By Tan Chong Yaw

The ride: March 2004 Honda Stream - a 2.0-litre, mid-sized seven-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)

The owner: Samuel Wong, 43, IT professional at a local health-care group

The mod: A racer at heart, Samuel had to settle for an MPV because he needs to ferry five people (his wife, three children and maid) around.

The Honda engine lives for high revolutions.

In a $1,800 upgrade, he first improved the air intake of the car.

The main transformation is with the Unichip Q - a chip that reprogrammes the Stream's Electronic Control Unit (ECU) - the car's brains that runs the entire car from engine management to air-conditioning.

The Stream was tuned to give more power overall, particularly at the lower revolutions.

An unintended bonus: Samuel now saves fuel. He no longer needs to push his car and has a much lighter foot.

Despite driving mostly short trips, he clocks 9km per litre of petrol - an improvement over the 7 to 8km/l he recorded before he ritzed his car.

The process: Autodesigns Motorsports (tel: 6566-5912) installed a cold-air intake which draws cool air from outside instead of heated air from the engine compartment, which most cars do. Cooler air is more dense and provides more oxygen for combustion, improving power and saving fuel.

Next, an air charger was put in to push more air to the engine. The engine character was changed using the Unichip Q. This was done with a laptop linked to the chip.

My 10 minutes of bliss: Watching the tachometer - the instrument that shows the revolutions per second (rpm) of the engine - was a revelation. The common advice on saving fuel when driving is to keep the engine to within 3,000rpm.

I saw the tachometer needle sail quickly to 6,000rpm and more while Samuel and I kept our conversation going - without having to raise our voices because there was no raucous roar: the Stream charmed with a pleasing, restrained baritone.

Samuel weaved in and out of the traffic on the expressway and kept the Stream on high revs. I was sitting in a 1.5 tonne MPV - but it sure felt like a race car.

What have you done to improve your ride? Share with us your stories at a1motor@sph.com.sg and you may just get featured in AsiaOne!

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 29, 2008.

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