ttboost1

Sorry to hear of your problems.

So why on earth are people continuing to dump 85k on these cars?

GM-
-Add a larger radiator
-Add a 2.3 blower that doesn't have to spin to 20k rpm
-Add enough ducting for air cooling?
-Add a real wide body bumper and fenders?

If you could do all these things- (That would be greeeeeaaat!)

ChrisN123

It's California. We have a "dry heat"--- not that horrible, really.

GP1224

Sure, and many others on here racing their Z06s in high air temps with no issues and yet some do. The fact is racing in 100+ degree temps is pushing any car to its limits and thats that. I never said it cant be done, but rather why bother when its your car. Some will some wont!! Its bad enough standing in 100+ degrees. . Plus I agree that the Z06 could use a better cooling system which it seems GM are working on. That's why first year cars are usually the learning curve for manufactures by getting feedback from the masses and also warranty part failures through the dealers.

K B Vettin

these overheating issues are one of the main reasons i traded my C6 ZR1 for a new Viper. 8.4 liter v10, all motor with no baby blower/heat pump to worry about.

Tik

I agree with this. Though I was able to get through the weekend fairly smoothly, some of my buddies in other cars were experiencing heat related issues. E92 M3s were boiling their coolant and reaching oil temps near 300, an R8 V10+ was hitting limp mode due to oil temps in excess of 300, and that's even with a custom water misting system he installed that directs cool mist right onto the oil coolers, etc. Some cars will have issues, others may not. A lot of it depends on the driver and how hard they're pushing, how smooth they are, how aware they are of track and car conditions, etc.

When the temps get hot at my home tracks, I usually just sit out or pack up and go home (assuming I don't have a student) - the track gets greasy and the body/mind start getting slow, in addition to the cars getting pushed to near their limits. But we drove down from Seattle to have some fun, and despite the temps, we had a blast. More than half the fun at a driving event is the company and camaraderie, IMO.

SBC_and_a_stick

Ok, here's the deal.

Guys that track in Northern California mainly avoid one thing: rain. What do you prefer (a) a hot sunny day or (b) going 140 mph in a downpour on Cup 2s?

For that reason, the winter months are avoided by many, track days are cheaper. When it does rain, dozens cancel their track day or try to get a refund. Ask Hooked on Driving how much they love those rainy days. They have a refund policy.

So when you tell me not to drive in 100* weather what you are actually saying is to not track at all. 100* here is business as usual on Thunderhill during the race season.

If I were to track only in sub 80*, no rain, weekend, that fits my schedule, it would be once or twice a year. I need more action than that.

See forecast for Willows, CA here (notice that 105* Friday coming up):
http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USCA1244:1S

thebishman

SBC, do not give up on HPDE events just yet, as I believe like others here that there is something going on with your specific car; in particular the blown fuses. No one else has reported this issue, so you really need to report this to your dealership service dept so that it can be documented, along with the rest of the overheating issues of course.

Lastly, you can drive 'around' some of these issues the main thing being to 'short shift' whenever possible and rely on the tremendous torque of the car. You will still be incredibly fast, AND may well make it all the way through a session once your car has been sorted.

Good luck,

Bish

Hirohawa

Well said.

Fortunately everywhere else in the world never gets hotter than 86 degrees during the summer so basically this is just a California problem.

SBC_and_a_stick

Ok, so I've seen this on many cars on Cup 2s driven hard. The center block of the tire literally pries off the cords. Michelin seems to have used different compounds for the tire depending on the block. The middle one always takes a beating, chunks off, or just rips off. I though it was an issue with the track being abrasive but I don't think so anymore. I saw a Viper with Cup 2s and what appeared to be 90% thread left with the center completely ripped out. Mine looked like this before the track day:

harlold

Thread is amazing. Typical crowd shouting down someone who drives the car as it was advertised, "most track capable corvette ever."

Own the car and track it? Shut up it wasn't built for that! It's made to wax!

Shame about the issues, hopefully something can be done so you can enjoy it.

Snorman

The humidity doesn't matter to the car, only me. But I lived in San Diego for a number of years so get the point.
S.

