NoOne

Arrrghhh, I wrote this whole thing out and the website crapped out on me.

I have an unknown alignment on my car. Friday is my first HPDE of the year and I want to get more serious with it.

What specs should I set the car up with?

The car is a 2000 coupe with all the Z06 suspension parts on it, BMR front/rear adjustable swaybars. I run 18x9 and 18x10 Motorsports front and rear with Kuhmo MX's, 245/35 and 295/35. 6 point cage.

Car is lowered, my tire to lip in the front is 1.5 inch and the back its 2.5 inch.

10,000 miles a summer or so and 4-5 HPDE's on larger 2+mile courses.

I'd be willing to sacrifice 20-25 percent tire wear to get better performance but nothing over that.

I'll run track pads and if I improve might look into some 17" slicks but for right now I just plan on the Kuhmo's.

Thanks

95jersey

novice...with moderate street wear.

try -1.3 in the front camber. Front individual Toe out +0.02 in the front. front caster at +6.9

Rear camber at -1.0, toe in -0.01.

If you feeling a little bold, go for -1.5 in the front. I have run with -1.75 on the street with decent tire wear. Ditch the Goodyear F1's, they wear superfast and are more sensitive to allignment changes. They will wear fast on the inside. I run Kuhmo on the street and they tolerate the aggressive allignment much better than goodyear

c4cruiser

Check out the "Advanced Street" specs from Vette Brakes:
http://www.vbandp.com/instructions/h...ruct/align.htm

Given that you drive the car on the street, you may not want to go too far with toe or camber.

wtknght1

Your numbers will be skewed because you've lowered your car and subsequently bottomed out your shocks...and messed up your suspension geometry.

Get the car professionally aligned, cornerweighted, and set the correct ride height...otherwise you are basically wasting your time and won't get anywhere near the performance out of the car that you can. Once you do, a decent setting for both street and track is -1.5 in front and about -.75 or so in back. Toe the front out just slightly (1/16th) and in the same amount in the rear...and adjust from there for your handling likes.

NoOne

What if I want to leave the car lowered?

yellow01

I have mine lowered slightly with bilsteins. I run -1.5/1.0 and like it as a good street/track compromise.

I'd be interested to get folks recommendations when going to RA1s or V700s. I'll probably get more agressive.

mountainbiker2

Leave it low and go get a alignment. Maybe if you were totally serious about HPDE events wtknght1 might be right about raising it a little. Since you will have a compromise alignment, wheels, and tires I wouldn't worry about it.

Steve

NoOne

If I were competely serious then I would buy another car and build it.

4-5 track days a year doesn't warrant changing the look of the car.

More serious meant spending more time in the seat and figured getting the car setup at least partly properly since I have no idea what the specs are now, would be the best place to start.

From the looks of several people here who track their cars they are lowered, what do they do?

mountainbiker2

I put on stiffer springs then Z06.

wtknght1

Then you will have a low car that doesn't handle as well (or go as fast, easy to drive, etc) as other cars with the correct ride height.

Putting the car to the correct ride height and proper cornerweighting was worth 2 seconds per lap for me...and made the car so much easier to drive. Just because somebody else lowered theirs, doesn't mean they know what they're doing. Once the pros set your car up, and then you go out and drive it and see how much better it is, you will know what I'm talking about. Until then, the car is not at it's full potential.

yellow01

While I've never met Chris, it's clear he has far more experience and ability than me. That said, one must also realize that 2sec is probably alot more important to him than me, or many others for similar reasons.

I love my HPDEs like nothing else, and would love to be a T1'er, but it just isn't in the cards, $$, time, family etc. (assuming I'd be good enough, which in and of itself is a huge assumption).

For many, these cars are street/track combos, which means compromise, plain and simple - compromise in pads, tires, suspension, comfort and on and on.

If you like your car lowered, do it, but understand there's a few second track penalty... For a 5 time per year HPDE'er that probably doesn't matter at all.

That said, there are workable setups. I have mine lowered, run -1.5/1.0 and the car runs well. I like it, and as much as I have to learn yet it's great. Chris would dust me, no question... but frankly... that's ok. As I transition to track only tires, I'm raising it again to avoid any rubbing etc.


