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Took the Z out to Willow Springs Raceway this weekend with the AROC (Alfa Romeo Owner's Club). What a fun group!
Lot to report so I'm going to bullet point out my thoughts the best I can.
About The Car:
Z07
7 speed manual coupe
Mobil 1 15w-50
Lowered on Stock Bolts
Track alignment per Owners Manual
Brakes fluid was OE, did NOT have a chance to go to RBF 600
Right at the 1500 mile mark before heading out
Competition Seats
91 Octane pump gas
About Me:
Novice-Medium track Skill
several Auto-X's in other Vettes
1 previous full track day, in another car
Couple of 1 hour track sessions in Ferrari's and Porsche's
Car Review
Breaking this down into a few sections
Drivetrain
This car is thirsty!!! I went through more nearly 1/2 a tank in each 30 min session. Some sessions I'd use 10 gallons of fuel. 2 sessions got cut short because I ran fuel critical. I will have to bring a lot of fuel containers in the future if I don't want to spend $7/gallon on 91 at the track.
We all know how neck-snapping fast this car is out of the hole. After every corner exit you roll into that gas and the car just picks up incredible speed. Shifts are extremely simple. No need to replace the stock shifter at all. Clutch feels great, you're not exhausted from a heavy clutch at the end of the day.
Being the beginner track driver that I am, the power on the straights REALLY makes up for me picking the wrong line through the turns.
Brakes
Keep in mind I didn't have a chance to replace fluids with RBF 600. The night before the track I did my first attempt at bedding the brakes. I only got 20-25 stops before the fluid was toast, I don't think they were fully bedded when I was done. That being said, the car stopped extremely well. I'm not used to having to stomp on the pedal as much as you do in this car. At lunch I would review PDR data and see that I was only applying 50-60% brake force when I thought I was all in. Really standing on the pedal made a difference. I was able to come from 150 on the back straight down to 60 for turn 1 by braking just past the first brake marker. Any further and I'd be off track. Fade was not an issue.
Interior/PDR
I'm slightly too tall for this car at 6'5". I have to drive hunched over a bit. Doesn't impact my enjoyment of the car much, but it is what it is. Steering feel, seats, etc are great. The G's this car can pull through turns even the Competition seats are not enough with just a 3 point harness. My knee is pretty bruised from bracing myself all weekend.
PDR is absolutely fantastic. After each session I'd pop out the SD card, load it up on my laptop and review. I could pull over an expert driver or an instructor and we'd chat about my line, my braking points, etc. I was picking up time through this exercise all weekend.
NOTE ON THE PDR!!! You do NOT need to set your finish line on every session. It saves the mark forever. I had heard otherwise so each time I went out I kept setting the finish line and then the option to set it would come back up and I thought it wasn't working. Because of this I was unable to document my fastest lap of 1:35.7. Set the finish line your first time out and don't touch it again.
Extremely awesome to be able to see your lap times as you go, it's really a carrot to push yourself to do better on each lap. Awesome ability.
Car Control Options
I drove all of my first day in the DRY race setting. This is the most conservative setting with the least corner exit power. When rolling on the gas out of a turn you hear the timing being cut as the car feeds more power as you straighten out. IT IS AWESOME! It allows a beginner track driver like myself to roll onto the throttle and let the car apply power as it sees fit. You'd have to try REALLY hard to spin in this setting. I did my fastest lap of the weekend in this setting.
Day 2 I ran in the next step up setting Sport 1 I believe it is called. Car is quite a bit more powerful on corner exit, and definitely lets you float the tail out if you want. I was slower in this setting, but I wanted to learn the car dynamics more and I couldn't do that when the car was doing all the thinking for me. Definitely a bit more edge of your seat experience here.
Misc Comments
Fastest lap I could do was 1:35.7 in the DRY setting
Fastest lap I could do was 1:37.8 in the Sport 1 setting
Harness bar and racing harness on order. Too much grip in the car for stock seats
Prepare for rock-star treatment at the track. I'd have 10-15 people come over after every session to checkout the car.
