Hunterworks

IT was cross country racing in UTV's I did it back in the day when it got started in the south in a Yamaha rhino then last time I raced was in a Polaris RZR XP 900 been about three years since I did it. 3 hr race, start in day time end at night.

SunnydayDILYSI

The way I got started... bought a stock C5Z and drove it both on street and track (HPDEs). Relatively low cost, only thing you need to do is change out the fluids, fill with extra quart of oil for track, and put on fresh brake pads. If you really get into the hobby and get to the point of wanting to make a bunch of the mods listed above, you'll be better off selling the stock car and buying one already tracked out. Most folks though never get to the point of really needing all the mods. But you will go through tires, brake pads, rotors, and wheel hubs faster on track than the street.

Hunterworks

This reply almost makes me interested again. I am not sure I would get serious about it, might try hard not to.

I really enjoy speed and tickets aren't cheap

crimlwC6

This. You are looking at a new vette price, add $15 to 30k to prep for the track. You will spend a fortune when you could buy a sorted car that will take years to fully exploit for 25 to 30k.

Also, hp doesn't have nearly as much to do with road racing as you think.

BEZ06

I don't know why these guys think there's a problem with the C7 Z06!?!?

smeelya responded to your question about why not a C7 Z06 with this:

Then 2014GT said:

I have an M7 and have been very happy with the car. My 2016 C7 Z06/Z07 does "hot lap after hot lap without any whining" and has been a great track car!!

Like fleming23 said, don't get an A8 C7 Z06 - that's the car that has overheating problems.

Socko

I bought my c5z with the idea that it would last till i outgrew it.

1st year clutch was not quite right on track
2nd year broke syncro key, which is super common getting fast enough i had to do a bunch of cooling mods.
3rd year lost a lifter so built a motor
4th year the junk motor a forum vendor sold me was junk so had to buy a new motor
5th year realized i was paying 10k a year to keep the car running, it was down most the time the last 2 summers so barely driven. Realized i could of bought a new gs in 2012 for the $50k i now had into the car. Sold the car and bought a gs with 10k a year payments that gm can fix for me.

Don't assume the 15 year old used car isn't going to disintegrate on track.

Racingswh

The beauty of a new car with a warranty. Exactly why I bought my Wife a new GS. Track days for fun is all that it will ever do. We aren't modding it. It's fast enough. When it breaks I will take it to the dealer.

Her C6Z is waiting on an engine that went down even after I had done the "fix" to the heads.

A C5 is an exceptional platform. They will however probably require more maintenance and repair than a new car which means either more work or expense to have someone else do it and down time.

village idiot

C5/C5Z
Pros: Cheap, light, easy
Cons: Quirky ABS/stability control, lowest power (may be a plus), **** for brakes compared to C6 and C7, no dry sump

C6
Just no. Don't get a C6 unless it's a grand Sport or Z06/ZR1.

C6 Z06/GS/ZR1
Pros: massive tires, good 6 piston calipers, dry sump
Cons: None really. Some LS7s need some head work to be reliable

C7 Z51:
You're gonna upgrade most stuff to GS level so just get a GS

C7 GS:
No real cons except price. 2017 (?)+ has extra cooling. I ran in 103 degree weather and oil temps barely budged.

C7 Z06/Z07
N/A. Can't run laps without overheating.


Honestly through, just buy a spec car (Miata, Boxter, etc) that is built and known to be reliable. street cars just aren't race cars.

C5inWV

Maybe even better would be the 2014-2015 Camaro Z/28.
Lots of them in the $40's and $50k, basically new. They are amazing on track. Their performance was my target when putting together my C5 for track. I hope to achieve similar lap times for less $. Still waiting for one in my run group.

Cap'n Pete

The best bang-for-the-buck has to be the C5 Z06. They are just so damn FAST right out of the box, with zero mods (only tires + brakes). Sounds like the valve springs is about the only serious (occasional) failure? Sounds like a cheap/easy fix (...compared to doing heads on an LS7).

I had a C6 Z06, and good god was that car an animal on the track! In the short time that I owned it and tracked it, I didn't feel like it was being any worse on the normal consumables (tires, brakes) than any other car I'd tracked? If it wasn't for my motor grenading, then I'd say the car was perfect!! I didn't do much for track prep, other than track pads and tires. It's probably second in line, next to the C5Z, in terms of bang-for-the-buck, at least IMO.

Tracking your car is a highly addictive, and wickedly fun hobby (...habit). Don't let the fear of breaking or blowing something steer you away. Just accept it. Anything and everything with an engine will break down and/or blow up at some point in its life. Might as well have fun trying!!

mikehimself

One advantage not already mentioned is that it's easy to run a square tire/wheel setup on a C5. For dual purpose cars, rotating tires and only needing to carry a single spare is very nice. I'd buy something already set up with square wheels, upgraded brakes and an oil cooler.

For what it's worth, over the past two years I've done more than 20 track days, and one lap of america on the same tires and brakes with my C5. It's due for front rotors and tires. I'm nutty about fluid changes, but the running cars are pretty minimal.

Captain Buddha

The quickest/easiest way to see if this is for you - and in a right here / right now way - is to do a multi-day driving course at Bondurant, Spring Mountain, etc - they supply the car and the instruction - you supply the money! Classes are scheduled every week pretty much...

Since you've done off road racing - the logical progression from doing track days is to time trials/racing...so - maybe you should think about going with a full-on race car? It's quite a commitment though - so that's why I recommended going to an arrive-n-drive school. See if you are addicted, learn from the pros....and then figure it all out.

village idiot

Just to nit pick, performance isn't everything. All cars that runs X lap time aren't equal. IE: you might have a fat car that plows through every turn, but has great brakes and power vs a light car that makes up for power through the turns. I've never driven a 5th gen Z/28, but I have driven an SS for about 20-30 laps. It just plows through turns. It's not much fun.

Strangely, and don't ask me why, I ran the same lap times in that as my Z51 C6 The SS was miserable to drive, the C6 was a lot of fun. I think the track got a lot rougher- that's probably a second or two. I also ran cheap tires on my C6.

Hunterworks

Where is that?

Captain Buddha

Bondurant in Phoenix area, Spring Mountain is outside of Vegas - google them - you'll see links to their offerings, prices, etc.

jaredtxrx

What is inherently wrong with a base C6?
I "daily" mine mostly but it will see track duty from time to time. Is there something I should be prepared for? (LS2)

fleming23

dry vs wet sump motor, stronger trans/diff, more power, wider tires...

village idiot

small brakes, not much cooling, wet sump that has oil starvation issues, narrow (relatively) tires. It's silly to start with a base C6 for a track car when the grand sport exists. There's also a good amount of power left on the table from LS2 to LS3

Jay_Davis

Except your car will sit at the dealer for weeks while GM tries to figure out how they don't have to pay to fix the car since its been "abused".

C6psi

I have tracked with guys on both sides of the fence on this one, some never have any power issues and others that come in early cursing the car. All were fast drivers that pushed the car.

Any platform will have it's pros and cons, just need to decide where you want to end up. I did start with a base C6 and built from there. I knew I wanted a steel frame car (as opposed to aluminum) since I planned to cage the car some day. I was basically going to upgrade every aspect of the car (power, cooling, brakes, aero, suspension, weight) anyway. My preference included the fact that I wanted to build the car myself because I enjoy doing my own work and aside from the cage and engine tune I have, some prefer turnkey. At the end of the day I ended up with a car as fast as the C7Z at about the same cost.