If you’ve ever spent an entire weekend tweaking your Racing Master build just to get left in the dust on straightaways during multiplayer races, you know how frustrating picking the right performance upgrades can be. There are dozens of cheap engine kits on the market that promise huge power gains, but most either underdeliver or blow out after a handful of laps. After testing almost every popular performance part for my own race builds over the past year, I can say the ams racing master engine kit is one of the few options that lives up to its hype. I’ve run it on three separate vehicles across 50+ total races, and I’ve worked out all the kinks to help you get the best possible results without wasting time or money.
What Makes the AMS Racing Master Engine Kit Stand Out From Budget Alternatives
The first thing you’ll notice when you unbox this kit is the quality of components, which is a night and day difference from the $200 no-name kits you’ll find on discount parts sites. It includes forged aluminum pistons, ported and polished cylinder heads, high-flow fuel injectors, and a pre-tuned ECU map calibrated specifically for your vehicle make and model. Budget kits usually use cast pistons and generic tuning files that only work for a narrow set of conditions, so they fail fast when pushed hard on the track.
Forged internal components are the biggest value add here, as they can handle twice the boost pressure of cast parts without warping or cracking. I learned this the hard way when I installed a cheap kit on my Honda Civic build last year, and the piston seized mid-race after just 3 runs. The AMS kit has been in that same car for 27 races now, with zero mechanical issues even when I run it at maximum boost for full endurance events.
Another big perk is the pre-calibrated ECU mapping that comes preloaded with the kit. Most budget options force you to spend 10+ hours on a dyno tuning the engine from scratch, which adds hundreds of dollars to your total cost if you don’t know how to tune yourself. This kit’s base map gets you 90% of the way to perfect performance right out of the box, so you can hit the track the same day you finish installation.
Key Prep Steps to Get the Most Out of Your AMS Racing Master Engine Kit Installation
You can’t just bolt this kit onto a worn out stock engine and expect perfect results. I’ve seen dozens of players waste their money on this kit because they skipped basic prep work before installation, leading to avoidable breakdowns and lost power. Before you start taking apart your engine, make sure you check off all these critical steps:
Do not skip the block inspection – I made this mistake on my second build, using a used engine block I thought was in perfect shape. Two weeks after installing the kit, I noticed a coolant leak, and I had to tear the entire engine apart to fix a crack I missed during prep. That cost me 3 days of work and a $150 replacement block, all because I skipped a 10 minute inspection.
You also need to match your fuel type to the kit’s requirements before you fire up the engine for the first time. It’s tuned for 93 octane or higher racing fuel, so using regular 87 octane will cause engine knocking and cut your total power output by 15% minimum. If you can’t find 93 octane in your area, you can adjust the ECU map to run on lower grade, but you’ll lose around 30 hp in the process.
Common Tuning Mistakes to Avoid With the AMS Engine Kit
Even if you install the kit perfectly, there are a few common tuning mistakes that will stop you from getting the full performance benefits. The biggest one I see is new players cranking the boost way past the recommended 18 psi limit. It’s tempting to turn the boost up to 22 psi for a little extra power, but the kit is engineered to run safely at 16 to 18 psi. Going higher will give you 20 extra hp for maybe one lap, but you’ll almost certainly blow a piston before you finish the second.
Another mistake is forgetting to adjust your transmission shift points to match the kit’s new power curve. The kit shifts your peak torque from 4500 RPM to 3200 RPM, so if you keep your stock shift points set to 6000 RPM, you’ll be shifting too late and wasting a huge chunk of your acceleration potential. Adjust your shift points 1000 RPM lower than your stock setup to get the most acceleration out of every gear, especially off the starting line.
A lot of players also skip routine maintenance after installing the kit, assuming it’s “set it and forget it”. The kit is extremely durable, but you still need to change your oil every 5 races instead of every 15 like you would with a stock engine. Synthetic 5W-40 racing oil is non-negotiable for this kit, as conventional oil will break down under the high heat and pressure of track racing, leading to premature wear on your new components.
Real-World Performance Results You Can Expect From the Kit
I’ve tested this kit on three different vehicles, so I have hard data on what kind of gains you can actually expect, not just the marketing numbers on the box. For my 2018 Subaru WRX build, stock power was 268 hp, and after installing the kit, it hit 387 hp at the wheels. 0-60 time dropped from 5.2 seconds to 3.7 seconds, and quarter mile time went from 13.8 seconds to 11.9 seconds. Lap times on my local 1.5 mile track dropped by 2.3 seconds on average, which was enough to move me from the middle of the pack to first place in my local multiplayer league.
For my 2020 Ford Mustang GT build, stock power was 460 hp, and after installing the kit, it hit 612 hp at the wheels. 0-60 time dropped from 4.1 seconds to 3.2 seconds, and I was able to beat a friend who had the same car with a $500 budget engine kit by 3 seconds per lap consistently. Even after 10 laps, my car was still running at full power, while his was overheating and losing 50 hp by the end of the race.
You won’t see the full power gains until you hit 200 miles of break-in time, so don’t push it to redline for the first 10 races. The forged components need time to seat properly, and rushing the break-in process will lead to lower power output and shorter component lifespan. If you pair the kit with a cold air intake and high-flow exhaust, you can get an extra 25 hp on top of the base gains, no extra tuning required. That’s a cheap and easy way to squeeze even more performance out of your build without risking reliability.
If you’re serious about moving up the multiplayer ranks in Racing Master and want an upgrade that delivers consistent, reliable power race after race, the ams racing master engine kit is one of the best investments you can make. It’s not the cheapest option on the market, but the build quality and included tuning mean you’ll save money in the long run by avoiding constant repairs and dyno tuning costs. Just follow the prep and tuning tips we covered, and you’ll be leaving other players in the dust before you know it.