Greetings all,

I recently bought a 2002 Z06, LOVE the car!

I consider it to be a very suitable replacement (actually more of an "upgrade") for my 84 Porsche 911. Let me know if you are interested in buying it.

I've owned my 911 for about 5 years and one of the things I enjoy is taking it to the track. I have been to Thunderhill (in Northern Calif.) more than 15 times (have volunteered as an instructor the past 5 events), Reno Fernly once and a couple of autocrosses.

What I like about my 911 is that I can drive it as hard as I want and even on hot days (100 degrees plus) I have no problems with things like engine temperature, brakes overheating/fading, etc. I have never once had a problem with the car at the track.

I know with some cars, even when the outside temperature is moderate, engine heat and brakes can be a major problem. Every Viper owner I have talked to has told me "Do not take a Viper to the track unless you do a $2000-$3000 upgrade to the brakes". Plus they need to run the heater on full to help keep the engine tempurature from getting too high. The 350Z owners also complain about the brakes not being adequate for track use (and this is with upgraded brakes on thier track model). I am not picking on those cars, just repeating feedback.

In all of the driving events I have attended, I have only seen one C5 at the track and I didn't take the opportunity to talk to him about his car. I am planning on taking my 02 Z06 to Thunderhill for an all day driving event towards the end of July, this will be the first driving event in my Z06.

My question is; What experiences have you had with your C5 at the track? Of course I do a full inspection of the car prior to driving to the track and again once I get to the track.

Any brake problems?
Any temperature problems with the engine?
What air pressure are you using with stock tires? (I use 28psi hot in my 911 with Kuhmo Victoracers)
Is there anything I should aware of?
I assume that the Active Handling should be turned off.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Darryl

 

Check out the Autocrossing and Road Racing section, many of your questions are already answered in detail over there with a quick search.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zeroforum?id=23

Brakes need some upgrades, I have steel brake lines, carbotech track pads, motul brake fluid, Doug Rippie brake ducts. It is also a good idea to put some heat shields on your tie rod ends, you will melt the rubber boots because they are so close to the rotors. By all means use Competitive mode or turn AH off, you will burn up your rear calipers like this if you don't...


Yes, that caliper was once colored red, and no, this is not my car.

I got some tranny temp warnings and went to synthetic and that has seemed to cure that.

Beyond a 20 minute session my oil temps get high, I need to get an oil cooler, one of my next upgrades.

These cars are a freekin' blast on the track!

 

The car was made to run. Sure, you will want to tweek a few things after you get a feel for it, but try it first just as it is. It will run hard all day and not complain, then cruise home at freeway speeds. You won't be disappointed.

 

I have less experience than you do at tracking, in general, but more with the C5.

The car is incredibly track ready. You don't need any major upgrades unless it's an issue of keeping up with the faster cars in your peer group, and then the first thing, as noted, is brakes. But you can track the car repeatedly with no more than bleeding them from time to time and being attentive to the condition of the pads.

Even the OEM Goodyears are fine. Add two pounds and leave it.

The AH isn't that intrusive unless you're sloppy, I don't think. Up to you.

You'll be amazed at how unfazed the C5 ZO6 will be by tough use on the track. Then the issue be be how fast you want to go.

 

Darryl,

I just did a Trackday at Thunderhill two weekends ago and here is what you need to watch out for.

Tire pressures: I have pilot sports and after the first session they were toasted and the handling was downright dangerous because I set my pressures at 30 psi front and rear.. They ended up at 52 psi hot, WAY TOO HIGH AND SCARY AS SH*T!! 25 psi worked for the next sessions.

I added 1/2 a quart of synthetic Mobil One to my engine so it was slightly overfull

Make sure to take out your center caps and lug nut covers or you might lose them

Other than that, remember to run in Competition Mode to get a feel for the car first.

The car is FANTASTIC and I had zero problems with water or oil temps, or brake issues (I was being fairly conservative on braking and the only real hard braking there is coming down the hill into 10.)

Good luck and have fun!

 

The car is really set up for tracking right out of the box. I upgraded the brake pads, running Hawk HP+ pads and they are doing fine. Definitely bleed the brakes and put in high temp brake fluid (I use ATE Super Blue). You might consider going with the Carbotech or other more race oriented pads.