Tik

That's what mine looked like after about three and a half days. How much track time on yours? This is what they looked like before Saturday?

ChrisN123

Regarding tires showing wear in the center first, that is my experience, too. It's part of what led me to believe that running low 30s hot might be better than mid-30s as some recommend.

SBC_and_a_stick

On the one hand, yes there is lots of torque. On the other the car hits peak power 100 rpm before redline. By short shifting I think you are leaving a lot of speed on the table. Some of the high reving turbo cars with efficient turbos are good candidates for short shifting. Say the new M3/M4. The Z06 C7 strikes me as a redline car. Not that I redline everytime. Like I said I try to find the faster way for the most part which is often a higher gear.

Besides, that's the beauty of track driving. Find the limit, drive there, find a higher limit, drive there.

Above 80* I tend to have 3 problems going on at the same time. As much as I'd like to be positive about it, and say yeah, it's just my car it is just not true. The coolant is on the ragged edge or over it for anyone that can drive in advanced. This is a design limitation. On top of that I have 8,500 miles on my car. Maybe my radiator had more bugs and rocks hit it over time. What's my car going to do at 20,000 miles? Most of you tracking have one or two thousand miles. You radiators are as good as new. This is as good as you are going to get. So you didn't overheat but ran somewhere in the 250* coolant. That's guaranteed to give you trouble in the future.

The fuse blowing you can argue is car specific. Ok, but why does it only happen above 80*? It goes to the built quality of the car. Clearly I'm not shorting or overdriving the electrical system on a daily basis. The platform is running on the very edge. Some like me will have fuse blow, some will have fuel pump failures, etc. They all seem to happen on the track in heat. The car can't be driven hard, and the fuse is just a symptom in my book.

The third point of failure, the powersteering is also not specific to my car. Therefore, at least 2/3 faults, and I'd argue 3/3 realistically are limitations of the Z06 in general not my Vin.

GM has a parts bin. Like any parts bin, there are mil spec parts, low grade high variance parts, and everything in between. Testing a car in a high demand situation is revealing of the choices GM made for parts.

I didn't pick a supercharger for the C7 platform. GM did. I just bought the Z06 badge. I paid for the car. My side of the deal is honored.

SBC_and_a_stick

That's what they looked like before Saturday. I had 8,000 miles on them. I attended 3 track days but only ran 2.5 track day's worth due to overheating and the like. Let's say 2.5 hours worth of tracking. The center ripped out on the Thunderhill 3 mile.

GP1224

A. I never told "you" to do anything at all? B. Facts are facts, and maybe for you racing in 100 degree track events is hard to avoid, but its your car and your choice, so have at her. But as you know, and as other have said right here that racing in 100+ temps is just asking for it, although getting 15 min session wasn't half bad considering you raced in 100 degree heat. Very hard on the car in every way, but if its hard for you to avoid where you live, then I guess its just something you have gotta deal with. Good luck with that

GP1224

Well said... Exactly its not just he Z06s that have a hard time.

SBC_and_a_stick

In November 2014 we looked at the Z06 and knew it was supercharged. But, we also saw the C7 had a tilted radiator, and separated transmission cooling. We also knew the ZR1 was decent in high temps. In hindsight it's easy to say I told you so, supercharged cars don't work. But in November 2014 we didn't see that.

I don't think it's fair to say we bought the car knowing that it will overheat when driven hard. Maybe I'm just rationalizing my choice...

GP1224

I agree the cooling should be better, but then again many running HPDE and even TTR having no issues. Its very hit and miss, but no matter what 100 degree race events are just torture on the entire car in every way so hopefully you get cooler temps on your track days if so. TJ was supposed to have said GM are working on better cooling system, so if thats the case then that would be great news.

BoostedEBZ06

That's sucks to hear hopefully they get it figured out but in that heat you should be able to run back to back sessions.

It was about 95 at Laguna yesterday and I was running my C5Z flat out all day with no heating issues.

There was a C7Z out there but he didn't mention any cooling issues not sure how hard he was running it though.