For many high school leavers getting a leg up into the world of performance tuning means years of hard work and often the ‘right connections’ – either a friend or relative in the industry that give a recommendation. Unfortunately, many with a passion for high performance cars don’t have this luxury.

That’s where places like the Tuner School, established by Hennessey Performance Engineering in Texas, offers anyone with a spare $14,500 a 14 week course on all the ins and outs of the tuning world.

Some of the topics students can master include chassis dyno testing, air/fuel calibration, turbo and supercharging, nitrous systems, ECU management, braking systems, exhaust systems, racing know-how and basic fabrication, among others.

Classes are held Monday to Friday over the 14 week period and consists of combined classroom, workshop and race track instruction, plus the mandatory hands-on experience. As an added benefit, all students are also allowed to attend drag meets and other special events at the Lonestar Motorsports Park for free.

Despite its dubious past, Hennessey Performance Engineering is currently one of the biggest tuning firms in the country, if not the world, and currently offers big-horsepower upgrades for a diverse range of cars, including the Audi R8, Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, and even the Bugatti Veyron.