Big Thanks to Aaron @ Pfadt and Ron @ Vengeance Racing
08-03-2010, 08:29 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Big Thanks to Aaron @ Pfadt and Ron @ Vengeance Racing
I got all the Threat Level I parts from Aaron @ Pfadt (ordered through Ron @ Vengeance Racing) and did a late afternoon Thursday and EARLY Friday morning thrash to get them installed. Then did an alignment in the garage (using cinder blocks, ceramic tile, plumb bobs, conduit, jack stands, paint pens, a scientific calculator and the services of an engineer!!) to get the car set up for a two day autocross event. Some notes:
1. The front through bolts for the a-arms - they are 1/2" when the hole is 12mm - had to round them out a little with a Dremel and some sanding drums. Let Aaron know about it. The bolts are for securing the lower end links of the front sway bar to the a-arms.
2. Lug bolts into the left knee freaking HURT like a ****. Last damn shock, and I was getting myself closer in to tighten up the last bolt and wham. Right in the knee. Hurt so much I could not even cuss. Put ice on the knee for about two hours to get the swelling down. Had a really nice (and perfectly round) bruise right in the center of the knee for two days.
3. If you really want to feel a definitive improvement in the way your Vette handles, get a Pfadt suspension. Period. The difference is like night and day. I knew my Vette could handle better, but after this weekend, the differences were dramatic.
With everything all buttoned up, we drove out to the autocross on Saturday morning. My wife, my 9 year old son, my engineer buddy John (corvetteZ51racer who owned a 2007 Z51 but now owns a 2007 Z06) and myself. Hoosier A6's and all the other stuff (jack, chocks, torque wrench, cordless drill, etc...) loaded in the back of the wife's truck.
Saturday's autocross was highly technical and more of a Miata style course with three cloverleaf cones at the back of the course. The car was absolutely brilliant. Utterly stable. John, as well as being a damn good engineer, is one hell of a driver. He not only beat my butt, he set TTOD in the Vette. My wife, Brenda, beat me as well (waiting for the results to be posted for both days - as soon as it is, I'll post the times we all ran).
Sunday - more of the same - John set a blistering time but was beat for TTOD by Street Prepared cars. I believe he was the fastest Super Stock legal car there. My wife beat me again. I think I am going to be relegated to head mechanic/sponsor status if this keeps up!!
Some observations:
1. Adjustable shocks are a MUST - by the end of Sunday, the back end was starting to get loose - softening the shocks two clicks help settle it back down.
2. The quality of Pfadt parts are second to none. Had spoken to Aaron about some other ****ling issues and he is a wonderful person and first class business man.
3. Ron at Vengeance - come up to Vancouver and I'll buy you some beers.
4. Handling - if you are a brute force driver (like me) you have to learn smoothness - my wife is utterly smooth and it showed. You act like a barbarian, you'll still be quick, but not as fast as you COULD be.
5. Bleed your brakes properly - I neglected to and had to flush the whole system. The course on Sunday was FAST and had some hard braking zones to setup for a right hand sweeper and the stop box. When the pedal goes to the FLOOR, that's not a good thing. Car still stopped in time, but the pucker factor goes WAY up.
6. Power Bleeders are a GODSEND - borrowed one from Intimidator and the whole process took under an hour to completely flush the system.
Below are some pics my 9 year old son took with our old digi camera. John got a new hi def (1080p) in car camera system and will burn me a DVD when he gets back from his business trip next week. The file format is Quick Time, which I am going to convert so we can watch it through the media server onto the big tv in the family room.
This pic is of the wife:
Car on course Sunday morning:
John driving and the wife riding so she can keep kicking my butt:
After this weekend's event, she told me she wants a Z06!!
In front of witnesses!!! If THAT isn't permission, then I don't know what is!
1. The front through bolts for the a-arms - they are 1/2" when the hole is 12mm - had to round them out a little with a Dremel and some sanding drums. Let Aaron know about it. The bolts are for securing the lower end links of the front sway bar to the a-arms.
2. Lug bolts into the left knee freaking HURT like a ****. Last damn shock, and I was getting myself closer in to tighten up the last bolt and wham. Right in the knee. Hurt so much I could not even cuss. Put ice on the knee for about two hours to get the swelling down. Had a really nice (and perfectly round) bruise right in the center of the knee for two days.
3. If you really want to feel a definitive improvement in the way your Vette handles, get a Pfadt suspension. Period. The difference is like night and day. I knew my Vette could handle better, but after this weekend, the differences were dramatic.
With everything all buttoned up, we drove out to the autocross on Saturday morning. My wife, my 9 year old son, my engineer buddy John (corvetteZ51racer who owned a 2007 Z51 but now owns a 2007 Z06) and myself. Hoosier A6's and all the other stuff (jack, chocks, torque wrench, cordless drill, etc...) loaded in the back of the wife's truck.
Saturday's autocross was highly technical and more of a Miata style course with three cloverleaf cones at the back of the course. The car was absolutely brilliant. Utterly stable. John, as well as being a damn good engineer, is one hell of a driver. He not only beat my butt, he set TTOD in the Vette. My wife, Brenda, beat me as well (waiting for the results to be posted for both days - as soon as it is, I'll post the times we all ran).
