GT transformation
 

After driving my Porsche GT3 Cup car for over a year I badly needed an "easy" track day car that's fast and fun to drive. After considering all sorts of sports car from E92 M3 to another street GT3 RS (really tired of paying Porsche tax) I decided to give the 2011 Z06 carbon a try. After taking the car out on the track in all stock form I knew it's going to take alot of work to transform her into a true GT racer.

Here is a run down of what's involved and I have learns tons about this car.

To begin, here is what motivated me to get another sports car. It's just so much work to get the Cup car ready for track

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First order of business is to protect the paint by covering the whole car with Xpel clear film. This took me about 1 week and alot of patience. Material cost was about $1K. So far the film held up super well and track debris and marks wash right off.

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and yes, I cover the front spoiler too :)

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Wheels and tires next. Heavy stock 19" front and crazy 20" rear won't cut it for track. Forgeline GA3R super light weight 3 piece wheels are the right choice and clear the giant Brembo ceramic rotors and calipers. GA3R with Hoosier R6 is about 10 lbs lighter per wheel compare with stock.

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There is enough gap in the front to allow a wheel strap for trailer

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Stock front wheel/tire vs GA3R/R6

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Rear wheel/tire vs GA3R/R6

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Next come one of the most important GT mods. proper racing seats and roll bar. I have seen enough roll over and crash on the track to know you can never have enough safety equipment.

I decided to use OMP HTE seat and they fit great and do not block my side vision. Seat bracket from Arizen Racing works great

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There is no one better at the Sacramento area for custom roll bar than Mike at Tolle fab. I have looked at all the roll bar on the market for Z06 and they all seems to lack certain safety feature in order to make room for creature comfort. I wanted a SCCA roll bar that's bolt in and can be extended to a full cage in the future. Mike came through as always and this thing is super solid and all tig welded at around 50 lbs.

Clear out the interior for roll bar fab

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Frame drilled and prepped for mounting

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Weld in mounting points at bottom of B pillar

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Black powder coat and looks fantastic all installed!

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Now let's add OMP steering wheels with quick release and PFADT quick release adapter

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Now let's address the performance issue with this Z06. My test run with the car at stock form was horrible. I did not appreciate any of the Z06 track prowess other than big power. Suspension was sloppy and the rear was wondering all over the place during braking and hard acceleration. It was unpredictable and unsettling. The engine temperature climbed all the way up to 250F and it's only 70F outside. I decided to cool her down and stabilized the Z06 with

• 160F thermostat, water wetter and reprogram fan speed
• PFADT engine and tranny mounts
• PFADT track sways
• Lower ride height
• Aeromotions active wing
• Better exhaust with LG long tube and Akrapovic mufflers
• Halltech intake
• Diablo Sport Predator flash tune
• Improve rear diffuser
• Track alignment

Cooling:

I wanted to cool down the engine without having to spend too much $$$ and decided to use 160F thermostat, replace antifreeze with water wetter and reprogram the fan speed with Diablo Sport Predator. This combo worked super nice and reduced my coolant temperature by 30F on the track compare with stock and don't go much over 220F. On the street I average 180-190F even with AC on.

PFADT sways, engine/tranny mounts:

These PFADT sways are super well made and help kept the car well planted on the track. I use the middle hole for both front and rear and the car had neutral handling

http://imageshack.us/a/img37/4919/pict9330.jpg

Stock engine and transmission mounts are trash. I can bend the mounts with my thumb and I can only imagine how much energy is loss with all the twisting.

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Installation is no easy task. You had to drop the front and rear suspension assembly from the body and lift the engine and tranny in the same time to allow enough space for removal and install. This will be the perfect time to upgrade your exhaust. The extra vibration from the hard PFADT mounts are minimal and I don't notice it after initial install

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Lower ride height:

I kept the stock suspension with leaf spring and easiest way to lower ride height was to use cable saw for PVC pipes. Wrap it around the padding on the height adjustment pads and cut the whole thing off. I was only able to reduce ride height by 1/2". You will get tons of squeal and you can use some thick grease under the pad such as the one provided by PFADT for their sway bar.

