Has anyone ever done a comparison of what each mod might be worth over let's say a 60 second autocross course. What I mean is between a completely "street" version of a car through the utterly "prepared" take on the same chassis there are usually a thousand little things that can theoretically make a car a fraction faster. The big things (tires, suspension) are obviously the easy low hanging fruit here but what about the less obvious stuff? What is just a waste of time (lightweight pulleys?) and what actually helps and by how much?
A pound of unsprung weight?
Ten pounds of sprung weight?
Five more horsepower?
Race seats?
Autocross specific brake pads?
What else comes to mind?
Things done to the car -0.001s
200tw tires -1.000s
Seat time -42.000s
Driver mod is worth more than all of that.
Too many extra horsepowers + not enough talent = +2 sec, repeat as needed
Trust me on this one.
dps214
New Reader
5/23/19 3:27 p.m.
Basically everything you listed is very car dependant. For example: race seats in a NA miata where the race seat is basically the same weight as the stock seats? Basically nothing. But race seats in a modern car where that can easily be a 50-100lb weight drop? Definitely something. +5hp on a 500hp car? Nothing. +5hp on a miata? Probably something.
In my experience, the single biggest factors are tires and a diff (assuming a car starting with an open diff and enough power to spin up an inside wheel or basically anything FWD). Both of those are pretty much life changing, like whole number second(s) on course. After that, a well tuned suspension is probably the next biggest thing. A lot of stuff (brakes, suspension setup, even race seats) is less about what the math says and more about the car being more confidence inspiring and the driver being more comfortable pushing the limits.
Tires, and seat time are key IMO.
Sorry, I was being unclear. Let’s assume the driver mod is 98% of where it needs to be. I’m talking entirely about chasing the fractions of seconds at this point.
I’d like to have more generic responses that apply to everything but if we need to narrow it down I’m running an STR prepped NC.
I spoke with a national champ about this on STS cars. Hundreds of pounds are worth tenths.. his math was somewhere around 0.1 per 100lbs if my memory serves correctly.
Simply put, in theory it's possible to outdrive a weight disadvantage of a similar platform, like the different years of EF civics..
IMHO if you are trying to be this critical.. sell the NC and buy a ND... you'll be fighting a battle you probably won't win in the NC. STR is a bloodbath with all the high level talent there, being in an ND matters.
In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :
98% is pretty generous 
