So one of my S2K buddies convinced me to go to a time attack track day after cars and coffee, man what a blast, I see an expensive hobby coming. Car is mostly stock, DRM shocks, stoptech rotors, ss brake lines, c6z shifter, intake, catback. What do you guys recommend for some stuff to help? Track is about 1:40 long, 2-3 gear.

First thing I noticed was I slide around in my seat a ton! I am thinking A4s but for not super tall guys (5'8") and a short tick MC, I want to be able to sit fine.

I had TC and AH on, but sometimes out of a corner if i gave it to much gas, it would cut throttle for a second or two and seemingly kill my acceleration. I guess I am nervous to put it to competition mode.

My guess is I just need seat time before any mods, but I love buying stuff for the vette

Thanks guys

 

Go to the 'Autocross and Road Racing' section of this site which is under 'General Corvette Topics'. Tons of info to get you started and a nice sized hole in your pocket

Cliff notes:

Fresh fluids
Decent set of pads
Learn the car
Have fun and be safe

 

I would say try comp mode but be ready to come a bit sideways on the exit, w the TC on is doing what is meant too keep u in check. Like ludeaem said check ur fluid n tires always n play safe once u know how she behaves then u can get more mods n have more fun. Track day will always get u pump for more mods n speed. Have fun !!!

 

Hooked on track day advise - - Get some instruction, get more seat time, give up all hope of retiring --- all is lost.

 

Very sound advice! I did my first weekend May of last year and I am obsessed, it is so much fun. The forum mentioned above has great people and great advice.

My favorite quote when I posted the same thing you just did.
"Better get your Visa Jet Hot coated, its about to take some heat"
Funny and very true! A lot of time is needed too. Lot of prep/maintenance, lot of youtube watching, and a lot of time on this forum. There is a great thread in the sticky topics about prep'ing a C5Z for track duty. Tons of reading and good material there.

Welcome to the disease!

 

Thanks all!

Read a ton on the autocross and road race forum..... damn there is a lot to take in. Seems like its easy to mod too much and it quits being a street car. Sounds like the same thing I did with my Jeep, too many mods and it isn't fun on the street anymore.

Regardless, sounds like spending more time there will be good.

Thanks guys

 

Good luck...have fun...hope you have a deep wallet...

 

Good for you, not enough people get to experience driving their Z on a track. Besides all of the obvious bleed brakes etc....advice( great advice) I was told by an old timer to try using the type of liner that mechanics use in their tool boxes, as a bottom of the seat liner on your leather seats. Before you go to the expense and need or changing your seats/installing a 6 point harness, the liner helps keep your *** planted in the seat. Before you head onto the track in the staging lanes, move the seat back, strap yourself in then move your seat as far forward as possible to tighten the stock belt up. Eventually you're going to change your seat, add a harness bar, add a harness, but for now this will work fine. Enjoy. Save power mods for later, much later.

 

Congratulations on catching a disease not even Magic Johnson could get rid of if he had it.

 

I ran my car for a full season with full ah and it tought me throttle control. My last car(STI) I just sat flat footed on the gas most of a corner and using full ah really forced me to understand that my throttle control sucked. It is just a skill i never had to learn only having tracked a car with sticky 275's on all 4 corners, awd, and limited horsepower relative to traction.

It costs some time and some fun to run with ah on, but its not really about cutting fast laps the first season or 2 its about learning how to drive on track. Where the line is, how and when to transition how much weight, and how to be confident in yourself and your car.

I still only run in comp mode and I do that cause at the end of the day I started way to late to ever be competitive at 30. I also run street tires to keep loads down so comp mode is very unobtrusive. I can say when I hit oil in 13 at Road America at 72mph I was glad it was there to keep me on track.

This season i am hoping to get the car to times it should be capable of with my tires. 16 season i will shoot for real consistancy. There is so much to running on track, patience in everything is the key to having a good time AND going fast imo.

The only mods i did was replace my 7 year old tires that came with the car. Replace diff, trans, and brake fluid at the begging of the season. Refresh the fluid in the calipers every track weekend. Put on proper track pads for track weekends. Also I had from my previous track days very basic telemetry/video on my iphone which is pretty valueable eventually. In the beginning you will be a bit clunky but looking back on it now its good for a laugh. There are a number of self contained apps that are cheap/free and worth having for understanding what you did right and wrong.

Last season i lost my trans, so i did all the trans internal, clutch, rebuild of the torque tube. I was also fast enough I started having some cooling concerns so i am addressing that before this season starts. Also replacing trunions and valve springs before they give me trouble.