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Aeromotions active wing:

Well, How do I start? This car needs more stability at the back and I don't particularly care for the extra drag. Most after market wings have upright mounts push all the way to the side and it just doesn't look right. I have always been curious about active wing - it makes sense and F1 are using it. This wing has it's own CPU and can be program to adjust wing angle at braking, cruising above and below 70 mph. It senses vehicle speed by tapping into the vehicle speed sensor.

Aeromotions offer Corvette specific wing but I felt like the upright is too tall. I decided to get a used GTR spec wing with 1.5" shorter upright since I do not have aggressive front aero. It worked out perfectly but it was an experiment that could have gone terribly wrong. First, I did not know if the rear decklid can supper the wing and stress at >150 mph. The only way to know is to cut the rear decklid open ... Thank god it has an extra upside down U shaped support and strong enough to support the wing without issue at >150 mph.

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Time to mount the power pod upright after measuring out the attachment site for drilling

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The other challenge I encounter with this wing is the vehicle speed sensor. GTR VSS generate 8000 pulse per mile vs Corvette's 4000 PPM. so that means I have to find ways to multiply the PPM by two. Luckily Dakoda Digital makes a PPM converter (thank god) and I was able to generate 8000 ppm for the GTR Aeromotion CPU to compute proper speed for wing adjustment

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I tap into the VSS wire behind the instrument panel

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Now we got drag!

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It gave the Z06 a proper GT look that it badly needs

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Better exhaust with LG long tube and Akrapovic mufflers:

What's a GT racer without a proper exhaust that's light, well made and sound great? After much research I decided to get the LG long tube with 200 cells catalytic converters couple with Akrapovic mufflers.

Stock exhaust removed

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LG long tube with 200 cells couple with Akrapovic mufflers.

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It should be snap for install right? Remove the stock exhaust and slap on the replacement ... wrong. I was thinking about the GT3 exhaust where everything is on the ass and exposed. The Z06 Carbon have the extra ZR1 style oil cooler on the driver side

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Folks at LG had to custom bend the left inner bank pipes to make sure it fits around the oil cooler

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Z06 exhaust was super hard to remove and install. I had to totally disconnect the front suspension assembly and control arm to create enough space to slide the LG headers in from below. The other hard part is have enough heat shield to protect the O2 wires and oil cooler which had to be fabricated for custom fit.

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Finally in! Protect all the wires and plugs well away from the hot exhaust

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You have to drop the rear suspension assembly to remove and install rear mufflers

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Halltech intake and Diablo Sport Predator flash:

Both items are super easy to install. Slight trimming was required for the right side of the intake shield. I chose Diablo Sport handheld flash because I like the ease of install and I can play with various parameter such as adjusting fan speed and revert back to stock program any time I want.

Dyno result was very impressive. Stock this Z06 was producing 467 Hp and Tq and after LG/Akrapovic exhaust, Halltech intake and Diablo Sport flash it made 505 HP and 506 Tq at the wheel. Here is real world comparison. My street 07 Porsche GT3 RS made 365 HP at the wheel and 07 GT3 Cup car made 395 HP at the wheel with same dynopack. We are talking about over 600 HP and Tq at the flywheel for this Z06 if you consider 15% energy loss to the wheel ... WOW!

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Rear diffuser:

I really dislike the disco backup light on the rear diffuser. Come on, do you really need that much light to back up? You can't see a thing anyway. I have consider several aftermarket solution but some how never like them. I decided to do the next best thing, remove the back up light and replace with wire mesh. It is fairly easy to make and both sides took me less than 30 minutes.

