Jim Meros account of why they never released an official time. Good read.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...ero-interview/

 

I came here to start a Thread too, until I found yours.

The story paints a pretty pathetic picture.
The reference to forgetting to plug in the power supplies for the cameras made me spit coffee on my laptop screen.
That's just sad...and portrays GM as the gang who couldn't shoot straight if their lives depended on it.
All those years, and they couldn't get it done...

 

Hi,

So the cameras not being plugged in was defiantly our fault. What I can an say is we had a skeleton crew. 1 technician, 1 data engineer, and myself.

It gets pretty hectic before the lap, as we had just finished lapping during Industry-pool, then had to turn the car around for the timed lap. The data engineer is ensuring the instrumentation is running properly, the technician installing new tires, and constantly going over the car, and myself taking one last look at the data then getting strapped in. Add film crew responsibilities, well, things happen. The primary responsibilities were accomplished. The car did a respectable lap. The 1 in 1000 PDR mess up was what got us, not the on board camera.

Also, we got it done, each car has a respectable lap time. The basis of the article were the set of circumstances relative to why nothing was posted.
I say this with all due respect.

Thank you,

Jim

 

Anybody that has a pdr and has tracked their c7 knows exactly how it happened. I've had the car perfect, pulled the sd card to see how my session was, and left the sd card in the room at VIR more than once. It sucks when it happens but it is what it is.

 

I was just going to post something similar. Like running a great session and realizing you didn't set a starting line on PDR or didn't have your overlay set to track.

 

Done that too. lol

 

Jim, thanks for sharing the stories. Did the marketing guy learn his lesson that times are important to customers? Impressive lap to say the least.

p.s. I’ve screwed up on setting PDR too and can completely empathize.

 

The marketing guy is no longer with GM

The PDR ran fine, got the complete lap. The video just froze for about 3 seconds 2 turns from the end. The audio and time were in check, and our instrumentation confirmed the time. We use military grade GPS in the cars. They are called RT sensors.

Thanks, Jim

 

Jim, i honestly don't care about the times.. i would like to know what was your favorite C7 to run around at the ring and why it was... not just a specific model but of however many of the same model was there one configuration or trans, suspension set up etc that made it so...

Also, which car was your favorite to ever run at the ring (for you)..

and if YOU had a chance to design the perfect C7 track car, which combo you would pick and at what HP level (more than ZR1? in between Z06/ZR1? less than Z06 etc) with corresponding aero treatment / downforce setting (Z07 / ZTK / etc)..

would love to know your opinion on these!!! thanks.

 

You did the best you could but corporate culture wasn’t there supporting you with a large enough factory effort. Chevy marketing should have said, “ Jim you guys are there til you break 7:00:00 tell us what you need.” And hey for 2017 model if that meant you work with the engine team to upgrade the intercoolers, make a blower change, run water injection, or get a new tire from Michelin like Porsche did then so be it. I imagine the factory effort from Porsche looks a lot different when they were hunting those sub 7 minute times in their new GT2/3 cars than sending three guys and one car to the ring.

pretty solid the z06 got a 7:10 in less than perfect conditions.

what makes the c7 z06 such a monster at VIR but 15 seconds down on the gt3rs Porsche at Nürburgring?

What changes to the z06 would you have pushed for if you were on the engine team? It always drives me nuts that Chevy doesn’t do incremental improvements. GM knew the cars run hot due to the three stacked center radiators and pull tons of timing but they never came out with a z06 edition that fixed that and kept with same little 1.7L blower.

edit: congratulations on a successful career at GM and now enjoying your retirement with us corvette fans here and sharing your story. I’m loving the behind the scenes talk.

 

I have a great appreciation for anyone driving the C7 for 7 minutes on the edge without TC/AH. It takes not only skill but passion and a daredevil attitude.

3 years I drove this car without TC/AH on track. You have to learn to not blame yourself or fate. A car is a complex engineering effort. Every shortcut made in engineering it will show eventually. With a C7 you have 1/1000 chance of getting 90% of the performance.

Mero, you are a driving ace. I think with a consistent and reliable car you would have had no problem setting a record or two during one car generation. Happy retirement!

 

My understanding is that the N'RIng is treated by Porsche as their backyard playground and they spend incredible amounts there. GM doesn't and the limited times they spend there are supported by a skeleton staff. Given all of that, the fact that they were able to run a 7.10 lap in a C7 Z06 is pretty damn impressive to me.

GM did some incremental improvements the C7 Z through the '19 M7 car I have which has several ZR1 parts on it, plus latest generation MSRC upgrades (thanks Jim), much better paint. I agree that the 1.7 blower should have been a 2.3, but that probably was a marketing decision since GM wanted a wide power delta between the ZR1 and the Z06. I live in North Central Florida and have tracked the car twice so far and never came close to overheating in 85 degree weather. I run 100 octane lead free in the hopes that it helps to reduce it pulling timing. Definitely feels stronger on that gas. Still on stock tune with only a BMS filter and Mamo PTB - mostly done to reduce annoying off idle hesitation. I did get the "ice mode" braking in one corner and it definitely got my attention!

