027: Why the R35 GTR is a BAD time attack car

On this week's episode of the High Performance Academy Tuned In podcast, Andre is joined by Time Attack and Pikes Peak veteran Cole Powelson of Lyfe Motorsport.

Cole has a lot of experience when it comes to making all sorts of vehicles go as fast as possible through chassis, suspension, engine, and aerodynamic development and as such, has plenty to say on what makes a quick car and how to achieve it.

The guys start by talking about Cole's unlikely come up through the motorsport world, and how it was always about figuring out how he could engineer his life around getting behind the wheel of a race car – if that meant crewing for teams, training as a tech, using other people's money, or starting his own business, he was all about it. With that in mind, Cole discusses the prohibitive costs of motorsport and the ways that this limiting factor can be minimized. 

Cole also talks about his two companies, Lyfe Motorsport and Sierra Cars. Lyfe facilitates the complete build of bespoke race cars – that means fabrication, engineering, and development – and can take one to two years with everything done in house, while Sierra cars produces incredibly trick open wheel cross-kart style weapons that untilise screaming Hayabusa drivetrains and plenty of trick engineering. Many lessons have been learnt along the way in both of these businesses, and Cole is happy to share them. 

There is, of course, plenty of discussion to be had around time attack and hill climbing, as well as Cole's thoughts on the R35 GTR platform – with which he holds numerous time attack records and is currently in the midst of building a new project that is powered by a 6-litre Ford Powerstroke – as well as the huge importance and benefits of properly-designed aero. 

Cole is a wealth of knowledge and we enjoyed his frank and open take on all things speed – there are plenty of golden nuggets in this episode for anyone who's interested in going fast!