First you cut out a square wire mesh which can be had from several online store. Place it over the front of the backup lights and create a general shape for the opening and cut along the edge

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Test fit from back of diffuser and gently shape the edge with your finger (don't press on the center) and use zip tie to attach to the backup light mounting points

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It looks 1000X better than the backup light

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It help let out hot air from the exhaust and reminded me of certain C6R's back end

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Lastly track alignment: Stock alignment was ... pathetic. I swear it had positive camber front and rear and inner side of the Hoosier R6 never touch the track. The car was a handful to control on the track at stock alignment

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I decided to dial in the camber. To do that I had to remove 2 washers from each of the front upper control arms and 1 washer from the rear upper control arm. Tire Pros at Folsom did a great job with the alignment ... you should see what it took to get my Z06 on the alignment rack (took 6 people to, lift, push and watch from all sides)

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**************************************** *******************

After 3 months of hard work and research - I need to thank everyone that contributed on this forum. It made this GT transformation so much easier! - The Z06 GT is finally here. It look the part and sound like business so how does it drive on the track? My first time out on the track was nerve wrecking. I did not know how the car will behave and if the wig will rip off at high speed (>140 mph down the straight at Thunderhill). first session was painful. I kept observing the gauges and looking at the rear wing to make sure it's still there. Then I notice something odd. My Z06 at stock form did 2:07 at Thunderhill and my lap timer was registering 2:02, 2:01 in heavy traffic!? My best time in my street Porsche GT3 RS was 2:01 and the GT3 Cup car was 1:56. So I push a bit more at end of first session and broke into 1:59 with ease. Wow, took a deep breath, check tire pressure and wing and so far so good. Went out second session with much more confidence and ... holy mother of Z06, I did a 1:57 in traffic and the car was absolutely on rail!

Best of all is that this car is still streetable and has window, AC and radio. I set out a goal to make a GT car out of this Z06 and it gave back more than I ever anticipated. I feel strongly that folks at Chevy need to consider making a more track oriented car much like what Porsche did with their 911 GT3. These Z06 is capable, just need to sharpen the tool a bit and you will have one dream machine

Here are some video and pictures from the track



Standing still at Laguna Seca ALMS Corvette corall

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http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/1139/z06atalms.jpg

In action at Thunderhill

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Aeromotions wing at full tilt under hard braking

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Nice post! Excellent driving too :thumbs:

Thanks. Now I just need to get alot more seat time behind the Z06 to improve track time

Do you mind me asking what was your total investment in modifications?

Great post! A fun read and very informative. :)

Excellent post....Is this Vette less work now to get out onto the track compared to your GT3 car?

Enjoyed you post very much.

Needless to say you did it right.

Stay safe and have fun.

Very impressive build-up and great driving. Thank you for posting the details and video. :cheers:

Do you think the Z06 could now beat the GT3 cup car in a race? Or would it depend on the track?

You have learned what most on the forum have figured out. A well set up Z06 is as good or better than the best the world has to offer. It is common for decently set up Z06's to walk race prepped Cup cars.

Nice build, the only thing I would have done differently since you are using Hoosiers is switching to a coil over set up. If you think the car is fast with the OEM suspension, it still hasn't come close to what is possible with a set of 700lbs coil overs. I found the Hoosiers simply overpowered the stock suspension and create a floating effect at high speed. If you want to go to the next level, get a nice set of coil overs with a higher spring rate. In one of your pics, I see the car basically bottoming out and leaning over pretty hard, a good set of coil overs will resolve this and dramtically improve your confidence in the car, especially at high speed.

You stated the car was hairy at hight speed from the factory, just so you are aware, this is NOT normal. You must of had a bad allignment, which would make any car hairy at the track, but especially one with 500+hp.

I am also curious as to why you choose such a nice Z06 (ie. Carbon Edition). I see that as being more of a street/show car for the waxers, just too nice to beat up at the track. A base Z06 with the same mods might have been a better choice, especially with those carbon brakes and electronic suspension. Not aware of too many companies that are making after-market race pads and when you need to replace those carbon rotors, they will cost you big time. I personally would prefer the cheaper and more disposable iron set up and non-electronic suspension.

I haven't played with toe much on my car, but I have herd some toe out fr/rr can help on the track. I noticed this car is actually toed in on the rr...

I think it is funny that you pick a top shelf Z06 and pour money into it because your are tired of the Porsche Tax, when so many on here complain about the Vette Tax.

Not to defend him, but the CUP car is more than twice the cost of a Z06. So while he spent quite a bit of money, it is much less than his CUP car costs.

