sperkins

Be prepared for a cancellation notice very soon.

Torch FRC

Thanks for the info

SouthernSon

Personally, after five years, my HPDE's have shown the need for the following for my '03 Z06: accusump, oil and tranny coolers up front (air to liquid), superlight 6 front calipers to get completely rid of the spongy pedal, Ron Davis radiator, poly bushings, Koni shocks, SKF bearings, Sparco seat, BK bar with harnesses and camera mounts, headers (melrose - quite simply the best), CCW wheels, Van Steel cryo-ed brake rotors (doubles the life), ATE 200 brake fluid (no need to spend more), and a little judicious tuning by Jerry O at VetteSport in Tennessee. Change EVERY fluid often..........

Car serves me well, passes most on the tracks (including C6 Z06's - sorry guys), and is very predictable.

I agree with idea of schooling at Bondurant. I thoroughly enjoyed the advanced roadracing course. Seat time teaches you to brake at the right time with the right force, teaches smooth inputs to save tires, and settle down on 'sawing' on the steering wheel (oh yeah, I now have the TurnOne power steering pump). YMMV......

Bills Z06

Fantastic write up! Thank you for taking the time to do it! You can ALWAYS pick up a tip or two from someone else who has "been there and done that" Thanks again

Greywolfe

Good write-up.

I have been doing HPDE for about a year now (5 weekends) in my 03Z. The biggest upgrade I have done is seat time without a doubt. Looking back I can't believe how slow I was on my first HPDE, lol. I'm getting faster (relative term) now to the point where I want to get a harness bar and 5 point and seat.

The C5Z is a fast track car stock when driven well. I would also recommend spending money in this order:

1) things that make you the driver safe (roll cage, 5 pt harness, fire protection, HANS)
2) things that make the car last longer (oil coolers, cooling ducts)
3) things that improve performance (tires, brakes, suspension)*

*Note: If you tires and brakes are not in good shape then this could be in category 1 also.

405 hp and 400 lbs.ft. are going to be plenty of HP and torque for me for a long time.

I've actually been thinking about getting a *gasp* momentum car like an E30 full race car to learn on and then move back to the vette. But man I love my Z it feels great on the track. I'm just taking chances every time I'm out there. I've seen too many totaled in only one season.

If I wreck the E30 it would suck but if I wreck my vette I'll cry.

Anyway, HPDE is great fun and addicting. If its in your blood its in your blood.

Be Safe.

Mike

JimbeauZ06

Wow! When d'you find the time to write all that? A friend once told me "education is expensive" and I know you've learned this first hand.
Unfortunatley most of us learn the hard way, but maybe a few folks will read this before they make the same mistakes.

See you at Pocono or NJMP.

ssdeuce

Great write-up thanks!

sperkins

You and me both. I finally came to the realization that there was a very high chance that my mint ZO6 would become another track statistic someday (and weirdly enough started to accept it).
I knew that I could never intentionally start tearing that car apart to make the needed safety modifications and that's the number one reason I chose to buy another car strictly for track duty. Hopefully I made the right decision - only time will tell.

Zenak

Thanks for the positive response! I jsut signed for 2 more SKF hubs form the FedEx guy as I write this. Soing to change out my bolts this go around on the SKFs with teh hardbar bolt kit because its getting old monkeying around with the silly stock bolts.

Next season I am going to start going through the engine compartment with a bigger radiator, oil cooler, etc. I just wasnt pushing the car hard enough this season that I got high enough temps to worry. I know next season will be a different story. And there is only so much $$$ in a budget per season. AND I overspent that amount I assure you!

Thats why I wrote this. After one full season of being out about every 4 weeks March - October I learned the hard way of how fast $$ goes in this sport. Im hoping the moeny and decissions I made will last better into next season.

I love seein gother track modded C5s out there. At the BMW club, second most commen car = C5. Porsche club = second most common car C5. Its just such a great plat form for a built up track car for far less $$ of cars that perform on the same par.

Hopefully this will be a sticky note, and save $$ for the newbies.

ZO6NTHEWIND

Great write up.

They should make this a sticky thingy and put it at the top.


Southern Son, you going to Putnam this weekend?

