I got schooled last weekend!
07-22-2010, 01:32 AM
#1
I got schooled last weekend!
I've been autocrossing for 3 years. I bought a new (2009) Z06 because I was spending a lot of money modding in ESP and wanted to race a fast car but stay in the "cheaper" and more reliable Stock class.
I've been doing fine so far this year but knew there was more in the car than I was getting out of it. So I let our two most experienced drivers in the club drive my car for a few runs this weekend. They blew me away. One of them was a second faster than my best time the first time he drove my car. At the end of the day he was 1.5 seconds faster than me on a 39 second auto-x course.
That said, I was still faster than almost all the other cars, with the exception of a couple of Prepared cars and those dang Miatas.
What I learned: There's no point spending $$$ on aftermarket shocks, cat-back, or any other allowable stock class changes until I'm a lot closer to our best drivers when they take my car out. There's at least 1.5 seconds out there to be had for free!
I just wish I'd had a Traq-Mate or other data logger so I could see better what they were doing in my car that I wasn't.
I've been doing fine so far this year but knew there was more in the car than I was getting out of it. So I let our two most experienced drivers in the club drive my car for a few runs this weekend. They blew me away. One of them was a second faster than my best time the first time he drove my car. At the end of the day he was 1.5 seconds faster than me on a 39 second auto-x course.
That said, I was still faster than almost all the other cars, with the exception of a couple of Prepared cars and those dang Miatas.
What I learned: There's no point spending $$$ on aftermarket shocks, cat-back, or any other allowable stock class changes until I'm a lot closer to our best drivers when they take my car out. There's at least 1.5 seconds out there to be had for free!
I just wish I'd had a Traq-Mate or other data logger so I could see better what they were doing in my car that I wasn't.
07-22-2010, 07:14 AM
#2
Pro
Member Since: Apr 2001
Location: Arizona by way of Ohio,USA
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It seems other people are often faster in your car - not you per-say anybody's. BUt I agree there will be a great deal of time to be had once you get accustomed to the torque and braking of you "new" ride.
Mike
Mike
07-22-2010, 08:54 AM
#5
Le Mans Master
The biggest thing that's ever helped me was a ride-a-long, but I didn't look down the course, I watched the driver. Watched his eyes and foot/pedal action. I learned a lot that day. I still have issues looking far enough down the course, but when I do it right, boy do my times drop! Have fun!
07-22-2010, 08:58 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
A little humility is good for everyone at some point. I tried the same test once thinking one of our national drivers would embarrass me in my own car but in the end I beat him a little. He had one run faster than me but coned.
07-24-2010, 10:10 PM
#10
Drifting
C6 Z06s are notoriously difficult to be consistently fast in. I was a LOT more consistent in my stock Z51 than I was when I stepped into the Z. However, a Pfadt SS front bar, Pfadt inverted shocks, real brake pads and a full test day of tuning the car later, its now both fast and consistent. The Z is a handful in auto-x, especially Miata courses, so I could see how, if you're new to the car, there could be that kind of disparity with the top drivers.