Factory exhaust sounds absolutely fantastic at 145 MPH fly by!
Never overheated, got a warning, or had any issues of any sort.
Thanks for reading!
My fastest recorded lap of 1:37.8
My complete session that contains my fastest lap
Cool video that shows the speed delta between my buddy in his heavily modified MINI and the Z06
145 MPH Fly By
Overtaking MINI on Main Straight
Last edited by sushisean; 01-19-2015 at 12:32 PM.
Reason: fixed videos
Same here. I noticed that your rear is higher than the front like on mine. I guess that's a Z07 issue.
Did your car settle at all?
When I got the car, it was 4 fingers front and 5 fingers rear. After lowering all the way and driving a bit it's about 1.5 fingers front and 3 fingers rear. I'm pretty sure the rear is supposed to have a bigger gap. the car should be raked for downforce and for rear suspension compression under Acceleration AFAIK.
Took the Z out to Willow Springs Raceway this weekend with the AROC (Alpha Romeo Owner's Club). What a fun group!
Lot to report so I'm going to bullet point out my thoughts the best I can.
About The Car:
Z07
7 speed manual coupe
Mobil 1 15w-50
Lowered on Stock Bolts
Track alignment per Owners Manual
Brakes fluid was OE, did NOT have a chance to go to RBF 600
Right at the 1500 mile mark before heading out
Competition Seats
91 Octane pump gas
About Me:
Novice-Medium track Skill
several Auto-X's in other Vettes
1 previous full track day, in another car
Couple of 1 hour track sessions in Ferrari's and Porsche's
Car Review
Breaking this down into a few sections
Drivetrain
This car is thirsty!!! I went through more nearly 1/2 a tank in each 30 min session. Some sessions I'd use 10 gallons of fuel. 2 sessions got cut short because I ran fuel critical. I will have to bring a lot of fuel containers in the future if I don't want to spend $7/gallon on 91 at the track.
We all know how neck-snapping fast this car is out of the hole. After every corner exit you roll into that gas and the car just picks up incredible speed. Shifts are extremely simple. No need to replace the stock shifter at all. Clutch feels great, you're not exhausted from a heavy clutch at the end of the day.
Being the beginner track driver that I am, the power on the straights REALLY makes up for me picking the wrong line through the turns.
Brakes
Keep in mind I didn't have a chance to replace fluids with RBF 600. The night before the track I did my first attempt at bedding the brakes. I only got 20-25 stops before the fluid was toast, I don't think they were fully bedded when I was done. That being said, the car stopped extremely well. I'm not used to having to stomp on the pedal as much as you do in this car. At lunch I would review PDR data and see that I was only applying 50-60% brake force when I thought I was all in. Really standing on the pedal made a difference. I was able to come from 150 on the back straight down to 60 for turn 1 by braking just past the first brake marker. Any further and I'd be off track. Fade was not an issue.
Interior/PDR
I'm slightly too tall for this car at 6'5". I have to drive hunched over a bit. Doesn't impact my enjoyment of the car much, but it is what it is. Steering feel, seats, etc are great. The G's this car can pull through turns even the Competition seats are not enough with just a 3 point harness. My knee is pretty bruised from bracing myself all weekend.
PDR is absolutely fantastic. After each session I'd pop out the SD card, load it up on my laptop and review. I could pull over an expert driver or an instructor and we'd chat about my line, my braking points, etc. I was picking up time through this exercise all weekend.
NOTE ON THE PDR!!! You do NOT need to set your finish line on every session. It saves the mark forever. I had heard otherwise so each time I went out I kept setting the finish line and then the option to set it would come back up and I thought it wasn't working. Because of this I was unable to document my fastest lap of 1:35.7. Set the finish line your first time out and don't touch it again.
Extremely awesome to be able to see your lap times as you go, it's really a carrot to push yourself to do better on each lap. Awesome ability.
