Why the $10k budget on the DC4 is sacred
The easiest way to make a slow car fast is to spend money. So we made a rule that we are not allowed to. Here is what that has taught me.
There is a version of the Integra build where I open the laptop, order a built motor and a proper turbo kit, and we run a ten second pass in a month. Nobody would watch it, and I would learn nothing.
The constraint is the content. Ten grand, all in, and a strict rule: we are not allowed to spend our way out of a problem. When something breaks, we have to understand why it broke before we are allowed to replace it.
It is slower going. It is also the only way I know to actually get good at this. Cheap forces you to be clever, and clever is a skill that does not wear out the way a wallet does.
Round numbers next: the short block is in, the budget has $2,140 left, and the target has not moved an inch.
Jonathan Chow
Building & breaking cars since 2010