What is amazing is the the CUP motor probably costs 3X what the LS7 costs and makes far less HP, that is a prime example of the Porsche tax.

Great write up! Saw this at the corral last weekend. What do you think it will run at Laguna Seca? Low 1:30s?

Fantastic post and such a great looking car. Let us know if you would like to make the move to coilovers. Just like mentioned by 95Jersey with the amount of mechnical grip your generating you could really use an increase in spring rates.

Your turning some mean lap times out there. Keep up the pace and keep posting pics and videos! We love seeing these cars flying on track.

Fantastic write up, I took the time to read everything on here and really enjoyed it!

Awesome build! I commend you for calling the Z06 for what (in stock form) it really is. The Pfadt products, a new seat and MGW shifter turn the car into a COMPLETELY different beast. I too did the Diablo tune and when I swapped in a 160 stat I got check engine lights because the coolant didn't reach temp soon enough. Have you experienced this?

This thread is full of WIN.

EXCELLENT write-up!

Nice install and great photography documenting the changes. :thumbs:

Awesome, just awesome!

I don't have the total but .. it was alot. it's still much less than what I spend on getting my Porsche GT3 RS ready for track and beat it easily by > 3 seconds

Thanks

Much less work compare with GT3 Cup and the same compare with my previous street GT3 RS. I trailer my cars to track so that's couple hours of work

Thanks. Will do :)

Thanks. My Z06 is slower than the Cup. If both have the same slick tires the Z06 will be couple secinds slower and drop off dramatically after 30+ seconds of race. The Cup car is a true race car and my Z06 GT is a street car that can turn near race car speed and still drive to local in and out berger for a bite :thumbs:

Yes, PFADT coilover with higher spring rate will be next. This Z06 was very unstable at stock form and when I looked at the track pictures I sware the wheels had positive camber and hard braking and giving gas will swing the rear. To be fair my street GT3 RS is just as bad on the track stock form and took alot more prep to be track worthy than the Z06 ... and much more $$$ involved.

I did consider other none carbon Z06 but I like to try the ceramic rotors and I love this color combo. Nothing else spark my interest

Just the opposite. You need slight toe in esp for the rear since the wheels will toe out under hard braking and make the car wonder.

Trust me, this Z06 is basement bargain cheap to work on compare with Porsche

Yup. All true

Thanks. I am aiming low 1:30 on a set of fresh R6 at Laguna Seca. I already had more than 10 heat cycle on the R6 when I made this video. Now these R6 are just practice tires

Thanks. Your featherlite coilover will be next with higher spring rate and we spoke about this via e-mail before. I am surprised how compose the car feel with your sways and it was swinging side to side wildly on stock form. I may drive the stock shocks for a while but I have a feeling the coilover will be added soon

Thanks and glad you like the write up :thumbs:

Yes, I think all cars be if Ferrari, Porsche or Z06 at stock form is not fit for track and need tons of work and $$$ for the proper transformation. I do get the engine warning light and it's for catalytic insufficiency. I am not sure it's from the 160F but no big deal. I just ignore the light and it can be erased by unplug the battery for couple minutes. It does not affect how the car run


Thanks. Like you said, this Z06 got wing :D

Thanks

Now we need to convince Chevy to build a Z06 GT for track nuts all over

Rr toe +.10 for stability on brakes, good to know :thumbs:

We still take emails wondering if we ever actually produced the Z06X.

Great looking car, but the Carbon edition colors look awesome as well! :thumbs:

http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/cro...ck-_460x0w.jpg

Such an amazing GT build! Congrats! Thank you for spending the time detailing all with pictures as well!

Pfadt make the best products around! Can't wait for a new engine and trans mount!

Wow very nice! Im impressed.

One of my favorite threads to read and marvel at the pics and video. Very impressive:thumbs:

ah,, I'm heading to Mosport tomorrow to see how my new Carbon is on the track. Can't wait....
great write up..........thanks

Have a few questions if you don't mind. Thanks.
1. What size wheels and tires?
2. Can you run those alignment on the street?

