The Batman- Car Mods

  Lying on a mechanic’s creeper under his muscle car, Bruce realized he needed a slightly bigger wrench. He reached into his tool belt, which he’d designed himself with loops and pockets so he didn’t have to keep rolling out from under the car to search in his toolbox. He quickly found the right wrench by touch and tightened up a set of bolts.

  He’d made several modifications to the car, all designed to increase its speed. A free-flow, large-diameter true dual exhaust system. A high-flow fuel pump. Large-diameter gas lines. The upgrades were all about getting more fuel and air into the engine while keeping the ratio right. He certainly didn’t want to blow the engine. Just make it growl.

  He rolled out from under the car, stood up, and wiped his greasy hands on a rag. Even though it was late at night, he decided to take his car out for its first test drive. He rolled it down off the rack, got in, and started the engine. It sounded good. Powerful but tuned—not out of control. Bruce slowly backed it out of his workspace, turned around, and drove away from the old train stop and onto the streets of Gotham City.

  Though the car ran well, he kept thinking about more things he wanted to do to it: install performance cylinder heads and a supercharger. He could get the weight of the car down more, too, replacing the trunk and hood with carbon fiber versions. Maybe he’d try iridium spark plugs, though he wasn’t convinced they’d increase the car’s speed all that much….
…

  He had also observed the other race cars—their size, their weight, and any tell-tale signs the sounds gave him about their engines. He tried to get his car’s weight down, taking out everything he didn’t need and replacing panels with ones made from lighter material. Get more fuel into the engine. Get more air into the engine. Get the mix of fuel and air just right. Lubricate every part. Cut down the car’s wind resistance as much as possible. All for speed. For now, he didn’t really care what the car looked like.

- Before the Batman, Chapters Four and Eight