When I used to auto-x, sometimes we’d share a car or a “better” driver would drive my car and you can get a sense of how much more time you can get from your vehicle…Again, tires make a world of difference and a lot of times, you can even tell when you car’s tires are losing grip. You notice it just pushes or you have to wait a lot more when the tires are old/hard/etc…before you can turn or recover.
If this other driver has suspension and tires, that’s really all you need as I mentioned in my earlier post. Car power is not that important on the auto-x vs. say a track or something. Like you don’t see Nissan GTRs do that well since the car is big/heavy.
This is why you see people go through the massive hassle of trailering tires on all manner of cars even the Miata to these events.
If I win lotto, I will be autocrossing again. 😉 Maybe with a flatbed and a truck!