Later,

SouthernSon

C ya there, David.

kwhiteside

I've been doing HPDE for a couple years now and must say your advice is right on. For the most part I've discovered exactly what you have laid out. Oh, I tried deviating some by cheating with the power of a FAST92 and bigger TB, but recently got tired of the headaches associated with the tuning deviations it brings, and went back to stock. Every time I do an event, the most important thing is being able to drive the car back home. So mods that make me battle with running lean at 5000+ rpm are out.

Track time with focus on whatever will help me be safer and confident in my machine as I go faster. Better rubber, better stopping, better cooling, better suspension, better seating, better shifting.

Zenak

Just this week I learned how hard it is once you start modding yet again. From chaning from the ECS ducts to the Quantum brake ducts was a bitch. Had to custom fabricate alluminum collars in the plastic DRMs and pop rivet them into the DRM. This made a great mounting point for hte orange high temp hose. The Quantum kit was missing the shim to match up to the stock brake shim that I had removed for the ECS kit. Tried to jsut eliminate both the shim and the OEM brake shim under the HUB. What a problem. Was getting a rub, took forever to realize that it was then making the brake caliper about 1/16" off center on the rotor which caused squeeling on hard lefts/rights on the front end. Had to pull it apart, FIND the OEM brake shim, pull the HUBs again. Trim them down and reinstall, and put it all back together. Also tried the Hard Bar studs for the HUBs. They seemed to work ok in the front, no real need though it seemed in trying them. Also the Hardbar bolts for the rear just dont work. The HUB studs have big juicy 12 point head to grab onto... but they stick out FAR from the mounting hole location. This put them way too close th the rear joint and even made them hard to tighten down. Far they might rub. Pulled it out, returning them all. I did find that the nut they give for the top of the ball joints easier than the dump OEM one... but now that I had already figured that out by fabbing my own cutom tool... also does not make sense to use anything but the OEMs. I also find that the Pfadt end links will rub on full compression the DRM / aluminum collar set up. In the past it just rubbed the hose. Either way it wears the enderside of the tubing creating an air leak. If you are using the Pfadt pfatty set up, take this into account! The splines on the end are adjustable! Make sure you set the star spine connector to the endlinks at a lower angle so the max height of the endlink will clear the DRM. Its far easier to do this than try to wiggle the DRM ducts up out of the way. Took 2 hours of cursing to figure this out. Unfortunately when you correct this, it wil change the rake of the car, and also the 50:50 corner weighting. So get this all done before you invest in $$ for corner weighting somewhere.

Sigh. This has been a ridunculous year of $$ on the car for my learning curve. Still have not got seats in, next mod. Next spring after recoving $$$ I will do the coolers for the radiator, oil cooler, trans and diff. Then I think Im done! Well as long as the clutch, trans, diff and engine all hold up! here's to some luck & good karma for sharing my experiences!

96solo

From experience, the car you drive on the track is going to wreck given enough time. It isn't if, but when it will happen. I went 2 1/2 years without even a spun in my pursuit of the TTS Championship.

After lucky enough to win the 2008 NASA-AZ TTS Championship, I started 2009 season with a 1st and a 2nd. Then tragically the rear positraction unit broke with an ABS failure sending me helplessly going into the wall at PIR. I've spent the whole year rebuilding this car and collecting parts. Very sad!

So use a Corvette you can write off.

longdaddy

some rubbing in the ducting hose can be solved by zip tie to the upper control arm (althouhg it may not help with your issue). i solved 2 different places where the hose was rubbing (end link and wheel at full lock) by controlling where the hose goes with zip ties. also use aircraft-grade silicon hose - it takes A LOT of abuse before it rubs all the way through, worth every $ you pay for that.

2000BSME

great post, but Napa rotors do rust.

rustyguns

a little rust looks tough dude!

TRACK CARS ROCK! WAXERS WALK!

AU N EGL

Rust? If your driving who's looking ?



#1 mod I have done to my car was back in March of 04. Accu-sump, oil cooler and trans cooler.

Not the first but the best.

Next were seats and harness

naschmitz

Great post. Thanks for taking the time to document all of this.

Zenak

After seeing Jordan and speaking to him at Carlisle 2009, they FIXED the pfadt sway bar issues with brake ducts on the NEW models of the front pfatty bars by making a slight change in the geomerty angle.