Originally Posted by PRE-Z06

Glad to hear your perspective, thanks for sharing and congrats on the record Corey

Originally Posted by JoesC5

Regarding the cooling you noticed. With the C6, the thermostat was 192 degrees and with the ZR1 the oil is cooled by the engine coolant, so the oil temp was around the same temp as the coolant. With the C7, it apparently has a 220 degree thermostat and has the same oil cooler as in the C6 ZR1, using the engine coolant to cool the oil.

Understandable why the coolant temp went to 240 degrees(since it normally runs at 220 degrees) when pushing the car on the track.

Originally Posted by TTRotary

Great review for me, and, big props on your times! That is some damn fine driving.

A few questions: how did the tires hold up? Just curious as I drive my cars very hard, even on canyon runs. Also, living with the comp seats for a couple days, what is your assessment vs the stock seats, support and comfort wise? Finally, did you get any time in an auto-equipped car - just curious.

BTW, 280-300F Oil is what I'm used to seeing on the track - the key is for the pressure not to collapse around that point. How did the pressure readings look?

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

Thanks, Chris! It was a lot of fun to drive the C7 Z51. Just a little note for you track hot shoes. At least two of the fastest instructors liked sport mode with the slightly softer suspension compared to track mode with all stability and traction off.

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

I've driven COTA, Texas World, Texas Motor, Eagles Canyon, and a few other great tracks, but Turn 2 on this 2.1 mile course is my new favorite corner of any track.

It is very fast and as you roll out of Turn 1 running all the way to the curbing, you straighten out and let the car drift outside on the wide first section, full throttle in 3rd gear, then you start to turn in just a little, you breathe off the gas for just a second as you hit a little dip, allowing the car to turn a little more towards the apex, and then you go full throttle again through 2 as the car starts pushing, pushing, pushing outside (don't lift unless you're a wimp and it's even more scary as you're going over a slight crest and you can't see the edge of the track until you hit the crest) and then you shift hard at redline into 4th and rocket up the hill into Turn 3 hitting about 118mph or so before very hard braking and a long, sweeping downhill through Turn 3. Just incredible.

The track map is good, but it doesn't show the significant elevation changes in a few sections. Really an incredible configuration.

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

This was my third time to Spring Mountain and I had an absolute blast as always. Facility is absolutely first-class, instructors are very friendly and fun, and this was my first experience with the new C7 Z51 and lucky me to be able to flog it for 2 days on an incredible 2.1 mile course.



For the record, I track a lightly modded (seats, harnesses, bushings, Finspeed wheels/slicks) C6 ZR1, so I am quite comfortable with fast track driving. The C7 Z51 has better turn-in, more stability under power and seems to stick to the track better (better tires notwithstanding). Part of this may have to do with the 173hp power difference between the LT1 and the LS9, but the LT1 was a very vocal and enjoyable engine.

I drove the C7 in Track Mode PTM 5 for the most part due to my experience level and it was a joy. One of my favorite new features is the active rev match. Completely awesome for track work and just removes extra hassle of heel/toe downshifting, so you can focus more on driving faster. I can heel/toe, but the ARM makes it a no brainer with PERFECT rev matching each downshift AND upshift.

Car is very balanced, the rev limiter is ultra-soft (i.e. it just kind of stops at the rev limiter and you really don't hear the usual brap/brap/brap sound, very nice). The color HUD with the light sequence as you get close to redline going to 5 blue dots at redline is just awesome. Love it.

Overall, the car is better than my ZR1 except in three areas: brakes, tires, and power most notably. That said, for less than $60k with comp seats (awesome and very comfortable even for my 6'2" 235lb frame) and Z51, I can't think of a more capable and enjoyable track car on the market, that just so happens to be 100% comfortable and smooth in around town driving with cooled/heated seats and about 100 electronic gizmos to play with whenever you aren't being entertained by the awesome sounding LT1 and active rev match downshifting. Car feels extremely solid and well made. We effectively had no issues between the 11 drivers in our class with all the cars.

