Blackhawk Farms track day
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Blackhawk Farms track day
Just tracked my 05 Z51 6 speed that I bought in April for the first time, at Blackhawk Farms in Beloit Illinois. I was a bit hesitant at first, as I didn't buy the car new, and even though I had the car inspected and prepped, you don't really trust it until you run a few laps and learn how the car reacts. Plus, I was previously tracking my 09 Cobalt SS, which is a turbo front drive car with about 300 hp, and transitioning to the 400 hp rear drive Vette. I was worried about not matching the revs and spinning it into the corner. But as the day progressed, and I learned how the car reacted on track, I got more comfortable and faster.
Man, I was really impressed with the Vette. We had six sessions of 20 minutes each, over two hours of track time. Even though it was 90+ degrees, i never saw the temp get over about 220. The brakes held up well, even though I haven't had a chance yet to convert it over to DOT 4. The handling is predictable at the limit, and in competition mode, the electronic nannies aren't anywhere near as invasive as the traction control in my 94 coupe. In short, I love this car. Next up is likely a harness bar with maybe roll hoops so I can run with the top off, synthetic brake fluid, and six piston calipers.
In retrospect, since I am going to track the car, I probably should have bought one that wasn't so nice. Picked it up with just under 20,000 miles, and really clean. But it was how i would have ordered it out of the factory: six speed, Z51 package, and none of the stuff I didn't want, like heated seats or nav/XM radio. I just wanted a stripped out car with nothing other than the Z package, and that's what I found.
Man, I was really impressed with the Vette. We had six sessions of 20 minutes each, over two hours of track time. Even though it was 90+ degrees, i never saw the temp get over about 220. The brakes held up well, even though I haven't had a chance yet to convert it over to DOT 4. The handling is predictable at the limit, and in competition mode, the electronic nannies aren't anywhere near as invasive as the traction control in my 94 coupe. In short, I love this car. Next up is likely a harness bar with maybe roll hoops so I can run with the top off, synthetic brake fluid, and six piston calipers.
In retrospect, since I am going to track the car, I probably should have bought one that wasn't so nice. Picked it up with just under 20,000 miles, and really clean. But it was how i would have ordered it out of the factory: six speed, Z51 package, and none of the stuff I didn't want, like heated seats or nav/XM radio. I just wanted a stripped out car with nothing other than the Z package, and that's what I found.
#3
Drifting
Being in Milwaukee you should really take it to Road America in Elkhart Lake. That's where the vette will shine as you have a couple nice long straight aways that you can really get some speed. I was just there a couple of weeks ago for about the 12th time. Lots of fun and a great course. There are several events up there in the next few months. I think NASA is there this weekend, MVP is there in October.