If you are new to racing and just plan on doing it as a hobby, you can definitely do it with minimal mods so that you don’t have to feel that you threw your money away. After all, if you really enjoy racing end up being so hardcore about it, the money spent will be worth it.
You don’t have to spend so much on your car and its parts especially if you plan on doing autocross at first. I think that you can run in an autocross race with a completely stock car! Most especially if they class you in a novice stock class. Just get a feel of your car first and perfect your driving technique. Experience and practice is the best teacher and the best way to improve your time.
If you seem to have squeezed out everything your car can give at stock a stock level, then there are a few simple mods you can do to improve it’s time in the autocross.
– Lightweight wheels
– Tires with better grip
– Lowering (Optional)
Not everything is about power. Those two/three mods above should supposedly help with your handling and therefore give you some improvement with your time (assuming that you have consistent lap times). Here in the Philippines, those mods will still land you in a stock class. Think about it: stock class, better time? SOUNDS GREAT RIGHT?!
I’ll let you guys stick with the basics and I’ll end at that. I don’t want you guys to push for power yet. Actually, you don’t need power if you’re competing in a Novice Stock class. All you need is patience, practice and experience. Once you’ve mastered your driving technique, maybe you can add a few minimal mods for power which I will discuss in my next article.
For now, have fun racing!
‘Til next time! 🙂
(photo courtesy: www.myrideisme.com)
– Steve Rojas
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