Would have loved to see GM offer a Z07 "R" version which would be focused on weight reduction such as full Ti exhaust, forged aluminum (or carbon fiber wheels), A/C delete - stuff like that.

 

Hi,

Tough question...lol

I'm not sure I can give you a definitive answer, They're all spectacular. let me step through them.

So the Grand Sport is probably the best handling car and easiest to drive. It has the mechanical grip and Stage 2 aero of the Z06/Z07 with 200 less horse power. It practically drives itself. After the Z07 crash, I only had a few laps of practice in the Grand Sport, and I feel the 7:27 was a respectable time.

The only issue was that it does not have a close ratio gearbox. Occasionally when I watch that video, the 4-5 RPM drop is painful to view as I go down the straight. At 6:46 I make the 4-5 shift at 150 MPH on the straight. My speed when I hit the brakes in 5th gear was 159 MPH at 7:11. So for 25 seconds the car accelerated 9 MPH.

The Z06 is the fastest car I chose to drive with everything off, it was awesome, The 7:10 with the small lid/100 octane cal drove great. When we went the following year with the new lid, we were segmenting 7:07 (including the 7:10 lap) so I thought a 7:08 would be no issue, then the unfortunate incident with the wreck.

But the ZR1....pure exhilaration. I embraced PTM with the ZR1, and could not get enough. I couldn't wait to go to sleep just so I could wake up and drive it again.

Honestly, they each have their own merits and I loved each one,

I know that's not the answer you're looking for, but that's pretty much how i feel.

Relative to picking my own creation, A RS version of the ZR1, no interior, no HAVC, radio. Essentially a GT car.

Thanks,
Jim

 

Jim Mero, I could listen to you talk about these cars all day long. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

Thank you for the kind words.

I would have stayed as long as it tool to go sub 7. It was easily within our grasp, I could touch it. I have no doubt if I were allowed a warm up lap, it would have happened.

As far as Porsche, I have no idea, I don't know or can't control what they do. I can tell you, I left nothing on the table at VIR or the Nurburgring, As I stated previously, when we were there with the new lid, a 7:08 was completely doable.

The last point I'll make is the amount of time we spend on the Nurburgring vs Porsche. Essentially we go 1 time a year. Many years, 2 times. During that time, typically 2 weeks, there is a total time of 7 days (3.5 days each week). In those 3.5 days, on average we probably lose 30% due to weather. In contrast, Porsche is there every industrypool session. A total of of 16 weeks.

Now let me draw a parallel to VIR. We also typically 1 to 2 times/year. But on a good day we can run 6 tanks of fuel which is about 90 laps, 270 laps in a 3 day session. Just by the virtue of that many laps, on the 3rd day we are typically 3 to 4 seconds faster than we were at the beginning of the 1st day.

Hope that helps.

Thank you,
Jim

 

There is something strange that happens to American teams when they try Ring attempts. I really think that being in a foreign land, lack of basic parts support (you can't just run to a Chevy dealer or PEP Boys to pick up a minor part, etc), language barriers and national bias against the USA all add into the equation. I didn't think it was such as big deal until I was able to talk to the engineers at SRT who ran the 2008 and 2010 record runs in the Viper ACR. And then we all supported a private attempt in the Gen 5 ACR-E. Every different attempt had some really weird stuff happen...it was like a curse. SRT actually failed to set the record with the 2010 car in their allotted time and luckily Ron Howard's production company was there filming "Rush" and gave us a free morning that they were not using. Cars broke, weather issues, cars crashed, brand new cars with failed rear ends, Kumho tire failures, etc. How can a brand new car break that you've taken all the way to Germany?.....you'd think it would have been gone over with a fine tooth come ten times. But **** happens, typical Ring karma for American teams.

I will say that it appears the SRT crew had a more hands on deck than the support you had. Who sends a car half way around the world to do a Ring attempt with only one driver and two support people? What the hell is GM thinking?

In the corporate world, accountants and marketing people take years off our lives with their lame decisions.

 

Jim,

I cannot tell you how geeked out I am right now lol. Awesome answers and you did not disappoint. You lived my dream being a driver engineer etc for GM and Corvette. I mean your hard work not withstanding, you have lived a dream (career) life imo lol.

Look forward to shaking your hand at Carlisle. I have my Reserved spot and glad I do. I have a feeling the C8 may show up and it make this year insane.

Shame GM doesn't offer that design much like they do with the bracket cars like now even that E Camaro!