Wow what a build. Um who do you work for and are they hiring!

Great build and write up. Sounds like you are having a blast with your Z.

Wow! Love seeing someone take.a car most think is amazing and make it really work. Wing is awesome!

Yup, as you brake the wheel toe out and if you don't have some toe in especially for the the rear wheels then your back end start to wonder

Thanks. When I first got my carbon I thought the Z06X concept was a great idea and could not understand why Chevy did not follow through. It's a pretty hard exercise to build a proper GT racer ...
just thankful parts for Z06 are very reasonable

Sure thing. Agree that PFADT make some great parts. What does PFADT stand for?

Thanks

Cheers!

Hope you are not runnig stock alignment. Drive slow if you do since the car will float from side to side

I used P295/30ZR-18 HOOSIER front and P345/35ZR-18 HOOSIER R6 rear. No issue street driving with these track alignement. I just drove 500 miles round trip to Laguna Seca for the ALMS race.

Yes, we are hiring .... I am a medical docotor. Wife and kids will say I work for them and they are always hiring :)

Yes, really enjoying the car and I get more thumbs up driving the Z06 then my previous street GT3 RS

Thank. Our Z06 really need a real wing on the back to balance the large rear end - much like GT3. These Aeromotions wing added much needed balance on the track. Very little additional drag street driving

Holy cow, what a writeup.

Why did you opt to go with a full race wheel? I'm assuming that you just track this vehicle, and the airbag system is completely off.

Great write up and superb job with the mods. No stone left unturned. Enjoy your awesome Z.:thumbs: Marc L.

Wow! Now thats what I call a DIY thread. Looks like you strive to do things right the 1st time. I like that. Keep up the good work.

nice job. looks great

Very nice build. Is this strictly for track use? That wing might get in the way out in the real world lol.

Awesome....and the best part is that you did all this hard work yourself in your garage! I can appreciate that. :thumbs:

Love your writeup, car is a Gem, how hard was the plastic you layed over the Z to install, and what kind of finish does it leave you with? also, the mods on the suspension, have they affected the ride quality on the street???please keep posting, we need more threads like this one!

thanks for the warning,,, won't be going near 10/10ths today,,,

i vote Z06 topic thread of the year

:iagree: And Jason and Jims weight saving thread, although that started last year:D

More importantly, are you adopting? i'm potty trained and everything.

Awesome writeup and fantastic results.

Yes, This car is pretty much for the track only and I do still use stock wheels for occasional street driving after a hard day of work. Airbags are useless and dangerous for a track car with 6 points harness and roll bar

Thanks. I am afraid to see what's next ... Michelin blue label slicks?

http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Feat.../JEF2225-L.jpg

Thanks

Cheers

Yeah, pretty much track only but I did drove 500 miles this weekend to Laguna Seca for the ALMS race

I need a real lift. Been putting off too long

Thanks. It's pretty hard to do the clear bra install without some basic training. I acturally flew down to LA and attened a two days course ($1K fee) and learn the basic for clear bra install. The rest I learn as I go and so far I have cover my GT3 Cup car, Z06, 996 TT etc. It give it a deep clear coat shine and makes the car look like it has a super nice top coat wax all the time. Love it ... but PITA to install. Some pro shop will charge as much as $10K to do the same work to cover your whole car

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Good choice and have fun

Thanks and hope to contribute more as I log in more track hours

Yes, of course. I alwys need help to haul all my crap for track events :thumbs:

Thanks and really enjoy the look and performce of this Z06 GT :)

Pfadt actually isn't an acronym, it's the last name of our owner Aaron Pfadt. It's pronounced like, "I Pfadt in a war," or "My wife and I Pfadt last night." :D

:cheers:

lol

What a unique name! It is a German or some sort of European last name?

any concerns over the "oil starvation" problem?

Don't know. I have not done any scientific test to see if the improved dry sump system correct the oil starvation issue from the past. It's a hard problem to detect ...

