Quote:
Originally Posted by sw20kosh
This.
At the same time let's not scare off those who just love tinkering and modifying their cars, enjoy driving said car around the track and who don't care all that much about lap times. Nothing wrong in showing up in your modified vehicle as long as the mods don't make your car unsafe for you or people around you.
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There's absolutely there's nothing wrong with showing up in a modified vehicle. I did that exact thing my first time out. All the advice I'm dishing out comes from personal experience and from making the same mistakes. It's not intended to scare, but to clue people in on the realities of modifying. If it's for show, then fine. However, if it's for performance, reality and vendor claims can be drastically different. Particularly at the track. If your car is already modified, no big deal. If you want to get into tracking and think that you MUST modify before starting, then I've got a ton of experience that says you shouldn't.
When I upgraded the turbo on my old Evo, I gained around 40whp. Even though I had documented power gains on a dyno, I gained almost nothing in terminal velocity down the straights at the track and subsequently no drop in laps times. I eventually came to the conclusion that while the car made more power, it was only for a short time before heat came into play (the biggest enemy at the track), and my power levels dropped back down to stock turbo levels quickly. This was despite upgraded radiator, oil cooler, and tranny cooler. Net gain was zero.