Considering C6 for HPDE- how should it be set up?
10-18-2007, 10:15 AM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Member Since: Oct 2007
Location: Murrysville pa
Posts: 158
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Considering C6 for HPDE- how should it be set up?
I've been running Porsches in roadracing for 20 years. Looking to buy a 2008 Z51.
Questions on how to set this up for HPDE's:
-- Need wheels/tires. What sizes (wheels & tires) work best? (r-compound tires only for track use)
-- are stock brakes adequte? (Assume need to upgrade pads)
-- are cooling ducts available to direct cold air on the rotors?
- what are people doing about the seats? Stock seat looks completely unusable for track use (with 6 point harnesses)
-- are the harness bars feasible (and safe)? (My porsches all had roll cages)
Thanks for the help
Questions on how to set this up for HPDE's:
-- Need wheels/tires. What sizes (wheels & tires) work best? (r-compound tires only for track use)
-- are stock brakes adequte? (Assume need to upgrade pads)
-- are cooling ducts available to direct cold air on the rotors?
- what are people doing about the seats? Stock seat looks completely unusable for track use (with 6 point harnesses)
-- are the harness bars feasible (and safe)? (My porsches all had roll cages)
Thanks for the help
10-18-2007, 11:16 AM
#2
Drifting
I've seen two sorts of setups with that car for HPDE's:
1) Low maintenance -- Stock as much as possible, save perhaps hybrid tires, a tune, and better brake pads/fluid. Drive to and from the track sometimes. Might or might not have a harness. Popular with instructors, it seems.
2) Race car -- Starting at the ground, sticky tires, upgraded brakes, ducts (generally Z06 ducts will fit), wheels, suspension (camber plates, T-1 bars, bushing replacement), underdrive pulley, headers, cam , intake manifold, air intake, harness, seats, coolers for everything, telemetry setup (as much as you can afford).
1) Low maintenance -- Stock as much as possible, save perhaps hybrid tires, a tune, and better brake pads/fluid. Drive to and from the track sometimes. Might or might not have a harness. Popular with instructors, it seems.
2) Race car -- Starting at the ground, sticky tires, upgraded brakes, ducts (generally Z06 ducts will fit), wheels, suspension (camber plates, T-1 bars, bushing replacement), underdrive pulley, headers, cam , intake manifold, air intake, harness, seats, coolers for everything, telemetry setup (as much as you can afford).
10-18-2007, 11:37 AM
#3
Race Director
If you go through the sticky and current (say, last 2 - 3 weeks) you'll find every answer you could ask. The C6 and C5 track equally well, so pretty much every thread from 97' - up will be of help to you.
I personally prefer my race car to be all race, and the Z06 to be pretty much stock. Added cooling ducts and a tune, and that's all.
I don't like giving up the comfort of street seats so that I can be lazy at the track. I'd rather come home with tired elbows and knees once and a while rather than crawl over a racing seat with harnesses in my street cars.
However, you can do everything listed in your post and much much more if you want to spend the time and money. I don't know where you are, but if you need any alignment/chassis work in the NC area, give me a shout.
I personally prefer my race car to be all race, and the Z06 to be pretty much stock. Added cooling ducts and a tune, and that's all.
I don't like giving up the comfort of street seats so that I can be lazy at the track. I'd rather come home with tired elbows and knees once and a while rather than crawl over a racing seat with harnesses in my street cars.
However, you can do everything listed in your post and much much more if you want to spend the time and money. I don't know where you are, but if you need any alignment/chassis work in the NC area, give me a shout.
10-18-2007, 11:30 PM
#5
Instructor
Thread Starter
Member Since: Oct 2007
Location: Murrysville pa
Posts: 158
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thanks- looking for some specifics
As I mentioned, I've been doing De's and road racing for 20 years.
What size wheels? When on the Tire Rack web site, I found ZERO matches for stock tire sizes for DOT R competition tires.
currently using Recaro SRD's in my 911. Will these fit in a corvette?
I trailer the car to the track.
The new stock 2008 wheels are u-g-l-y. I found z06 wheels at a reasonable price. Can you run 18's all the way around? (rotate tires and optimize tire life).
What tire sizes?
Not looking to build a race car,cheaper to buy a used T1 car-- not planning on racing. Need harnesses for safety reasons. (Been instructing for 18 years)
What size wheels? When on the Tire Rack web site, I found ZERO matches for stock tire sizes for DOT R competition tires.
currently using Recaro SRD's in my 911. Will these fit in a corvette?
