Does it make sense to have race upgrades?

I’m new to Forza, and I haven’t played every event, so maybe I’m missing something, but since this is a racing game, shouldn’t every car already have the race upgrade parts in the first place? Are all of them even necessary?

And as for the stock parts, who would race with stock parts?

Being as how the classes in this game are pi based. You want to come up with the best possible build to get the car to the top of the class you think the car will do best in. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a racing game completely as a lot of things resemble track days more. You have complete freedom to use all race parts but some like the idea of driving the car how it would come from the factory or how their personal car is upgraded.

Your best bet is to spend some time looking through the forums. For that you will be able to draw conclusions of your own as to how to progress in the game. Despite the best efforts of the maker this game is not completely arcade style so dependent on your priorities you may need to do a bit of tuning and building. There are plenty of players who like racing in stock trim. Lots of players have spent a long time developing tunes for every eventuality. Try some out to see what works for you.

Part of “the game” is upgrading and tuning your car. In career mode I found this to be great fun. Was even doing specific tunes for specific tracks. As you progress through career you’ll find the cars are pretty much already upgraded with few options but still need tuning to match your driving style.

As far as “this is a racing game all cars should be race cars” I have to disagree. Yes, it’s a racing game, but me and my friends actually enjoy racing the same cars at the same horsepower we own, have owned, wish to own, etc.

Just going to add that it has often been the case that making a car “faster” has also made the car worse. You can ruin balance and favourable handling/grip characteristics.

Upgrading and tuning in Forza can be a minefield, where you increase your Performance Index but end up with a car that is horrible to drive or unsuited to the track you are racing.

It’s quite possible to have a poorly built AND poorly tuned car that gets demolished by completely standard cars of a similar or even lower PI.

Your build is just as important as the tuning on the car. You will need to play with the build to find the best combination of parts that will deliver a competitive car. I will say that a race suspension and sport or race weight reduction are pretty much required to be competitive. Also, if upgrading to a race suspension, you will need to play with the spring rates, camber, and toe settings to accommodate any aditional power added. The default suspension settings for the race suspension are quite a bit stiffer than a stock suspension and as such will really change the cars ballance which will make it much more difficult to get the power down without spinning the tires.