- [Cameraman] Okay.
- Want me to do a cartwheel?
- [Cameraman] Do a cartwheel.
Cartwheel back flip.
- I hurt my arm.
So the time has come.
You have it marked on the calendar.
You and all of your friends are going.
It's time for your first time at the track.
You have a great time.
And then you catch it; the urge to go back, again and again.
Except this time, you wanna do better than the first time.
What is going on everyone?
Jones from Fitment Industries,
and welcome back to another episode of the Build Cheat,
where we're going to be going over a few quick things
you can do to help make your car
just a little bit more track-worthy.
(drill whirring) (dramatic music)
Before we go ahead and get into it,
don't forget to subscribe and if you're looking
for anything wheel, tire or suspension related,
check out fitmentindustries.com.
That being said, on the hunt for making your car
a little bit more track-worthy, to help your lap-times,
or feel more comfortable while pushing your car,
there are a few key things that you should keep in mind.
The first should be making sure that the platform
you're running for your car is actually going to suit
what you want to do with it.
Most of the time you're gonna see either front-wheel drive
or all-wheel drive hot hatches,
or perfectly balanced rear-wheel drive cars
dominating the course.
Cars like the GTi's, Focuses, Fiestas, E36 and E30 BMW's,
FRS's and BRZ's, Miatas, S2000's and 240SX's,
are just some of the more common platforms
that people start with when looking to build
something suited for track use.
The reason being is that they can be picked up
for relatively cheap,
and have extensive aftermarket options for them.
Unfortunately, if you really wanna make your Camry
into a track car, gonna take just a tad,
tad bit more work to really get what you're looking for.
I'm not saying you can't do it,
probably wouldn't recommend it.
So if you're going to start with a solid platform
it's only going to make things easier.
One of the first things you can do to help your car out
with performance driving, is get it a set of new tires.
Now, you'd be surprised how much of a difference
even on stock wheels and stock wheel size
a decent set of new tires can make.
Tires like the Nitto NT555's, Michelin Pilot Sports
or the Toyo Proxis 4 Plus,
are some of the top choices we see people go with
when upgrading their tires.
Adding that little bit of extra grip
not only helps with the performance of the vehicle
but also gives you more confidence when driving,
knowing that you can push yourself and the car
just a little more without having
any unpredictable tendencies.
Next up on the list, surprise, surprise,
would be upgrading your suspension.
Now bear with me.
Whether it be lowering springs or coilovers,
lowering your car and, in turn,
lowering your car's center of gravity
can drastically increase the performance and handling
of your car overall.
With going something like lowering springs,
you get the lower center of gravity
with a bit of a stiffer ride.
However, if you end up picking up a set of coilovers,
you can adjust them to exactly what your needs are.
Things like height adjustment, damping control,
and usually some amount of camber adjustment,
are all offered with a set of coilover suspensions.
And if you really want to dial in your suspension,
there are companies out there that offer
almost complete customization of their coilover options.
Companies like Fortune Auto and BC Racing, for example.
Not only manufacturers customize coilovers,
but they are also rebuildable.
Fortune Auto being one that is also modular,
meaning that they can be upgraded and repaired
at any time throughout their lifespan.
Aftermarket suspension is one of the most effective ways
of changing how your car feels and handles,
and it is without a doubt one of the key components
when it comes to any type of performance car.
And whether it's autocrossing, drifting or tracking
your car, there are components of your car
that are going to take an absolute beating.
One of those components being your brakes.
Now, upgrading your brake pads, rotors, brake lines
and possibly even heading other pieces
for venting and cooling on all that stuff,
are all things that are going to not only help,
but also keep you safe at the same time
when it comes to pushing your car to its absolute limit.
Not only are brake components something
that you should upgrade, but they're also something
you should really keep an eye on and replace
more often than not if you are regularly
tracking the vehicle.
Components like brake pads or rotors are going to get
absolutely thrashed when put through their paces,
and you're gonna wanna make sure
that when you're coming up to a corner
and you step on the brake pedal,
the car is actually going to know like,
like slow down and do the thing it's supposed to do.
Having the confidence to know
that when you wait a little longer
before having to slam the on brake pedal
is going to tremendously help
when it comes down to your lap time.
So, now that you know that your car can grip,
it handle well, and then it like stops
when you do the thing, you have your basics covered
to start adding more power.
Now obviously, track cars are going to put down
some more-than-standard horsepower.
And depending on what the car is built for,
that can mean something as simple as like bolt-ons
and a tune, a conversion and an aspiration,
like adding a turbo charger or a supercharger,
or even a full-blown engine swap.
Of course, very common within the drift community,
for example, is we see pretty much everything
getting the good old LS or 1JZ treatment
to ensure that they can put down the power that they need.
And after all of this, after all the handling,
after all the of the power, after all of the grip,
that comes to mind when building a track car,
you're left with one more thing.
And what is it?
It's gonna be the safety aspect of everything.
Now depending on if you're competing in competition,
or depending on how much horsepower your car is producing,
and where you're at, whether it's a track event
requires more safety protocols than others,
there are standards in place for what is required
for safety in your car.
Things like seats, harnesses, rollbars, cages, fuel cells,
kill switches, all the things that are gonna be required
when you really, really start to dive into things.
And then this is all to keep you, or in some cases,
your passenger, safe.
So with all that being said,
if you need any wheels, tires or suspension
for your build, don't forget to check out
fitmentindustries.com, and drop a comment below
on what you'd like to see us cover next,
and if you haven't noticed,
we have a new T-shirt for the month and it's like really,
really frickin' dope.
You got, like, the raptor lookin' Godzilla on the back
playin' with the Skyline GT-R.
It's some cool stuff, not only is it a dope shirt,
but it also gets you entered in to win a free set
of Fortune Auto coilovers.
Check the description below, pick up the shirt,
get entered to win.
I'm Jones, we'll see you later.
Peace.
(techno music)