KorbenDallas

I read the FAQ and it's very informative! I have a '99 with Z51 and OEM Z06 wheels. I want to do some upgrades to help me out before I begin, though. I'm on a tight budget, so this is what I've come up with to get the most bang for my buck:

- Nitto R2 or Toyo's in Z06 sizes
- Hawk or other pads (I have new rotors installed already)
- Z06 sway bars and metal endlinks
- Bilstien or 04Z06 shocks

Any opinions on these mods? I have a couple more questions, too:

- My Z06 wheels are high polish and clear coated. They aren't "show" wheels, but I don't want them banged up. What does auto-x and road racing do to your wheels? I'm thinking that I'd attend maybe 10-15 events this year.

- My car isn't a show car, but I also don't want it to get too banged up either. What does auto-x and road racing do to your car's body?

Thanks!!

NoOne

Get prepared to hear "leave it alone and drive it first"

A 122mph car will be a handful at your first HPDE as it is.

Do a day or two at a track and then let everyone know how you did, what you think was defficient, etc...this statement will make more sense the first time your passed by a 122hp Spec Miata I've been there and I bet most people here have been too at one point in time.

Honestly 10-15 events and budget don't go together. I am on a budget and even at 4-5 I'm stretching it with regards to brake pads and I'll use up my MX's in a summer.

Brake pads are not a bad investment either way...deppends on how aggressive, road racing or auto-X. People here suggested I start with '04 Z06 pads and they did fine for me for my first event I drove the C5 at.

I have all the stuff you mention, car came with it, but brakes are still my biggest effort, both in choosing the right brake, setting them up right, and most of all knowing how to use them right.

Alignment is another biggie...I sat on my crappy alignment for 3 events and now that I have it setup right even on the street I see a huge difference.

Wheels will be fine if you stay away from caustic brake dust pads like Hawk Blues or Blacks, others will know more of which stick to rims.

Body...the car is body on frame so you should never have any body issues like you would on a unibody(F-Body, Mustang, etc) so unless you hit something you should be fine there.

Where you located?

Good luck, its a blast and coming from someone who used to drag race alot this is totally different. Money fixed alot of things in drag racing, not so here.

What you drive, how much power you make, etc honestly makes very little difference unless your way beyond the skill of most people.

0Randy@DRM

Welcome to the funnest drive of your life. Is funnest a word? Anyways, mods I will leave others to answer for you.

What will road racing and auto-x do to tires, you asked. It will kill them!!!

What about the paint and body, you asked. Well this one you have a fighting chance. There is about a million products in the market for protecting paint. Tapes, sprays, waxes, films, and stuff like that. Look at some other cars you are running with and ask what they are using. I have seen good results with 3m's clear bra.

Good luck
Randy

KorbenDallas

Hey thanks for the reply! I was thinking maybe 10 or so autocross events, I've seen some prices on road racing and it blows my mind!! I live near Jacksonville, FL so the closest road racing track is at Sebring. I've heard you have to be in a car club to race on that track, though.

I might attend an autocross event just to see what I'm getting myself into, but I bought the el-cheapo autozone brake pads and they fade really REALLY fast. Plus I'm not comfortable with the DRs out back and the regular nitto 555's up front; I swear that my little S10 with wide tires handles better than my vette right now. But I guess it would get my feet wet!

One thing that I've been wanting to do is buy a PlayStation 2, Gran Turismo 4 (whatever the most recent version on PS2 is), and the Logitech wheel to get some low-risk practice going. I know it's not seat time, but some people swear that it helped them before they actually hit the track. Any ideas on that?

NoOne

HPDE's or road racing style events can be pricey but you generally get alot of track time.

Do what I do, put them on, makes it alot cheaper

I've been to a few Auto-X's and don't care for them. Nothing against the sport or the style it was just a complete drama/bitch fest the two that I went to.

Its kind of cliquey around here in regards to that, plus 8 hours to run just a few 30-45 second time trials. You might have better luck down there.

At the HPDE's its a different crowd usually. More laid back, more helpful, and not such a huge rush because you do get so much track time. Part of that is its somewhat self supporting. Track time is very exspensive, 4-6 thousand to rent a decent track, forget something like Sebring or Mid Ohio so that translates more into everyone wants everyone to enjoy it and come back because the less people the more the price rises for everyone else.

Its a big difference between a $20 drag strip day and a $150-250 HPDE day. If 10 people show at a drag strip its still $20, not so with HPDE's.

I've gleened alot of advice from here, just wish I had more time to put it to use. I printed out a few tips that I've read, laminated it and I'm going to velcro it to the dash for next Monday to keep myself reminded.

There are probably some smaller tracks in Florida that you can attend, just have to look for them.

AU N EGL

Nearest track to jacksonville Fl is Roebling Road in Pooler GA, west of Savannah GA.

The local PCA Florida Crown PCA put on DEs are roebling road several times a year.

