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Nope. He hit an elk or a moose w/his car....still putting it back together. I'm?.....(edit)....
I love watching your vids....I'd love to get my car out there and add content to this thread, but I don't see it happening this year. Just bought a new roof for my house (2nd one in three years!!) and now? I'm PO. I'm a po-assed, broke-dick, red neck....this year. Two roofs in three years is a big hit to take. And I'm spending my car-money on dyno'ing and shipping intakes.
Love seeing your fun, though and living vicariously through your vids!
VT, despite the somewhat misleading UTQG numbers, I think it's actually pretty likely that the Falken RT660 is ultimately a faster tire than the Toyo R888R. I'm not sure of that, but I have my suspicions. The shocks will definitely make a big difference, as will the significantly stiffer Z51 spring and swaybar sets on your 89. Although the L98 is obviously way down on power, the bigger determinant of speed is carrying higher speed through turns. You are clearly doing that much better in this car (and just driving well in general). It would be cool to have at least LT1 power in a Z51 "challenge" suspension, but with a C4 you can't have it all unless you build it yourself. That said...Tom has found an intake that will give you LT1 power all by itself! Hmmmmm.
I think the repair turned out pretty good. I took my time before I started cutting the damaged pan out. I spaced it back a bit (about the thickness of the panel) so I had more space for a new heat shield.
I just need to add a power steering cooler and then I'll be hitting the track again.
Looking good! Look forward to a track update from you! Glad you are looking fwd to getting back out there.
Originally Posted by Tom400CFI
Nope. He hit an elk or a moose w/his car....still putting it back together. I'm?.....(edit)....
I love watching your vids....I'd love to get my car out there and add content to this thread, but I don't see it happening this year. Just bought a new roof for my house (2nd one in three years!!) and now? I'm PO. I'm a po-assed, broke-dick, red neck....this year. Two roofs in three years is a big hit to take. And I'm spending my car-money on dyno'ing and shipping intakes.
Love seeing your fun, though and living vicariously through your vids!
Sheesh thats too bad, you could come as a guest with me but dang long way to drive!! Hail???
VT, despite the somewhat misleading UTQG numbers, I think it's actually pretty likely that the Falken RT660 is ultimately a faster tire than the Toyo R888R. I'm not sure of that, but I have my suspicions. The shocks will definitely make a big difference, as will the significantly stiffer Z51 spring and swaybar sets on your 89. Although the L98 is obviously way down on power, the bigger determinant of speed is carrying higher speed through turns. You are clearly doing that much better in this car (and just driving well in general). It would be cool to have at least LT1 power in a Z51 "challenge" suspension, but with a C4 you can't have it all unless you build it yourself. That said...Tom has found an intake that will give you LT1 power all by itself! Hmmmmm.
Hit the track the other weekend finally with the 1991 ZF6 L98
It did solid with a best time of 1:42.5 while my personal best in my red 89 ZF6 last season was 1:39.5
Same tires, but hot track, car not exactly running right, and I haven't raced all season until just this past weekend.
Coolant temps stayed below 215 F as read from DataCat plugged in via the OBD I port. Oil temps got up to around 225 F so that all seemed good.
Russell Edelbrock Stainless brake lines worked well with the Motul Racing Brake Fluid and Dynamic Friction Components Active Performance pads.
The car wasn't running right though, and while I am glad an grateful that it didn't puke oil all over the track, or cost me a tow home, I am pretty sure I spun a main, rod, or cam bearing.
Car sounds terrible now, valvetrain sounds oil starved. Check gauges light is steady on and oil pressure just reads zero. 141k miles on the motor and it was datalogging steady increasing knock counts at idle off throttle all day.
I believe that Z is a 370 that was actually running in C class (power to weight ratio equal or better than 1hp per 10lbs)
Its official time that day was 1:44.081
I don't know the driver so I can't speak to how good of a driver he is, and so I can't speak to if that time is representative of a "good time" in that car.
track record is around 1:28.xx
Last edited by yakmastermax; 07-18-2023 at 12:31 PM.
ive been on track with both 350 and 370. alot of it depends on the driver obviously. my car was a tad bit faster than the 370 and definable the 350.
But im not sure if that was the driver!
Thanks for the response. I ran with one (370) last summer that was driven by a champ car team driver...not saying he's "the man", but he's got way more seat time than most all of us. Anyway, I could drive away from him, which I wasn't expecting. I could wait for him, then drive away from him again. Over and over.
Been on a two-week vacation, so just now getting back to the real (ahem) world of the webernets. The following plan is locked in for sure now:
Originally Posted by MatthewMiller
I have a work-related trip to Detroit in August and I'm contemplating driving my Camaro instead of flying, and stopping at Gingerman Raceway along the way for a Saturday Porsche Club track day on August 12...if they'll have me and if they will allow a one-day registration. I need to find out more details.
