Dear Tom and Ray:

Help! Help! I need more power! I currently have a '93 Ford Explorer with the 4.0 liter V-6 engine. It has less than 55,000 miles on it and runs great, but lacks power, especially for climbing hills. Should I just live with it? Should I install a free-flow exhaust? Or should I go for the big guns and put in a new computer chip and a supercharger and really get my hair flying? -- Christie

Ray: My brother asked me the same question about his late, '63 Dodge Dart. He wanted to know how he could get his hair flying. I suggested he stick his tongue in a spark-plug wire.

Tom: It worked! I've had an awesome perm ever since.

Ray: I'd strongly recommend you live with it, Christie. There's only so much power you can wring out of an engine that isn't designed for high performance. And if you really squeeze it hard and run it hot with a supercharger, a free-flow exhaust system or a computer chip that changes the basic engine parameters, you're going to eventually cook the engine and ruin it.

Tom: On the other hand, maybe that's the approach you should take. Put in the chip, the supercharger AND the exhaust system, and drive it around until you burn your valves and crystalize your oil. Then you'll need a new engine, and you can make the replacement engine a V-8.

Auto repairs can be costly! Save money by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1999 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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