Greasyman

I looked at the very detailed sticky on the subject, but it was a little involved and sophisticated. I'll go back to it once I've learned a little more about these cars.

I'm considering a C5 as a track and autocross toy, but I've never owned a Vette, so I don't know what sort of basic mods they might benefit from. Is the stock suspension fine, or is it a bit too soft and rolly-polly with the stock set-up? How about brake pads? Drivers seat? Is there anything tricky about getting a 5 pt harness in there? Reliability issues, like needing a larger radiator or an oil cooler, etc?

I don't need anything fancy or cutting edge, I'm not an especially fast or talented driver, but I do about 5-6 trackdays and 15-20 autocrosses a year, so I want something I really enjoy driving.

I'm posting these questions because I want to know what sort of money and labor I'm going to have to lay out, on top of the purchase price of the car. Just want to know what I might be getting myself into.

maj75

The answer is it depends on how crazy you want to get. I have a ‘99 FRC which is really only used for track days so I have some perspective. My car is completely stock inside. I have DRM Bilsteins, C6Z06 sway bars, stainless brake lines and AP Racing Brakes in front. DeWitts Radiator and separate oil cooler. Has engine mods but those aren’t strictly necessary. I run factory rear Z06 wheels on all four corners with 295/35/18 NT05 tires. I drive to the track events about 120 miles each way.

My son runs a stock Z06 with brake pad and lines, radiator and oil cooler upgrades only.

We run in Florida and the radiator and oil cooler upgrade is mandatory IMHO. We were seeing Oil temps over 300 degrees regularly. After the oil cooler install, oil temps don’t go over 240. Brake lines and pads are mandatory. The AP Racing brakes aren’t. You could run with any quality tire, street pattern just won’t last very long. I don’t consider interior mods essential. For me, adding a Racing seat and harness bar would run about $3000. I would also need a new steering wheel and spacer. I’m tall and the seat needs to mount all the way back against the bulkhead and as low as possible. That means the rear inside mount would be inaccessible. I spoke with XP Motorsports who can fab up rear mounts that replace the stock floor mounted rear studs with seat brackets which can be bolted from below the car. The steering wheel would be too far away, requiring replacement and a spacer. More money and hassle than necessary for me.

It’s a slippery slope and you have to decide what you can live without. The sky is the limit on these cars. You can do aero, wide body, full cage, engine swaps, etc. Don’t forget a mechanical refresh. Plugs, wires, balancer, water pump, while you are in there, timing chain, full fluids flush. Even fairly stock, these cars are a blast. They do, however, need to be in tip top shape for reliable track days.

Josh67

I run a stock 2002 Z06 (stock 15 year old shocks too!). I did 10-15 autocrosses this year and 4 track days in my car. I have a set of rivals on 11" rims that I run square at dry autocrosses (CAM-S). I run Continental DWs on stock Z06 wheels when I autocross in the rain, drive on the street and do track days. The only upgrade I have is a catch can, the cold air intake the car came with and Carbotech XP8s. Here in the Western Washington the outside temps are rarely over 80 so I have been able to watch my oil temp on track days and just short shift a little when they hit 280 or so. I will probably put an oil cooler on this spring or summer. Read your solo rules and figure out what class you want to run. An AS car will be illegal when you put a catch can and oil cooler on. I think an STU car would be a fantastic track toy that could be legally cooled within an autocross class as would a CAM-S car.

bj1888

You forgot the big tires (NT05s, 305 square), lol. But yes, pretty stock. I started with basic performance upgrades and necessary reliability upgrades. It's getting a suspension refresh soon (C6Z shocks, VB&P bushings, Moog ball joints, new tie rods are all sitting in the trunk). But that's only because the car is creeping up on 100k miles and the stuff needs to be replaced.

Cooling system is basically a must-do in hot climates, at least for road course use. You could probably get away without for autocross, as long as you weren't doing a bunch of back-to-back runs. Otherwise, sticky tires, new brake lines with high-temp fluid, and track pads will get you a really capable car. An oil catch can isn't a bad idea, either. You may be limited by autocross class rules, depending on what you run.