All that said, I'm assuming by lowered you don't mean slammed but lowered a bit.

Gordy M

When you corner weight the car (highly recommended) and have the correct rake set, you will find the car will be raised from that "lowered" position. It will not be the ride hieight from the factory but in between. Setting the correct rake involves setting the ride height from the frame rails and ignoring the wheel wells, using the correct measurments will ensure you have adequeate suspension movement and a somewhat lowered car. Use the lowest GM setting (I believe its the "Z" measurment but not sure) for the height measurments

NoOne

I don't know how much it is lowered from stock.

I bought the car used and it was slammed at that point in time since it was mostly for show.

They raised it, but not to stock ride height, who knows it might fall into this area if it were corner weighted. The car does have a rake too it, but if its measured by frame rail height I'll have to measure next time its on the hoist.

Gordy, your near me, where can I get this done? I assume I can have someone look at it, measure it, and then tell me how much it will rise/lower and I can make a decision from there.

I'm with Yellow though...I do this 4-5 times per year and enjoy doing what I can within what is given me. I prefer the look of the lowered car and get a ton of compliments on it. Drag racing was the same thing. I had a 650hp 11 second car, it ran alot of MPH but the compromises for the ET were more than I was willing to do and take away from the other times I enjoy it.

I understand what your saying but that logic is like telling a Miata owner if he wants to go really fast he should go buy a Viper.

If I ever got to the point where that last 2 seconds mattered then I wouldn't be asking the question here, I am just looking to get more out of what I have or at least confirming what I am running is not overly deterimental.

MitchAlsup

If the car drives/accelerates/brakes straight and true on the street, AND this is your first-third HPDE; just leave it alone, relax, and see where the HPDE leads you. It is more important to flush the brake fluid, check the brake pads, and set the tire pressures and if the oil is past 1/2 way on its OCI get it changed also.

NoOne

This is my 9th or 10th, 2nd in the Corvette.

Thats part of my problem, I've done 10 HPDE's with 4 different cars, all wildly different from one another.

It doesn't brake all that straight, thats where this idea first came up was someone suggested an alignment.

Something did get off I've noticed. As far as I can remember the car drove straight and true last year and the wheel was centered. This year its off just a bit and pulls to the right slightly.

I had it sitting on ramps for a few days while I was working on it but thats it, no bumps, potholes, etc.

yellow01

Definitely get an alignment. What is at issue here isn't necessarily the specs, but an UNKNOWN alignment as you yourself stated.

Optimizing the car for the absolute fastest possible setup is one thing. Haveing things accurately set to reasonable values is another. If your car is pulling or diving then it's time to get things aligned. Bad part about these vettes is you don't need a major pothole to shift things. The stress of your two DEs can shift things. I've had a rear shift ALOT at one HPDE... so much so that I had to turn the wheel almost to the 1pm position to keep straight

95jersey

Lowered on stock bolts is fine...any more than that and you will go out of the suspension's sweet spot. My car has been completely set up by Phoenix (last year) and they cornerweighted and set up the ride height. The final ride height was VERY close to my original which was lowered on stock bolts with 2 threads showing. They kept my Z06 suspension but added T1 end links for the cornerweighting. The car did not feel very different, to the point that I was "amazed". I did much better last year, but it's hard to tell if it is set up or improved personal ability.

If you car is slammed I think anyone will tell you that is too much.

vms4evr

T1 end links to do corner weighting? Is this necessary or just what the shop wanted to do?

I'm seriously thinking of corner weighting my 02 Z06. It is lowered on stock adjusters to the 2 threads showing deal. And I swapped the shocks to the 04 Z06 shocks. Which I could tell a diffrence.

varkwso

Check your tires (and bleed your brake fluids).....they may not be round anymore - especially if you have tracked the car. Luckily, we have a local shop that will shave tires to true them back up...

My 99 FRC has been "set up" by somebody in the past - it is lower than my 02 ZO6 and it has better feel on the track than the ZO6 (wish it had the HP) - but is not lowered to the bottom of the adjustment. Checked the corner weights at Roebling and they are pretty darn good as it sits.

mountainbiker2

You need adjustable endlinks. T1, Hotchkis or VB&P makes some. This way your swaybar has no pre-load on it.

Steve