Gingerman is a fun and relatively safe track. I first drove it last fall and wanted to do it again. The PCA folks asked me to register in Intermediate (which was my plan anyway) and to meet with them for their orientation on Friday evening to see whether they think I should have an instructor for the first session or not. I'm totally okay with it if they decide to send me out with an instructor, since I can pick the instructor's brain regarding this track and whatever technique they want to share. This plan is a lot better than getting stuck in Novice group with minimal passing and lots of slow drivers. Anyway, if anyone else is thinking of this, it'd be great to see you there.
really doesn’t matter if you are noob or expert. as you say, instructor will have gingerman specific tios. and instructors tailor the instruction to the level of the pupil so its always the right mive to have an instructor 👍
Yep, the plan is to mount my GoPro on the outside window and record video with SoloStorm data overlay. Meantime, here's an HPDE I did in June at World Wide Technology Raceway, our local oval with inside road course. I always say that I'm an 8/10ths guy on track days, but even for me this is very conservative and you can see I also had to wait on the high bank for a point-by. I need to get closer to the apex cones! All my fast laps came in a later session when I got lots of unobstructed laps playing chase with a friend in his new M3, but for some reason the video didn't record for that session .
welcome @bls72bmw to the track thread, added above.
“Brainered Raceway, BIR- and Road America, HPDE Track Day Driver, #36 with Porsche Club Events, 1994 Green C4 mostly stock with 6spd ZF, new to Corvettes, would like tips for on road race track use.
Also I'll be at BIR Sep 15/16 with PCA DE. (spots still open, non PCA members contact me to ask about joining)”
Team, Just found this thread thanks to Matt Miller- who gave me a lot of advice on setting up a 1994 6speed stock base C4 for track days. Coming over from driving P Cars in Intermediate groups the last few years. My last P Car blew an engine Turn 5 at Road America during a HPDE...and the rebuild costs are staggering. SO I've decided to join Team Chevy and get some quality track time in a reliable, easy and not overly expensive platform. I really think the goal here is to get seat time and learn, not so much as to what car I'm in. At our level, it is 99% driver skill- as someone said in an above post..."IF you ain't getting paid to drive, you ain't that good...." LOL.
I want to keep my DE Car at a reasonable cost level, hence the c4. I think I can build a decent car for under 15k that I can drive to date night on Saturday, then next week take to an intermediate level DE Weekend. I don't need to be the fastest guy, and I want a car for light street duty with AC, and decent ride quality. BUT if you wad up a C4 on track, it's easy enough to find another for a reasonable cost and transfer parts. I try not to buy the track insurance which adds another $200-300 (cost of car dependent) to a weekend fees.
On to my question:
I don't see much discussion of installing race seats or harnesses in C4s. I understand the OEM Seats are supposed to be fairly supportive and light for what they are (OEM).
(I did see 1 Eyed Willie's vid and he's got a race seat.)
I would not mind either INSTALLING A 5/6point Harness to go along with the OEM Seats, OR BETTER YET, a set of reclineable Race/Street seats that hold you in place and even using the OEM belt with them.
(Our rules in the PCA Club say if you run a harness, you need a HANS. OR You can run the OEM Belt without a HANS)
Thoughts?
Here is the only race seat base I could find as a drop in for C4s, but I can't seem to find what seats fit in our cars (sometimes width can be an issue ...I am a 'Medium" in seat size)
Team, Just found this thread thanks to Matt Miller- who gave me a lot of advice on setting up a 1994 6speed stock base C4 for track days. Coming over from driving P Cars in Intermediate groups the last few years. My last P Car blew an engine Turn 5 at Road America during a HPDE...and the rebuild costs are staggering. SO I've decided to join Team Chevy and get some quality track time in a reliable, easy and not overly expensive platform. I really think the goal here is to get seat time and learn, not so much as to what car I'm in. At our level, it is 99% driver skill- as someone said in an above post..."IF you ain't getting paid to drive, you ain't that good...." LOL.
I want to keep my DE Car at a reasonable cost level, hence the c4. I think I can build a decent car for under 15k that I can drive to date night on Saturday, then next week take to an intermediate level DE Weekend. I don't need to be the fastest guy, and I want a car for light street duty with AC, and decent ride quality. BUT if you wad up a C4 on track, it's easy enough to find another for a reasonable cost and transfer parts. I try not to buy the track insurance which adds another $200-300 (cost of car dependent) to a weekend fees.
On to my question:
I don't see much discussion of installing race seats or harnesses in C4s. I understand the OEM Seats are supposed to be fairly supportive and light for what they are (OEM).
(I did see 1 Eyed Willie's vid and he's got a race seat.)
I would not mind either INSTALLING A 5/6point Harness to go along with the OEM Seats, OR BETTER YET, a set of reclineable Race/Street seats that hold you in place and even using the OEM belt with them.
(Our rules in the PCA Club say if you run a harness, you need a HANS. OR You can run the OEM Belt without a HANS)
Thoughts?
