looks fun as hellQuote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
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looks fun as hellQuote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
Some photos from the last 2 events:
Attachment 40737
Attachment 40738
Attachment 40739
Also looking for a factory LT1 style ram air hood. I plan on rattle canning the hood, roof, and hatch just to make the car look a little better. Might just end up wrapping the Trufiber hood I have now in fake carbon fiber, although that seems like a pain in the ass. I also want some vinyl graphics like this Dale livery lol...
Attachment 40740
I vote for the Dale Sr. Goodwrench look. Oh, great photos too.
Swapped out my brake duct inlets for ones with way more frontal area. I added screens after this pic was taken. Hopefully the ducts don't work so well that the brakes take a long time to come up to temp. Also hoping they don't divert enough flow away from the rad and oil cooler.
Attachment 40741
Looks like I corded the FR tire. I can also see a little bit of cording on my RR tire (which is practically new) from where a rock must've gouged the shoulder a tad. These tires are incredibly fragile.
Attachment 40742
Picked up a set of 285 RT660s (non plus) on clearance for $180ea. These are old production from 2022 and the tire itself is known for delaminating if you run the pressures too low, but I'm gonna send it anyway. They should last a good bit longer than the RE71RS and have better heat tolerance, but they are known to heat cycle out before the tread is gone and might be 0.5-0.7s slower than my current Bridgestones. This is just a temporary setup I'll run until I figure out my TT4 wheel setup.
There's a replacement RE71RS in the pic that I'm gonna return. I basically decided to cut my losses with my current tires and move on.
Attachment 40743
The only event I have on the calendar is NASA at t-bolt in august. I want to do something before that though and am really itching to go somewhere farther than NJ or Pocono. Toying with the idea of doing Summit Point main in a couple weeks so I can bench race myself against CMC cars and Strano lol.
Got your moneys worth out of them tires LOL.
I don't know how the temp is up there, but down here you'd melt a set of tires it's so hot.
I've been wanting to go to one of the area dragstrips, but its been staying at broil temperatures till well after dark. That is, when it's not raining.
Probably wait till Fall.
Later
First time back at Pocono in 2 years and I'm running a new configuration, N/S option 3. Sometimes this course is called the mega course, but there's an even longer config that goes by the same name. Traffic was absolutely brutal and didn't flow well at all for an 'advanced' group which is typical for TNIA events. This is one of the few laps that I had to myself and I see a ton of room for improvement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bufzwiKe5OY
Oil temp seemed a little higher than usual, but it was pretty hot out and this track has so many straights that it's like one big dyno pull.
New RT660s felt decent. They're definitely more vocal than the RE71RS they replaced.
Had to drive home through a nasty thunderstorm and the car started missing, but I made it back without calling for a tow. Water could've gotten into the opti via the filter as this aftermarket hood does not have any kind of rain deflector. It could also be the old spark plug wires arcing or a sensor (like O2s) getting wet and shorting, idk. I will investigate later.
Also, Kumho may have added a V730 in my size? I don't see 295/30R18s on the Kumho site or Tirerack, but it's possible that these sizes are new and the cataloggers haven't caught up yet. I've wanted to run these for a while since they take way more heat than most 200tw tires, are cheap as hell, and they last a long time. They might be ~1s behind the RE71RS at half the cost and double the lifespan.
https://simpletire.com/brands/kumho-...ize=295-30rr18
I'll get stickier tires for TT4 on a different set of 10.5 wheels.
Car has been driving fine since the opti dried out. I was planning on doing an event at Summit Point main this friday, but it sold out. There's a sunday event there with Chin that I will try to make instead. Probably making the trip by myself since none of my track buddies are down :(
Also, the 295 V730s are real and I bought a set. Now I gotta kill these RT660s before the end of the year!
Attachment 40747
Did the Chin event at Summit Point main course and love the track! Brake fade was back with a vengeance though and I had to take plenty of cooldown laps. It snuck up on me at T1 and I ended up in the gravel pit! That was the first time I've ever gone 4 wheels off a track lmao. It took so long to shake all of the pebbles off.
