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:

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.

level6

Great write up and congrats on the track record.

gthal

Fantastic write-up!! Especially flattering for the car coming from a experienced track enthusiast who drives a ZR1!!

I am so looking forward to my first track day in mine. The wait is killing me!!!

Seapar

Thanks very much for the great and informative posting. A special thanks for the track map.

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.

strawboss

Hope next year at this time they have some Z's in the fleet

QUIKAG

I was petitioning for a Level 4 school with C7 Z06's. I'd go back for that.

Snorman

QUIKAG,
Great write up! Nice to see input from a fellow track rat.

S.

peter pan

Awesome write up, wish I was able to do this school

ATX-C7

Awesome pics!! Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to go myself.

VatorMan

Great write up ! I'll be there next week for Lvl 2. Level 3 next year.

Whataguy

Great write up on car and track. Especially loved the explanation on how to best drive Turn 2, just wish I had the talent and experience to do it right. I'll try to re-read your description right before I go out there in June.

Have they started posting your lap times all the time or did you have to ask them? When I was out there in 2008, they never told us how well we timed. I was planning on using the lap timer in the car.

Thanks again for the write up from an experienced tracker.

QUIKAG

They didn't give us our lap times until the end of the school to prevent all of us from going "flat out" (haha) on the last session. Also, only got lap times in the Level 2 and Level 3 school IIRC.

QUIKAG

You'll love it. The C7 Z51 really is an amazing track machine.

Slappy3243

Great thread! Nice to hear such praise about the car from a seasoned veteran like yourself who has been to the track many time!

PRE-Z06

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

QUIKAG

Thanks! Those of you who don't track your C7 Z51 are doing yourself a disservice by not at least trying it once. It's amazing how capable the car is right off the showroom floor. Put on some good track brake pads and put in some good brake fluid and go have a blast!

VatorMan

Thanks ! Just found out my Z51 will be waiting at Kerbeck when I get back from Vegas ! I'm ordering my harness bar and wheels next week.

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.

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?