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decided to do a last minute track day. Car equipped with mismatched tires. Michelins in front and Sumitomos. All full tread but 3 and 5 years old.
Went out with 34 psi (taken from dic) came in with 37,38. Car could not get a hold of the track. Point in was fine. No forward traction. Tried with traction control on. A joke.
Oil temp is is a concern at 270 after 4 laps. Brakes fading but pads were getting thin.
Bought some Hawk hp plus but not installed.
Needs front rotors? Any suggestions??
ordered RE-71 before track day. As I said, last minute decision and probably not a good one.
Trying to to be brief. I think I timed out before, thanks
Tire rubber starts to harden in about 4 year, plus tire set not matching did not do you any favors.
Traction control has nothing to do with handling grip, and is a device to keep you from spinning the rear tires only.
If a novice, leave all the nannies on, but as an expert driver, push the T/C button down and hold it down for 5 seconds to turn all the nanies off (short of ABS that always stays on).
There is comp mode (which is the second TC button push after you turn T/C off, that will keep TC off and allow you to step the back end out more that if all the nannies where on, but will only allow the back end to step so far out on the drive out, and really just gets in the way with AH trying to self correct when you are pushing the car hard on the way out isntead.
As for Z51 option car, its not a Matia, so don't drive it like such (no gliding through the corners).
To add here, the Z51 has Fe3 spring up front, and these are so you can front weight transfer the car hard, without the front end over diving. So if you don't weight transfer, the front end is going to be sitting too high/not sticking into the corner instead
So, come as hot as you can into the corner, brake at the last possible moment to weight transfer the car to the front end to get it to grip all the way to the apex, then on the way out, use the back end with power (throttle) to steer the car while it pushing the front end into the corner, with light steering checks as needed.
Hence C6 has more power than chassis handling ability, so you have to use the power to your advantage. Hence, the car has under steer into a corner, so you have to weight transfer into to the corner, and on the way out, that under steer become neutral steering with the back end driving the car hot out of the corner. If the front end had neutral steering, that that would turn into way over steering and flirting with snap hook steering instead.
Simply put, data log your driving events, and if you have more than 1/2 second from the time on hard brake, to hard on throttle and visa versa/back and forth at any time, then your not driving the Vet correctly. If you want to data log the G meter, then at no time should the ball be centered circled under .5G . With either of the two, your gliding the car around the track at points, and the vet does not take well to that driving style since it not set up for such.
Note, car will pull about .5 gs on hard acceleration down the straight, but into and through the corners, ball should be over 1g isntead.
To sum it up, suggest that you take some HPDE to learn how to drive a HP car/the vet correctly to start with.
Loose is fast, but you have to have the driving ability to skate the car around the track at high speeds in the first place.
To add, if your running the J55 HD brake pads for high speed road course use, your going to burn them to the ground.
The J55 HD oem pads are only rated for Autocross type of heat range alone.
As for oil temp levels at 270, stop using the motor for engine braking, since the brakes will slow you down way faster than the engine every could. Take high speed straight into the end corner from say 5th to second gear, get on the clutch at the same time as the brakes for last possible braking zone so you are front weight transferred all the way to the apex, heal toe to bump the rpms to drop down to your exit gear for the way out of the apex (5th straight to second in most courses), and don't engage the clutch until it it safe in speed to engage the clutch and power out of the apex.
As for tires, if I have to run street legal tread wear tires for an event, then will run Super Cups, but for most road course track use, run R7's, with tires swapped at the track at the same time I'm changing brake pads as well.
having raced mostly small bore formula and sports cars I have never had much hp. My last car raced in 2013 weighed in at 850 with driver.
Your advice is well taken. I’m 71 years old and still get a kick out of driving but even as a teenager I drove little British cars instead of the popular muscle cars.
I havent driven competively in four years. It’s hard to walk away completely so I thought I’d buy my childhood dream car and have some fun. And I did but ........ I have much to learn AGAIN. Thanks. Tom
Instead of Hawk pads, I would go with Carbotech. You can exchange Carbotech street and track pads without worry about cross contamination. Since you are kind of starting out again, you might go with XP-8's all around, then XP-10's for the front as you regain your skills.
I like Motul 600 brake fluid, its a Dot 4, so if you have Dot 3 installed its a complete flush.
For tires, yep, too old but fun. These tires may work when learning to "skate the car around" the course because your speeds won't be as high it would be with fresh tires. Otherwise, I like to stay a lot closer to 30psi on my Michelin PSS's (all 4 corners) Mine once got up to 37 - 38 range and it was slippery! I like Dano's comments. I've done a lot of driving with the local Porsche club and I can tell you their style is different than the Corvette so I've been approaching the limits VERY carefully. I still run with the nannies turned on in the advanced-intermediate group. I've had a couple of power oversteer situations come up and the nannies really help to keep it from being a dramatic event.
Great info. I don’t mind learning all over again. I actually enjoy it. How much fun would it be if you did everything right the first time.
As far as the oil temps I never used a lot of engine braking. The things I used to drive wouldn’t last very long if you did.
If I had to guess the ambient temp of 93 and holding the car in a lower gear (for security) probably contributed to the much higher
readings.
Great info. I don’t mind learning all over again. I actually enjoy it. How much fun would it be if you did everything right the first time.
As far as the oil temps I never used a lot of engine braking. The things I used to drive wouldn’t last very long if you did.
If I had to guess the ambient temp of 93 and holding the car in a lower gear (for security) probably contributed to the much higher
readings.
I’m ASHAMED to admit I didn’t check it right away. I did pop the hood directly after the session to check fluids. All were up.
Nothing indicated overheating but I did NOT check the gauge. I won’t do that again.
My Son asked me the same question.
No doubt I will be better prepared next outing and post results.
I’m ASHAMED to admit I didn’t check it right away. I did pop the hood directly after the session to check fluids. All were up.
Nothing indicated overheating but I did NOT check the gauge. I won’t do that again.
My Son asked me the same question.
No doubt I will be better prepared next outing and post results.
Any my suggestions on front and rear brake rotors
DBA. They hold up well, I suggest slotted or plain not drilled. The holes just fill with brake dust.
Primary concern with oil temperatures is did you maintain oil pressure? I have friends running ls3 miatas in full race form competitively getting into the 300’s F. Their advice is so long as you maintain oil pressure then it’s not a major concern, unless you don’t cycle your fluids after track events. Most I have seen from repeated hard pulls on my car is mid 200’s with a solid 32psi at idle even at those temperatures.
I tracked mine at High Plains Raceway in May, 2019. Great Fun! Hey, FloridaJohn-- they didn't require a Roll Bar in your convertible? At High Plains convertibles are prohibited without a sturdy (they decide) Roll Bar.
08 Z51 concerns
