What separates one street-legal, race-ready kit car from another? What separates the winners from the also-rans? What separates one car that purrs with skin-tingling excitement from one that leaves us flat? It can be argued, of course, that the personality and the driving and mechanical skills of the driver/builder makes the difference. But on the track, one can argue that horsepower and performance makes winners out of Second Place finishers.
At last year’s Run And Gun, we found 10 kit cars that were outfitted with power-plus. We followed those smokin’ kits around to report on what the drivers do, how they do it, and why they did it.
On the surface, one may think that size counts—engine size. Well, it does, but that’s not all that counts. Setup, accompaniments, modifications, and tweaks all make for more power.
What follows in the sidebars below are the setups of these cars and the combinations that these builder/drivers believe will bring them the checkered flag, as well as that thundering engine growl that raises the goosebumps on car and engine enthusiasts worldwide.