SETUP It all comes down to winning. Your driving skills are only half of the equation. How your car stacks up is the other half.

So you want to increase performance. XCar is the game that lets you customize more features and components than any other racing sim. All the numbers, and data, and components can be mind numbing at first and not all of us have PhD's in Car Modification. The three main things you want to boost are basically your speed, your tire grip, and your handling. Unfortunately, they all seem to affect one another, so if you increase one, another area might decrease in performance. This section is to aid you in milking the most from your car. This section is meant to supplement the hefty manual that comes with the game.

HANDLING
Controlling your car is obviously an important issue. The driver needs to be able to have full control of his/her car at all times. Precision driving is key, and .1 second is all the difference between winning the race or taking home consolation prizes. It could also mean the difference between hugging the wall or become one with it.

• Understeering
  
• Oversteering
  
• Balance
  
• Suspension
  
• Spring Rate
  
• Dampers
  
• Roll Bars
  
• Roll Arm
  
• Braking
  

TIRE GRIP
Most folks don't know that tire grip is one of the most important issues in racing. The more contact your tire has with the road, the better the overall driving capabilities. While often times the compromise to better grip is lower top speed, finding the happy medium between these two can decrease your lap time by seconds through better cornering, acceleration, and braking. Below is the list of things that can increase tire contact with the road:

• Tire Temperature
  
• Tire Size (width)
  
• Tire Pressure
  
• Camber
  
• TOE
  
• Stagger
  
• Rain Tires vs Dry Tires
  

INCREASING AERODYNAMICS
You want to fly like the wind. You want to cut through the air like a hot knife through butter. There are several components that can affect the aerodynamics of a racecar.

INCREASING TOP SPEED
Everyone eventually wants to beat the speed record. But keep in mind that flat out speed isn't the key to winning. Most tracks won't even allow you to ever reach the top speed your car can handle. But for those speed demons that want to break the speed record in an experimental car, there are some things you can adjust to reach that goal:

• Engine power
  
• Gear Ratio
  
• Note that the best place to test the top speed of your car is the Speed Track, a test track designed specifically to let you tear up the road.
  

INTERPRETING THE TELEMETRY DATA
Telemetry data is useful when setting up your car and studying your race performance in the VCR mode.