Fastest I could muster was a 1:24.65 which seems pretty respectable. I know there's a ton of room for improvement in the braking zones, squaring off some lines, taking T4 with more speed, less overdriving, etc. I can definitely cut a bunch of time with more braking confidence, so I'll be back. Also, the fastest was on lap 14 of a 30 minute session and those RT660s were greasy as hell!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ItfMdOKeg
I'm running about 1s faster than the fastest CMC racers according to this...
https://drivenasa.com/wp-content/upl...-SI-Race2-.pdf
Strano's Camaro did a 1:24.3 & 1:24.6 on Hoosiers (unsure if R or A tires) in this vid years ago. Late in the season so the track was way cooler and air denser. I believe the track was repaved in 2017 and should be about 1-1.5s faster also.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL7QyUZ6-iE
Awesome driving, thanks for sharing. Your driving seems alot smoother and controlled than Strano's.
Nolan
Super hectic week! In prep for the NASA instructor school last Friday, I was replacing my rear brakes earlier in the week when I noticed a disgusting amount of play in the driver's side axle. I could move the axle in and out about 0.110", video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/7bGD4FmNgHc
I found out that the clutches in my Yukon posi were insanely worn on the driver's side and the c-clip was wearing a chamfer into the c-clip groove on the axle. The factory c-clips are only 0.150" thick and you could almost pull the driver's side one out without removing the cross pin. I quickly ordered an Eaton Truetrac, carrier bearings, and axle seals from Amazon and had all of the parts by Wednesday night. I quickly threw the rear back together with a spare junkyard axle from a V8 car I luckily picked up the week before. Even though the spline count is the same between V6 and V8 cars, the V8 axles are considerably thicker along their length meaning there is less flex and camber loss when cornering.
Attachment 40752
I got the car back together with little time to spare and made it to the event without issue. My 2 mentors at the instructor school needed to drive my car while I instructed them, so it was really strange riding as a passenger in my own car. One of my mentors owned a built S197 and seemed really fond of my car and its setup lol.
Anyway, I passed the school and am officially a NASA instructor! I spent the rest of the weekend instructing a couple different students that ranged from somewhat terrifying to super competent. The terrifying one was a DE2 student who had allegedly done 7 trackdays outside of NASA, but he had recently switched from an Audi TTRS (awd) to a new Supra (rwd) and definitely did not have the muscle memory to countersteer/lift it when it got loose. I don't think he realized how much more finesse driving a rwd car on track required before registering, but thankfully the car's computers would intervene pretty quickly. He was also new to the track and didn't study the layout enough, so he REALLY needed instruction and probably should've been in the DE1 group. I got him driving much more consistently by the end of the day, but the Supra is wayyy too much car for him and not easy to learn on. I gave him a bunch of suggestions at the end of the day to help him work on his rwd driving skills, things like doing a skidpad day or drift school, sim racing or drifting, sliding around in an empty parking lot in the rain, etc.
My best student had been doing Track Night in America events in his E46 M3 for years in the intermediate group, but he had never had an instructor. He handled the M3 very well and didn't really overdrive it at all as he was more timid than the Supra owner. I mainly helped him with his lines as he would turn in too early/slowly, so the angle of the car would be pointed more towards the grass than the exit curbing at the middle of the corner and his exit speed would suffer because of this. This is pretty typical of newbies or those who lack good coaching. Basically, your self-preservation instinct kicks in and tells you to move closer to the inner curbing too quickly, but now your car is angled wrong and it's even harder to get out of the corner safely. Giving him a ride in the Firebird was a big a-ha! moment for him and I'm sure he'll be a lot faster going forward since he already has good driving chops.
Attachment 40753
I didn't do as much driving as I normally do over the weekend since the whole experience was a lot more than I was used to. It was super hot, it was my first time at this track on RT660s, I was constantly adjusting my brake bias since I swapped rear pad compounds (now on a Porterfield R4E), and the Truetrac felt pretty different from the Yukon. I like the Truetrac so far, but it definitely rotates way easier when I lift off the throttle as it basically turns into an open diff then, so it will take some getting used to.
