Hey everyone -

Took my C6 to the track for the first time, and it was pretty awesome. I think I'm getting decent enough at driving that it's time to start thinking about improving my car. (I've had track time in other cars). Problem is... I don't really know anything about upgrades. Any suggestions on what my first step should be (e.g., racing tires/wheels)? If so, I'd appreciate if you could be very specific (e.g., brand and model). Also - Any suggestions on how to actually transport an extra set of wheels to the track if the only car I'm bringing is my C6?

Thanks!

 

Ask Alex

 

What was your ET / MPH ?

Mark

 

Track time? Drag racing or Road Racing / High performacne Drivers Events ??

If a Road / HPDE then DOT4 brake fluid, brake pads and brake cooling are a must. Dont go to R compounds until you have 10 or so events under your belt.

and

 

I completely agree with everything..

There are a few things that he should look into..

First Some Motul 600 or Castrol SRF brake fluid as mentioned. This allows for a much higher boiling point and is a must for track events.

Second Brake Pads, Im not sure if your car is a Z51 or not but any track worthy pad is going to chew threw the Z51 rotors in 1 or 2 events. Suggest changing to either new rotors or a BBK (especially if you are going to track more then 3-4 times a year)

Third Brake cooling is a necessity as well. As stated it will help keep fade to a minimum as it helps to dissipate heat.. You do have to watch though as some aftermarket cooling kits will rub at full lock with some race rubber.

Fourth Wheels/Tires The OEM wheels and tires are equivalent to boat anchors at all 4 corners.. Go with a lighter setup. I completely agree that you do NOT want RComps until you have some time under your belt however there are some very track worthy tires out there that are Non-R comp and still provide a great amount of grab.. The stock tires are not the tire you want to use as they cost an arm and a leg to replace. After burning through 2 sets you would have already paid for a new set of wheels and tires.

I have noticed that AU N EGL has a tremendous amount of knowledge and always accurately represents what is needed. Nice to see proper information be given when asked

 

Thank you Alex

35 + driving schools under the tires, 2500 miles alone on VIR last year

Instucte at many many schools and am the Track Master for the Upcoming National Corvette Museum High Performance Drivers Event in Oct

Me in the Yellow C5 below

 

Is that an Iridium Shield? Looks liek the stig

Yeah.. i have about 50 events under my belt.. Pocono, The Glen, Limerock.

Comp Licenses and instruct with Local autoX's Nasa and MClub

I see so much misinformation spewed around here it actually makes me kind of angry.

I may sell a ton of stuff but i will NEVER sell someone something they dont need unless they want it for aesthetic reasons.

 

Thanks for all the replies so far. To give a little more background -- By track events, I mean road courses (like Porsche DE events). My car is Z51. I've been to less than 10 events... but this is the first time I felt that I was making enough progress that I think I would benefit from starting to make improvements to the car.

Sounds like there is a consensus on:
1. Brake fluid.
2. Brake pads. Any specific recommendations? As for new rotors or BBK.... what is a BBK? Recommendations on the rotors?
3. Brake cooling. Specific recommendation?
4. No R-compound. Is this because the tires will lose grip too suddenly for my experience level? Specific recommendations for non-R compound tires? How about wheels that will be good for both the non-R compound and R compound when I get them?

Also - How do I get the wheels to the track? Is there some way to attached a small trailor hitch? Where do I get a trailor?... Probably a dumb question, but when I said I'm a newbie, I wasn't exaggerating!

Thanks again.

 

BBK = Big Brake Kit.. a costly investment (If you do a 4 wheel kit) but without a doubt worth it if you are going to track 4 or better times a year.. Pads it depends on how hard you run your car Hawk HT10's are a favorite of mine.. they are a bit tough on rotors but not NEARLY as bad as PF01 but they dont bite as hard as PF01's.. There are tradeoffs.

If you want.. Give me a call.. im open until 10pm EST. Ill be happy to go over all the options for you and lay them out piece by piece so you can understand.

 

Unfortunitly there is and some marketers will prey on unknowing ppl.



Iridium Shield - yes , great for the blazzing bright southern sun.



Pads: I have used PFC-01s loved them Now I use Wilwood H pads. Even better with unbelievle stopping power, Note these are not street pads but racing pads like the Hawk-HT10

Brake fluid: I use Castrol SRF

Cooling : DRM Doug Rippie Motorsports brake duct extensions that direct air from your existing front brake duct directly to the rotor or caliper.

10 events is a good amount of events. then the possibleity of going to DOT Rs is OK like Kumho or Hoosiers, or Toyos. Remeber these tires dont last as long.

The grip is so much more then street tires and they dont 'talk' to you unitl the moment before they let go and you are sliding.

 

Thats great! Sparco helmet right?

This is my helmet for the time being until october when the SA05 comes out

Then its whatever Arai's offering is. GP6 i think will be the new designation of the GP5

 

G-Force Pro

 

My own opinion (since this thread got hijacked) is to go to as many driving schools as you can...

After you get that done, go to mods...

You can have the best car but if you don't know how to use it, (not saying that you don't mind you), whats the point except of having an empty wallet...

Plus, at a driving school, they can tell you want works best since they most likley don't sell that stuff...

 

this should save you money(and your sanity) in the long run.

