Should I or shouldn’t I?
Doing my very best imitation of Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from one of my favorite TV shows, MythBusters, I’m going to tackle some of the most common myths in the driving community. Unfortunately, unlike Adam and Jamie, I’m not able to use any explosives!
But first, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a myth is “A widely held but false belief or idea.” I would add that many are somewhat controversial, as well, so let me stir things up.
Myth #1: I need to modify my track car to improve my lap times.
Myth #2: I should not modify my track car, but just focus on improving my driving.
Plausible: It depends… on your experience, as well as why you’re doing what you’re doing.
What’s your main reason for track driving, what motivates you, what are you trying to achieve?
If what really drives you is the enjoyment you get from modifying your car, seeing what it does, and learning more about your car than about your driving, go for it. Modify your car to your hearts content (or your bank account is empty!).
If you’re focused on learning and improving your driving, leave your car alone.
If you’re looking for the results (i.e., faster lap times, win a race) then you need to find the balance between the two. Certainly, modifying your car for performance will help, but in many cases, there’s more in the driver than there is in the car. That might be hard for the ego to take, but I suggest asking yourself where the low hanging fruit is — in the car, or in the driver?
Obviously, there are varying levels of importance for each of these (and maybe even other reasons), but start by thinking about what drives you, why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Then, factor in your experience. If you’re relatively new to track driving, I don’t care what your reason, motivation, purpose, I think you should leave your car as stock as possible. Why? In my experience, with each level of modification, you’ve increased the chances of having reliability problems. Especially early in your driving experience, getting lots of laps is the highest priority, and if you’re having mechanical issues, you’re not getting that seat time.
There is one very important exception to what I’ve said here: Anything you can do to improve safety and reliability is a worthwhile “modification,” no matter what your experience and purpose for playing on the track. Usually, these mods are focused on safety equipment, and upgraded brakes.
One other thing to think about: You will learn more about your driving with lower-performance tires than you will with super-sticky ones.
Finally, I’ve seen far too many drivers spend a lot of money and time on modifying their cars to improve performance, and end up having less fun. Why? Well, again, hurting reliability is the number one reason. But I’ve also talked to many drivers who said that they actually had more fun driving a car with slightly lower limits. It’s possible that when you raise the limits, having spent a lot of money to do so, the risk goes up more than you’re comfortable with.
There’s the old saying, “It’s better to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.”
Ross Bentley
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Ross Bentley has spent a lifetime helping drivers go faster. He’s the author of the Speed Secrets books (the best-selling racing series ever), is one of the most sought-after driver coaches in the world, and runs SpeedSecrets.com, the largest collection of driver development resources anywhere. Want more articles like this? Subscribe at RossBentley.Substack.com.
