11 min readUpdated 2026-08-10By Torn Intel

Torn Racing Upgrades Guide: What to Buy in Every Class

Most racing guides optimise for one thing: reaching class A as fast as possible, collecting your merits, and walking away. That works, but it leaves you at class A with an empty points balance and a car you cannot finish upgrading, which makes staying competitive afterwards painful.

This guide takes the other route. It gets you to class A while making sure you arrive with 266 points, exactly enough to fully upgrade a car and keep racing. The cost is patience: you will spend a little longer in the lower classes than a pure speedrun.

The whole plan rests on one number, the ratio of stats gained per point spent. Buy in ratio order and every point works as hard as it can. The tables below are sorted for you, so you never have to work it out mid-race.

How the ratio works

Every upgrade has a cost in racing points and a payoff in car stats. Divide the second by the first and you get its ratio. A ratio of 4.0 means four times the return of a 1.0 upgrade for the same point, which is why Strip Out, at ratio 4.0, is the first thing you buy in every single class.

Always buy in descending ratio order

Work down from the highest ratio to the lowest. This is the single rule that matters. Two upgrades that cost the same number of points can differ by a factor of twenty in what they actually give you, and the expensive-looking one is often the better deal.

Cost in points and value are only loosely related. Never pick by price alone.

Ignore anything that only buys safety

Some upgrades pay out almost entirely in safety, which does nothing for your racing skill gain. Uprated Gaskets is the clearest example, one safety point for the spend. Skip it while you are climbing.

Front Mounted Intercooler is a judgement call

On paper it sits at ratio 0.67, but part of that payoff is safety rather than performance. Treat it as a 0.50 upgrade when you decide where it falls in your buying order, that is where it lands in the tables below.

Ideal path vs custom path

Each class below has two columns, and they answer two different questions. Read this section before using the tables, mixing the two up is the easiest way to waste points.

The ideal path assumes you start fresh

It is grouped by category (Engine, Brakes, Exhaust, and so on) so you can find an upgrade quickly in Torn's own interface. It assumes you arrive in each class with the exact points listed and that you have never wrecked a car and lost upgrades. It is a lookup aid, not a buying order.

The custom path is the real buying order

It is sorted strictly by ratio, best first. If you already race and have fewer points than the ideal path expects, work down this column and stop when you run out. You will have spent everything on the highest-value upgrades available.

When in doubt, follow the custom column. It is correct in both situations.

Getting back on track after a shortfall

Say you reach class C with 78 points instead of the ideal 84. Work down the custom column and skip the last two three-point upgrades. You finish the class with the 171 points class B expects, and you are back on the ideal path with nothing wasted.

Class E: the first point

There is exactly one thing to buy here, and it is the best-value upgrade in the entire game at ratio 4.0.

Class E: 1 point total
Upgrade	Category	Ratio	Points
Strip Out	Weight Reduction	4.0	1

Class D: 24 points required

Fifteen points spent, nine banked. Fast Road Tyres is the standout buy: six points for a ratio of 1.0, and it carries you through the early classes.

Class D: buying order (15 points spent)
Order	Upgrade	Ratio	Points
1	Strip Out	4.0	1
2	Fast Road Tyres	1.0	6
3	Polished Throttle Body	1.0	4
4	Uprated Air Filter Element	1.0	2
5	Back Box	1.0	2

Class C: 84 points required

The first class where the ratio ordering really earns its keep. Track/Rally Tyres at 1.50 comes before everything except Strip Out, and the 0.67 tier at the bottom is where most of your points go.

Class C: buying order (63 points spent)
Order	Upgrade	Ratio	Points
1	Strip Out	4.0	1
2	Track/Rally Tyres	1.50	6
3	Competition Polished Throttle Body	1.0	6
4	Full Exhaust System	1.0	6
5	Uprated Air Filter Element	1.0	2
6	Stage One Turbo Kit	0.67	12
7	Grooved & Drilled Brake Discs	0.67	6
8	Competition Racing Fuel Pump	0.67	6
9	Uprated Forged Pistons	0.67	6
10	Ultra-Light Flywheel	0.67	6
11	Fixed Rear Spoiler	0.67	3
12	Ported and Polished Head	0.67	3

Class B: 171 points required

The longest climb, at 130 points. Bored Out Engine & Forged Pistons appears here at ratio 1.33 and is worth buying early. Note where Front Mounted Intercooler sits: demoted into the 0.50 tier because part of its payoff is safety.