Indeed it is. Like you, I've got the increased capacity tank. (got mine from LPE since my Z is an 06) Kinda hoping that will cut the mustard.. Going to start tracking on Hoosiers this season, though the track I frequent is relatively slow and tight. Still an "issue" to keep in mind.

Thanks. I have long and high G tracks here so my Z will be the improved factory dry sump test bed :(

Haha, and to think I've been pronouncing it wrong this whole time. As in I'm a pfadt-ass lol.

Nice thread. Z07 and gt3 in the same garage... :smiliedrool:

:thumbs:

Half of the time when I say that I get some ridiculous response about how its not viable. Apparently the position (or excuse depending how positive you want to be) is that all corvette owners are more interested in expensive interiors and waxing their cars. :crazy:

A very small percentage of owners track their cars at all.

Whats to say you can only use a gt3 on the track? You might not be able to legally drive it at full pace in too many places anymore, but you can still have a heck of a lot more fun than driving a regular car! :thumbs:

yeah, and a big % of those live in CA! :rock: (good weather most of the year and all)

To the OP... WOW, what a car, what a post, thanks for sharing... you should bring it out to the Corvette Challenge at WSIR June 2nd so we can all see it up close, and come run with us (well, ahead of us, by quite a bit I would guess!) :D

That is awesome!

Let me know if you need anything at all!

Thanks. On the track I would say Corvette and GT3 dominate in the advance group. There are alot more Corvette owners than GT3 and higher % of GT3 owner drive their car on the track. I say enjoy your machine to it's fullest potential :)

Thanks. What's Corvette Challenge at WSIR June 2nd?

Sure thing Anthony and thanks for all your help answering my questions. Your exhaust works great and thanks for helping me get a great deal on the Forgeline wheels :thumbs:

Top shelf post. I don't mean Johnny Walker Blue I mean Louis XIII quality.


Travis from Houston

After reading this post, I've got sweaty palms, a cramped right calf muscle from the track vid, and ive loosed a few buttons on my shirt ready for a drink! lol!!

Fantastic information!
I'm hyper curious about the engine and tranny mounts since these cars suffer from twisting issues.

Can't get enough Supersonic blue. My choice as well. And I'm a Porsche guy too, so this is just the right mix.
What color is the 996?:thumbs:



G

Go here and check it out... http://forums.corvetteforum.com/sout...-june-2nd.html

Sure would love to see you there!

:thumbs:

Cool write up, thanks

cool, thanks :)

lol

This Z06 is super easy to drive just look at my Cup car video on the same track with similar time. I don't know the name of the color on the 996 TT - it was one of my friend's car and a cool custom paint job



Got it. It's the Willow track and bid too far for me at this time :(

Sure thing

Your one bad dude mikymu, and a doctor that that gets his hands dirty too:rock:
I salute you:thumbs:

LG coilovers, Lou's custom Sequential Gearbox and that poor little Cup Car won't know what passed it!:D

Cramped right calf... :lol:

So what type of twisting issues do you mean? One thing I feel that helped the chassis ridgity of my car, was the tunnel plate...I got the thickest one. I believe it's 3/8" of plated steel...10 pounds in just the right spot :thumbs:

Ah, too bad! There's events throughout the year. If you keep an eye on that forum, or Speed Venture's website, you can see the schedule.... maybe see you at one down the road!

On another note, could you please offer info on your iPhone timing hookup? Is it an App, or? and the mounting too ... thanks,

Dave

Working on the car help sharpen my mind as a physician. Nothing better than tackling a problem and challenge yourself to come up with solutions :)

I am afraid it will take much less than what you have mentioned to beat the Cup car

When you have soft drivetrain mounts engery is lost through rocking motion - instead of turning the wheel it's twisting the drivetrain. My street GT3 RS' factory engine mounts are just as bad as the one found on Z06 and the drivetrain twist so much on track I have toruble getting into gears until I change to 100% solid mounts and super beefy GT3 Cup car shift cables. My Z06 throttle response is much imprvoved after swapping out the OEM mounts with Pfadt. I am sure it help contribute to the excellent poise on the track

Hi Dave, Williow is super far from me and too long a drive to make it a one day trip. There is another Corvette challenge at Laguna Seca on June 30th but I will be racing my GT3 Cup car at Thunderhill that weekend.