I'll upload some video when I get a chance.
Awesome quick job on the rear end. Congratulations on your instructor certification. It's pretty impressive that you are self taught and moved up to instructor based on empirical knowledge. Looking forward to more videos.
Nolan
Thanks! I think there are a lot of things that helped me become a better driver over the years.Quote:
Originally Posted by JOATMON
The car - These things are basically V8 gokarts. There is no stability control, traction control, rev-matching, or ABS to smooth over my mistakes. It forces me to be precise or else it'll bite me. Also, years of sliding these things around on the street definitely helped me develop the muscle memory to keep the rear in check. It's also the only car I've ever driven in this context and I'm super comfortable with it, although I am nowhere near the ceiling for this thing.
An instructor I had back in 2022 - My lines needed major work and he really opened my eyes to how much more of the track I should be using. He really helped me square off my lines and hustle the car in places I was afraid to. I got a ridealong in his GT500 which was awesome. Other instructor ridealongs were also super helpful.
My practice habits - I have been filming and using a lap timer since day 1 to track my progress. A lot of older footage makes me cringe, but it was super helpful at the time. I always review the footage and data after a trackday and compare it to faster drivers to get new ideas and spot opportunities to pick up time, then show up to the next trackday with a plan of things to work on. I also do a lot of homework before driving new tracks (things like track guide videos, onboard laps, practice on the sim, etc.) so I show up prepared and make the best of my time.
The people I've met - This hobby is awesome in that you meet a bunch of really cool/fast people with a ton of great advice. If I see someone out there who's absolutely killing it, I usually go pick their brain and watch their footage to see what I can apply to my driving or car setup.
Here's a clip of the instructor session from Saturday. I wasn't pushing super hard, but I got to chase a T2 C5 around for a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jAROgPkbD8
congrats man!Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
Awesome video, you had that Vette driving his rearview mirror. He was only pulling away in the straights. Thanks for sharing.
Nolan
Some pics from the last trackday.
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Currently working on designing some rotor backing plates for real brake cooling with plans to sell them as a DIY kit. Hopefully they cure my braking woes at faster tracks. NASANE is doing a crossover event with the Mid Atlantic region at Summit Point on 9/20... if I can get it together by then, that would be a great place to test the effectiveness of the ducts.
A bit last minute, but I went back to NYST yesterday with some track buddies. The best I could muster was a 1:38.6 with a ton of time leftover in the braking zones. This track is a threshold braking workout since the elevation is constantly changing and most of the braking zones aren't flat. Haven't been here since late 2022 when I ran a best of 1:41.7, so there's definitely been some improvement lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Vz84W6LsI
Aside from me being a ballsy-er driver, here are some differences between now and 2022.
- Ambient temps: 40-45°F in 2022 vs. 65-70°F yesterday. Cooler temps generally result in faster times since the air is denser (more HP) and the tires run cooler. Even though I have +50whp now, my speeds on the front straight were hardly different (112-113mph back in 2022 and 115-116mph yesterday).
- Tires: 315 RT615k+ back in 2022 vs. 285 RT660 yesterday. In equal sizes and at equal ambient temps, the RT660 is about 0.75-1s faster. The difference in width is pretty severe though, but the 315 was kinda pinched on a 10.5" wheel and the 285 kinda stretched on an 11". The RT615k+ is also more heat tolerant whereas the RT660 gets greasy sooner. Tbh I'm not sure which would be faster, but the steady state cornering speeds looked super close.
- Aero: No spoiler in 2022 vs lexan spoiler now. The spoiler definitely gives me more confidence in faster sections, mainly the downhill esses.
Awesome, that place is nice looking countryside. I saw what you meant about the ups and downs on the track. The brake squeal still drives me nuts LOL.
At least you know they are working! Thanks for sharing the video.
