Q: “Have you ever seen a driver in a low-powered car practice in a high-powered one, and then get slower in their usual, low-powered car?”

A: Yes, and the opposite, too. If a driver relies too much on the power to get them out of minor mistakes… well, that doesn’t work in a low-powered car because it’s hard to get the momentum back. Drivers of high-powered cars sometimes rely too much on all that torque to make up for bad habits.

I’ve also recommended to a driver of a high-powered car that they practice in a low-power car. Yes, the answer is always Miata!  By improving one’s ability to carry momentum through corners, that’ll even make a high-powered car faster. After all, no matter how much torque/power a car has, it’s always better to begin accelerating from a higher speed.

This is a bit like an athlete who cross-trains. You become more adaptable, and have more ways of going fast, rather than relying on only one.

I think that if driving a lower- or higher-powered car leads to being slower, that’s a great learning opportunity. If that’s you, then ask yourself why, and work through figuring out how to be fast again in the original car. That will make you faster, no matter what you drive.