Definitely change your transmission fluid and differential gear oil. I put Red Line ATF in my tranny and Red Line 75W90 in the diff and they both run smooth, no overheating problems. Be sure your radiator is clear of any debris and that your fluid is in good condition. If you are concerned about overheating, add a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter. And Chevy recommends overfilling the oil by 1 qt., but I put about 1/2 qt. over and it seems fine. Change the engine oil and filter with fresh Mobil 1, it will help keep the engine cool as well.

Beyond that, I would also recommend the Brey-Krause harness bar, and lap belt attachment adapters (if you are not putting in a racing seat). Go out and have fun. The car is built to run hard, so enjoy it.

And ditto on competitive mode. You definitely want the traction control off, but keeping the active handling on is worth every penny.

 

and Welcome!

 

The first time I took my car to the track it was bone stock except for alignment and motul 600 brake fluid, including the original tires with 16,000 miles. The braking was a little inconsistant, but not dangerous. I was going fast enough to get moved up to the C group(fast or experienced, whatever they call it). So although I'm no expert racer I did press the car somewhat. Everything held up fine.

Thunderhill and Buttonwillow are hot in July and August. Expect 95-105 degrees. This might cause some problems with the car, but just keep an eye on your guages and you'll probably be fine.

When are you going to T-Hill? I'm thinking about signing up for the Golden Gate Lotus club day on 24 July. It's only $165 and they're running a two group format. Looks like the best deal I've found.

Dog

 

Engine: If you run hard you will see 300+ engine temps in less than 15 minutes. This can be held off somewhat by not shifting as much and keeping the revs lower but I feel if I am out there have fun and run it as hard as it will go. I run 5-w40 mobil 1 at the track 1 quart overfilled. One easy lap will usually bring the temps back to around 275-280. Porsches don't have this problem, the 2 track event I have run this year have been with a Porsche club.

Brakes: I upgraded my fronts with bigger rotors and better calipers. Good pads for the stock calipers are expensive pluse the stock calipers have problems with tapering pads. Also they need very high temp fuild or you will boil the fluid and get soft pedal.

Active handling: I usually run in competetion mode. It rarely intrudes and doesn't hurt you much if the traction control is shut off. With traction control on it will kill the engine for like a full second it seems if you get a little loose powering out of a corner that is why I use competitive mode. Most laps I don't see active handling activate and if it saves some damage it is more than worth any slight slow down it may cause.

Compared to Porsches none that cost less than $100k will outrun the Z06 on a track. Only ones that are really faster stock for stock are GT2s-GT3s.

 

I would say that the biggest problem that I had was the brakes they do tend to get a little soft, and the oil temps goes a little to high side, I set the tire psi at 25 cold and it never got to high, I ran Kumho MX's in z06 sizes with a set of T1 bars, the limit is far to high to ever find out here in Colorado tracks. I just did a head/cam swap and think that beyond the needed upgrade in cooling, an engine oil cooler is needed for some real track time now.

 

Under hard use the brake pads taper and will cause a long pedal after a few 20 minute sessions (some people mistake this for brake fade or boiled fluid but it is just increased piston travel). This can be compensated for by tapping the brake pedal with the left foot while going down a straight or giving a double pump on the pedal as you start to brake. I ran a 97 C5 for 3 seasons using stock C5 pads and rotors. Pads would last 2 days and I used only 1 set of rotors over that time. The Z06 pads are a little more aggressive but I have not run them on the track since I have migrated to Wilwood calipers to eliminate the taper problem. Oil temps will approach the 300 degree point after 20 minutes of hard driving but my 97 went through 4 seasons before I added an oil cooler.

Depending on your driving style and aggressiveness you may do just fine going with everything all stock. I have been contemplating doing just that since retiring this year. It would be a lot cheaper and less work to run stock pads, and street tires and be a couple seconds slower around the Glen. It would probably be just as much fun also.

Bill

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

Meldog, I will email you directly. I was considering going with Golden Gate Lotus Club, I have run with them once before and it was the best "bang for the buck" time I have ever had at a driving event. This is because most of them went home just after lunch leaving myself and 2 other drivers in our run group meaning; LOTS OF TRACK TIME!