Hey guys, been snooping around the Forums and decided to buy a 2001 Z51 Coupe with 107,000 miles on it. Overall this car is in very good shape and I am looking to use this car as my Daily, with the occasional track/autocross event taking it out maybe 3 times/year (first event is Road Atlanta June 15, 2018). The idea here is to keep it as basic/reliable as possible with just a few track oriented supporting mods. I am looking at stainless steel brake lines, hawk pads, upgraded clutch (when OEM Goes out) and maybe lower it on the lowering studs. Is there anything I should do to the LS1 to make it better at taking the track abuse? I am also looking at buying a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports, but would like to know if I should buy an extra set of rear wheels/tires to run up front for a square setup, or should I just run the factory staggered setup? Please advise any feedback you may have. Thanks!

 

For your first few events, leave the car basically stock and use the HPDE as a learning experience. Changing pads to the Hawk HP+ will give you better brakes but more dusting on your wheels. The Most Important first step is to change your brake fluid to Dot 4, then check all the suspension parts--tie rod ends, control arm bushings, wheel bearings and ball joints. Depending on the tires you might start around 30-32 lbs (they will gain 6-8 lbs on the track). If you are going to lower the car--assuming stock ride height--take it to someone who KNOWS what they are doing. Tell them to lower it, check the rake, ask them to suggest a good all-around suspension geometry and corner weigh it. That will give your the best blend of autocross, HPDE and daily driving. Remember, lowering the car without knowledge of the end results can be a disaster waiting to happen. You will have to align the car and for high speed driving (RA) you want the front end to stay down and not act like a wing. After a few autocross's and HPDE events then look at tires (assuming your current set is less than 4 yrs old). That should get you a good start. Two last items, open the hood with the engine running and check and make sure the Harmonic Balancer is not running and you can see the ground between the HB and the front cross-member and then wiggle the battery and make sure it is very tight.

 

Don't lower the car, they turn like crap lowered

Put Doug Rippie stainless pistons in the front calipers

Change every fluid in the car

Pull the radiator out of the car and clean the outer fins...keep them clean

Put Nitto Nt05's on the car, cheaper and a very comparable tire to the PSS(start session pressures around 26 psi)

Flush the clutch fluid(Google Ranger clutch flush method)

Flush the brake fluid and put in ATE, Motul or the like

Use Raybestos ST43 brake pads on track

Flush the power steering fluid and put in Redline synthetic

Put a track Alignment on the car for tire life

Don't worry about modding the car, learn to drive it