Nolan
Here's another clip of me chasing a Porsche GT4 around at NYST.
https://youtu.be/GE4maVAfYXc
That video shows how brutal that track is. Thanks for sharing Elvis.
Nolan
More clickbait!!!!! Trying to get Youtube to pay me for the bullshit ads they already put on my videos.
https://youtu.be/dy3dLOlBHl0
Currently working through a backlog of footage. This one is from last month.
Also am going to make a car-setup pt.2 vid at some point.
Hey Bud, awesome, thanks for sharing. Also, I always forget to log in to youtube, so I did and subscribed if it helps your channel.
Nolan
I also sub'd, cool to see how many subscribers and views you are getting. I enjoy the voiceover tracks.
Little update. I did a trackday at Pocono running the full 3.5mi mega course and ended up cording both of my front tires on the 2nd session (oops). I got maybe 6 trackdays worth of driving out these RT660s which wasn't bad considering I got them heavily discounted on clearance.
I got to drive my friends LS3 C6 for a couple laps which was a lot of fun! Car has long tubes, ST43 pads, Z06 oil cooler, and is lowered but still on the factory magride. Car felt very compliant and predictable even on crappy 300tw tires which was impressive. Not a whole lot of body roll either.
The cars in front are a C8 Z06 and some newer 911 (they all look the same to me).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PTPaUVZd9o
A couple gripes... I couldn't heel-toe the thing for shit lol. I was trying to minimize my shifting because I couldn't really get my foot around onto the throttle pedal without feeling like I was gonna slip off the brake, but this is probably a skill issue on my part. Also, I wasn't a big fan of the steering or brake feel since both felt pretty overboosted and numb. The stock vette wheel is huge and squishy and the alignment (stock) could probably use way more caster. Underboosting the stock PS pump might help too. I was really surprised at how sharp and gokart-y the bird feels in comparison, but the vette would be 10000000x nicer to drive on the street.
Heading to Pittrace for the last time in a couple weeks. The owners of the track abruptly sold out to some company that's going to tear it down to build a lame AI datacenter. Track is officially closed at the end of the season. This is the future we all wanted, right???
Your friend should look into Jim Mero tune for the magride if he's going to stick with it. My C6 Z06 doesn't have magride so I went with Doug Rippie valved bilsteins. As for heel-toe, I don't have a ton of experience actually doing it but I've been trying to every now and again just to learn... I put SRP pedals on my Z because the stock aluminum have no grip if my shoes are even the slightest bit wet.... however what I've found for heel toe is that the gas pedal is so much further towards the firewall that my foot/ankle simply don't flex far enough to get a good stab on the gas pedal to blip the throttle without having to come off the brake.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
He's actually planning on selling the car after our trip to Pitt and is going to buy a C5 FRC with his dad for dedicated track duty. The C6 is just too nice of a car to tear into and ruin with track mods, plus it's also expensive to insure on track. The C5 should fit more tire and seems to have less oiling issues than a base C6, so it'll be a better beater with a couple mods.Quote:
Originally Posted by Z28pr0jekt
Looks like AMT makes a throttle pedal extender for these cars: https://amtmotorsport.com/products/c...oreproductinfo
I guess this is what Mark Petronis is using and that guy is brutally fast.
AMT makes some good stuff, I have their motor and diff/trans mounts on mine. My SRP pedals have some extension to them too but my issue isn't necessarily that the pedal isn't wide enough, it's that the pedal is so much further inwards versus the brake so I'm likely not on the brakes hard enough to see a closer distance to the gas pedal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
Ah gotcha, that's why I made my 4th gen pedal extender with adjustable shims so you could set it at the perfect height. I would add something underneath the SRP to bring it closer, but I will say that what's most comfortable on the street is too high when you're deep into the brakes on track.Quote:
Originally Posted by Z28pr0jekt
Attachment 40764
That makes sense. Man I would love to learn HPDE but I only have the vette and my motorcycle and I just got the car back after being down for years haha. To be honest I'd be such a noob on the track and be so worried about other vehicles. I'd likely need some cooling mods, further suspension items, the larger dry sump tank (I've heard that the year models with my dry sump sometimes experience starvation issues at high Gs), obviously brakes/pads.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
I'm hardcore saving for a house at the moment so while I plan to mod the vette further, I think that would be limited to only repairs that come up for the time being. I envy your experience doing this stuff.
