As the direct link between engine and gearbox, having a suitable clutch is fundamental to enjoyment and reliability on track. Consideration of clutch life and capacity is particularly important when considering performance upgrades for your engine, increasing the power output significantly could be enough to overwhelm a standard or higher mileage clutch causing it to slip! Upgrading the clutch in itself will not result in performance gains but will equip your car to reliably handle power upgrades and the extreme forces involved in track driving.

Choosing a clutch is specific to the level of modification of your car and your intended use. For entry level track cars the standard specification clutch in good condition will be capable of handling occasional track use. From here there are performance clutches with upgraded friction plates and higher clamping force clutch plates that are suited to higher power, high torque applications capable of handling more aggressive gear changes at higher engine speeds. There is also the option of paddle clutches which are geared towards aggressive launches from standstill – the sort of extreme practice required for a race start. At the top end of the spectrum there is multi-plate clutches which compromise multiple friction discs stacked in order to multiply the capacity of the assembly as a whole.

An upgraded differential provides significant improvements in grip for all types of drivetrains. There are a few variations in design, but the clue is in the name with limited-slip differentials (LSD) and their common goal is to reduce wheel slip/spin as much as possible. When it comes to circuit driving the benefits of a performance differential will be felt most in the corners, the way in which an LSD distributes torque to the wheels means that when cornering quickly power is transmitted to the side with the most traction. This results in far more stable, quicker cornering compared to the open differential often fitted from factory which maintains a 50/50 torque split meaning overall torque is reduced as the car starts to roll in high-speed corners picking up its inside wheel.

The type of LSD best for you will depend on the usage of the vehicle, the more performance biased the differential the more compromised for road use it is. The 2 common types of differential: Torson and Plated. Torson (ATB) differentials are a complex arrangement of gears which automatically torque bias to the output with the most grip rather than the least, this combined with overall strength and general road-friendly nature make the Torson LSD an obvious choice for a road going track car. For those who are particularly committed and/or fast, the limit of a Torson diff is found when one wheel leaves the ground completely!

At this point you will need a plated LSD, these compromise various friction plates limiting slip, much the same way a clutch works, and just like performance clutches, a heavily uprated plated LSD can be quite harsh in its operation, locking quickly and making the car juddery when driving slowly; as well as making the car more of a handful when accelerating hard due to its ability to immediately transmit the power with no slip. Just like a clutch, plated diffs can wear over time with hard use and big power, but most popular models can easily be rebuilt, and plated diffs remain the LSD of choice for all motorsport applications with their ability for easier adjustment depending on requirements (locking ability on acceleration and deceleration).