On a whim I'd guess taking the boost pads is better because there's a row of 4 (and that's a pretty substantial boost), and if it's not actually faster it's probably temporarily safer since you're saving 15% of your shield per lap (useful in a chaotic/aggressive race I guess) and momentarily out of any real immediate line-of-fire.


I've always tried to take the cut, but if you *really* want to find out which is faster then try some speed laps and see what gets you the better lap time.