
Getting Used to Big Power
From It's Not the Car by Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
May 27, 2026 · 46 min · Season 3 · Episode 107
About this episode
The episode explores the differences in driver performance across various car types and the mental aspects of handling increased speed and power.
Why are some drivers fast in everything? What makes a person quick in Miatas but not Mustangs—or vice versa? How do the pros wrap their heads around big jumps in speed, power, and risk? This is show about many things. Precision. Restraint. A Corvette Z06 walloping into the climbing esses at VIR. That feeling you get when everything is right and nothing is wrong, at least not anything important, and you are up on the tire and the sky is awash in blue. “Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube.” This show changes format every episode, because squirrel. This format is a new one—we call it ROSS AND SAM DISSECT THE OBVIOUS. *** This episode was produced by Sam Smith. As always, thanks to our friends at BFGoodrich for supporting the show! ** Who We Are + Spicy Merch: www.ItsNotTheCar.com ** Support It’s Not the Car: Contribute on Patreon www.patreon.com/notthecar ** Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think! INTCPod@gmail.com ** Check out Sam's book! Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and…
People in this episode
Hosts: Sam Smith, Ross Bentley, Jeff Braun
Topics covered
- driving speed
- performance cars
- racing techniques
- driver psychology
- car handling
Keywords
- driving
- performance
- speed
- power
- racing
- cars
- driver skills
Sponsors
BFGoodrich
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023
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