Rosspbig

I take my C6Z to the track as much as I can, and I am looking to improve its handling and brakes as much as I can for 1500$ or less. Any ideas? This is my idea of what I think....

Brakes:
SS lines
Pads
Fluid

Suspension:
Pfadt C6 Z06 Competition "Pfatty" Sway Bar Kit OR
Pfadt C6 Z06 Street Sway Bars


I already have a race seat, 6 point harness, and harness bar.

Post up any suggestions. Thanks!

sothpaw2

I would do pads and cooling ducts. You should already have good fluid such as Motul 600. I don't think the SS lines will help anything but the feel of the pedal.

Rosspbig

I already have Motul 600 in there. It definitely helps.

rustyguns

buy 1500 dollars in michelin radial X racing road race slicks...you will beat everyone!

0Vector Vette

rosspbig,
Pfadt comp sway bar kit is an awesome piece. Easy to tune, keeps the car flat in the corners. They are what I run in my racecar. However, you don't have enough money left over for brake pads, much less SS lines or fluid change. You need to up your budget a little and get some Cobalt Friction brake pads for your car. Unbelievable initial torque, easy to modulate, wear far superior to any comperable race pad, and are not hard on the rotors. Give us a call if you have any questions.
Robert Finlayson
Performance AFX Motorsports
815-254-2631

Rosspbig

Which Cobalts should I be looking at? Keep in mind the car will see probably 7-9 track days in a year, and is a weekend toy/street car otherwise so I dont want a pad that is extremely loud on the street. With the sway bar kit do I need to think about upgrading to a bigger dry sump reservoir, or not yet?

sothpaw2

It's really better to change pads before and after the track day. If you want a real compromise, keep your stock rear pads and just go to a mild compound up front. This halves your cost and also change-out time.

I am not sure about Cobalt but something like a Carbo XP-8 up front might work. Get the brake cooling ducts and your OEM pads might work for a while on all 4 corners. If you don't, I would go to the XP8 or maybe hawk hp+ after your first 2 day event.

AU N EGL

Brake pads, cooling ducts.

you will go though several sets of pads a year and several bottles of brake fluid.

Brake fluid flush before and after each each event.

Forget the sway bars. keep the suspension stock for now. as you will use that $1500 in two sets of brake pads and a 2 cases of brake fluid

Next upgrade would be seats and harness.

shifter77

Bilstein shocks/ cobalt xr-2

John Shiels

sway bars from GRM or LG and Bilstiem shocks I would consider the cost of pads and fluid a natural expense of HPDE

FlamingZ06

Your plan is good. Pads and sways.

wtknght1

1. T1 sway bars with the adjustable heim joints (along with the associated cornerweighting and zeroing of those bars.

2. Carbotech XP12s on front, XP10s on rear...and as much cooling allowed.

But I always emphasize improving the contact patches first. The biggest contact patch is the tires (to the pavement). Next are the brakes, seat, suit, gloves, shoes, etc.

But for a cheap handling improvement, the T1 bars are impossible to beat.

0Randy@DRM

hey John,
I think you meant DRM. We do a Bilstein with a special valving that works very good for the price.

Randy
www.dougrippie.com

Z06Fix

DRM Bilsteins, brake cooling ducts, Motul RBF600 fluid, and Carbotech XP10/8 pads. This will put you right around your budget and give a vast improvement in both handling and braking. I'm running this same setup with Carbotech XP8's all around for my autox/street car and I'm extremely pleased with it.

Rosspbig

Sounds like brake cooling and pads+fluid are the common suggestions. I already have a race seat and 6 point harness.

How hard it is to change the pads? How hard is it to flush the brake fluid? Do I have to flush the fluid everytime I change the pads? (sorry for the noob questions)

geerookie

I would second the Cobalt Friction Pads
I use XR2's in front and XR3's in rear but the CS-R's are also very good and not quite as aggressive. They hold up fantastic at the track and work well on the street even though they don't recommend it.
I highly recommend good cooling! This will help much more than expensive brake fluid! It keeps the calipers cooler and fluid cooler and helps reduce spread/pad taper. Standard DOT4 fluid will work fine with good cooling. I have used ATE blue and gold for 4 years with no issues ever.

I would also recommend the SS brake lines, not really for performance as much as dependability! I have had two friends blow out the factory rubber lines on their C6's going into a corner. Both survived with minor damage but it was not a fun experience!

John Shiels

Bill Dearborn

Not sure if you are using your $1500 budget for consumables or its in addition to consumables. A set of Cobalt CSR one piece pads for front and rear will set you back about $700. You will get 6+ track days on them. Rotors will crack in about 6 days so plan on $380 for a set of rotors. I put the pads on at the end of August for a period of track weekends from then through the first weekend of October. Did a couple of autocrosses during that time as well and drove them several hundred miles on the street during that time. Probably will get 1+ days out of the fronts and 3 days out of the rear pads next spring. I have been running a well used set of EMTs mounted on LGM World Challenge Wheels and the pads worked very well with that setup. Once I go to a set of R compound tires I may need a better pad to use all of the tires traction.

I know some people who are running the Hawk HP+ padlets with R compound tires and getting a couple of weekends out of them. When you study the front padlets it is obvious some locations in the Z06 caliper wear more than others. If you practice some pad management by moving pads around the caliper so worn pads get moved to low wear spots in the caliper and the less worn pads are moved to high wear spots you might get a couple more days out of the HP+ padlets.

Bill

Blurr

Really appreciate your guys input, this is great thread for us noobs who fortunately or unfortunately have caught the racing disease after one track day weekend

I'm in the same spot as the OP only difference is I've opted to get wheels (CCW) and tires (Michelin Sport Cups) first.

The rest I'm trying to figure out breaks, seats, suspension etc.

Keep the suggestions coming

Rosspbig

Never really thought of it that way. I will be using street tires so it wont be terrible on the pads. I also hope that having some good cooling ducts setup will increase the longevity of both the pads and the rotors.

Are the Cobalt CSR pads liveable on the street? I dont want something that howls.

Also is it 380$ for all 4 rotors or just the front 2? Any recommendations on rotors?

Can someone chime in on the brake bleeding/ pad changing question I had earlier? How hard is it to bleed the brakes/change the pads? and do I have to bleed the brakes to change the pads? Thanks guys.