I went with a buddy (Andi B.) and he did get a coolant warning, but that was because he was drafting right behind me during a very hard track session for a few laps and I don't think he was getting enough air through the radiator. That said, we did see pretty high oil temps (280+F range) and coolant temps (240+F range) which was a little disappointing in 60F ambient temperature. Andi and I aren't exactly normal track drivers (i.e. we REALLY push cars), but I was hoping for more robust cooling systems. I personally didn't get any warnings and the car was running fine and pulling hard every session, so the LT1 and the rest of the car didn't seem fazed. So, maybe it's a non-issue at those temps???

Here's a quick accel run on the front straight with pretty high temps already. Seemed to pull fine:
C7 Stingray acceleration - YouTube

All in all, a complete blast. As a topper to the wonderful two day school, I was able to break the Level 3 student track record just as I did last year breaking the Level 2 student track record. My buddy kept me on my toes big time. The previous record was a 1:32.x set by a German driving school owner a while back and my buddy busted that on the first transponder session with a 1:31.1. On the 3rd and final transponder session, I clipped him BARELY with a 1:31.0 on the 2.1 course breaking Andi's two hour old record. hehe.

Corvettes are just incredible cars and Spring Mountain is an incredible school with awesome instructors and unreal facilities and track configurations. Thanks again to everyone there for making it another very enjoyable experience.

See below for more pictures.

Originally Posted by Snorman

I've read this as well. I figured on a bumpy track like Sebring, that would hold true. But surprised that on a smooth track like SM the "S"port setting would be preferred.
Did you try "S"port or just run the car in PTM 5?
I'll have some interesting data this week. I'll be running both the GT500 and C7 at Daytona. It will be interesting to overlay data and see where each is faster.
S.

Originally Posted by travisnd

Nice review... those temps seem very high to me, but maybe the car is more comfortable there with direct injection? My C5 race car stays < 220 coolant unless I'm on someone's bumper in a summer race and oil temps stay below 260.

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

My ZR1 will feel a little more sluggish as coolant temps climb above 240F as the computers pull timing/add fuel, etc. to protect the engine. The LT1 at those temps didn't seem nearly as affected.

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

Tires wore nicely but there was wear. The supersports are good tires and they should last a while under moderate driving conditions. I only sat in the comp seats and I'm 6'2" and 235lbs with a tall upper torso. I loved the comp seats and wouldn't order one without them IMO. Either way, anyone that buys a C7 should sit in both before deciding. I'd give up a little bit of comfort for better seat grip and stability. Oil pressures were over 40psi under load even at higher oil temps, so all was well in that regard. No time in an auto equipped C7.

Originally Posted by TTRotary

Good to know. Thanks Corey.

Originally Posted by LawyerJoe

how was the castle? Is it still there?

Originally Posted by PRE-Z06

The direct injection being more precise probably has to do with that even though it's NA, will be interesting to see if that's the case with the C7Z as well being FI.

Originally Posted by TTRotary

Plan is to get a C7 Z06 whenever I can get my mitts on one. I want to try that new auto tranny before I buy though. I am convinced that will be the ticket for street performance. So I'll be at Spring Mtn. to drive one as soon as they come in.

The new car will probably not go to the track. I have gotten lazy and prefer arrive-and-drive arrangements these days...

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

I really don't want to and don't plan to add up my total cost for the past 3+ years of tracking it, including depreciation though upper 5 figures probably is pretty realistic and I don't even want to think about it anymore. That's a lot of money for arrive and drive events. Not to mention, not having to deal with the hassle of constantly swapping brake pads, tires, and other odds and ends as well as hauling the car to track events, etc. It's a lot of fun and I really enjoy it, but it's a lot of work too.

Originally Posted by QUIKAG

Huh? Are you talking about that wood structure at the entrance? If so, I have no idea what it is or what it's supposed to do. Looks like a watch tower or something. If that's what you're talking about, it's still there.

Originally Posted by LawyerJoe

down the road, in the middle of Phrump... If you saw it, you'd know. It might be gone by now, but is was a dingy strip club. (so I was told...) Looked like a castle.