I am confident i wont have any need for more power for at least 2 years. The car is just that damn good. Seats are on my short list. At 6'1" I can pin myself in with my knees well enough for street tires. Use the ratchet lock on the lapbelt it does help a significant amount, probably get you through a season, at which point you will likely have something to address with that 1k more important than seats. That is what happened to me.

 

Just press an hold the button to go into competitive mode. Until you're SURE you have a handle on the car, don't disable competitive. You're not in a competition for winnings or points...don't disable everything to gain a fraction of a second in exchange for losing your car.

If the day comes you go from hobby to serious hobby and you really want to refine your ability, so be it...go all in. There are situations at an HPDE or similar event where being in a "mode" can save you...spilled fluids, a car coming out of the grass, etc. I've known people fast in grip, that got very confident, but when the car departed grip to slip, they were more or less going for a ride...and they didn't like to admit that.

 

I had an instructor turn off my AH and stated "You're doing really well, I want to see if you are doing well, or if the car is making you do well".

I wasn't really comfortable with this. I was told by others that this guy was a really good corvette instructor. So I convinced myself that if I stay at 7/10's and listen to my instructor all will be fine. It ended up being uneventful, but I didn't like the idea. All other runs since then have been with PCA groups and with AH on.

 

Understand that, depending on where you go the term "instructor" is a very loose one. I've driven with "instructors" that were disasters on and off the track. If you're senses tell you no, find another instructor....there are many.

 

You can learn a lot from tracking with the stability control/aka traction control on. It will teach you to drive with in the limits of the car on any given day, with in the limits of the tires that you are using, and the track surface that day. I just did two days at Sonoma (7th/8th Feb) in dry/cool dry/warm, Super Heavy Rain, and mud on the track. And only two cars (Mazda spec racer, and Mustang Spec racer) during the weekend spun with only one (Spec Mustang) seeing off track. TC works, and if you are driving 7/10 you shouldn't see the TC light except when there is a liquid on the track that didn't see, or the flag for the surface condition.

Mark

 

That is true. I have been very careful tip toeing that line myself. The biggest change is the seats. As soon as you go to a race seat and a harness, it becomes a PITA. You mentioned the A4. That's what I installed in my car trying to toe the line between street car and track car. I found a way to have both sets of setbelts installed in the car at all times. That helps. Even still its much harder to get in and out of the car than with the stock seats, the ride feels much harsher, and they are not good for the lower back on long drives if you don't have a great lower back. Also, I'm 6' and had to modify the brackets massively to get the seat to move forward enough and high enough in the front.


Do this. I'll add that you need to pull the seatbelt all the way out so that when you let it go it locks in place. Then move the seat up and let it squeeze the hell out of your hips.

 

Care to elaborate on your setup for both seatbelts?

I ended up buying some A4s about 2 weeks ago, and installed them a few days ago. Really enjoy the improvement!

 

I installed the left seat on the left side and right on right side. Not reversing them as most people do. So I can actually get to my seat back tilt handles. I then used the seatbelt system from the rear seats of a Nissan Maxima. This eliminates the retractor at the base that interferes with the seat and it gives you a female reciever that is the correct length. As I imagine you found out, the stock Corvette reciever is much too long. I already had a harness bar in the car. I then used the Corbeau five point harness system. The left and right waist mounting bolts handle both seatbelt systems at the same time without problem. I only had to cut away the plastic that covered the factory lower retractor. As I mentioned before, I also modified the Corbeau seat brakets to move the seat seomwhere around 2" forward and I also jacked the front of the seat bottom up a good distance with alimunum spacers.

 

I asked the classroom instructor (an M.D.) if there was a cure for the track day addiction, and a girl piped up "poverty". That sums it up. My car has done one season, now has max camber, is lowered, has Carbotech pads that spew black dust, so a pain on roads. It is about to get seats, harnesses, bar, and permanent numbers. The only street driving it gets is to the track, and I'm having 1000 times more fun with it. Enjoy your addiction!

2003 Z06, corsa extreme, K&N, Elite Engineering catch can and heel/toe petal, Fluidamper, Pfadt tow hooks, (4 Hoosier 315/30/18s on 10.5 Wheels waiting for more seat time)

 

it gets expensive...very expensive if you go frequently

doing lap days once a year can be a great experience though

make sure you sit in the seats before you buy them. i personally hate A4's and would use evo8 recaros for the street or a recaro pole position for the track

tires get wasted fast. if you get another set of wheels and a hard R comp like the toyo r888 you can go 3-4 seasons at 1-2 events a year no problem. this keeps you from killing your street tires

depending on the track a hot street pad like the hawk hp+ may be enough brake

another word of caution. race brake pads will kill the rubber booties on street brake calipers when you start getting glowing rotors and elevated temps for a period of time