justinn

If any of you are interested in the layout of COTA in Austin... here is a video of last weekend before the clutch imploded on itself. I was a bit tired as I had a scheduling conflict and ended up having to travel ~20+ hours from Shanghai to make it to the track sans sleep

Be sure and watch in HD.... much clearer.




Car mods:
Stance Coilovers
C6 Zo6 sway bars
trans, diff, oil coolers
Dewitts radiator
Pirelli slicks
DTC70/60 pads
3qt Accusump
~420whp

a host of other things, but those are the majors....

yakisoba

what did you think of the event?

justinn

I actually thought it was great... very laid back, and the coordinators(Karen and Trevor?) did an excellent job in tending to the needs(and wants) of everyone there. Great organization, and I kinda liked the slightly shorter sessions with it being Texas in summer. They also did their best to coordinate the groups by car and driver skill level which definitely showed in the video(minus a couple of really underpowered cars). I would definitely attend another event of theirs.

Justin

1991Z07

This was a first for me as well...been quite a few years out of it, but she placed me in the yellow group which is where I should have been. Only the very fastest in our group passed me by...cars with ~200 HP more than me (like the Ferrari's and such).

I had a blast...just ran out of brake pads before the end. Burned up a brand new set that came with my Wilwoods.

justinn

Awesome! What type of car were you in(sounds like an LS motor)? It's hard to tell from the video(at least it's hard for me to tell). I was in Garage 12 with a white GT3 and Orange McLaren. In case you couldn't tell, it was the red C5(I was in the red group).

I have been to 3 events(by 3 different promoters) at that track, and I can say that this event was at Least as well run(and fun) as the others. I really like the relaxed atmosphere, and for the most part, people got out of my way <---- this says that their situational awareness is high(i.e. tenured track rats).

Justin

63Corvette

Great video Justin, and thanks for posting. I have a couple of questions.
1) You appear to short shift to 4th for the turn 2/turn 3 complex, so I wondered why?
2) My racecar is a 63, but my street car sometimes tracked is a C5 like yours. So my clutch sticks to the floor (I do the Ranger method) after 20 minutes or so on the track. I wondered if you have that problem, or if not, what you have done to mitigate it? Your driving looks fine to me. I have raced at Cota in last year's SVRA National Championships.

justinn

I knew someone would catch that, and on the double(or triple) apex sweeper most of the time as well. Good eye

It really just has to do with how I feel at the time Even though I have an accusump, I tend to really despise long sweepers(especially off camber ones) because of the potential oil pickup issues. Every once in a while(when I want to turn a really good lap) I might hold 3rd, but it usually involves me shifting with the car loaded; I sacrifice very little, time wise, to short shift on the long loaded sweepers like that. It also helps to keep the oil a bit cooler on these hot summer days we have here. I was 265-270 oil temps with the largest oil cooler you can shoehorn into there And that was after ~20 minutes. Pretty sure I would be well over 300 if I was driving hard and stayed out longer than 25-30 minutes.

I am running a Mcleod RXT, stock slave/TO bearing with Tick remote bleeder, and I also use the Ranger method pretty much anytime I am under the hood. The shop is pulling my car apart as we speak, but I suspect the torque tube bearings took out the pilot bearing, which took out the clutch/TO bearing. Initially there was so much noise(and grinding) I thought I grenaded the transmission. I have not had a problem with the clutch dropping to the floor on the corvette, but IIRC on previous cars, it was heat X rpm related. This would lend itself to the lines/TO bearing/slave being overheated, and turning higher rpm. Do you have headers? This used to happen on other platforms with the same type clutch system(although it was an aftermarket Tilton 4 plate setup) so I am vaguely familiar with it. We tried many different "fixes" including modifying the fluid orifice(larger and smaller), a "helper" spring on the pedal mechanism, and heat coatings on various parts of the clutch and exhaust components. In the end, it got better, but never truly disappeared. We were turning ~10k on that setup though. I find it really odd that only some of the C5's have that issue, and others don't. Are you on a factory clutch?

I also used to vintage race a 60's Alfa Romeo Giulia back in the very late 80s, early 90s. My father had a GTV Sprint and a GTA that he used to "campaign"... and by campaign, I mean use me as a free driver . Periodically I would get scolded by the officials for running too "aggressively". Granted, there was probably ~2m in cars on the track at any given time, even back then. I understood why Ahhh, memories

Justin

tytek

Awesome video and some nice driving. I'd love to run that track!

Is it just me or are you guys also bothered by the line the white GT3 is driving... talk about apexing early. What group were you running?

justinn

Porsches typically overuse the slow in ,fast out mantra. They can plant power way sooner than us fr guys they also can throttle steer much more predictably. So it might look like he is early apexing(and he is), but he can apex at full power pretty much if he is pointed the right direction first. I raced Porsches for a little while,and they are definitely a point and shoot car.

justinn

I was in the red group.

63Corvette

Thanks for your reply Justin. I am on a stock clutch and everything else too (no headers). My only mod is Stoptech BBK. I have wrapped my fluid lines in heat proof tape, for whatever good that does. I figured I would change the slave and add Katech slave and Tic remote bleeder when ever I changed clutches, but I am only at 45,000 miles and my clutch works fine, so it may be a while.......
Did you (or your Dad ever know Joe Locario of Verna Alfa in Houston. He was racing a Julia at age 72 (back in the 60s).

C5ZEE06

Did I miss it...Who organized the event ?

BrianCunningham

Great track

heat seems to be the only issue

used to live in Dallas BTW

1991Z07

White '91 C4 w/an L98 (worked over...naturally )

I was in garage 22...had a new C7, a 2008 Ferrari 599 (Blue) and a grey 2014 AMG 6.5 Coupe (absolutely bad-a$$) as garage mates. Everyone had much more horsepower in my garage than I did...I was faster in the twisties, but they could blow by me on the long straights.

1991Z07

Karen and Trevor of The Drivers Edge have spun off another endeavor at http://www.edgeaddicts.com

It was under their auspices...but there were a LOT of veteran Drivers Edge folks there, including a lot of the instructors.

A great time...for sure.

1991Z07

My photo album from the event...he got some pretty good shots.

http://s278.photobucket.com/user/jra...dventures_CotA

justinn

I wonder if your clutch is slipping just enough to cause excess heat inside of the bellhousing. That could potentially affect the slave fluid over time. The previous event I ran at COTA had much cooler external temperatures, but I was running for 35-40 minutes at a time with no issues.

His name doesn't ring a bell with me... but I will ask my father about him. He did have a guy that would come to the events to help out with the cars, and we used a transport service back then that was responsible for 3 or 4 of us. I am pretty sure one of those guys probably knew him.

I had quite a bit of resentment just having to go to those events all the time(hey, I was a teenager) I wasn't really invited to the cool kid parties, as I wasn't even old enough to buy a pack of smokes or a drink I did have fun on the track though !

Justin

justinn

Awesome photos!

justinn

Very Cool!

Next time I will actually walk the paddock and garages a bit more. I was just so tired that I tried to get a couple of minutes of shuteye between sessions and talking with my garage mates.

Justin

justinn

hahaha!

touche' .... Texas = Heat. It makes a great proving ground for cars though!