I use the iphone timing app and it's call Harry's lap timer. It can be had for $18 and you need to get a Tom tom iphone GPS cradle that will amplify the GPS signal to help make timing more accurate. It worked really well mostly and have some small hiccups here and there but not bad. You can shoot video inthe same time from your iphone if you chose and can store your lap time with data which you can be export via e-mail to your friends and brag about your lap times as shown below :D

http://imageshack.us/a/img16/7655/pict9399.jpg

For some reason I had the impression you were central/northern CA... and closer to WSIR... I will miss Laguna as well, on the road again in Europe (as I am now, thus the late time post!)

Yeah, figured it was 'Harry's' .. I almost went that route, but read about too many issues, both with the App and (mostly) the mounting (not stable)... I went with the AIM SOLO, which is a really a great timer (albeit a helluva lot more expensive!) .. but, I may have to try this App/mount after all, if it's working for you..

After seeing/reading your post though, the timer is the last thing I need! I'm a relative track novice in my 07 Z (karting experience), but after a few private lessons from a former pro SCCA guy, I'm getting faster... almost fast enough to realize the car needs improvement to SAFELY go faster... but funds are limited for this hobby, and mine is not just a track car.

But, after a few harrowing 'loose rear end' experiences, I'm feeling I need to at least look at some suspension mods... I have about the same camber adjustment as you f/r.. do you think it would make a positive difference on my car to look at replacing shocks/sways to start? If so, is it dangerous from a stability point to NOT do the motor/tranny mounts? I'm still on street tires (NTO5), as I don't want to move into R compound til the suspension can handle it.

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm sure I'm not the only one you have 'thinking' about what they are actually doing with their cars on the track! (oh yeah, seat and roll bar too... ) I can feel it now... CHA CHING! :rock:

Again great writeup!
Do you have any other shots of your garage to share for those of us stuck at work behind computers? :D

Enjoy your stay at Europe! Love Italy when I was there but not the exchange rate.

Yes, iphone lap timer is a $18 timer and act like an $18 timer. I may move to a AIM MXL display soon once I get faster.

I think Pfadt sway, engine and tranny mounts should bottom down your Z's rear end. I still drive with stock shocks and leaft spring. I suspect a wing may help too. Do invest in safety first. I can't tell you how many roll over and crash I seen on the track ... it will be money well spend

Take a look at my friend's car behind the tow truck in this picture. No, it's not a convertable. It's a Nissan 350Z in a roll over and the whole roof collapsed. He was super lucky to walk away from the accident and not seriously hurt. During the flip the car acturally airborn and he had no roll bar or harness

http://imageshack.us/a/img859/787/350zcrash3.jpg

Sure thing. My garage is a real mess and I promised my wife to give it a face lift soon ... but it's a super well used car space :)

Working on GT3 with my track buddy

http://imageshack.us/a/img85/6537/pict8959.jpg

Messy garage with tires and parts everywhere

http://imageshack.us/a/img849/9627/pict9452.jpg

Love the top view of my Z06 on the driveway after a wash :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/6440/z06top.jpg

Looks Awesome! :iagree:

Just back home in LA last night... I spend quite a bit of time in Italy... girlfriend of 3 years lives in the mountains there above Torino! :D

Thanks for the recommendations.. I wonder if these shocks would work well with the Pfatd sways? They claim it's supposed to be a vast improvement all the way around, especially for rear end looseness, group buy right now; http://dougrippie.com/?p=1046

Not quite ready to strap a wing on there yet, but the roll bar and seat/harness is something I feel I should do if my 'tracking passion' continues... I'm surprised more people don't do it, but I guess the 'daily driver' vs 'occasional track car' makes it difficult to make that jump... but I agree... it only takes one fast happening mishap...

Well, thanks for all the input and again this great post. If you don't mind I may PM you from time to time if I can't find some things I want to add to my car, where your valuable input would be much appreciated.

