2004z

I do 12 to 15 track days every year, for but the last 11 years. I was running a mustang on track / street car more street than track. I purchased a 2004 z06 six months ago and I'm slowly converting it over to a track car only. Currently I have Stoptech ST60 front brakes, vansteel swaybars, DRM shocks. I run either hooiser R7 or Pirelli race slicks size 305 on all four corners. I'm very comfortable with the handling of the car but one of my local tracks have two long straight that I get left on every time by about 20 cars. I always catch them in the braking or in the next set of corners. I don't compete in any kinds of races so I'm not limited to anything. Motor will I be happy with bolt ons? Heads, cam, headers etc. Or should I keep saving for a complete motor and what? I hate that the new C7 zo6 and some of the new Porsche are that dam fast on the straights. I'm very comfortable with horsepower my 69 nova runs 8.19's in the quarter mile, but its worthless when it comes to turning. Lol! HELP thank you. Scott

64drvr

Heads/cam will be faster, but dont expect to do any passing on the straights imo. LS7 or similar 427 build gets my vote.

SocalC5Z

I drove a C5Z with heads, cam Fast intake and headers that made just over 500 rear wheel and compared to my stock C5Z, it was absolutely faster. Didn't have the torque out of the corners like the LS7 but it was reliable and about $3000 in upgrades. Just a data point. I have the same issue on some tracks.

Charley Hoyt

Save yourself a lot of money in the long run.... and go right to a high downforce car. I will give you a great deal on my Radical (I am toying with selling it). One word of warning... after you spend some time in a light downforce car all street based cars are ruined for you. You will never look at a Ferrari the same way.

Charley

2004z

Thanks for the input so far. What about stroking my ls6 or a Ls3? I would really like to have 525+whp any chance and still be reliable? Charley sounds good, but I would need to buy a rain suit I live in Oregon. Lol! Dunlevysz what cam and heads did you use that's pretty close. Thanks

SocalC5Z

2004z: The modded LS6 was not mine, I don't know anymore than the Fast intake and AFR heads. It's a pretty common mod on the LS6.

Eyedeas

good lord lol. That looks like $

Quickshift_C5

Yeah, save money in the long run? I don't think so.

Charley Hoyt

It isn't as expensive as it looks.... these are ~$130k new, but for $46k this one could be yours. The cost of consumables for this car are very reasonable. Tires have been lasting me around 9 or 10 track days, and I have been using the same front brakes for 3 years and they still have a ton of life left. There is a cost for engine overhauls that has to be factored in, and you will have to figure out how to get the permanent grin off of your face. But the biggest savings is from not building and beating up your street car before moving up. Looking back I would have saved a lot if I had transitioned sooner.

These aren't for everyone..... but, they are an amazing experience.

Charley

bj1888

Not really an arrive and drive option, is it?

SocalC5Z

Charlie, I was at Spring Mountain last month and as you probably know they have a Radical shop there. I asked questions about the 1500 and they recommended engine rebuilds every 30 hours and said the rebuild costs range between $2500-3500. Is this your experience? Have you had your engine rebuilt?

Charley Hoyt

If you are asking if I offer an opportunity for "arrive and drives".... Yes, I will, but it cost $46K and you can take the car home with you. Spring Mountain also offers arrive and drive options. You can take a driving class in a Radical or you can use one of their Radicals for private training (by the hour).

Charley

Charley Hoyt

Yes, I am very familiar with the Radical shop at Spring mountain, that is where I purchased my car and where I go for repairs. Radical recommends overhauling the engine every 40 hours if the car is being raced, but they say it can go up to 60 hours in non race conditions. I know a guy with a 1340 that told me his engine has 125 hours on it and it is just starting to loose power. I wouldn't go that long, but if I keep the car I am going to run it to 60 hours this time and then evaluate it from there. I had my engine overhauled at 40 hours because I wasn't able to get good maintenance records on the car when I bought it. Now that I know what is in my engine (and I saw the parts that came out of it) I am comfortable running it to at least 60 hours. I have an oil analysis done every 10 hours and they have been stable every time. Regarding the cost of overhaul, it really depends on how hard the engine has been used, how many parts need to be replaced, and who is doing the repair. There are a lot of competent shops that can do a good overhaul for ~2K, but if you want the engine to be sealed so it can race in the Radical series, you have to have Spring mountain do the overhaul and they are more expensive (~$5K and up).

Charley

Quickshift_C5

This is what I saw in my research a while back as well. The cost of ownership is not as cheap as he makes it sound...at least from my research. This is coming from a "lowly" c5 zo6 owner though. I could buy two of my cars in top condition for about the price of the Radical. Those folks running C6Z, C7Z, and ZR1's may feel differently...

Charley Hoyt

There is nothing "lowly" about a C5 Z06. They are extremely capable cars stock and they are really fast with modest investments. Some of my friends with C5 Z06's are as fast as me or faster. But they are driving there cars at 10/10ths and I am nowhere near the the limit of my cars capabilities.... they are better drivers also

Charley

64drvr

I'll expand a little further. What are the power expectations? What's the track? What are the mph's at the start and finish of the straights? Most C6Z06's I see at the track are heads/cam cars in the 550-600rwhp range.
If you want to keep pace with a 650hp 3100-3400 lb car, and remain N/A, your best bet is a 427 build. If you're good with being a little slower than them, a good heads/cam/intake build on your LS6 is fine.
If you want to walk away from them, it's going to be an expensive build.

carefulnow

Safety?

SouthernSon

My experience with the C5Z is thusly: put around 425 HP to the rear, cool it, lower it, spring it hard and learn the tracks well. You will find only a handful of others with MUCH more hp passing you. You will stay with them in the turns. Also, you will find them not attending as many track events as you because their cars are down for repairs. These are the pure facts learned from over ten years in my track prepared C5Z and on the instructing roster with a dozen or so track promoters.

topmover

Very true words..........you've nailed the C5z.

conradb

Ever give anyone rides in that Radical? I'm out at Autoclub often

I've always wanted an SR3. It's just not feasible for me right now. I'm sticking to my C5 Z06 track build I've already dumped close to $30k into. I haven't even touched the engine yet and done like 80% of the work myself on it. -_-