Friday, Jan 14, 2011
Gulf News
Racing enthusiasts drive for hours to Ajman and Sharjah to use the expertise of mechanics in adding the extra edge to their vehicles
Dubai Business is good for Raheem, a Pakistani mechanic whose workshop specialises in modifying car engines. He charges Dh3,000 to 4,000 per engine modification and the clients never stop coming.
Rare sports cars carrying number plates from around the Gulf region can be seen in his workshop and neighbouring workshops tucked away in an industrial district of Ajman. Racing enthusiasts drive for hours to Ajman and Sharjah to use the expertise of Raheem and his colleagues in modifying their engines.
“People from Oman and Saudi Arabia come here because these kind of modifications are either illegal in their countries or simply because the services are not available in those countries,” he said.
Raheem’s biggest customer base, however, is racers from the UAE. Some of the most passionate racers, he said, spend an average of Dh200,000 a year in modifications.
“Some guys come into my workshop knowing very well that they’d be visiting again the next week to get the same job done because they don’t expect their engines to last for longer than that,” Raheem said.
Those racers often bring Raheem two of each of the parts they want added, one to be fixed at one visit and the other for the future, when the first one goes bust in stunts.
Raheem says that it is not clear whether engine modification is legal, but says he trusts that it is, “because there are a number of places for people to race legally, which is where most of my clients go”.
In June last year, Sharjah Police said it had been successful in a campaign to crack down on workshops providing such services, saying police authorisation was required before making any modifications.
Tension ensues in the industrial area after news breaks about fatal car accidents that involved modified engines, a trend that is on the rise in the UAE. “Mechanics in the area worry that there will be a crackdown; government officials come and speak to us and sometimes even take pictures of the modifications and the car number plates and then go away,” he said.
Amit Benjamin, editor of Wheels, one of the UAE’s top car magazine, said a number of motorists who have their cars modified for races often undo the modifications before renewing the vehicle’s registration. “Some even go as far as temporarily renting tyres that would pass the registration checks,” he said.
Many of the motorists who get their cars modified in small workshops in Sharjah and Ajman are not fully aware of the impact of the modifications on their cars, he added.
“People tend to just go for extra power without taking into account how the rest of the components of the car, such as suspension and brakes will cope with it,” he said.
So far, the practice that Rahim has inherited from his older brothers has not seen many challenges, but he says that increasing competition from Emirati youths who are gaining expertise in engine modification could cause a dent in his business in the future.
Adrenaline
Changes
n Reprogramming the engine control unit (ECU) to increase horsepower
n Installing turbo kits as well as nitrous oxide systems
n Superchargers,
n Higher compression pistons and bigger cams
n Performance exhaust and mufflers
n Vehicle lowering
n Rebuilding the car’s chassis.
— A.A.L.
By Abbas Al Lawati?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