Keep us all posted on how the car holds up! And hope to see you at one of these outings one day! :thumbs:

Dave

Very interesting read. :thumbs:

Thanks por posting. Have fun out there! :cheers:

Sure thing Dave. PM me any time if you have questions. This forum is full of useful info and I totally rely on it when I get stuck. One thing I notice about Italy is that everyone is skinny. and they are passionated about soccor. Wife and I arrive at Milan the night they won the soccor match ... OMG!



I am sure Pfadt sways will do wonder for your car and so far perfect for my stock suspension. Yes, roll bar, harness and seats when you start to track more often. I also noticed that not many Corvette owner track their car or maybe I should say seriously track their car. The serious track nuts that semi strip out their cars and run slicks are mostly P-cars and esp GT3 folks.

Thanks

very nice Mike. All the Z06 needs now is a sequential gearbox.

Emco? :D

Thanks

One great thign about our Z06 is that it has monster torque which means you don't have to shift as much on the track compare with other cars. It is super easy to drive. Sequential is super noisy and labor intensive. My ears ring for a week every time I drive my GT3 Cup car

I don't want to clutter up this killer thread, but we've got a great solution for you with the Johnny O'Connell package. PM Sent. :cheers:

Hands down one of the best DIY threads/write-ups I've read on the CF. Good job.

Feel free to contribute any time. So far I am super happy with your racing goods. Love the sways. tow hook, steering wheel adaptor etc. and they are super well made and reasonably priced! :thumbs:

Thanks. Hope I am done with DIY for a while ... it was alot of work and sore joints :)

I enjoyed all the photos. Makes me miss my racing days!

I've been in that piazza a few times and I've never seen it like that :willy: Totally cool!

Awesome write-up! I met you at ALMS and saw the car in person. Its pretty serious and I like the Aero Wing. :thumbs:

I should have been a doctor. As a dentist, I can only keep my 08Z on the street and put money into my 84 bracket car. :thumbs:

Thanks. What did you used to race?

OMG ... it was insane. People were all over the street by our hotel and the celebration did not die down till late night



Thanks Andy. Wish I could have stay longer at ALMS. My allergy kicked in and I could not stop sneezing mid race ... :(

That's still alot of toys to play with. My trick is to live away from expensive Bay Area so I can waste money on cars :D

This thread rocks! :yesnod::thumbs:

Great thread! Thanks for sharing, especially with the photos and videos. I'm curious, how do you have time for all this? The prep work takes a lot of time. Do you work on the cars at night after everyone's gone to sleep?

Thanks! :thumbs:

Bingo! Burning the midnight oil is how I get most stuff done so I have time for kids, wife and work :)

Random question, How did you mount the arizen seat rails? It looks like you have them mounted to factory rails, or am I mistaken? Did you loose headroom with the seats and using their brackets with helmet on?

Awesome thread BTW, love everything you have done and the fact you did everything yourself. Also love the fact that you actually drive the car the way it was designed to be driven.

Thanks! :thumbs:

Arizen fit perfectly on factory bolts. You remove the whole factory seat/rails. I have very long torso so I have to remove headliner to fit my helmet. Arizen+OMP seat and factory seats are about the same height.

There is only one way to drive our Z06 ... on the track! I get piss off when people ask about my 1/4 mile time lol

I thought so to. :yesnod: :cheers:

Nice :d

Thanks guys. Now we need more Z06 under go the GT transformation. I am tired of being one of the few Z06 out there mixing it up with GT3 and Ferrari :D

I officially have determined that you sir......are officially baller status. Bastard! I'll get there damn it....I'll get there.

This is what happen when you don't listen to your financial adviser lol

:withstupid:


Much truth in this.

Awesome thread, OP: impressive mods. Only thing missing is photos of your supermodel wife posing next to the car - that... that would be legend.

:lol:

Wife retired from modeling. Will get a working model soon for some pics

That is funny :rofl:

:D

Had some nice photos taken of my green GT3 RS and GT3 Cup car. Will have more this year with the Z

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9188/girl5s.jpg

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/1416/girl3w.jpg

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3208/pict8818.jpg