First time on the track with any car.

2016 Stingray Z51 M7 all stock and the only prep I did was lower the tire PSI by 5.

Palmer Track: https://www.palmermotorsportspark.com/trackinfo.aspx

Being the first time ever, I was in the novice group.

Tough track for the first time I think. If it wasn't so intense, it would have been more fun.
Guess you need to get some experience; learn to breath and relax a bit, before it becomes fun.
Overall was a good time, I enjoyed it, but you do feel some pressure to keep up even with a track full of novices.
There were 4 sessions of 20 minutes each.

The club was SCDA. A great bunch of people; organized, professional, and friendly. Instructors were also very good.

Stringray did pretty good I think. Had some tire melting though Would be going around some of the hairpin turns at a good clip, feeling that the car and tires were at their limits, and then comes the apex and the instructor says "turn in", so I did. Had a bit of under-steer at times but did ok.

"My poor stingray" I thought sometimes. Not a garage queen any more.

Yep, tires took a beating. Guess I need to look into having a set of wheels just for the track.
I'm sure the brakes took a beating as well but looked ok to me.

Noticed that when I ran mostly in third gear the oil temps rose a bit over the half-way mark to about ~220+. Engine temp stayed at the usual half-way mark; 220.

My biggest problem was not braking hard enough at the breaking point. Guess I had the bad habit of trying to go through the turn too fast and using the brakes then.
I eventually overcame it toward the end.

Anywhoo...Will go again soon. Will also be good to compare when I get the Heartbeat installed at some point...

Will post the PDRs somewhere if there's any interest.

I have one pic here courtesy of SCDA web site...

https://www.scda1.com/recent-event-p...2017/dsc_0923/

Now, I've read on this forum that if you go with track tires they don't warn you when you're about to lose it so...I was thinking maybe just a cheaper summer tire for the track? Thoughts anyone?


Pj

 

Cool thanks for sharing .

 

My first track day is coming up in a few weeks, I'm looking forward to it. May I suggest taking the front plate off next time, probably not an issue yet at this time in the year but may need the cooling later in the summer.

 

Sounds like you had a great time! If you ever want to try Thompson Speedway, send me a PM. I'm a member and would be happy to have you as a guest. I think it's $95 for a full day with good food and great people.

PS. Take that front plate off when you track

 

cheaper summer tires wont take the beating, your z51 is dry sumped...can go aggressive on R comp tires

 

And I thought they took the plates off because of the insurance. Never thought of the air/cooling. I'll have to remember to take the plates off.

Thanks all!

Pj

 

EXCELLENT!!!

At future events you're going to start driving a little more aggressively, and I STRONGLY suggest you start doing some more track prep in addition to lowering tire pressures.

The Vettes are great track cars, but the factory DOT 3 brake fluid is not satisfactory as you get faster and brake harder - you'll definitely want to go with a good DOT 4 fluid in the brake system.

You should also consider track brake pads. The brakes will just give out when the stock pads overheat (pad fade).

Losing your brakes on the track is a very bad feeling - if your fluid boils the pedal will go to the floor with no braking; if you overheat the pads and get pad fade you'll have a firm pedal but no or very limited braking.

As you mentioned, you won't need anything other than your stock Pilot Super Sports for quite a while - they're actually a VERY good track tire!!

Take a look in the Autocross/Roadrace Section of the forum from time to time - there's a lot of good info about brakes, tires, alignments, etc., etc.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-roadracing-23

Have fun at the track!!

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I did my first track day earlier in 2017. Thursday and Friday were my 8th and 9th. I'm addicted, its bad.

 

Congrats - kinda like modding your car - once you start its addicting - Hopefully you will have fun - I was nervous as well. Remember there can only be one fastest car and yours aint it Keep the rubber side down and shiny side up - love seeing people get out there and live a little....awesome!

 

My first track day is coming up next month so I love reading these reports, especially the oil and water temps to have as a reference. You mention the tires, did you do a track alignment? Thats the one thing I'm not sure of considering that stock it looks (at least to my eye) I have quite a bit of neg camber already from the factory.

 

I dunno 'bout dat!!! I was running an HPDE at Daytona on the Rolex 24 roadcourse April 6-7, and my C7 Z06 was passing just about everybody out there!!!

Butt.....then I saw something in the rearview mirror closing fast, and a few seconds later heard a ROAR and saw him blow by me!!!

Here's a PDR video from my car, and forum member William Hubbell (forum ID: Mjolitor 68) in his Corvette DP car goes cruising by.

At an HPDE, if you're in a passing zone and give a point-by, you should lift to allow the faster car to get on by you.

I didn't lift at all (you can see the green throttle indicator in the upper right, and it's all the way up indicating WOT). I kept the pedal-to-the-metal accelerating pretty well, but the DP car was A LOT faster!!

So....you're definitely correct - there will always be somebody a little faster!!

William was the fastest guy out there at this event!


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IMHO........ for the novices out there......please be careful, do your research, make sure your car is in top condition and go at a comfortable pace. You can get a lot of enjoyment running safely at a controlled pace and do not need to go full out or keep up with someone else.

Personally I would never run > 140 150 MPH w/o a full roll bar, racing seat, five point harness and hans device. I dont have that equipment and run in a comfort zone. Too many bad things can happen in a stock car with just a helmet as supposed protection.

It like eating.......you dont need to eat the entire pie to enjoy a piece and come back later and have another!!!

Learn as you go, talk to folks, research but be cautious.

And just like street driving there are drivers and cars out there that are dangerous to you.