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How To Balance Power and Control in Your Speed Car

Setting yourself up for success at the track is a matter of understanding when you need power and when you need to invest in the parts that let you put that power right where you want it. That means understanding what you need to upgrade and when so that you are not stuck with OEM brakes trying to stop a crate engine.

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Invest in High-Quality Tires

The right tires make a huge difference, no matter what upgrades you have done to your engine. The thing to remember is that the right choice of tire is situational. You don’t need track slicks when you’re out for a cruise on state highways or doing a street event. You might also want different slicks for drag events than distance racing.

Changing your tires situationally is easier if you invest in wheels for each event and the tires. Drag race wheels are designed for the sudden stresses and short bursts of heavy activity that come with intense races that are only seconds long, and they make it easy to swap between street and track tires.

Fine-Tune Your Engine Management System

Unleashing the right amount of power at the right time is more important to any kind of real performance metric than raw power output because power is only useful if it can be translated into work. A good ECU can make a big difference, but a full overhaul of your fuel delivery with a programmable ECU and expanded intake can go a lot further. If you are investing in something like a 350 small block upgrade, a system like the Holley Sniper can help you make sure you are always getting exactly what that engine needs, and that helps increase power output in useful, controllable ways.

Plot Your Upgrade Path

Adding too much power before you update the parts responsible for control and safety can be counterproductive. That’s why you need to plan for a rotation between engine upgrades and other parts. Ensuring that every second or third change is something like wheels and tires or suspension helps you get the most out of each power upgrade, so you can continue pushing your best times and customizing your ride to your event choices.

Understanding what you need next is about more than just upgrading different parts. It is also about understanding which upgrade would serve you best. Many drivers do better with moderate performance gains as they first customize a vehicle because other components are not upgraded to take full advantage of state-of-the-industry racing parts. Moving from stock to performance to high-performance racing parts can be a long process, but it also helps you develop your driving skills as you enhance your vehicle.

If you have already started upgrading your ride, check out new Mustang parts today to find the right complementary upgrades to continue your customization journey. If you are just getting started, think about what area of performance you want to improve most, and begin there. Either way, it starts with a plan, so browse away until you brainstorm your way to a new personal record at your next event.


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