Car Set-Up

My entire week at CIMS I learned a lot of things about cars and driving. I was very fortunate to talk to a lot of people who are way, way more knowledgeable than me in the automotive scene. They gave me a good idea of what things I could to to a car / ride if I had the funds.

Contrary to popular belief, power is not the most important thing to fix in a car. Unless you're planning on building a dragster, that is. I learned that braking and handling is a bigger priority, because once you get the perfect handling set-up for your car, adding power will be very easy. Just to make it clear, the person who told me this is a racing driver. He knows what he's talking about.

So now I've come up with a plan for a trackable daily driver. Meaning I want to have a car that I can use everyday in comfort, but it becomes a decent track day car when I have the funds to join a track day. This plan applies to any and all cars I've been daydreaming about. Yes, even my dream Beetle Baja.

• Lighting. First things first, I have to improve the lighting. Use all-weather, brighter bulbs to improve night-time visibility. Add fog lamps if needed. Improve the rear brake lights, the third brake light, and improve the turn signal bulbs.
• Sound system. Just a modern stereo system with decent speakers.
• 17" - 18" rims. This is very important for both aesthetics and car handling. Less sidewall means better cornering. Also, getting wider rims will help me with the next step, which is...
• Brakes. If I could install a big brake kit, I would. I just have to improve braking, not only for track but also for the street.
• Suspension. Adjustable coilovers if possible, so that I can raise or lower ride height depending on the situation. That way as a daily driver I'd get proper ground clearance, but once on the track I would lower the car to improve handling.
• POWER!!! Not really. Just improve the intake and the exhaust, really. I don't want to build a powerful car that ends up being a gas guzzler. I just want a nice, reliable engine that can get me at decent cruising speeds and overtaking speeds in the highway when needed.

There you have it. If you notice, you'll see I'd rather have a car that drives well and handles well. I'm guessing it's more fun having a nice, peppy, responsive car than feels like it drives on rails than a super-fast car than can't turn.

Out.