You'd be in the novice group which moves pretty slow so don't worry! I can assure you that most newbies are thinking the exact same thing, but it's not a race and everyone is just there to buzz around and have fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by Z28pr0jekt
And I wouldn't bother modding the car as a total novice since you're gonna be super far from the limit anyway and probably won't drive the car hard enough to warrant it. The dry sump issue probably only manifests with slicks, a super fast driver, and specific tracks. The only things I would do would be better brake fluid, brake pads, and a slightly thicker oil. A decent DOT4 fluid is what you'd want and I got away with using cheap ATE Typ200 fluid for my first couple years of tracking, but eventually switched to Castrol SRF ($$$). The OEM pads are probably decent Brembo/Ferodo compound and are better than a lot of "street performance" options. If you don't have the OE pads, then the Powerstop Track Day pads should get the job done for cheap and tolerate a newbie driver. I also moved from stock 5w30s to Mobil 1 5w40 Euro since it's cheap and doesn't thin out anywhere as much as lower weight and non-euro oils. I'd imagine the oil temp might creep up, but it's very track dependent so I would just keep an eye on it and do a cool-down lap if it goes above 280F. If you do want to try tracking it, definitely buy track insurance. Just keep in mind that track insurance doesn't cover mechanical damage and usually doesn't cover track damage (the track will charge you if you dump fluid on the surface, bump the tire walls or armco, etc).
Alternatively, you could rent a track car just to try out the hobby. Pineview Run is close to Utica if you're still up there and their rentals are cheap. I've never been there (was supposed to go last month if not for rain), but it seems like a cool layout. I think this is the program you'd want, although I would email them to clarify that the "2hrs" listed is all spent driving or if it includes classroom time. I would also ask if the instruction is in-car since that would be ideal.
https://pineviewrun.com/buy-an-exper...t-the-trc-xpr1
Appreciate the inputs! Forgot I still had Utica in my profile, I'm down in Jacksonville, FL. I run Continental Extreme Contact Force tires currently on the street (my understanding is they're like an endurance tire for track days but I needed some extra grip on the street and chose to try these instead of R888Rs), they seem to hook pretty good in second, not so much in 1st. I do have aftermarket pads but I can't remember which ones I put in (still the padlet style). I have the stability control disabled but still have traction control. I've heard GM put something out for LS engines to switch to the mobil 1 supercar which is basically like the Euro you mentioned. Pretty sure I have Mobil 1 5w30 in it currently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
I need to get around to the 1/4 track but I haven't ran on a track in 20 years so I have some weird nerves about it. I used to beat the daylights out of my Z28 but I'm somewhat tentative in the vette and I really don't play on the street anymore other than a short pull here and there (FL recently passed a super speeders law, anything over 100mph and some other situations is jail)
Is the track insurance like you pay for it for any given session you do as a one time thing?
Do you ever make your way down to FL to any track? If so, I'd love to connect sometime even if it's just to go watch and learn versus actually running.
Gotcha, those Contis are decent track tires and similar to the RS4s I used to run. They have a little more grip than something like a PS4S summer tire but definitely take more heat to activate. You'd be better off with a more autox oriented tire since they grip way harder cold, although those tires are softer and don't last very long.Quote:
Originally Posted by Z28pr0jekt
The track is definitely a much better outlet than the street! It also makes you realize that what felt like 9/10ths on the street is actually more like 4/10ths.
The track insurance you pay for per day. Hagerty, OpenTrack, Lockton, and RLI all offer it and the price varies quite a bit. I don't insure my car since it's not worth much.