I trailer the car to the track.
The new stock 2008 wheels are u-g-l-y. I found z06 wheels at a reasonable price. Can you run 18's all the way around? (rotate tires and optimize tire life).
What tire sizes?
Not looking to build a race car,cheaper to buy a used T1 car-- not planning on racing. Need harnesses for safety reasons. (Been instructing for 18 years)
10-19-2007, 07:27 AM
#6
Team Owner
You can run 18's all around and CCW makes some nice wheels. Bare minimum I would suggest is DRM air duct & LGM spindle ducts and some race pads. Kirkey makes a nice seat and Hardbar makes a mounting kit. Hardbar also has harness bars. Heavier anti-sway bars, shocks, brake upgrade with calipers, coolers, then HP.
If you put sticky tires and run it hard you can tax the car fairly well
It becomes a never ending battle.
If you put sticky tires and run it hard you can tax the car fairly well
It becomes a never ending battle.
10-19-2007, 07:47 AM
#7
Pro
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Haymarket VA
Posts: 568
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
St. Jude Donor '07
As I mentioned, I've been doing De's and road racing for 20 years.
What size wheels? When on the Tire Rack web site, I found ZERO matches for stock tire sizes for DOT R competition tires.
currently using Recaro SRD's in my 911. Will these fit in a corvette?
I trailer the car to the track.
The new stock 2008 wheels are u-g-l-y. I found z06 wheels at a reasonable price. Can you run 18's all the way around? (rotate tires and optimize tire life).
What tire sizes?
Not looking to build a race car,cheaper to buy a used T1 car-- not planning on racing. Need harnesses for safety reasons. (Been instructing for 18 years)
What size wheels? When on the Tire Rack web site, I found ZERO matches for stock tire sizes for DOT R competition tires.
currently using Recaro SRD's in my 911. Will these fit in a corvette?
I trailer the car to the track.
The new stock 2008 wheels are u-g-l-y. I found z06 wheels at a reasonable price. Can you run 18's all the way around? (rotate tires and optimize tire life).
What tire sizes?
Not looking to build a race car,cheaper to buy a used T1 car-- not planning on racing. Need harnesses for safety reasons. (Been instructing for 18 years)
I don't know the dimensions of the seat you're looking at, but I believe Gary from Hardbar said a Sparco EVO L fits, so you could look up the dimensions on that.
See how long the C6 drilled rotors last for you and decide if you want to pay ~$70 each for them to replace. A more economical route might be to get the C5 caliper mounting brackets and use C5 rotors, which are a little cheaper. The part numbers have been posted a million times, do a search.
Have fun with it!
Last edited by MattW_VA; 10-19-2007 at 07:49 AM.
10-19-2007, 10:13 AM
#9
C6 Hpde
I Bought A 08 Z51 For Hpde And Would Like To Share My Opinion.
First, I Am New To The Hpde World. My First Event Was This Past June And Have Done Four In Total. I Bought My Car In August And Have Done Two Events With It. Nelson Ledges -nasa And Road America F Body.
1. Brakes - The Stock Brakes May Be O.k. Depending On The Tracks You Run. Mine Were O.k. For Nelson Ledges But At R/a They Were Lacking. If You Are Going To Run High Speed Tracks I Would Recommend Better Brakes. Plus S/s/ Lines And Dot 4 Fluid.
2. Tires - I Would Recommend You Track The Car With The Stock Tires First To See How The Final Drive Ratio Works For You. If You Go With 18's All The Way Around You Will Change The Final Drive Ratio. The Set Up As It Comes From The Factory Has A Lot Of Top End. 100+ Mph 3rd Gear And 140mph+ In Fourth. Depending On The Tracks You Run This May Or May Not Be What You Want. I Like The Stock Set Up Because It Requires Less Shifting. Most Tracks Are 3-4 Gear With A Little Bit Of 2nd. The Engine Pulls Hard From About 3500 Rpm.
I Have Purchased A Set Of O8 Take Off Rims And I Intend To Put Slicks On For Next Year With The Tires As Close To Stock Size As Possible. I Gave $600 For The Rims. I Feel More Confident In The Gm Rims Than Aftermarket. I Don't Know Where They Are Made But I Feel More Comfortable Wit G.m. Quality Control. Just My Preference
3. Seat. If You Inyend To Do A Reasonalbe Amonut Of Tracking I Would Highly Recommend A Good Seat And Harness. I Wore The Skin Of My Let Knee Hanging On At Nelson Ledges.
