 |  | | ROADTESTS | | Power enhancement, the quick & easy way | | The black art of engine tuning goes way back to the early fiftys when a tiny tuning shop called A and G conversions opened in Wynberg, north of Johannesburg. | | Indecently quick Austin A40 Farines and Morris Minor 1000s were the normal fare then. | | Since then, dozens of tuners have come and gone, something the cyclical nature of the South African economy caused. | |  | | | However, a handful did manage to weather the storms and Steve's Auto Clinic (SAC) run by Steve Fischer was one of them. | | Started as a tiny shop 20 years ago, it boasts a number of franchised branches countrywide with more on the way. | | Included are specialised divisions that focus on product development, engineering, manufacturing, trucks and electronic equipment. | | The diesel section of the businesses, SACD, commenced in 1996 to take care of specialised diesel optimisation and also the importing of a range of turbo chargers and intercoolers from Australia. | | Another milestone was garnering the runner-up slot in SA Entrepreneur of the year competition in 1997. | | Among the founding principles that SAC decided was one overriding feature is that not every car is a race-car. | | The company realised early on that the market also consisted of light commercial vehicles, heavy trucks and vehicles that were not in the hands of companies. | | Another was the fact that SAC steered away from experimentation with customer's vehicles. | | In fact SAC purchases vehicles on which to carry out research and development. | | In this way only highly developed adaptations are offered to buyers in the knowledge that they are fully developed and tested to company objectives. | | Separate petrol and diesel shops followed in 1998 while SAC Manufacturing became part of the group producing a unique range of products such as intercoolers. | | This was soon followed by specialised diesel cylinder head development that eventually led to the formation of SAC Trucks with Hein Lategan's knowledge and expertise behind it. | | SAC has many partnerships among which, is the Centurion-based Dastek automotive electronics set-up. | | Re-mapping chips for normally aspirated engines, known as the Unichip, are sourced from this company and programmed by SAC in conjunction with engine electronic experts. | | The British firm Superchips is another collaborator. | | In late 2001 SAC was appointed as exclusive importer into this country and the fitting of these items. | | The Unichip is a custom-made replacement engine management computer chip for turbo charged petrol engines. | | Another partnership is exhaust manufacturer Wildcat, which was acquired by SAC Midrand Petrol franchise opening exciting possibilities for future programs. | | Dastek, the company that prepared our three test vehicles, manufacturers and supplies the various performance products used in the vehicles. | | Its main drive is the fabrication and development of the Power Plug and Powercooler products for turbo charged diesels. | | To this end, Dastek's vision has been developed within the ever-changing world market by adopting a dynamic approach... | | | | | | | | | Click Here to get an SAC consultant to advise you! | | Click here for more about our conversions | | Performance / power conversions, modifications, engine upgrades available for Alfa, Audi, BMW, Chev, Chrysler, Colt, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Jeep, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes, Mini, Nissan, Opel, Toyota, VW and more... | |
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