Here is the only race seat base I could find as a drop in for C4s, but I can't seem to find what seats fit in our cars (sometimes width can be an issue ...I am a 'Medium" in seat size)
OK your goal is alot like how i treat my ZR-1. Date car, AC car, good looking car, but setup to pound laps at the drop of a hat.
So lets talk about seats. 84-93 SPORT seats are allll you need—providing
1. the bolsters articulate as they are supposed to and
2. i pull my springs under the seat bottom for track time. I do not re-attach the springs after track time, i have a triple thickness piece of cardboard that i slip under the seat cushion for street driving.
I will say that the 89-93 sport seats are a step beyond the early car seats even. 84-88 sport seats are awesome too. No need to change if you have an early car. But if i had a 94–96 car, id be swapping in an 89-93 seat. And there will be thousands around.
The way to secure yourself like glue to your factory sport seat, is to use the power seat base and position the seat all the way rearward, and open the bolsters a bit. Fasten the belt. Press the CINCH button, use your hand to feed the belt in as much as you can, then use the power seat base to move you forward to driving position, and fully close the bolsters. You will be so glued to the seat, and the side bolsters of the sport seats, 84-93, hold you in side to side. On a c5, you can achieve the equivalent as the CINCH button by pulling the belt all the way out and then it triggers cinch. However, even when you try this manouver with a C5, there is zero bottom or bavk bolsters and you still flop all around. It’s absolutely brutal. My understanding is the 94-96 seats were a step towards the C5 seats. I have not driven them. It would be nice to hear from people who have them. Infact if you have them, it would be awesome to hear about your experience using the cinch technique. will it hold you side to side?
As far as the hans, realistically i believe you should use one, or, as my wife and i do, the simpson hybrid, which does NOT REQUIRE ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE DEVICE ITSELF. It is fastened to your body in the way like a backpack. No, you cannot feel it while driving. I do 2hr stints of endurance racing in my hybrid. Its awesome and lets you have the best of all types of restraints. 3point factory, 4point, 5 and 6. Its excellent!!! It clips to your helmet the same as a HANS. Whereas the hans requires a harness, pita for a car intended to be ran on the street and somewhat daily.
I have seen one set of factory c4 seats, the 94-96 like you have, modified for a harness pass-through. The gentleman is a very good local autocrosser who ran the seats in his C3 with a harness bar mounted behind. This was however in a dedicated race car.
In my case, and maybe yours(?), you plan on street driving your car as well.
Given that, i would simply either modify the factory seat for a pass-through and a harness bar, or, like me and everyone with a 84-93 sport seat, use a factory seat. You can most likely buy a set cheap. Swap them for the 94 seats you have.
I will say that, truth is, ive never sat in a set of functioning 94-96 sport seats, supposedly they have air bladders to inflate the side bolsters and i cannot see how these would even come within a sniff as good as the early car sport seats which use mechanical articulation side bolsters. I cannot stress how amazing they are right out of the box.
If you want the next level, get a fresh set of alcantara seat skins for your sport seats. Now you also have the velco effect and very high friction coefficient of your clothing to the seat skin. It wasnt until the C7 sport seats and the c8 race seats that they came close to the same bolstering performance as the 89-93 sport seats.
Somewhat related, I have tried to swap in aftermarket seats into my wifes C5. “racing seats” (i realize you are not talking a c5) and the experience was a total gong show. the issue is the seat bottom height. every aftermarket seat i have tried is too high on the seat bottom. The dimensions are more or less the same for a c4-c8. you can put a sport c7 seat in a c4 if you want. But you will be farting around with the seat buttons, but the height will be correct.
You can give up the power seat base, and then you can go with lots of options of seats. Then you are a manual seat slider. Because i drive my cars on the road, AND the cinch button with the power seat base works to seriously suck me into my seat, i will not give up the c4 seats. They are the best track seat on any production car that ive seen from that era by far.
The easiest button for you, is to swap seats to a 89-93 sport seat.
my thoughts!!
Last edited by VikingTrad3r; 08-12-2023 at 10:36 PM.
94 Z07 here. Just got back from my first track day. I ran with COMSCC at Palmer Motorsports Park in MA. Very intense track, 14 turns almost 200' elevation. Car handed very well until the power steering blew a leak on the last session of the day. Still not sure what let loose. Steering works fine just very hard. Anything I should upgrade to while i am working on power steering?
Biggest takeaway is I need better brakes. I was having bad fade issues, fluid.was brand new too.. Looking for suggestions on pads/rotors. Previous owner put on some slotted and drilled rotors but I'm skeptical of their quality and drilled rotors are frowned. Also need to replace the brake lines with braided ones. Running Nitto Nt555 tires 275/40/17 + 315/35/17. They did ok but a proper set of track tires is in my future as well.
Here's a photo.
07-17-2023, 01:39 PM
Two roofs in three years is a big hit to take. And I'm spending my car-money on dyno'ing and shipping intakes. 
.
