Deep Research

Deep Research is an AI-powered research assistant that searches the web and builds comprehensive reports tailored to your car and your goals. Instead of spending hours reading forums, comparing prices, and cross-referencing reviews, you get a structured report in minutes.

Starting research

Deep Research lives inside Crew Chief. Open Crew Chief, switch the composer from Ask to Research, and choose Start research. If Crew Chief is looking at one of your cars, that car is already selected when the research setup opens. Past reports takes you to your research library.

How it works

1. Pick a category -- Choose what you want to research (parts, tires, suspension, brakes, alignment, cooling, track prep, insurance, or a custom topic).
2. Select a car (optional) -- Link the research to a specific car from your garage so results are tailored to your exact vehicle. You can also skip this for general research.
3. Answer a few questions -- Each category has tailored questions to focus the research. For example, tires will ask about your driving style and budget; alignment will ask about your track preferences.
4. Wait for results -- The Research Director searches the web, synthesizes findings, and builds a structured report with multiple sections.
5. Read and chat -- Review the report cards, then ask follow-up questions in the chat panel to dig deeper.

Research categories

Insurance coverage scopes

Insurance research asks one extra question up front, because the three jobs need different research:

A garage review covers every car you own, so it doesn't ask you to pick one.

Insurance reports read the policies you've saved against each car, so the more complete those records are, the sharper the gap analysis. You can also paste your declarations page during setup if the saved record is thin.

Insurance reports also close with the same Find Track Insurance partner links you'll find on a car's insurance panel. Those are referral links -- using them supports TrackOut at no extra cost to you.

Insurance reports are educational research, not insurance advice. TrackOut isn't a licensed insurance producer, and coverage terms vary by carrier, state, and individual policy. Every insurance report carries this notice, and it stays on the PDF export. Confirm anything you read with the carrier or a licensed agent before relying on it.

Example use cases

Finding the right brake pads for a track day

Select Brakes, pick your car, and answer the kickoff questions about your driving level and budget. The Research Director will search for pads compatible with your car, compare street vs. track compounds, pull pricing from multiple vendors, and surface user reviews from forums. The final report includes an overview, options comparison, pricing table, and a specific recommendation.

Choosing tires for a dual-purpose street/track car

Select Tires and link your car. Tell it you want a 200-treadwear tire that works on the street and holds up at HPDE events. The report will compare popular options (RE-71RS, RT660, Rival S, etc.), include heat cycle data, pricing per tire, and a recommendation based on your priorities.

Setting up alignment for road course use

Select Alignment with your car attached. Specify that you run HPDE events and want a setup that is still streetable. The Research Director will pull recommended specs from forums, compare aggressive vs. conservative settings, and explain the trade-offs of camber, toe, and caster adjustments for your specific platform.

Checking whether you're covered on track

Pick Insurance & Coverage, choose Track day coverage, and tell it which events you're running. The report starts from the policies you've saved on the car, flags where a road-use policy typically stops applying on track, covers the per-event options, and ends with a list of questions to put to your agent.

General research without a car

Skip the car selection and choose Custom. Type any research topic -- for example, "best data loggers for track days under $500." The Research Director will search, compare options, and build a report with recommendations, even without a specific car attached.

Interactive reports

Completed research is also saved as a polished report under Research → Reports. Reports can include formatted sections, recommendations, comparisons, tabs, source lists, and interactive checklists. Crew Chief can create the same kind of report when you explicitly ask it for a durable guide, comparison, or printable brief.

Reports are private by default. Only your signed-in account can open a private report, even if someone else knows its URL.

Share a report publicly

Open a report and select Share publicly to create an unlisted public link. Publishing is always an explicit choice; neither Deep Research nor Crew Chief publishes a report automatically.

• Select Copy link to send the public report to someone else.
• Select Make private to revoke the public link immediately.
• Public readers can use tabs and checklists, but cannot change your report or access its source conversation and private vehicle records.

Research session cards

Each research session produces a set of report cards:

• Overview -- Summary of the research topic and key findings
• Options -- Detailed comparison of products, setups, or approaches
• Pricing -- Cost breakdown with vendor links where available
• Reviews -- User feedback and community opinions from forums and review sites
• Compatibility -- Fitment notes and vehicle-specific considerations
• Recommendation -- The Research Director's pick with reasoning

Not every session produces all card types -- the Research Director selects what is relevant to your topic.

Each card includes source links so you can verify findings and dig deeper on your own.

Download as PDF

A Download button in the report header exports the full report to a PDF -- every card, source links included -- so you can save it, share it with a shop, or read it offline. The button is available on desktop and mobile once the first report card has generated.

Download the report

Once at least one report card is complete, a download button in the session header lets you save the full report as a PDF. The export keeps the same structure as the on-screen report -- overview, options, pricing, reviews, compatibility, and recommendation -- so you can share it, print it, or keep it with other records for the car.

The download button is available on both desktop and mobile. On desktop, look for the download icon in the top action bar. On mobile, it appears next to the table-of-contents button in the chat panel header.

Chat follow-up

After the report is generated, a chat panel lets you ask follow-up questions. Your question appears as soon as you send it. The Research Director has full context of the report and can:

• Clarify details from the report
• Compare specific options in more depth
• Answer questions about compatibility or fitment
• Suggest next steps
• Reference your prior research reports when a follow-up question builds on past work
• Search TrackOut's documentation to answer questions about how app features work

If a reply cannot be completed, the chat shows a short error notice -- I couldn't finish that response. Please try again. -- instead of leaving an empty message row. Send the question again or rephrase it; your session and report stay intact.

Research library

All your research sessions and generated reports are saved in the Research Library. The Reports section includes artifacts produced by Deep Research and Crew Chief. Session cards continue to show the title, category, car name, status, and a short AI-generated summary.

Open the Research page (/research, under More in the sidebar) to see your library.

Tips for better research

• Be specific about your goals -- Instead of "research tires", tell it you want a 200-treadwear tire for HPDE use on a budget of $200 per tire. Specificity leads to more actionable results.
• Link a car when possible -- Attaching a car from your garage lets the Research Director factor in your exact year, make, model, and modifications when searching for compatibility.
• Use Custom for niche topics -- The preset categories cover the most common needs, but Custom lets you research anything -- data loggers, race seats, harness bars, track insurance, or training programs.
• Use the chat for follow-ups -- After reading the report, ask clarifying questions in the chat panel. The Research Director retains full context and can compare options, explain trade-offs, or dig into a specific recommendation.
• Save reports for later -- All research sessions are saved to your library automatically. Come back to revisit recommendations when you are ready to purchase.

Subscription tiers

Deep Research is available on paid plans: