folsomlarry

I know this question has been asked more than a couple of times, but on is a little different.

I have never owned a performance car with an automatic. After allmost twenty years of SCCA racing and lots of street driving so shifting is something you do without thinking.

I have a 2000 FRC that I do not really want to do track day events with. I have been looking for a C4 or C3 that I could use for a commute and track day car.

I have seen several great C4s with fresh engines and automatics. I am only going to do 3 or 4 track days a years, so am I just too set in my thoughts? Is an automatic that bad for just doing a couple of events a year? There are a couple of C4s I am looking at, one is a stock manual with 94,000 miles on it while the other has a new engine, suspension and an auto? Both are about the same price.

I have been accused of over thinking everything, so this is probably a good example of it.

Any input would help, since most of you do some sort of racing.

Larry

Bill Dearborn

If all you are doing is a couple of days per year just use your FRC. An automatic can be used but they have a bad habit of shifting at the wrong time. Just at the time you want to accelerate by slowing increasing the throttle the damned thing downshifts and throws a lot more torque on the back wheels just when you don't want it. Or if you try and downshift before a turn you get into the tricky job of trying to determine added throttle and downshift timing so the downshift occurs without breaking loose the rear wheels. Of course the tranny times it differently everytime you try it which makes for more fun.

A C4 would be better than a C3. There a lot of cooling issues with C3s as they are just barely able to run on the street and keep cool although as with anything money can solve the problem.

Bill

outnumbered

A friend of mine uses his c4 LT1 auto. The first time out, h overheated the tranny and blew fluid out. He added a cooler and it was fine on the next event. However the ambient temps were cooler on the second event.

wallyman424

even if you dont mind the shifting/non-downshifting of an auto, you have to deal with heat problems. most guys with autos have a problem with sessions longer than 20 minutes, and sometimes even less in the summer heat.

it might be better with a deep dish pan and a cooler.

Tintin

You can disable the "automatic" part of the transmission quite easily and shift it manually. This is a good compromise as it will be like a manual without the clutch and will be predictable in the turns.... and can be really fast.. (see Jim Hall and Chaparral...)

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-haljim.html

CF6873

I ran a 94 automatic at 7-8 track days in the last couple of years. But after the first one I added a trans cooler and Dewitts radiator to keep it from overheating. The only negative was it shifting at inapropriate places on the track.

AU N EGL

automatics need to be shifted anway. Downshift at the end of a brake zone before a corner.

Then the added cooling is needed, transmission coolers that come stock ar not up to the task, so a bigger transmission cooler is needed.

folsomlarry

Thanks for the information. Like I said, I never even thought about buying an automatic for the street so the thought buying one and then using it for a couple of track days is something I would not have thought about a couple of days ago.

I just happened to see one that is a great car and has an automatic so I was thinking that I might be able to get by with it.

Larry

95jersey

Sell your FRC, take the money you were going to buy the C4 with and buy C6Z51 or C6Z06. You will NEVER be happy with an auto at the track no matter how hard you try. It will become an expensive lesson in fustration.

I personally see these cars/toys as nothing more than carpets (no matter how expensive/nice, they all wear out, become old and dingy, need constant repair/cleaning, and eventually stop serving their purpose) and should be replaced. In the end with repair costs and resale, you will save more money by buying something newer, thats under warranty and in the end have MUCH more fun than trying to strong arm some POS C4, while paying an exorbitant amount to keep it running.

My C4 use to break down ever other month under street driving conditions, can't imagine under track conditions!?!?! I would be mad at myself if I had to put several grand a year into a car that was losing value and didn't perform as well as a cheap modern japense car.

I know this sounds brash and opinionated, but I felt I needed to cut through the BS on this one.

If you stil looking to keep your FRC and buy a cheap track car, do yourself a favor and stay away from Corvettes (especially C4). I would lease or buy a reliable *** car (eg. 350Z) which would surely outperform a C4.

2000BSME

I use one, and with the appropriate tuning, it is a blast. It didn't take my just a few hours to figure out how to rid the annoying 3-2 downshift (with HPTuners)... now it behaves like I want it to. I would highly recommend it.

(I think stick drivers are gluttons for punishment anyway, especially if a stick is their 'daily driver')