GCBC

ex pro racer with a private driving coaching business. I like to drive my street cars on track frequently enough and VERY hard on the street but im NOT trying to make it a "track" car, just something I can run 10/10ths for 10laps at a time at PBIR/homestead Miami without brake or other heat issues.

Only C7 ive been in was a stock new stingray and I overheated it from cold in 3 laps at PBIR into limp mode.
It is my understanding that average intermediate drivers in the c7 Z06 will overheat the automatic trans after 10min on track, especially if its 93* as it often is in south Florida. My understanding is that the 17+ that got cooling updates still have this issue. I dont want to throw a lot of money at this car as it will be my main car when im down in Florida for the winter and id like to have at least some warranty left. Just planning on lowering it half an inch, rbf600 pads and lines, tint, de-cat pipes and a flash really, no pulley headers or anything at all really. I have driven many c6 z06 and zr1 hard with no overheating issue's and dont want this c7 to be running so hot its pulling power....

I am undecided on manual vs auto as there is a TON of traffic and light to light bumper to bumper in south Florida and the auto would be great for that plus it wont have the track over heating issues.

I would go c6 zr1 but at 65k for one of those or 74k for a brand new z06 with warranty I might as well just do that? I also feel like if I buy a z06 this week and the C8 comes out ill end up losing more than 10grand on it come spring time when the c8s are on the lot and I spent winter wondering what could have been. That said I really like the looks and stock numbers of the current Z.

I just dont want to have any issues with this thing at all and will be 95% using it to go to walmart and perhaps 10 track sessions over the entire winter in Florida then it will be a country backroad blaster when it comes back up to PA in spring since my motorcycle crash im done riding sport bikes and this would replace that.

I had zero complaints about my mildly tuned 09 z06 other than interior which I fixed with loads of Alcantara bits other than driving in Miami traffic sucked w the manual, did 30k miles of wear in 2k miles.

Avanti

Apart from everything else, reading your first paragraph a couple times, I suggest you might wish to do an "advanced search" here under C7 for track problems. You may not like what you find.

kenw

If you are going to drive like you say and you do not want to get a manual you will almost certainly have heat issues. If you are going to buy a used A8 Z there are several companies that have a fix for the problem. LG Motorsports is probably the most well known. I had a 09 Z and now have a 17 A8Z that I run at VIR. and I have problems. Soon as the warranty runs out I will have something done. Good luck.

GCBC

So to clarify, either gearbox version 19’ the water temp won’t ever be over 220, the engine oil over 260* and the diff doesn’t overheat just the automatic gearbox? Does the manual trans ever get up over 270-280?

The HACK

I think, if you can manage to overheat a stock stingray in 3 laps from dead cold, there are no modern cars made today short of Uber exotics and Porsche’s GTX cars that will meet your needs.

with today’s NOx standards exhausts and CATs are designed to run hot and get up to temp super fast. Engines run more efficient when warm. Almost all modern cars built after 2005 ish time frame goes limp on track once pushed. There’s just no way around it.

Even the lowly Grand Sport that has ALL the cooling added, runs about 10-15 degrees hotter than my 2006 BMW, and that same BMW runs a 265 degree oil temp on a 120 degree track day, ran 4 hot sessions of 10-12 laps each. At the same track the 2017 Grand Sport hit 265 degrees oil temp on a 90 degree day.

Splurge and go to the dark side. Buy a Porsche GT4 or GT3. I’ve never seen one go limp due to overheating issues no matter how hot the track or the laps are.

GCBC

Fortunately or unfortunately I spend the majority of my time w clients in pcars and won’t be buying one for that reason. Why spend the money on something I get paid to turn some laps in? Plus no gt3 has what I expect to be a wicked street motor as this z06 will be loads of fun on the street where all gens of the gt3 are not imo unless on a mountain/country road. A lot of appeal is the t top of the z06, I HATE open air convertibles but like the t top “enclosed roadster” feel Not to mention I’d rather have the extra 60grand in my bank or In watches.

