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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mcglsr2" data-source="post: 1317465" data-attributes="member: 15705">I can totally back up what RichV is saying on two separate occasions: 1) I was at Sebring in a HPDE (1) session with a guy in a 2007 Mustang GT/CS.  Those cars have 300 hp /320 tq - my car had 185 whp /240 tq (I had it dyno'd).  I was faster than him.  So he had at least 100 whp more than I did.  The driver came up to me and asked me what I had done to the car, and how much power I had.  At that point, I had good brakes, and an okay suspension set-up.  When I told him 185 to the wheels he called me a liar and walked away.  I'm pretty sure his car was stock (stock brakes, stock suspension).2) Again at Sebring, I was pitted next to a BMW 335i - I talked with the guy about what he had done.  This was the twin-turbo 6 cyl, with an under-rated 306 hp / 295 tq.  IIRC, he had some tuning done, and I think upgraded intercoolers (don't remember if the turbos were stock or not).  He took some videos in his car of the sessions, and I got the youtube link for them.  They show me passing him.The point is, both cars should have munched me - 50/50 on the Mustang GT/CS because no brakes, no suspension; but the BMW should have destroyed me.  But they didn't.  If I were to drag race them, yes, I would lose.  But I didn't lose going around a track.  I learned a lot, and had a blast.  With a measly 185 whp.  I noticed some issues with the car while I was there, and decided to fix them.  The issue?  Nope, it wasn't power - I did not work on the engine next.  Instead, I bought coil-overs.  Because the car was rolling too much, and diving too much in the braking zones.  There is more speed to be had on the corners, and I couldn't get at it because the car was fighting me too much/I wasn't skilled enough.  Now, I didn't have enough power on the straights.  Fact.  And this will be addressed.  But the straights weren't the current issue.  It was the handling.In summary, you can have a lot of fun with your car with stock power, and you will learn tons.  If I had more power, I would have gotten into a lot more trouble in the corners, and because I could have powered through the straights, it would have been harder for me to realize that I wasn't getting everything I could out of the corners.  Don't think your car is slow because you have stock power - UNLESS you drag race.  If all you do is drag race, you will hate it, I promise this.  Driving down the highway, I had a Mazdaspeed3 line up next to me wanting to play.  I didn't, because I would have gotten destroyed.  But I was still smiling, because I knew if we got on a track, I probably would have surprised him.  And that's good enough for me. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>