In the words of my first driving instructor "smooth is fast". I vote high performance driving school to max the limits of your skill matched to your car as is. Probably save you some money (as in avoid expensive repairs after a crash).

 

Thank you sir... and good approach:P

I'll make a vid soon for the PSE-Shark-pipe combo!

 

find good local mechanic who is authorized by PCA to do tech inspections for PCA DEs. establish good relationships with his shop. Make sure he has plenty of customers who bring their track prepped gt3 and cup cars to him for service.

then do an alignment at his shop to max out front camber and reduce front/rear toe, at same time you can put on adjustable rear toe arms from Tarett, other than that keep car stock and do some AX and DE events until you`ll get a better idea of what you want to do with this car.

as you will progress:

perfomance priority #1 is suspension. if you got 'S' or base car - you essentiually want to bring it close to GT3 car. options do vary, search around. remember that you cannot build a cup car out of street tub anyway, so, it is good to know when to stop.
#2 is safety systems and seats. recaro or gt3 stock buckets, rollbar, harness, HANS
#3 is drivetrain. with some experience you`ll see that most track people simply keep it stock. 'safe' first stage mods are 200 cell cats, sport mufflers, X51 headers, ECU flash. Stage 2 are aftermarket clutch, LWFW, internal engine mods, FI systems.

 

Looking forward to the vid, but REALLY looking forward to getting my Bypass package! I can't wait to get it in and installed.

 

- DE
- Better brake pads
- Better tires
- Swap control arms to get more camber
- Stiffer Sway bars

 

OEM Short Shifter (if you have a manual)

 

IMO,as stated above get to know a tech. he will give you the best opinions, based on knowledge!

 

Thick sport steering wheel and short shifter.

 

Your first mods will be determined by your focus, interests and tastes. From my brief experience, I suggest:
1. Driving events and/or driving schools - your car in stock form is very capable. Just completed my first track day and that is the best thing you can do. What a blast that was. Events through POC, PCA, etc are about $150/day or about $250/weekend.
2. Daily driver - short shifter kit. Once you drive an SSK, you will not want any other shifter. Everyone I test drove had SSK, but then I drove a friends car without, it felt like I was driving my brother's 80s corolla. Also, an exhaust would be nice - stock is too quiet. I will be installing some modified stock mufflers (currently at the muffler shop). This is a pretty reasonable & cost effective mod if you enjoy exhaust notes. This will be $250 (got stock mufflers from ebay and mod from muffler shop). I will install the mufflers myself.
3. Looks - new set of wheels and lowering. The high end wheels are lighter than stock which improves performance AND handling. I replaced Carrera Classics with Carrera Sports and noticed an immediate reduction in performance (Sports are heavier than Classics. The Sports are my wheel of choice, but if I knew beforehand the performance difference, I would have had 2nd thoughts and consider HREs or Champion Wheels). Live and learn, but love the look . There are body kits, but I am not a big fan - I prefer the factory lines.
4. Track oriented - the sky is the limit, but all the folks I talk to say the same thing - you will just compromise your car (especially if it is a daily driver). You want a better car at the track, it will be worse on the street. If it is a weekend only car, then lowering it, rims, tires, suspension is something you can live with or want.

There are many options, but I hope you find some value in it. I left mine pretty stock for the first 2 years (with the exception of the upgraded Carrera Sport wheels)...now the bug is starting to hit!
Good luck with customizing your car to your standards!

 

Echo the usefulness of a few PCA DE sessions first. Then start mod your car and feel the difference.

 

Driver training + Lightweight 18" wheels

 

Center exhaust bypass should be mandatory, IMHO... Sharkwerks.