 

Street tires have a progressive breakaway characteristic. This is vitally important to the novice driver as it tells the driver when the tires are nearing their grip limits. That is, street tires give lots of warning. Novice drivers need lots of warning since he/she may not know what signals the car will send when the car is approaching a spin.

When you slowly increase the cornering loads on a street tire, it goes from grip, to slip, to slide well before it gets into an unstable area in the chassis dynamics. When you slowly increase the cornering loads on an r-compound tire it goes from grip, to grip, to grip, to snap spin. All the progressing in contained in the last few percent of the grip curve. This is very difficult for a novice to read.

Street tires don't have as much ultimate grip. This allows the novice driver to overdrive the tires, and experience the actual chassis dynamics of a sliding car--in relative safety. Sliding a car around is a lot of fun, but it is not the fast way around a race track. Later, when you realize this, you will learn to recognize the chassis and drive 'to the car'.

Street tires are less expensive on a per mile basis until you start driving a car around to the point where you are chewing up the tires (overheating, chunking) At which time, r-compounds become less expensive than streets on a per-track-mile basis.

Once you learn ths chassis dynamics, have enjoyed several lurid skids AND saved them, and thereby understand the signals the car sends on an impending spin, you can read r-compound (or slicks) pretty much the same way you read street tires. It is simple physics, and the car does the same thing, just at a higher rates of acceleration. It is just that with r-compounds and slicks there is so much more speed involved that A) the probability of leaving the track is greatly increased, B) the kinetic energy in the car is greatly increased, C) more bad things happen faster when you leave the road surface.

You actually will learn the chassis dynamics and learn high performance driving faster on streets than you will on r-compounds. This will make you a better driver earlier in your adventure.

 

Ok, brake fluid is not a problem but I have the Z51 option. I've been looking around and can't find any SS lines which state they fit the Z51 option - will those that fit a standard C6 fit? How about rotors? Who makes ones that will fit? If I opt to replace rotors and calipers what do I look for? Manufacturer - or am I just too early - seems like I had lots of choices for my C5 but then it was much older/maturer. I have tracked at 115 degrees here in Texas and I am concerned about brakes and heat!

 

The C6 Z51 brakes are the standard PBR Corvette Calipers, with larger mounting brakets and larger D/S rotors.

Stainless steel lines, Look at Earl's performance plumbing or Goodridge with the banjo fittings.

Rotors, so far not to our knowlage are there replacement rotors for the C6 Z51 D/S. Raybestos is working on the larger sizes. A few guys who have tracked the Z51 package and are seeing cracks near the holes. These guys are getting the C5 caliper brackets and putting on the standard C5 Raybestos rotor at $25 / Each

the calipers are fine. We use and abuse them.

DRM ( Doug Rippie Motorsports ) make brake duct extensions to help cool those brakes down.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Thanks for all of the helpful advice. For now, I've decided to put in better brake fluid and try racing brake pads. Based on the above advice, I've decided to wait about 5 more events before trying R-compound tires.

As you may have seen from one of my other posts, I'm trying to figure out how to change the brake pads. Another problem is that I don't even know how to change the brake fluid, and no service shop will allow me to provide my own fluid (e.g., Chevrolet, Just Brakes, etc.). I've never worked on cars before, so things that might seem to be no-brainers to some of you are a challenge to me. Any suggestions on the fluid issue would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Changing pads is really easy.. Changing break fluid is a 2 man job simply because you need to flush the old system then bleed the new fluid into the lines by pumping the pedal while opening and closing valves.. I suggest this.. 1) Get a turkey baster... 2) Get a pressure Bleeder 3) Get a C Clamp..

Change Brake Pads:

1) Take of wheel
2) Remove Caliper (2 bolts should be holding it on)
3) ** Important: Support caliper with something.. do not let it hang by the brake line.
4) Pull off old pads (Dont remember if they have retaining clips or not but it should be real easy to get them off)
5) Take cover off break fluid reservoir
6) Grab c-clamp and SLOWLY compress piston1 then piston2 of the caliper far enough that the new pads will fit over the rotor. (Usually about 1/4-1/2" depending on how far worn your pads were.
7) Put new pads back on caliper same way you took off the old one.
8) Put caliper back over rotor (might be a bit tight but thats no problem.. give it a few taps with the ball of your hand.. it will get on there.)
9) Put bolts back on (Not sure of the torque specs.. just ask parts guy at your dealer)
10) Repeat 3 more times.. **Note: rear calipers only have 1 piston as opposed to the 2 in the front.


Brake Fluid Drain/Bleed: (This is where the power bleeder comes in handy)

1) With a turkey baster, (large eyedropper looking thing) drain all the brake fluid from the reservoir.
2) Next grab the bleeder and use it to pressurize (fill with air) the open space in the brake system.. Then open the valves on the calipers 1 by one to shoot all the remaining brake fluid out..
3) Once there is no more fluid coming out after you have been pumping the presurizer, close the valves and pour new brake fluid into the reservoir.
4) Now the 2 person part.. start with 1 corner and re-open the valve. Have your friend pump the brakes slowly until fluid starts to come out. When fluid starts to come out have him hold the pedal to the floor as you close the valve. Repeat 3 more times.


People, Help me out here.. did i miss anything?