The HACK

Then prepared to spend $$$ on upgraded cooling (in addition to what’s already on the car), IMO. These cars do okay on track with cooling, but just as any modern car...you can ALWAYS use MOAR.

Bill Dearborn

The advantage of the Z06 is its huge torque. You don't need to spend time in the lower gears going slow at high rpm and not getting sufficient cooling air through the radiator. Go up one gear drop the rpms and use more throttle to get your HP to where you want it. With an M7 most tracks in the US are 3rd and 4th gear tracks with maybe one short burst in 2nd or 5th. The auto's can be driven the same way but using 5th and 6th gears instead. No issue taking them to red line just do it in those gears.

I recently spent time riding around the Glen in a C7 GS with the A8 and found out why the A8 Zs overheated the oil or coolant. When running in auto mode the transmission kept the engine rpms between 5000 and 6500 with the rpms being between 5500 and 6500 most of the time. The engine was screaming most of the time (in fact I found it deafening and uncomfortable even with my helmet on).

With my Z06 I run the engine up to 6400/6500 rpms in 3rd/4th gears when tracking my M7 but rarely in the lower gears (at VIR I will use 2nd gear coming off from the Oak Tree Corner but it is a toss up that it makes the car lap any better than using 3rd) and I have never had an engine over heat issue even when running in temps up to the mid 90s. Coolant usually runs mid 220s and oil usually runs mid 270s. Instead of spending a lot of time in the 5000 to 6500 rpm range I spend a lot of time in the 3500 to 6500 range. This brings down the average rpms does little to nothing to reduce lap times but does help keep the engine cool. At the Glen with minimum cornering speed being in the mid to upper 50s there is never any need to drop into the lower gears.

Bill

SilverGhost

No one has posted a sticky in the Z06 section: shopping cart parts/labor cost for track cooling a Z06. But i bet the first item would be "avoid the A8 at all costs!"

The 2019 Z06 A8 has the thickest core radiator, 2 1/8 inch, and some heavy duty motor bits out of the ZR1, and the latest greatest A8 tranny fluid IF built after February 1, 2019. But it doesn't have 13 radiators.

GM was embarrassed by the Z06 limp home mode due to overheating. They put their engineers back to work to produce a fully usable in either version track car, and they fixed the AFM debacle causing the A8 debacle and the direct injection-only crudding the backs of the valves with the addition of port injection too; and they called it the ZR1. Just like Chevy in it's glory days, drive it to the track, win, then drive it home, only improved to automatic mode now!

Add 13 radiators to a C7 widebody and and a bigger supercharger and you can make a ZR1 A8 fly around the track all day. $60k more won't buy a Patek Phillipe Model 5170G-010, but it should get you into a new 1zr 2019 ZR1, truly only C7 racecar out of the box, FULLY WARRANTED by GM. Remember R&T didn't test a ZR1 against a pedestrian GT3, they compared it to a $330,000 (if no ADM) GT2 RS!

ZR1 vs GT2 RS

And a big shout out thank you for the first manual owner who has stated that in SoFlo gridlock: you put 30k of wear on a clutch in 2k of driving. mic drop true. I sold one c6 Z06 based in Fort Lauderdale and moved the other to Va. But even absent the gridlock, leaf peeping/fall mountain climbing in a unremovable top C6 Z06 was unacceptable.

The Z06/ZR1 decision is a primo example of the old adage "pay me now (for a ZR1), or pay me later" (Z06) (and then spend to try to make the Z06 as cool running as a ZR1) Engineered by GM, track tested completely by GM, and backed 100 percent by a btb warranty, the ZR1 C7 track car is the way to go.

Full disclosure, i went Z06/Z07 A8 vert. Can't run it on a track, but have no need to pay somebody cash money to run around in circles when i have sooo many mountains to climb in Virginia/West Virginia. And the feel of supercharged torque from a V8 beats row row rowing your boat's miniature flat six any day on a hill climb.