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I'm pretty frustrated with all the folks claiming the C7 Z06 can't last more than a couple laps without overheating so here is some proof to the contrary.
This wasn't my fastest session from NCM VIR but I wanted to post it because I was really pushing the car hard in the hottest ambient temps we saw to try and catch a friend. Despite hamming the car for over 23 minutes in 91F ambient temps the car didn't let up although these are the highest oil temps I've seen to date with this car.
The blue C5 with the wing you see me catch at the end of the first lap is a very well sorted track car belonging to a friend of mine and I wanted to see if I could keep up even though he was on slicks and I was on PSS. As you'll see traffic didn't do me any favors but I never got by him either.
Glad you didn't overheat. I've never driven VIR but it looks like it's a good track for the engine to have time to breathe with its long straights and high speed turns ... I wonder if that's partly the reason the temps stayed relatively down. Or maybe some cars are more prone to it than others?
Looks like loads of fun though ... so I'm gonna try to book an HPDE there.
Hey i hear ya, i ran mine at NCM Motorsports Park @ WOT in mid 90's for 4 sessions with nothing more than some hi fan speeds between each one for normal cool downs.
Sweet. You have convinced me. I am going to 10/10s Friday at NCM and will look at colors and try to order the next week. Are you bringing that car to Track Attack?
Sweet. You have convinced me. I am going to 10/10s Friday at NCM and will look at colors and try to order the next week. Are you bringing that car to Track Attack?
Jim
God willing I'll be there Jim and will be bringing the C7Z. I just haven't decided whether to drive or trailer it out.
Glad you didn't overheat. I've never driven VIR but it looks like it's a good track for the engine to have time to breathe with its long straights and high speed turns ... I wonder if that's partly the reason the temps stayed relatively down. Or maybe some cars are more prone to it than others?
Looks like loads of fun though ... so I'm gonna try to book an HPDE there.
Thanks Soulsea. VIR is a great track and I think you're right that some tracks are harder than others on the motor temps. So far I've run VIR and Summit Point main without issue in similar temps. I'll see how it goes at Autobahn in a couple weeks.
I'll play devils advocate here for a second. VIR is a low rev track for a car like the vette.
One of your faster laps starts at 2:30. Notice once you go under 5k rpm braking into turn 1, you do not go over it again until exiting snake (6a). That's 35 seconds below 5k rpm. You are over 5k rpm briefly until entering the esses (traffic) and do not go over it again until 22 or so seconds later exiting oak tree. WOT on the back straight and then under 5k from roller coaster to exit of hog pen which is another 20 seconds below 5k. So out of the entire 125 second lap, you are under 5k rpm for 75 of them.
This has nothing to do with your driving either as MERO's lap up until the back straight is only a brief trip over 5k between 3-4 and through the esses maintains 5k a tad longer. Once he enters the south track to run grand, it's a different course. Not to mention he's on stickier tires.
The point is that some tracks are much more rev dependent than VIR is. And under 5k is no sweat for this car.
Last edited by heavychevy; 07-04-2015 at 07:51 PM.
I'll play devils advocate here for a second. VIR is a low rev track for a car like the vette.
One of your faster laps starts at 2:30. Notice once you go under 5k rpm braking into turn 1, you do not go over it again until exiting snake (6a). That's 35 seconds below 5k rpm. You are over 5k rpm briefly until entering the esses (traffic) and do not go over it again until 22 or so seconds later exiting oak tree. WOT on the back straight and then under 5k from roller coaster to exit of hog pen which is another 20 seconds below 5k. So out of the entire 125 second lap, you are under 5k rpm for 75 of them.
This has nothing to do with your driving either as MERO's lap up until the back straight is only a brief trip over 5k between 3-4 and through the esses maintains 5k a tad longer. Once he enters the south track to run grand, it's a different course. Not to mention he's on stickier tires.
The point is that some tracks are much more rev dependent than VIR is. And under 5k is no sweat for this car.
Or perhaps between a good driver and good car management the temps can be kept under control...
I believe that you need both, not to say others on the site aren't good drivers, but I think you have to be good at both...
It isn't all about 6000 rpm and driving fast.....the best and most successful professional racers are ones that excel at both....tip of the hat to the OP as he demonstrated both...,.
Great driving. I was impressed that PTM didn't have kick in. Your inputs were smooth and even with all that torque you controlled the car well. Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed watching it.
Great driving!! very smooth. With slicks, or probably the MPSC2s you would have overtaken him since it was the corners that he was getting you on, and as you say, you really got balked quite a few times.
Also, it's a great illustration of the difference in 5th gear ratios between the M7 and A8 when compared to my thread; just too much of a drop off in the A8 IMHO.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. I'm still learning but this car is very easy to drive fast.
To A-Pex's question on track prep it was really minimal and limited to what is in the owners manual. 15W50 Mobil 1 oil, Castrol SRF brake fluid, track alignment, and Ferodo DS 1.11 brake pads. Other than that I ran through nearly 80 gallons of pump gas in 2 days.
Heavychevy - you raise some interesting points but I question why you would run around in higher revs all the time. I could have taken T4 in 2nd gear or downshifted to 3 at T10 but I've tried it and looked at the data and it's actually slower. I think a better measure is to look at how much time I'm at WOT but frankly even that will be less than say a Miata when you have 650 lb/ft pushing you around. I freely admit that some tracks will challenge this car more and we'll see how Autobahn South goes in a couple weeks.
Heavychevy - you raise some interesting points but I question why you would run around in higher revs all the time. I could have taken T4 in 2nd gear or downshifted to 3 at T10 but I've tried it and looked at the data and it's actually slower. I think a better measure is to look at how much time I'm at WOT but frankly even that will be less than say a Miata when you have 650 lb/ft pushing you around. I freely admit that some tracks will challenge this car more and we'll see how Autobahn South goes in a couple weeks.
For your purposes, you don't. And for this track, you don't either. But my point is more so that some tracks will not allow lower revs and quick lap times. VIR does.
But simply put, higher revs keep you in the power band, and when you put your foot down on corner exit, you accelerate faster. But higher revs also means more heat in the engine. Watch Milners video at Road Atlanta, he's at or above 5k RPM for about 60 of 89 seconds (67%) vs (41%) on your lap. That's a lot more revs per 23 minutes than you will see at VIR regardless of driver. 930 seconds above 5k at Road Atlanta in 23 minutes vs 575 seconds at VIR at your speed. I realize his car was a auto, but the goal would be the same in a manual. Also Road Atlanta requires that to go fast, however even Road Atlanta is not that hard for heat issues. The worst are shorter tracks with no straights for high air volume but still requiring higher revs to go fast.
You could almost directly connect revs to lap time because higher revs mean you are going faster (if in the same gear).
Last edited by heavychevy; 07-05-2015 at 10:10 AM.
07-04-2015, 04:43 PM
Video: 23 Minutes At Speed
