Andy's tips are indeed great. I should have stressed this more:
A good driver is better than a good car. I routinely beat Corvettes, BMWs, Miatas, RX-8s, and more, because I (try to) do those things, and the new (or just stubborn) drivers in the "faster" cars don't. They may even be using 100% of the Corvettes acceleration and cornering, but if they're asking more of the car than the course demands (that is, they have a poor line), they will be slow - sometimes very, very slow.
Case in point:
STS Philip Maynard 95 Ford Contour 45.891
ASP XXXXX XXXXXXXX 99 Corvette 47.026
CSP XXXXX XXXXXXXX 95 Mazda Miata 48.641
SS XXXXX XXXXXXXX 05 Lotus elise 46.552
DM XXXXX XXXXXXXX 89 Sabre7 45.113
Yes, the 7 beat me, but it's a Louts 7! He should have been worlds ahead of me, like this guy was:
SS XXXXX XXXXXXXX 04 Corvette Z06 41.414 (FTD)
I also have lost to a few Foci, a Neon ACR, a stock Cooper S, and a bunch of other cars because they had pilots that were absolutely spot-on.
So, the moral of the story: Show up in anything, and if you can drive you'll do quite well. Following Andy's comments regarding driving will get you 90% of the way there.
