Emma Radebaugh If your local racetrack has an open driving day, and you’ve been lucky enough to get your car out to do a few laps, chances are your stock vehicle couldn’t handle it very well. Unless you have a topflight sports car, your automobile isn’t built for the stress of sustained high speeds and fast cornering.
So, you’ll want to find upgrades that will improve your speed, but also allow you to stay on the track longer while still being consistent. With these five parts to modify a car for track racing, you can build a car that is stronger and able to perform better.
Coilover Suspension
A stock suspension can’t handle performance turning, the car will look like it is almost tumbling over itself when you try and turn at high speeds. However, the hydraulic pressure of coilover suspension will give your car control as the axle is stressed from cornering.
Cold Air Intake
An engine needs two things to pump: oxygen and fuel. The more of each it has, the faster the car will go. A vehicle’s intake is responsible for supplying the air to the engine, and a cold air intake will send cooler air into the engine. Cold air is dense, so it will create high rates of oxygen in the engine, leading to a boost in performance and speed.
Tires and Wheels
There are few things as impactful on the overall driving experience as the tires and wheels. Wider wheels and tires will give more grip per rotation, which will help through corners. Then, you’ll also want to find a performance tire with low treadwear to improve the grip.
There are a few different types of performance wheels ranging from cast, roll forms, and forged. They all are lighter and stronger than stock wheels, with forged being the best and most expensive of the bunch.
Driveshaft
With this added power, you’ll be putting greater stress on the other stock parts of your car. The different components of the driveshaft are only built to transfer a certain amount of power from the transmission, so could break while you’re driving if you overload it with too much torque.
Bucket Seats and Harness
Upgrades under the hood only impact lap times as much as the driver allows them to. If you have a bad drive, it won’t matter if you have a coilover suspension or cold air intake; the faster driver wins the race. On top of training, you’ll be able to find more control when driving if you are upgrading your seats to bucket seats with harnesses.
When you hit corners going at high speeds, momentum wants to keep carrying your body in the original direction, and in a stock cab, you’ll constantly be unstable. A bucket chair and harness will hold you down, allowing you to focus, with greater control, on your shifting and steering. With any one of these five parts to modify a car for track racing, you’ll hopefully be recording faster laps in no time.
