/130W. HID kits aren’t advisable as they attract the police’s attention. The new bulbs will draw more current to power themselves, so make sure you upgrade the wiring as well. The new relays should have their own fuses, so none of the original wiring gets affected should something go wrong. Don’t forget to carry a spare stock bulb or two in your glovebox. This upgrade generally doesn’t apply to projector units, since they are generally powerful enough, or have a very good focused beam.

Fog Lamps: