Hi.

im looking to order a new c8 primarily as a drive to the track car. I race Porsches with Pca and am a Pca instructor as reference.

im looking at trims and options and wanted to see if people who regularly track their car can give some insight. I’d like to keep the weight down as much as possible. I plan on immediately replacing the seats with race seats and a harness bar/roll bar

z51 no brainer. Going to get it
basic Trim. Extra cameras would be nice, but it’s not a daily driver

magnetic ride? How is the regular suspension at the track? I don’t really care about making it softer on the street.

high wing? Is it functional? Does it throw off the balance? Or is it just a looks thing?

as for track setup, Anyone have good/bad experiences with mounting race seats and 6 pt harnesses? I see someone is selling a bolt in 6 point mounting adapter. I don’t want to cut/weld anything

and finally are their any detailed guides for adjusting the alignment? I typically do this myself, have tools and a lift. Also it looks like camber is adjusted via shims. Does it make sense/possible to add camber plates?

appreciate the input

 

If you are ok with it, I'd track the C8... obviously, the Z51 is the package of choice... AFAIK, a track alignment is necessary to remove the understeer, and this is well documented, and shouldn't hurt the car in street driving...

Also, you absolutely must change to racing brake fluid... Motull is very affordable, but I'd go with something with a 600+ boiling point... I would also buy track pads... this may cost about $400-500 but even though the Z51 pads are great, under track use, they will deposit material on your rotors... but you can change pads in about 2 hours... I'd absolutely do it.

If you really get serious, I'd buy a separate set of wheels, and put dedicated track tires on... but this is down the road... a couple of HPDE can be done on your street tires... and then you can decide how serious you are...

Also, you might want to get track insurance... I use Ontrack... it's about 10% deductible... and is probably about $400-500 per weekend, but if you ball the car up, it's cheap... and I wouldn't;t put a $70K car on the track without it...

So budget about $2K for the weekend, and have fun... best money you ever spent.

 

BTW, the Mag shocks on the Corvette are phenomenal... awesome... that's all I have to say

 

Gross camber changes can be made by the shims behind the upper control arms. Fine tuning are made by eccentrics on the lower control arms. Corner balance via the adjustable spring perches. As your car will be primarily a track car, don't get the front lift system as the adjustable spring perches up front go away.

There is also a track prep guide from GM with starting points for alignment settings - link below. It gets you in the ballpark but I'm sure that you will adjust based upon your preferences. There is also other stuff in the guide like burnishing the brakes but with your experience this info may be repetitive.

https://www.chevrolet.com/content/da...l%20072120.pdf

If you decide to lower the car, don't get too aggressive, as the reduced travel may affect the ability to attack curbing.

 

MRC is more than great it allows setting PTM. Download the PDF Owner's Manual. This is from page 134
Performance Traction Management (PTM) Mode: Displays the current PTM mode. The options are Wet, Dry, Sport 1, Sport 2, or Race. .

It is not just for ride, it helps managing transient maneuvers, high "g" turns, hitting curbing etc etc. I have it in my Z51 and don't use it for ride! Bought for transient benefits. I drive often in Z Mode power set to Track Ride in my case set to Sport. Never use Touring, not needed in NE SC where I live.

Also did see an answer to the High Wing question. Tadge (Exec Chief Corvette Engineer) said downforce for both the Z51 and high wing are the same 400 lbs. It's assumed the high wing has less drag but don't have the numbers.

Also didn't see anyone mentioning GM recommends adding 2 extra quarts of DCT fluid. That is in the Owner's Manual as is break pad bedding for Track use..

Some aggressive Trackers use Racing brake pads. The GM pads are a compromise for street use (perform OK for cold pads) as well as some tracking. Some Trackers say they won't last long. Pic below is a good example of the options available from Carbotech. GM doesn't say where the Brembo pads fit but I would guess 200 F min and ~1200 F Max. I have used the low dust 1521 pads on my 2014 C7 Z51, 2017 Grand Sport and now my C8. I don't track. My experience with my C7 Grand Sport is at ambient temps the Carbotech pads they are slight better than OEM. They stopped fine at higher temps but in street use I don't exceed 900F.

Might want to go to the Tech section where trackers discuss mods they use, like lowering the C8, some installing other mads

 

Thanks for the replies. I definitely plan on immediately doing all of the track prep stuff(fluid dct oil etc). I almost drive home with a new c8 today. A z51 became available while I was at the dealer checking out a customers car. They wanted too much over msrp for me tho

 

Get it. Get Mag and Z51.

I raced for years, including 993's and 997's in the P-Line. Liked those cars, but never actually bought one for myself.

I'm down in BG a day early and went to the track. Holy crap! Drove both a C7 and C8. My last Corvette was a C6 because I was not a fan of the C7 styling. C7 was manual. Extremely tight gearbox; 4 to 5 did not come natural for me. When I got back in the pits, the lead car driver said, "You should have stayed in 4th. It's not your car".

The C8 was amazing. The worst part about it was now I don't care too much about the washing products, and I will want to take my 3LT HTC to the track. The auto shifting was spot on, and they only had it in Sport. It is a very intuitive vehicle. Keeps a solid line and the grip on A/S street tires was surprisingly stout. I only got 4 laps in the car. Here are my only points of complaint, although I might not have them if they put me in the correct mode:

1) Throttle response: Maybe need to install a Pedal Commander or similar. Response coming onto the straight was slow in the C8, but excellent in the C7. Will see if Track improves this at all.
2) The GT2? seats and belts need serious help for tracking. Good that you are seating and strapping the C8 for any serious driving.
3) Brakes. The instructor told me about the brake by wire behavior, but the first time you come in hard to a turn and try to modulate the brake, and not finding any brake, until either the car slows down or you press HARD, was discomforting. The instructor said that tracking the car requires aggressive braking on the C8; they brake it hard so it "skips" the light pedal sensation. Supposedly the brake behavior changes with the switch to track mode, but I did not drive in that mode.

There you go. Having raced several P-Cars, all on race tires and setup, I'm guessing you will not be disappointed. If you are truly looking for a track car, then get the 1LT Coupe with Z-51 and Mag Ride. You will not be disappointed. Missed the stick, but they have pretty much nailed the transmission performance on the car.

 

Z51 does have an advantage in terms of gearing, engine and trans cooling. I would go Z51 but..... I wouldn't go mag ride. The car needs stiffer sway bars and at minimum stiffer springs, ideally aftermarket Coilovers. I grew up driving my Dads 86 930 gray market turbo and RUF 996 as much as possible so I get where you are coming from. The C8 with monoball control arm bushings, sway bars and a wider wheel/tire set up felt more like home to me than C5/C6/C7 ever has.