What are you running now?

l98tpi

I’ve never had a C5 or C5Z but, from my observation, the stock C5z is a great autox car. As far as aero, the C5 base or z51 with the rear glass hatch will have better advantage with higher speeds over 80mph

mountainbiker2

Stock C5 is good, but a stock C5Z06 is great. 2002-2004

63Corvette

I have a STOCK 2004 C5 Z06 which I instruct and drive HPDE with. It has Stoptech BBK but that its the only mod. There are faster cars, but a well driven stock C5 Z06 will run with much faster cars, and surprise many. HPDE is for education and FUN. There are no winners nor prizes. When I get to about 300 degrees oil temp, then I back off and run 6th gear for a lap or two. I live in Texas and instruct at TWS and CoTA in the summer so it is HOT. I would recommend BRAKES first, then coolers, then a comp driver's seat. That's IT.

Greasyman

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Seems the z51 suspension would be the way to go for me, the Z06 is probably a little too pricey and more car than I need. I think a base C5 with 6 speed and z51 option would suit me fine. Is the z51 option pretty common? How can you tell if the car has it?

Here's a brief article from Car and Driver that compares the different C5 suspensions. If you click on the photo of the guy sitting on a road case, you'll get a chart with some specs on it. For your reading pleasure: https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...belief-feature

Acid666

I have an '02 Z06 that I pretty much exclusively autocross (no track days) and it's awesome. I run in CAM and pretty much am top of the pack in the area with the exception of a friend of mine in an '02 Base C5 with C6 shocks and sways. I was doing great with the OEM shocks but decided to give Sam Stranos a call and order some yellow Konis and his sway bar since I was learning the push the limits of the stock setup. All I've got is intake, exhaust, Forgestar 18/19 setup with RE-71Rs (275/305), but I'm going to switch to a Rival-S 315 square setup when I can find 2 more oem 18" speedlines for the front.

It's a great car for autocross as it's the best bang for the buck you can get. The only other cars I was considering before I got the Z was an S2000 and possibly a mid 2000's 911. Autocross-wise, you can run in AS in a C5Z that's stock, or BS if you've got a base C5. I went into CAM because I wanted to basically have open mods and not have to go back to stock parts, and I'm consistently beating newer Camaros and Mustangs. And those guys are solid drivers too so they make me work for it, but I USUALLY beat them because the regions down here don't split CAM into proper CAM-S,N and T so all the 4 seaters can't really hang with the C5s.
Proper tires will make the world of difference for being competitive. I was consistently 2 seconds behind a 2013 Camaro SS and a Boss 302 with my Ventus V12s, so I made the jump to some RE-71s and I finally started to catch them and consistently beat them. Now I'm to the point where I'm trying to dial in the Koni's rebound and feel how the car reacts.

Josh67

If I had read the autocross rules better before I purchased my Z06 I would have saved 10k, bought a FRC instead and built it to STU rules. Any leafs and sways you want, derelin bushings, the most shock you can afford, and a real race seat. You can probably stuff the required 285 tires on stock Z06 rear rims and run a square setup. The narrower than stock tires will slow you down a little on the track days but they will also keep tire and brake costs down and the oil in your sump. If you decide down the road that you want to spend more money you can build a 600hp engine, buy a set of wider tires and play in CAM-S!

vettehardt

There should be a label either in the center console or in the glove box that lists all the RPO codes for the car. It should include Z51 on that label.

The C5Z06s really aren't that much more than the base cars. You can find 02-04s for under 20k. I've seen quite a few in the 18k range. Decent base cars are in the 16-18k range, but you can find them down in the 10-12k range. I was looking for one for the past 2 years. First the bank wouldn't give me the loan. I paid down some debt the next year and then found I had to replace my truck. Spent the money I was going to use for the Z06 on another truck. It will be another 4-5 years before I can afford another vette.

My brother has a stock 04 commemorative Z06 that I have run several times. At our NCCC convention in Pennsylvania, I was the fastest street tired car there except for a brand new '15 Z06. I've done the same thing at 4 other events. A stock Z with good brake pads and good tires is pretty hard to beat. I was running on hawk HPS pads and 315 BFG Rivals (not even the S version) on 18x10.5 all the way around.

