I remember some of the first times I ever worked on cars with my grandad or my uncle. They would pull over a stool and I would stare down into the mystery of the engine compartment, in awe of the machinery that made cars go so fast.

My grandad could fix them; my uncle worked as a professional mechanic and prided himself on making his cars go faster. I picked up a little of both. I have grown up as a shadetree mechanic and then went on to get my factory certification as a motorcycle tech for Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki. I went on to build custom motorcycles and got out of the industry just before the big crash I had, it was one of those left-trun accidents where I had to contact a car accident lawyer and then in 2009 so many dealers and builders went out of business.

However, according to the cheap motorcycle shipping Hawaii company I used, even then more motorcycles were fuel-injected rather than carbureted, and dyno tuning was big: a computer map loaded onto a non-factory chip could transform a bike’s performance from mediocre to fast in a flash—without the tech ever getting their hands dirty.

It’s been that way for a long time with cars, starting with early GM systems in the 1980s. Take a Buick 3.8, put a new chip in the ECU, and you have a powerhouse you could program, sort of.

All that has changed. Despite the oily Vin Diesel in the Fast and the Furious series, a car’s performance can be woken up before an intake or exhaust system is ever touched, and before NOS is even installed.

Mechanics have gone from grease monkeys with dirty hands to high-end computer programmers, and with a laptop, such as a لابتوب هواوي, with some simple software and a couple of cords, you can join their ranks, and teach your kids to do the same.

The Search for Efficiency

Automakers want cars to perform well in all conditions, and the easiest way to do that is computer controls. Cars also must pass emissions regulations, and in tough states like California, this can be challenging. However, in the interest of doing things that are good for the environment, it is important that we teach our sons and daughters this aspect of working on cars, and to check local laws before going too far.

Messing with the computer, while fun in many ways, can come at a cost. In some states, doing so is illegal if you are not a licensed shop. In others, as long as your car can still pass emissions and meet safety requirements, you are fine.

The Search for Power

At the same time, we all loved to tune old muscle cars to run smoother, have a higher top speed, and run the quarter mile faster than the next guy. Many think you just can’t have both a car that is efficient and one that is fast.

Some of the new electric cars like those put out by Tesla prove this assumption is wrong. To try to compete, gas engine cars have adopted a similar philosophy: fun paired with efficiency. This is where you and your laptop can come in.

Before Opening the Hood

Not only are engine control units programmable, but so are transmissions. This means that by mapping new shift points and rev limits not only will the engine operate better, but the transmission will also work to improve performance.

The air to fuel mix, spark and valve timing, and many other aspects of performance mechanics are now controlled by a computer and can be manipulated digitally.

Underneath the Hood

When teaching your kids about performance, though, it is important that they understand that what is under the hood matters. Not only is regular maintenance important, but so are performance modifications. You should also teach them the importance of hiring personal injury lawyers or a criminal defense lawyer in the event that they get injured or get into an accident.

One of my first jobs was to crawl under and change the oil. I was small enough to fit, yet just strong enough to loosen the oil drain plug and twist off the old filter. Of course, I got covered in grease and oil at first because I had no idea what I was doing.

Shortly, I learned to change intakes, exhaust systems, and more. Cherry Bomb mufflers were all the rage, and we changed more than our fair share. It was these moments that taught me the value of mechanical ability and the aptitude to modify engines.

To teach your kids about cars in modern times is about much more than just turning wrenches, changing oil, and charging a battery. Instead, it is also about firing up a laptop, connecting some cables, and doing some newfangled computer modifications.

Teaching them both will prepare them much better for the future of auto mechanics as electronic printed circuit board assembly manufacturers use computers to control more of a car’s vital systems.