Sunday - more of the same - John set a blistering time but was beat for TTOD by Street Prepared cars. I believe he was the fastest Super Stock legal car there. My wife beat me again. I think I am going to be relegated to head mechanic/sponsor status if this keeps up!!
Some observations:
1. Adjustable shocks are a MUST - by the end of Sunday, the back end was starting to get loose - softening the shocks two clicks help settle it back down.
2. The quality of Pfadt parts are second to none. Had spoken to Aaron about some other ****ling issues and he is a wonderful person and first class business man.
3. Ron at Vengeance - come up to Vancouver and I'll buy you some beers.
4. Handling - if you are a brute force driver (like me) you have to learn smoothness - my wife is utterly smooth and it showed. You act like a barbarian, you'll still be quick, but not as fast as you COULD be.
5. Bleed your brakes properly - I neglected to and had to flush the whole system. The course on Sunday was FAST and had some hard braking zones to setup for a right hand sweeper and the stop box. When the pedal goes to the FLOOR, that's not a good thing. Car still stopped in time, but the pucker factor goes WAY up.
6. Power Bleeders are a GODSEND - borrowed one from Intimidator and the whole process took under an hour to completely flush the system.
Below are some pics my 9 year old son took with our old digi camera. John got a new hi def (1080p) in car camera system and will burn me a DVD when he gets back from his business trip next week. The file format is Quick Time, which I am going to convert so we can watch it through the media server onto the big tv in the family room.
This pic is of the wife:
Car on course Sunday morning:
John driving and the wife riding so she can keep kicking my butt:
After this weekend's event, she told me she wants a Z06!!
In front of witnesses!!! If THAT isn't permission, then I don't know what is!
08-03-2010, 11:35 PM
#2
Drifting
Kenny, thanks again for letting me drive your car on Saturday and Sunday. It was a blast, and fortunately that nice smooth asphalt surface didn't tear up your tires. A few notes of my own:
1) The 1/2" vs 12mm hole issue, according to Aaron, is a manufacturing tolerance issue that is car and vintage dependent. Though it was a surprise, it was easily dealt with. As a note, the Dremel with an 1/8" sanding drum took care of it. It was not quick, but you do NOT want these holes (lower end-link studs) too big.
2) The Pfadt suspension I have on my Z is the first gen suspension (SS bars with the Gen 1 endlink kits). The Gen 2 stuff is MUCH nicer. Well done Aaron and team!
3) I was surprised by how well my Z06 settings worked with Kenny's Z06 hardware on a Z-51 car. Had to stiffen the front shocks a bit more, and softened the rear a bit as the grip went away during the day. Loss of grip, we later found, was due to us taking a wider arc through a long sweeper, resulting in pickup on the outside tires.
4) It's always better to manage and drink beer than get greasy
Would've been under the car myself protecting Kenny's knee except for the whole broken arm thing.
5) To give you an idea of how flat the Pfadt suspension is keeping this car, the second pic in Kenny's post is hard on the brakes from the top end of second gear entering a 45 degree turn into a box that's only about 5' wider than the car.
1) The 1/2" vs 12mm hole issue, according to Aaron, is a manufacturing tolerance issue that is car and vintage dependent. Though it was a surprise, it was easily dealt with. As a note, the Dremel with an 1/8" sanding drum took care of it. It was not quick, but you do NOT want these holes (lower end-link studs) too big.
2) The Pfadt suspension I have on my Z is the first gen suspension (SS bars with the Gen 1 endlink kits). The Gen 2 stuff is MUCH nicer. Well done Aaron and team!
3) I was surprised by how well my Z06 settings worked with Kenny's Z06 hardware on a Z-51 car. Had to stiffen the front shocks a bit more, and softened the rear a bit as the grip went away during the day. Loss of grip, we later found, was due to us taking a wider arc through a long sweeper, resulting in pickup on the outside tires.
4) It's always better to manage and drink beer than get greasy
Would've been under the car myself protecting Kenny's knee except for the whole broken arm thing.5) To give you an idea of how flat the Pfadt suspension is keeping this car, the second pic in Kenny's post is hard on the brakes from the top end of second gear entering a 45 degree turn into a box that's only about 5' wider than the car.
08-04-2010, 12:55 AM
#4
Drifting
Thread Starter
Got the results;
Saturday:
John - 45.508 - Top Time Of Day
Brenda - 48.094 - 10th place overall of 62 drivers - fastest woman driver
Me - 50.382 - 28th place overall of 62 drivers
Sunday:
John - 51.755 - 9th place overall out of 52 drivers
Brenda - 54.810 - 23rd place overall out of 52 drivers - fastest woman driver
Me - 55.765 - 28th place overall out of 52 drivers
Damn - seems to me I better become smooth pretty quick. Next event I can attend is a Corvette Club event on the 25th of September.
Saturday:
John - 45.508 - Top Time Of Day
Brenda - 48.094 - 10th place overall of 62 drivers - fastest woman driver
Me - 50.382 - 28th place overall of 62 drivers
Sunday:
John - 51.755 - 9th place overall out of 52 drivers
Brenda - 54.810 - 23rd place overall out of 52 drivers - fastest woman driver
Me - 55.765 - 28th place overall out of 52 drivers
Damn - seems to me I better become smooth pretty quick. Next event I can attend is a Corvette Club event on the 25th of September.