Everyone wants more power. That's normal. But the most common mistake first-time track builders make is chasing horsepower before building reliability. The fastest car at any track day is the one that's still running at the end of it — and more often than not, the car that grenades on session two wasn't underpowered. It was underprepared.
We build track cars at C&D, from mild weekend setups to serious time-attack builds. Here's the order we recommend every time, regardless of budget.
Brakes first. Always. This isn't a cliché — it's the single most important upgrade you can make before taking a car to any track.
Track driving generates far more heat than street driving. A 10-minute session at Pikes Peak International Raceway or a driver education event at Pueblo Motorsports Park puts more thermal stress on your brakes than months of street use. Factory brake pads are formulated for quiet, low-dust street performance — they fade quickly under sustained track use, sometimes on the very first session.
Upgrade to a performance compound pad rated for track use. Hawk HP Plus, Carbotech XP10, or Pagid RS are common starting points depending on your vehicle's weight and power level. Flush the brake fluid to a fluid with a higher dry boiling point — Motul RBF600 or similar — because stock fluid will boil under track heat and give you a spongy, inconsistent pedal. Add stainless braided brake lines for consistent pedal feel across the operating temperature range.
This isn't optional and it's not something to do after a few "easy" track days to see if you really need it. You need it before the first session.
A car that handles well is faster than a car that's just powerful. Worn bushings, blown shocks, and sloppy alignment all hide horsepower and make the car unpredictable under load — and unpredictable under load at a track means danger, not just slow lap times.
Before any suspension upgrades, address anything worn. Replace any failed or deteriorated bushings, check all ball joints and tie rod ends, and replace shocks that are more than 3 years old or 50,000 miles. A car with shot suspension will not respond correctly to any upgrades you add — coilovers installed over worn subframe bushings and collapsed sway bar end links are not going to feel like coilovers.
Then get a proper alignment. Track alignments are different from street alignments — more negative camber (typically -1.5° to -2.5° depending on the platform), a bit more toe-out for responsiveness, and sometimes adjusted caster depending on what the platform responds to. These numbers keep the tire contact patch flat under cornering load, which is where your lap time actually comes from.
Coilovers are a significant upgrade if the budget allows, but they're not mandatory for a beginner setup. Better shocks on the stock suspension with a good alignment will outperform cheap coilovers every time.
Extended high-RPM operation is nothing like street driving. Oil temps, coolant temps, and transmission temps all climb fast under sustained track use — and they keep climbing between sessions if you're not actively managing them.
Add an oil cooler if your vehicle doesn't already have one. Oil temperature above 250°F starts to break down the film strength you need to protect bearings and cylinder walls. Many track failures diagnosed as "engine failures" are actually oil starvation events caused by oil that was too hot to maintain film strength — not a mechanical failure in the traditional sense.
Make sure your coolant system is in perfect shape. A small coolant leak that's been "not a big deal" on the street will be a big deal when you're running the engine hard. Check hoses, the radiator cap pressure rating, and the radiator core itself for any buildup that restricts flow.
Install gauges so you can monitor oil temperature and coolant temperature in real time. This isn't optional for track use — knowing that your oil temp is climbing and pulling off proactively saves the engine. Not knowing until it overheats does not.
A 400hp car that finishes every track day beats a 500hp car that grenades a transmission on the second session. Build reliability into every system before you chase peak output.
Fresh belts, hoses, and fluids. If you're building on a high-mileage car, address all the deferred maintenance first — track use will accelerate every failure that was already lurking. A timing belt that was "close enough" at 100,000 miles is not close enough at redline for an extended session.
Get a solid tune, not an aggressive one. If you're running any modified engine, a conservative tune optimized for reliability at operating temperatures will serve you better at the track than a tune chasing peak dyno numbers at ambient. Engines run leaner and hotter under track conditions than on a dyno — tune for that reality.
A fire extinguisher is not optional. A proper mounting bracket that puts it within reach from the driver's seat, not stuffed under the passenger seat. Halon-replacement dry chemical or clean-agent extinguishers are both acceptable; the important thing is that it's there and accessible.
If you're getting serious about track use, add a proper harness and a roll bar or cage appropriate for your power level and the type of events you're running. HPDE events have different requirements than time attack or wheel-to-wheel racing — check the rules for the events you're planning to run.
Once the chassis, brakes, cooling, and reliability foundation are solid — then talk about forced induction, cams, or head work. Power built on top of that foundation is fast and fun. Power built on top of neglected systems is just expensive to break.
The Colorado altitude factor: naturally aspirated engines lose roughly 3% power per 1,000 feet of elevation. At 6,000 feet in Colorado Springs, you're starting with about 18% less power than at sea level. This makes boost especially appealing here — a well-tuned turbo or supercharger recovers that altitude penalty and then adds more. But it also means that cooling systems need to be sized appropriately, as thin air means less cooling capacity from the same radiator surface area.
C&D builds track cars — from mild weekend setups to serious builds. If you're planning a build, call us early at (719) 618-4889. Getting the foundation right from the start is always cheaper than fixing it after you've already bought power parts that your chassis and cooling system can't support.
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