Anyone tracked their non Z51 Stingray?

Looking for advice on what should be addressed so I can have some fun at the track. The car is a 2015 A8 Stingray

When I purchased the car the goal was to make it a fun reliable road trip car / road rally car. And it does that beautifully!!

Now I want to go run some NASA events at the local track. I am a bit worried about brake fade. I am definitely going to do a brake fluid change, but think upgrading rotors, and pads would be a great idea before getting on the track.

Any advice from those tracking their cars at local NASA events would be welcomed.

 

The largest complaint when tracking an A8 is having the auto trans OVER HEAT----The
stock trans cooler is in the back of the car and has vert little affect-----Keep an eye on your trans temps and if they stay beyond 220* for too long I would look into an aftermarket added trans cooler with a fan

 

The first step is definitely fluid and pads. There are a ton of factors involved when considering whether or not a minor upgrade such as pads and fluid would solve any potential issues.

The upgrade path we offer would look like the list below. You can see all of the upgrade components on our website. This link leads to components for the Z51 so you can see the 2-piece discs (we don't offer front 2-piece discs for the base car).

https://www.essexparts.com/my-vehicl...t/Corvette/Z51


Stage 1
Ferodo Racing pads for the OEM calipers front/rear, mated to some good fluid (AP Racing R2, R3, or R4).

Stage 2
Upgrade your front calipers to the Z51 front calipers (they move out slightly to accommodate slightly larger discs), mated to our Z51-sized 2-piece AP Racing J Hook Discs front and rear, Ferodo Racing pads front and rear, Spiegler SS brake lines F/R. Note, our 2-piece rears fit the base car and the Z51 cars, so you could leave the rear calipers on the car and just upgrade the rear pads in them.

Stage 3
Upgrade the front to one of our Essex Designed AP Racing Radi-CAL Competition Brake Kits, mated to our 2-piece J Hook rear discs, pads, lines, fluid.

Stage 4
Upgrade front and rear to complete AP Racing Brake Kits.

Where you fall on the line above depends on your plans for the car. You can feel free to PM, email me, or call us at any time for a recommendation tailored to your specific needs.

You can see lots of feedback on our products if you dig around here on the forum, or if you check our our Essex blog:
https://www.essexparts.com/news-blog

Also, below is a video we produced regarding planning for brake upgrades. You're going to want to think ahead a bit to save yourself a lot of time and money!

Check out our YouTube page for detailed videos on all of our products:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-n...IT3tzOQ/videos

 

What track will you be running and what tire will you be using?

Are you willing to swap pads for street and track?

 

I will be running at Utah Motor Sports Park.

Not sure what tire i am going to run yet.

Ideally, i would like to find that middle ground where i dont have to swap pads, but open to it as it seems quick and easy while doing a wheel change.

 

Biggest issue is that a non-Z51 does not have a dry sump oiling system like a Z51, GS and Z06 have. Consequently there is a risk of engine oil starvation during high G cornering in a non-Z51 car.

 

What's the best way to mitigate that risk (asks a guy that's going to track his non-Z51 tomorrow)?

 

non z51 you probably are using stock wheels/tires which means you won't pull enough G's or go fast enough to worry too much about oil starvation honestly. Once you get stickier and wider tires, and run fast times is when you absolutely need to worry.

 

There is a reason that the Ron Fellows school only uses dry sump equipped Corvettes.

Good advice right there.

 

Any suggestions on where to source an aftermarket cooler w/ fan?

 

Yeah, probably because they also come with the rest of the Z51 Performance Package goodies, and the package was designed specifically for track use, which is the only thing Spring Mountain cars do. As in, 100% of their use. Weird.

Some of you guys act like a wet-sump car has never seen the track before. The entire C5 gen tracks pretty well with just minor upgrades and even that gen's Z06 is a wet sump engine. For a Stingray w/o Z51, depending on the year, there are some things you could add on; aux radiator, brake ducts, sway bars etc... But as mentioned above, start with brakes/fluids and stay on stock rubber, no slicks, which is where a dry sump engine, or an aftermarket wet sump baffled pan, would come in handy.


Depending on your model year you may or may not have a front mounted aux cooler. On the A8 it's for the trans, on the M7 it's for the engine. Also shown is the power steering cooling duct mod. And if you don't have Z51, the stock radiator fan is most likely 500w. There is a 600w fan that looks identical minus the part number, and it obviously performs a little better.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...it-Cooler.aspx



From another user posted elsewhere on the internet:

Tracking a Manual Stingray

-----------------------------------------------------------

"ONE YEAR UPDATE

Well, it's been just over a year since I started this thread and figured I would provide another update. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I went with the DBA rotors, Carbotech pads (currently running 12/10 set up), front brake cooling ducts, and changed the brake fluid to DOT 4 (Motul) and the oil to the recommended viscosity. Since that posting I also picked up a set of used Z51 wheels and a few sets of tires from other forum members. Everything worked great but I was feeling a little lift on the front straightaway and a bunch of roll while going through the Esses. I have only taken the car to Dominion Raceway, which is just south of Fredericksburg, VA. To address these issues, this winter I added the Z51 sway bars (front and back), a front splitter, and side skirts. The handling has improved dramatically - no more lift and the roll is reduced tremendously. I also went with the track alignment, which also has helped the handling. Overall, I am very happy with the car and modifications and am enjoying the heck out of the car.