Car Control Options
I drove all of my first day in the DRY race setting. This is the most conservative setting with the least corner exit power. When rolling on the gas out of a turn you hear the timing being cut as the car feeds more power as you straighten out. IT IS AWESOME! It allows a beginner track driver like myself to roll onto the throttle and let the car apply power as it sees fit. You'd have to try REALLY hard to spin in this setting. I did my fastest lap of the weekend in this setting.
Day 2 I ran in the next step up setting Sport 1 I believe it is called. Car is quite a bit more powerful on corner exit, and definitely lets you float the tail out if you want. I was slower in this setting, but I wanted to learn the car dynamics more and I couldn't do that when the car was doing all the thinking for me. Definitely a bit more edge of your seat experience here.
Misc Comments
Fastest lap I could do was 1:35.7 in the DRY setting
Fastest lap I could do was 1:37.8 in the Sport 1 setting
Harness bar and racing harness on order. Too much grip in the car for stock seats
Prepare for rock-star treatment at the track. I'd have 10-15 people come over after every session to checkout the car.
Factory exhaust sounds absolutely fantastic at 145 MPH fly by!
Never overheated, got a warning, or had any issues of any sort.
Thanks for reading!
My fastest recorded lap of 1:37.8
My complete session that contains my fastest lap
Cool video that shows the speed delta between my buddy in his heavily modified MINI and the Z06
145 MPH Fly By
Overtaking MINI on Main Straight
I think I get it! GM absolutely doesn't need to prove anything at The Ring, they have built in disciples now! Smart, and great stuff!
Last edited by johnglenntwo; 01-19-2015 at 12:26 PM.
Thanks for taking the time to post and share. Happy to see the Z06/Z07 run on a track that I know. That thing definitely runs down the straights and the sound is just incredible.
I think if you go back a couple more times you will be very surprised at how quickly that car is capable of running around Big Willow. I'm guessing you could get into the high 1:20s after you get more comfortable with the car and the track.
Do you mind posting some pics from the cosworth toolbox for the laps?
It's funny my mind is tuned for a high grip low hp car at that track. The speed just come in such a different way.
Great job!!! Welcome to the tracking driving this car the way its suppose to be club. Its amazing isn't it that the hard u push the faster it goes. It still havent found its limits at road atlanta.
Not trying to be off topic, but some vendor ought to come out with an inexpensive 'Gurney' bubble top like Dan Gurney needed for the GT40. Would be just the ticket for your tall guys, especially with helmets.
I am surprised you only get 91 octane, and even more surprised this beast will run on crappy fuel like that
7 $ gallon for 91 octane on track ? So even on a track they dont sell better fuel ?
Germany we can buy 102 octane on gas Station, ie. more like 97 octane your standard as Europe dont use R+M/2
Norway we get 94+ octane (R+M/2)
Is it only California who has only 91 octane ?
BTW awesome car, i look foreward to the day i can sit in my own
California has the worst gas. They do sell 100 and 110 but I wasn't sure if the car would retune itself at all or if I'd just be wasting my money. Guess I should try 110 next time and see what happens.
Not trying to be off topic, but some vendor ought to come out with an inexpensive 'Gurney' bubble top like Dan Gurney needed for the GT40. Would be just the ticket for your tall guys, especially with helmets.
I'd be in for one for sure. There was a local guy that had a bubble top c5. Was hideous but did the job. He had a local fiberglass place do it. I wouldn't think it'd be very safe though.
California has the worst gas. They do sell 100 and 110 but I wasn't sure if the car would retune itself at all or if I'd just be wasting my money. Guess I should try 110 next time and see what happens.
Yes it will "retune" itself. Works just like filling a flexfuel vehicle with E-85. Once the sensors see the higher octane and less knock it switches over to a different set of timing and fuel map tables. Just make sure you have less than 1/4 tank before filling with 100 or 110.
Yes it will "retune" itself. Works just like filling a flexfuel vehicle with E-85. Once the sensors see the higher octane and less knock it switches over to a different set of timing and fuel map tables. Just make sure you have less than 1/4 tank before filling with 100 or 110.
Great to know. Wonder what kind of bump one would expect.
01-19-2015, 12:00 PM
Willow Springs Track Day Z06 Review