I'm tempted to do an east coast track trip in the future. I would hit a bunch of stuff off I95, then take the Amtrak autotrain back up north. Sebring and Daytona would be fun, plus I could visit my grandma in West Palm Beach lol.
you should get Coleman in on that and have a LT1 road race partyQuote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk
Considering I had some Runflat PS Sport 2s when I got the car 5 years ago, these Contis are a night and day difference. With the PS2s I was blowing through the traction control spinning in 2nd. With the Contis it mostly hooks in 2nd with traction control off, 1st gear however is wild lol. I will say I thought the PS2s sucked in the rain, but I got caught in some rain the other day with the Contis and I now understand the concept of not running drag radials in the rain, it was scary. If there was a 1/4" puddle, the car would immediately hydroplane when I hit it only going 40-45mph.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catmaigne
That doesn't look like a stock C6 steering wheel to me - it's much fatter than the one on my car. An alignment makes a huge difference. I wish I'd done it earlier -I went from factory specs to an auto-x/street setting and it feels and drives better in all situations now. I love the brakes on my C6GS but I agree on the over boosted steering. I drove the Formula a few weeks ago after ~8 months in storage and it felt properly heavy compared to the vette.
You're right, there's something weird about that wheel. I wonder if it was re-covered with thumb grips added or something since the center section looks pretty stock.Quote:
Originally Posted by rentedmule
I wonder how much of the difference in steering feel is due to the SAI/KPI difference in the front geometry. The 4th gens have a lot like E46s, GR86s, Porsches, etc. whereas the C5/C6 have way less like the Miatas.
Did an event at Lightning last weekend. I needed an event to break in my new V730 tires and DTC70 front pads before leaving for Pitt next Friday. The tires ain't bad and I ran about 1s off pace compared to the RE71RS I ran earlier in the year which was expected. I also got a little more ballsy with the throttle through T5 (blind uphill) and the entry to the final corner by relying on understeer to scrub speed.
https://youtu.be/f2b0SKcb10o
Went to do an oil change yesterday and the seal on the slave cylinder blew out... This stuff is relatively new, so idk what gives.
Awesome video thanks for sharing. That track seems to allow some great speed in the straights. Didn't you convert to Wilwood clutch master and slave sometime back? I seem to remembr bookmarking the part numbers for future upgrade on my car.
Nolan
Thanks! And I pieced together a bleedable master/slave setup with some fittings and AN line about a year ago, details on post #457. It has been on the car for about a year and seemed fine, although shifting had become a little harder with time. I just chalked that up to the trans being older and the synchros going from all the tracking since the engagement point was still pretty high up on the pedal, but it turns out that it was definitely the hydraulics. I pulled the SKP slave off the car and noticed that the AN adapter fitting in the end was a little loose (could be pushed in/pulled out a little and also wobbled a tad). The fitting looked a little worn and flattened where the roll pin contacts it. The seal looked like it was getting pushed into the corner where the fitting meets the slave inlet and was getting pinched (you can see the little edge on the seal in the pic).Quote:
Originally Posted by JOATMON
Attachment 40770
I replaced the fitting, seal, and slave and bled the system so everything feels great now. Unsure if the older parts were machined improperly, i.e. the adapter fitting groove for the roll pin was too wide or if the roll pin location on the slave was too far away from the fitting groove allowing more slop than what's ideal. Not sure, but I'm going to monitor it over time to see if the fitting loosens up again. If it does, I will probably just machine a flat on the end of the slave and tap for a banjo bolt/crush washer setup since this is annoying as hell.
Thanks, memory corrected. LOL
Made it to Pittrace and back for the last ever HPDE there. It was crowded as hell as there were 218 cars split between 4 run groups. I didn't get the sub 2 min I was looking for since the traffic was HORRENDOUS for an advanced group and there were trains everywhere. It's a damn shame considering the car 1000% has 1:59s in it, but we'll never know.
Here is my 2:00.8 PB lap from Saturday, although the pass on T1 is slowing me down. A very dirty lap on greasy, overinflated tires since I only got the opening at the end of a 30 min session. I had maybe 2 laps total without interruption all day.
https://youtu.be/A1A5T-6D_aI