liquidforce917

2003 Z06:

RAI
ported TB
Tune
Xpipe
axle back
short shifter
hawk hps pads
motul 600 brake fluid
J hook rotors (rotor pros)
160* coolant thermostat
275 goodyear supercar tires (front)
325 Nitto invo (rear)
amsoil 5w-30 signature series
amsoil diff fluid
mobil 1 transmission fluid

So with that setup and my average driving skill I ran consistently in the 2:50 range. The air temp was in the 70's and overcast.

With that said here are the problems/issues i ran into:

Pads got too hot and lost stopping power towards the last half of the session.
Clutch pedal stuck once during a session.
Pushed the tires to their edge of adhesion and beyond.
Was worried about damaging my street wheels.

My solutions:

Planning to purchase Carbontech XP 12/10 setup.
Just purchased 295/30/18 Hoosier A6's for my square 18 by 9.5's.
Planning on purchasing SS brake lines.
Seats/ 5-point somewhere in the near future.


Your opinions for other modifications or concurring with my future plans would be welcome!!! Just let me know, thanks.







New color for old wheels:

brkntrxn

A) Flush your clutch fluid, that is the reason for the clutch sticking

B) You do not need A6s. You would be much better off to run a set of square NT05s or something until they are worn out. Going to an R-comp this soon is going to mask your learning curve (ie. cover up your learning mistakes).

C) Carbotechs are great, but ensure you are learning to compress your braking zone. Long and lean braking will overheat any pads and beginners do that - a lot.

PushinTheLimit

You don't need race tires just yet. A good set of Nitto's or something equilavent will work just fine for now. Fresh brake and clutch fluid will do wonders for you... I flush my clutch fluid every event.

Getting a good seat and harness is something that I would certainly recommend. After that, lots of seat time

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Scratch the HPS pads and run the Carbotech XP10 and XP8 combo this will really preform well for you and stick with street tires for now. I will be happy to answer your questions.

mcar00

Try to get an instructor or pro to take you around the track in your car. You're leaving at least 20 seconds a lap on the table which means you're spending way too much time on the brakes. Better yet sign up for the NCM event at Sebring and get some instruction there. Way cheaper than mods.

JeremyGSU

I concur.

In addition, whatever you do DON'T run the Hoosiers. You are far from needing those yet. Like everyone else said, get a set of Nitto NT'05 street tires and really learn to use those.

The new pads will help a lot. The only other thing I can recommend is a Doug Rippie brake duct kit. This will help with the cooling of the brakes. Sebring has a lot of long straight aways.

Otherwise, just learn to drive.

CHJ In Virginia

First of all - Seat Time and More Seat Time.
Do not go for the Hoosiers at this time. As a previous poster said, quality instruction will also help you get much faster on your stock tires.
Mods -- in order that I would do them.
Brakes - High temp fluid such as Motul or ATE Blue, Carbotek 10/8 pads, stainless steel flex lines, and most important cooling ducts - DRM ducts and LG spindle ducts - keep them cool.
Oil Cooler - As you get faster oil temps are going to be a problem - DRM auxillary oil cooler.
Suspension - Bilstein Shocks and Hotchkiss sway bars along with a track alignment.
Seat and harness - do not do harness without a HANS device !
R compoundTires - Extra set of wheels and sticky tires - unless you are going wheel to wheel or doing time trials - for HPDE use stick with the R6 rather than the A6 tires.
Welcome to the addiction - all it takes is money !!!!

liquidforce917

Just some things I forgot to mention.

I have hotchkiss sway bars

And I change my clutch fluid religiously.

I purchased the R6 tires because I got them at a price I could not turn down.

I am paying attention to all the remarks of staying away from the R compound tires. I would like to know the reasoning for this.
I am asking because the tires are on their way and I would like to know the best way to handle my current situation.

liquidforce917

Also, my max oil temp was 250* in the above climate. That is with my 160* T-stat and adjusted fan settings.

I was wondering what is a common oil temp with someone with a separate oil cooler?

ErnieN85

Here a a few pointers and things not mentioned
first brake cooling ducts from Lambert (quantum)
cooling dewits or drm radiator with EOC & lines
six point harness not 5 (protects the jewels)
you will need pass throughs for the seat (sholder belts)
and dont use it with out a HANS
Slicks will go over the edge (lose grip) with much less warning this equals more danger along with a faster spin

moespeeds

Rip out the interior and cage it
HANS Device
Fire system
Big brakes on the front with a 2 piece rotor system
Aluminum seats/6 pt harness
T1 suspension
Trans/Diff/Oil cooler
Racing radiator
2 sets of spare wheels, one with rain tires
Data logger
Jacks, Jackstands, Fuel jugs, etc
26' Enclosed trailer and Dually to haul it

liquidforce917

Yea ill get right on that. Maybe, ill ask Obama for that for Christmas.

moespeeds

Go with a 6 point harness for sure, and a HANS device. Also a remote clutch bleeder is an awesome thing to have, I don't know what I'd do without mine. Takes 2 min to burp the clutch when it gets mushy.

I guess you gotta get a feel for how far you wanna take this. If it's gonna stay a street car, I'd stay on street tires, as that will be the limiting factor on how fast you can go. If you're the type who wants to just keep going faster, than all of the above will be needed at some point down the road.

braknl8

It's amazing how fast and few events you can go from "I'm just gonna get T1 bars, fluid/pads and tires" to your list above.

SouthernSon

Every response in this thread is based on experience and is good advice. When you learn to get a competitive lap time and go to sticky track tires you will need SKF wheel bearings. At $385 a piece you have to consider if you are ready for that. Make the car safe, seat comfortable and brakes effective. Don't worry too much about HP or tires until you have many more track days.

SouthernSon

Street tires are more progressive which means they will squeal more readily and have a wider parameter of tolerance at that point before breaking loose to let you know you are at the limit. This allows one to learn the limits of lateral force of car more easily. Track tires 'let go' with much less warning, sometimes, no warning at all (as far as squeal). Of course, all tires come back to you quickly when you know how to correct.

JackBFL

"Planning to purchase Carbontech XP 12/10 setup.
Just purchased 295/30/18 Hoosier A6's for my square 18 by 9.5's."

My advice as a South Florida HPDE guy with over 40 events/ Instructor is to get Hawk 70's in the front, 60's in the rear, and upgrade your rotors to slotted. Nitto NT01 or 05's for Florida DOT track tires are the best on the market by far. Return the 'Hoosiers', as you will regret using them on your Corvette.

Squared or not, get the Nitto's.

Jack

crease-guard

This right here...wish I had gotten this advice a year ago. I was doing this horribly ( I was actually doing long and heavy, didn't have fade issues though ). Last go around, got an instructor that would actually tell me when to brake and when to release. Couldn't believe how much shorter the brake zone was compared to what I was doing.

Did this the entire weekend earlier this month. Had this different instructor the next to last session that helped me with this. Next session I went out and cut 4.5 seconds off my lap times AND my times were consistent, within .6 to .7 seconds of one another. A monumental improvement from what I was doing.

Jay

rfn026

The Nitto's actually work better than the Hoosiers at Homestead and Sebring?

Richard Newton
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AU N EGL

Run your first 10 events in stock configuration. Just change brake pads.

after that you know what you need.

Most up grades

1. contact patches
brake pads, tires, seats and harness

2. Cooling
brake cooling, oil cooling, trans cooling, bigger radiator

other wise nothing but seat time.