Looking back through the thread there was a bunch of discussion about over heating. I have not experienced any and have run the car on some scorching days - ambient around 100. I have a manual, not the automatic. There also was a discussion of an oil sipping concern. The one thing I have noticed is that going through the Esses the car will hold the rpm's steady and then surge when the car stabilizes. I don't know if this is the referenced oil sipping (as the oil sloshes back and forth in the pan) or is the stabilitrak kicking in....not a complaint, just an observation.

I also have to laugh at myself about only being interested in "spirited" driving. Well, I still am but I think I may have just "moved the goal posts" for what is considered "spirited." In the past year I have taken 18 seconds off my lap times - that's over a 2 mile track. I attribute this to improved skill and confidence. Thanks again to all the forum members who provided advice along the way. Here is a video of my best lap to date."

 

[QUOTE=mdiiulio;1597045988] "The entire C5 gen tracks pretty well with just minor upgrades and even that gen's Z06 is a wet sump engine."


True, but the C5 LS1 and LS6 engines used a unique bat wing type of engine oil pan that was designed to mitigate oil starvation in high G cornering. As a consequence, a 7 minute drain procedure was specified for C5 engine oil changes.

The oil pan of an LT1 non-Z51 Stingray is of a more conventional design than the C5 oil pan. Furthermore, while LT1 engines in Camaros have a wet sump lubrication system, they have a deeper, different design oil pan than LT1 non- Z51 Stingrays, which negates the need for a dry sump lubrication system in Camaros for track events.

 

How did your track day go?

 

I was always told they match you up in whatever corvette you have.From base,Z51 grand sport to Z06.M7 to A8.

 

They do not use any base units. If you have a base you will drive a Z51.

 

As someone who has tracked a car with a traditional wet sump car WITHOUT baffles, I wouldn't do it. Sweepers plus aggressive street tires will risk oil starvation. Don't get me started on the brakes and lack of oil cooler on non-Z51 C7s. You'd probably be better off trading up for a Z51/GS if you want to do any track (not drag racing) work.

 

Eventually as you get faster, you will get a warning to change up a gear on high G right hand bends and a little after that it will cut engine revs to about 3,500 rpm and will take a while of no more right hand turns to reset. This is GM protecting your engine from oil starvation. So I am buying a GS! Good mods though. I did much the same. See at the track?

 

Dominion raceway is a blast even in a base model. Few updgrades: Z51 F/R sway bars, Z51 front rotors and calipers and brake ducts, Raybestos ST43 pads F/R, Motul RBF 600 brake fluid, Front splitter and rear spoiler.
Also run VIR and Summit Point with same setup.

 

This is a trick question and it is entirely based on your driving experience.

If you have NEVER been on track before and is just starting, a decent brake fluid to stave off brake fade is all you need for now. In my 12 years of instructing on track I have never had a "rookie" drive fast enough to overcome a set of stock brakes on their first day, unless it's someone who's had a ton of "experience" in other form of motorsports like karting or autocross.

The capabilities of even a base Corvette is so far beyond what your typical rookie driver is capable of achieving. You probably won't need to touch anything besides the brake fluid for at least 2-3 track days. Even if you're just an absolute natural, of which I've only maybe met like 2-3 times in my instructing career. Even then, the stock brakes are probably good for beginner to intermediate skilled drivers with track pads and brake fluids only. Track pads because you'll need something with high maximum operating temperature because the Corvette is capable of generating some insane speeds on track and thus generate a ton of heat under braking.

The big issue is not mechanical, but driver.

What I see ALL THE TIME, is drivers who are not experienced at managing their speed and lack the skillset to be consistent, those are the toughest on the car's mechanicals. They can go fast for a short while, but they can't manage to be consistent and learn to manage the equipment. So they either overdrive the tires, the brakes, or whatever other mechanical weak-points of a chassis because they don't realize that no matter how good the equipment, the limiting factor is always the human operating it.

The good ones, the really NATURAL ones at doing this, starts out finding THEIR own limits fast, then learn to stay within those limits and manage them, then make changes to the equipment that are limiting their skill growth.

Now that's out of the way. I'm making no assumptions about your driving experience OP. I'm just typing this out because I firmly believe too many people jump into this sport not knowing what they want to get out of it, and for most that I come across, they throw a ton of money into solving a problem that doesn't exist yet, start tracking, and realize that it's way above their heads and get intimidated because they didn't set a good expectation and foundation in this sport. Something bad happens and they get scared and never try it again.

Or worse yet, something bad happens, they get lucky and nothing happened to them or their car, they don't realize that they don't have the skillset to keep doing this safely, and then later something REALLY bad happens.


IF you've already had plenty of track experience and are just now tracking the Corvette for the first time, and wanted to know what to expect before hand to address the weak points, more power to you. However I am of the mind-set that you should never just simply assume what others experienced on the internet is what YOU will experience. I think you should take the car in its stock form, go out and have some fun first, and if you happen to come across problems while driving on track at speed, then throw money at it to address. The reason why I say this, if you actually know and experience a problem first hand, you will understand the problem better than had you already thrown money at it and only to find out that the money only addresses some of the issues. Always learn the limits of your machine first, then find ways to raise said limit rather than pushing that mechanical limit so far beyond your own skillset can handle, only to find said limit at the least expected time.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Totally agreed. As you get better you will find shortcomings, make changes to your driving technique and after that, the car. Modifications come as you progress and first hand, that is a very interesting learning experience. For this particular car the main example is the brakes. Make sure your technique is good first (no "ramp up" braking) but with the base model you will probably end up adding the Z51 cooling ducts then the other hard wear. You will eventually hit a wall with the base model and the shallow wet sump but that is a long, long way from your first track day!