Mods you "can't race without"
 

I'm trying to think of and list all the mods that either give the car some sort of ability it doesn't have stock, or ones that are necessary for certain types of racing (or racing in general). And not just because they're in the rules, but because you would be at a disadvantage without one.

A few I can think of are:

Harnesses (partially because they're required and even moreso because they hold you in place)

Fixed bucket seats (because you just slide around in stock seats... and not just laterally, but back and forth.. also gives the necessary head room when you've got a roll cage)

Reinforced clutch (the only performance-related thing of I can think of...simply because stock clutches aren't suitable for heavy use, even on wimpy NAs, etc)

Brake bias adjusters (every race car has them... you basically have to have one if you get big brakes)

Line lockers (basically required for drag racing)

Two-stage rev limiters (once again, for drag or for any sort of launch control)

Single-nut wheel hubs (for fast tire changes in motorsports that allow tire changes)

Modified hand brakes (the "pole" type in rally racing, or the "knob" you can put on the stock handle for drifting)

Fast steering racks (because 3 turns lock-to-lock and motorsports don't always get along)

Reinforced under trays (to prevent damage from debris in rally)

Quick-detach steering (for use as a spacer and to make it easier to get in and out)

Sliding-type sway bars (for true adjustability)


Can anyone think of other types? And not things like tow-hooks, roll cages and cut-off switches, because those are kind of obvious, and are more for safety or compliance with rules.



Besides just racing, there are a lot of interesting mods that give you some sort of neat functionality, like a Scroth automatic harness (that gives you hold but also daily practicality), or jacks that are built into the car (so it can lift itself for service)... if anyone can think of those sort of mods, that would be cool too.

I think that a bunch of the stuff that you just listed are not really needed unless you are pro racing. I think most club racers wouldn't really be using most of that stuff, although it would be really cool.

What kind of racing are you refering to?

-Autocross
-Road racing
-Drag racing

These all have different "must-haves"

All sorts...

I'd consider things like a fixed bucket seat and a harness necessary for club racing though, personally (as a bar minimum, after a roll cage, etc)...

Although obviously you wouldn't need single-nut wheel hubs.

I'm not suggesting a car should have all these things. It's just that it's good to know things that you might need if you're going to do a certain type of racing. (or simply what's out there)

Race tires
Race suspension

Those will add the most time of any mods.

Tires first and foremost. Run stock rims with race tires on them and then run aftermarket rims on the street with street tires.

1-realistic budget
2-safety eqpt(custom cage, wheel studs, seat,HANS,suit,etc)
3- tires
4-bigger budget
5-suspension setup (ie camber plates,shocks,springs,etc)

most needed.......spirit
come out to any track and see what we really put into driving....
racing is first about the friends and the fun, if you are looking for the magic answer forget it, its about seat time, it is about you and the car progressing & evolving together into one.... each teaching the other......if the car is front row and you aren't ready........ it won't work. its about the parts that fail..... the things that could have been...... just take what you have and come join in, it is about doing it, racing (or track days) is about doing what you love with people who share the passion......get out there......its the journey

Tires and suspension are rather obvious.

And they don't give the car any sort of ability it didn't have before, they simply increases its performance.

From this comment I realize that you never be in a race car.......

so you would race with stock suspension and street tires.... ;)

ummm, wrong

For any type of motorsports, I'll take a proper suspension and a purpose built tire before centerlock wheels, or anything else on the list above except the seat and harness(safety first)

In this example, the vehicles ability is measured by it's performance.

Perhaps an edit with the intent of this list would be alittle more conducive to the results you are looking for. As of now, we don't really know what you are trying to accomplish with this list.

and, uhhh, cup holders!!!

-dr. helpful.

I'm not suggesting I would race with stock tires and suspension.

Simply that this isn't the goal of the list...

I only meant things that give you the ability to do something you simply can't do on a stock car that a race car should be able to do (like adjust brake bias for road racing or do a super-long burn out without moving for drag racing), or at least something that most race cars can do nowadays (like take off the steering wheel to get in).

It should be OBVIOUS that a race car has racing tires and an adjustable suspension (although being able to adjust *everything* on a race car, especially suspension, is one important part of race modification, it seemed too general to list it, as the mods needed differ from car to car). What I want to know about are things that are less obvious (but not safety-related and not something that directly affects performance).

An example would be a quick-change differential. That doesn't directly affect performance, and it certainly isn't an obvious mod to most people, but it does give you the ability to do something in a matter of minutes that would normally take hours on a normal car... obviously being able to quickly change out a final gear ratio would be very useful during practice and setup runs.

Stick to what is practical.

The more adjustability you have, the easier it is to screw yourself up. The engineers who design high-performance sports cars took allot of time to get reasonable settings dialed in. Don't go messing around with them until you have an explicit reason for doing so (perferably AFTER you've driven on course with the stock setting).

Too many mods will also weigh down your car. I can't imagine any competitive race car equiped with a self-lifting jack.... If it doesn't do something while on course, it's not necessary, and it doesn't belong on the car.

Just try to keep that in mind.

Well, the self-lifting jack thing is more of a show car part, really, but I thought it sounded neat.

I'm not really listening things I plan on putting on my car. I'm just curious as to what's out there.

And not just racing parts... but just cool stuff you can do the car.


Also, another example, had I been talking about sport bikes, would be frame sliders. If I had a track bike (or rode bikes at all), I'd definitely get them, as they can prevent unnecessary damage to the bike's fairing, etc if it lowsides.

Actually, air jacks are quite common on purpose built, Pro series road race cars. Grand Am Cup, er Koni Challenge, etc...

click here for genesis air jack

To what advantage do these air jacks give versus a more manual method (i.e. floor jack) of lifting the front/rear?

Jack placement, obviously. I'm having trouble figuring out what else.

It's all about speed. Drive in, connect the line and the car pops up. A second gained in the pits is just as good as one gained on the track.

*Yawn*

The Genesis air jack system adds 14 lbs. to the car. That's not enough to deter me from putting it on the car. I say this from a road course point of view. The $3k to buy it would be more of a frustration than the weight. If you are "racing" the car and their are points or prize from your position at the finish. The 14 lbs. weight would be in my car any day VS. the pit time wasted. I have seen the BMW teams run this system on their cars and it is so smooth. If you have the $, it just makes sense.

Sorry for being off topic a bit. As for must haves in/on the car. After the safety is covered, I have to put my money into rubber, suspension, and braking. How much money you can put into the car determines how technical you can get with hardcore racing items. We really need to determine if this car would be driven on the street still or track only?

Good topic. Any more detail on desired set up?

If you are a real racer with winning utmost on your mind, then you modify every single part of the car that the rule book will allow you to modify - your list would be as numerous as the number of lines in the rule books of all the different racing series rules there are. There are thousands and thousands of pages of racing rules out there, so this thread is a form of mental masturbation.

Nah. It would be longer. Until you got caught! :p:

nevermind.

That's what I meant to say.

I think Rankin got the right idea also...

Too vague...

...I suppose it is :p

Out of curiosity, if I got a triangulated strut tower bar, would it be possible to race in a class that doesn't allow them if I bolted the triangulated part?

Another interesting mod I saw in a Hot Version video was how they put an extension into the strut towers of a Suzuki Swift in order to give it a long-stroke suspension... since it was a rally car. And it also had a high-durability suspension system (from some expensive-sounding European brand) that was meant to avoid damage in an impact.... very rally-ish.