TRACKMAN2

Dont Have Time To Read Above Posts But The Things That Are Most Important And Will Equall Thuosands Of Dollars In Mods And I Really Mean It Are ........

1- Get A 4 Or 6 Point Harness
2- Get A Thick Neck Roll Rci Like $25..

The Less You Move Around In The Car The More Time You Have To Concentrate On Driving ......those Two Little Things Mabee $100 Have Lowered My Lap Times More Than Any Two Mods Combined.....

MattB

I’m going to vote on going to HPDE or autox before doing mods HP, tires, and suspension doesn’t mean much until you can drive it well. I’m not there yet, I just made it to HPDE 3 with NASA I’m more partial to HPDE than autox, with NASA I’m getting 4 20 minute sessions a day. In HPDE 1 with NASA you will always have an instructor in the car with you.

You will have a LOT of fun with the stock car a vette is a lot of car There will be a lot of things going on and it will take a little while before you get a grip on them. My first day I got passed by a few different cars that had less capabilities than mine, the next day a lot fewer needed to pass. Now I’m the one passing 90% of the time Passing and being passed in an HPDE environment is fun

I’m thinking I’ll do another HPDE weekend on my street tires (I hope) before I look at sticky tires. Anyway, I have other things I have to buy to make the Vette last. Next is a racing radiator, I’m getting way too hot on the track I installed a trany cooler and it helped the trany, but now the coolant went up, guess its summer

Drive it, and learn to drive better before doing anything. You may find out that you need to mod things you had not thought of, or you may find some parts to be adequate for your current needs.-

elh0102

Take your current budget, double it, and figure that's on the low side of what you are going to spend. If your car has the original shocks, then yes, replace them with either of your options. Good pads and high temp fluid are important. Beyond that, I would probably leave the car as is for a while. And I would recommend good street tires, such as the GY Supercar, or Michelin PS2. No need for anything stickier right now. The wheels will be fine if you don't hit anything, and keep up with the brake dust. The body is going to take a few dings from track debris. The rubber marks will clean off fine, the little stone chips are there to stay, so wear them with pride. Or, you can make your car a rolling tape advertisement or, stick on any of a number of protective coverings. I find it easier to forget about it. I keep up with the washing and waxing, but it's not a sport for garage queens. Good luck and have fun!

Lancer033

I'll agree with that - starting my 3rd year of track days and 2nd year of AutoX and am just now switching to track tires. There's more stuff coming at you than you'll know what to do with anyways, so it won't matter if you're in a bone stock coupe or a Pratt & Miller prepped C6.R.

As far as setup goes, use whatever tires you've got on there now, once those are bald, get a set of nice non-runflat street tires (I use Kumho MXs) and go through at least one set of those before you worry about track specific tires.

Brakes. - get a set of good pads - I used Wilwood E-compounds. They did fine at the track with street tires. I tired Hawk HPS pads and hated them. Flush the fluid with a good DOT 4 fluid everytime you go to the track or once or twice a year for AutoX. Fluid doesn't matter to much for AutoX since you don't have time to boil it, but it should be reasonably fresh. You'll want it brand new for track days. My personal rule is fresh brake fluid goes in the car the night before or the morning of a track day.

Alignment - go a bit on the agressive side of stock at first and see what you need to change from there. The more track days you do, the more aggressive it needs to be.

From there, learn how to drive and start you mods with reliability and safey before performance. Once you have a good feel for the car, you'll know what you need to change

I put this together based on information from various forums. It's a living document that changes as I learn more and based on any feedback that I recieve, so please let me know if there is something I need to add.
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You asked about your wheel, they'll be covered in brake dust, clean it off right away and they'll be fine - get tired of cleaning them all the time, they start to look a little rough. Eventually you get tired of dealing with it, and just spray paint the d--n things black so you don't have to worry about it anymore.

Don't hit any cones and your body will be fine (a claybar does pretty good at getting the cone marks off the paint) - over drive the car on you 1st track day and you'll end up in the wall like I did. Of course when you're paint is perfect, you worry about it, after you've got some stripes on it, you can relax and just drive

Get ready for the addiction

sailohio

I say do the AutoX first. It will be much cheaper and you can learn some very important techniques which will help you learn fast track driving quicker. Don't spend any money on your car. Get a good helmut, seatbelts and maybe the neck roll and go racing. It's cheap and you won't wear out your car as fast. Drive your car at 80% the first few times. When you can sucessfully drive times close to the leaders you can work on improving the car. As your brake pads and tires wear out, replace them with more suitable parts. Don't try to beat everyone. Be humble and have fun. It took me two years to beat the women in the Miata class. Don't laugh, they were tough. When you start on the HPDEs you'll pick it up quicker with the braking and course management skills you'll learn in AutoX. AutoX is MUCH cheaper. Race tires can wear out in three or four weekends in fast track. Fast track can beat up your car. If you want a garage queen, you shouldn't go on the fast track. Concentrate on having fun and enjoy the ruch. And remember not to put your parking brake on after a run. You'll thank me for that tip.