Class B: buying order (130 points spent)
Order	Upgrade	Ratio	Points
1	Strip Out	4.0	1
2	Track/Rally/Rally-Cross Tyres	1.50	6
3	Bored Out Engine & Forged Pistons	1.33	6
4	Competition Polished Throttle Body	1.0	6
5	Forced Induction Kit	1.0	6
6	Full Exhaust System	1.0	6
7	Stage Two Turbo Kit	0.83	12
8	Adjustable Rear Spoiler	0.83	6
9	Paddle Shift/Rally Gearbox (Long/Short)	0.70	10
10	Grooved & Drilled Brake Discs	0.67	6
11	Competition Racing Fuel Pump	0.67	6
12	Stainless Steel 4-1 Manifold	0.67	6
13	Ultra-Light Flywheel	0.67	6
14	Ported and Polished Head	0.67	3
15	Coil-over Suspension (Hard/Soft/Medium)	0.50	8
16	4 Pot Uprated Brakes	0.50	8
17	Competition Racing Brake Pads	0.50	6
18	Air Cooling Ducts for Brakes	0.50	6
19	Front Mounted Intercooler	0.50	6
20	4 Pin Differential	0.50	4
21	Air Forced Engine Cooling	0.50	4
22	Quick Shift	0.50	2

Class A: 266 points, the full build

This is where the plan pays off. Arriving with 266 points means you can complete the car rather than stalling halfway. The tail of this list drops to ratio 0.17, and that is fine, by then you are buying the last pieces of a finished build, not chasing efficiency.

Class A: buying order (266 points spent)
Order	Upgrade	Ratio	Points
1	Strip Out	4.0	1
2	Track/Rally/Rally-Cross Tyres	1.50	6
3	Bored Out Engine & Forged Pistons	1.33	6
4	Custom Forced Induction Kit	1.33	6
5	Competition Polished Throttle Body	1.0	6
6	Full Exhaust System	1.0	6
7	Adjustable Rear Spoiler	0.83	6
8	Competition Racing Camshaft	0.83	6
9	Super Octane Fuel plus Nitrous	0.83	6
10	Front Diffuser	0.75	8
11	Rear Diffuser	0.75	8
12	Paddle Shift/Rally Gearbox (Long/Short)	0.70	10
13	Grooved & Drilled Brake Discs	0.67	6
14	Competition Racing Fuel Pump	0.67	6
15	Stainless Steel 4-1 Manifold	0.67	6
16	Ultra-Light Flywheel	0.67	6
17	Ported and Polished Head	0.67	3
18	Adjustable Coil-over/Group N Rally Suspension	0.63	8
19	Stage Three Turbo Kit	0.61	18
20	6 Pot Uprated Brakes	0.60	10
21	Stage Three Remap	0.60	10
22	Air Cooling Ducts for Brakes	0.50	6
23	Competition Racing Brake Pads	0.50	6
24	Front Mounted Intercooler	0.50	6
25	4 Pin Differential	0.50	4
26	Air Forced Engine Cooling	0.50	4
27	Quick Shift	0.50	2
28	Ultra Lightweight Alloys	0.38	6
29	Competition Race Clutch	0.33	6
30	Lightweight Flocked Dash	0.33	6
31	Polycarbonate Windows	0.33	6
32	Carbon Fiber Boot	0.33	6
33	Carbon Fiber Roof	0.33	6
34	Carbon Fiber Bonnet	0.33	6
35	Fast Road Brake Fluid	0.25	4
36	Braided Brake Hoses	0.25	4
37	Polyurethane Bushes Front	0.25	4
38	Polyurethane Bushes Rear	0.25	4
39	Upper Front Strut Brace	0.25	4
40	Lower Front Strut Brace	0.25	4
41	Rear Strut Brace	0.25	4
42	Adjustable Rear Control Arms	0.25	4
43	Front Adjustable Tie Rods	0.25	4
44	Racing Steering Wheel	0.25	4
45	Brake Balance Bias Control	0.17	6

Points checkpoints

Use this as a quick sanity check. If you are short at the start of a class, work down that class's custom column and stop when your points run out, you will catch up by the next checkpoint.

Points needed on entry, and spent per class
Class	Points on entry	Spent in class
E	1	1
D	24	15
C	84	63
B	171	130
A	266	266

Things that will cost you points

A few habits separate people who reach class A on plan from people who arrive short and stuck.

Wrecking your car destroys upgrades

Every upgrade lost is points spent twice. The ideal path assumes a clean run. If you wreck, treat your next class as a custom-path class and rebuild from the top of the ratio list.

Do not buy by category

Torn's interface groups upgrades by category, which quietly encourages you to finish a section before moving on. That is the most common way to burn points on 0.25 upgrades while 1.0 upgrades sit unbought in another menu.

Skipping the low tiers in class A is fine

If you are content stopping short of a fully finished car, the 0.25 and 0.17 upgrades are the ones to leave. They are the least efficient in the game, just be aware that is the trade you are making.

Upgrade costs and stat payoffs are taken from Torn's own racing data and reflect community testing by racers who mapped the points-per-stat ratios. Torn occasionally rebalances racing, so verify a ratio in-game before committing a large spend.