Check the forum for sale sections and you can sometimes find good deals. Just doing a quick search on Autotrader there are 42 02-04 Z06 under 100k miles and under $20k in the country. There's a black 02 with 98k miles for $14,987. There's 3 04s just below $16k. One only has 71k miles.

Pay attention to the rules of the organization(s) you plan to run with. Figure out what can and cannot be done to the car for whatever classes you plan to run in.

FAUEE

Make sure you drive a C5 first, the steering feel on them is quite lacking. You may find them not as engaging as you'd like. They are far more capable than a C4, but are far less engaging.

All the locals around here that use C5s crack rotors constantly. To the point that most of them run 2 sets of lifetime warranty rotors, and bring their extra set with them to the track to swap to when they crack. They say they usually get 2-3 weekends out of a set of cheap rotors, vs 3-4 out of expensive ones, hence using cheap lifetime ones.

SouthernSon

Phenomenal!

SouthernSon

2 pc. floating rotors. Problem solved.

Bill Dearborn

I never found that 2 pc floating rotors were cost effective. I traded my C5Z in 2009 so maybe something more cost effective came around since then. I could get 2 to 3 days of hard track use out of NAPA Ultra Premium Rotors. When I first started using them in 2003 they were made in the US and cost $25/ea. After production moved to Canada they remained at $25/ea. By the time 2009 came around production had moved to China and the price had increased to $50/ea. No lifetime guarantee but when calculated on a cost per day basis they were the cheapest way to go. Nobody I knew that used 2 pc rotors got more than 10 to 12 days out of them before cracking and at their $250+ replacement cost were too expensive on a cost per day basis.

As for autocrossing a C5Z they are a beast. They are a perfect 2nd gear car. The transmission gear ratio in the base C5 and Z51 isn't suited for autocrossing with the LS1 engine. The base C5 M6 low gear is too low and 2nd gear is too high so you have to shift whereas with the C5Z and M12 gearing you just leave it in 2nd. I ran a 97 for 6 years and I ran an 03Z for 6 years. The Z was far better.

Bill

SouthernSon

Bill, there are different quality rotors for the 2pc. design. I have found spec37 wilwood rings to be of good quality. In addition to being cost effective I find them to have much less pad knockback. Run the regular rotor if you desire but I and many of friends at the track could not imagine ever going back to standard rotors. Anyone tired of changing cracked rotors at the track and missing a session would do well to try a good 2pc. design. I have so many cracked 1pc. rotors lying around that I could kick myself in the butt for not trying the 2pc. type sooner.

Kelly.s

I run a stock 2001 vert about the same use you are planning. Comes with z51 and 3.42 rear. I had to do a roll bar and brake fluid and pads. Other than that it's stock. I've got about 4 years hpde now and this car still has much more ability than I do. I use mpss tires and drive to the track.

Mark@AMT Motorsport

I'd be curious to know what kind of 2pc rotors the guys you knew were cracking in 10-12 days. I specifically made our 2 piece full floaters because I was cracking solid rotors after a day and a half on track. I've been instructing, TTing, racing, and winning on the same set of rotors for 2 seasons now and they still have plenty of life left. They're on sale now thru cyber Monday for $680/pair and I'll say with confidence you won't buy a longer lasting or better performing rotor package for less money. Replacement iron is $200 each. It's still a lot of money, but after 2 seasons certainly cheaper than replacing solid rotors every 3 track hours.

Mordeth

I agree with Mark. I don't know about you guys, but my time is literally money. I can't be screwing around with a cheap, one piece rotor that requires swapping and fretting over every 1-2 days. In addition, I don't want to worry about cracking one on the track that I literally just put on, or dealing with it the pits on a track day. You will also end up accumulating a metric ton of cracked rotors that need disposal (more hassle). Best to just get a quality 2 piece that you can essentially forget about for a while and not have to horse around with rotors every week. It does cost a bit more up front, and maybe even over time (not in my experience though) for a good 2 piece, but well worth it due to reducing significant hassle and aggravation, wasted time and risk.

John Shiels

I don't see any two piece rotors lasting anywhere near 10-12 days run hard.