4. Overall - I Think You Are Looking At The 08 C6 Z51 For The Same Reason I Did. The Car Goes Like Hell And Is A Good Base To Build A Serious Track Car For Not Much Money
First, I Am New To The Hpde World. My First Event Was This Past June And Have Done Four In Total. I Bought My Car In August And Have Done Two Events With It. Nelson Ledges -nasa And Road America F Body.
1. Brakes - The Stock Brakes May Be O.k. Depending On The Tracks You Run. Mine Were O.k. For Nelson Ledges But At R/a They Were Lacking. If You Are Going To Run High Speed Tracks I Would Recommend Better Brakes. Plus S/s/ Lines And Dot 4 Fluid.
2. Tires - I Would Recommend You Track The Car With The Stock Tires First To See How The Final Drive Ratio Works For You. If You Go With 18's All The Way Around You Will Change The Final Drive Ratio. The Set Up As It Comes From The Factory Has A Lot Of Top End. 100+ Mph 3rd Gear And 140mph+ In Fourth. Depending On The Tracks You Run This May Or May Not Be What You Want. I Like The Stock Set Up Because It Requires Less Shifting. Most Tracks Are 3-4 Gear With A Little Bit Of 2nd. The Engine Pulls Hard From About 3500 Rpm.
I Have Purchased A Set Of O8 Take Off Rims And I Intend To Put Slicks On For Next Year With The Tires As Close To Stock Size As Possible. I Gave $600 For The Rims. I Feel More Confident In The Gm Rims Than Aftermarket. I Don't Know Where They Are Made But I Feel More Comfortable Wit G.m. Quality Control. Just My Preference
3. Seat. If You Inyend To Do A Reasonalbe Amonut Of Tracking I Would Highly Recommend A Good Seat And Harness. I Wore The Skin Of My Let Knee Hanging On At Nelson Ledges.
4. Overall - I Think You Are Looking At The 08 C6 Z51 For The Same Reason I Did. The Car Goes Like Hell And Is A Good Base To Build A Serious Track Car For Not Much Money
10-19-2007, 03:02 PM
#10
Instructor
Member Since: Jan 2001
Location: Troutville Virginia USA1
Posts: 2,087
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My C6 Z06 is totally stock down to the rubber. The only thing I have done is DOT4 brake fluid. Car does very well in total stock setup. Having said that I've only done 4 track days, two at VIR and two at Summit Point Shenandoah Circuit. Next track day coming up is Nov. 19 @ VIR. I'm good for maybe two more track days on my brake pads. So stock pads seem to last about 5 or 6 track days for me. VIR don't seem to be too bad on pads. At a later date when I've got much more track time I may consider some kind of improvements but for now total stock works fine for me. When I'm doing HPDE I'm not up against others, I'm up against the track. No money or trophy's anyway, just fun. 
10-19-2007, 03:04 PM
#11
Pro
Member Since: Aug 2004
Location: Ann Arbor MI
Posts: 534
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I Bought A 08 Z51 For Hpde And Would Like To Share My Opinion.
First, I Am New To The Hpde World. My First Event Was This Past June And Have Done Four In Total. I Bought My Car In August And Have Done Two Events With It. Nelson Ledges -nasa And Road America F Body.
1. Brakes - The Stock Brakes May Be O.k. Depending On The Tracks You Run. Mine Were O.k. For Nelson Ledges But At R/a They Were Lacking. If You Are Going To Run High Speed Tracks I Would Recommend Better Brakes. Plus S/s/ Lines And Dot 4 Fluid.
2. Tires - I Would Recommend You Track The Car With The Stock Tires First To See How The Final Drive Ratio Works For You. If You Go With 18's All The Way Around You Will Change The Final Drive Ratio. The Set Up As It Comes From The Factory Has A Lot Of Top End. 100+ Mph 3rd Gear And 140mph+ In Fourth. Depending On The Tracks You Run This May Or May Not Be What You Want. I Like The Stock Set Up Because It Requires Less Shifting. Most Tracks Are 3-4 Gear With A Little Bit Of 2nd. The Engine Pulls Hard From About 3500 Rpm.
I Have Purchased A Set Of O8 Take Off Rims And I Intend To Put Slicks On For Next Year With The Tires As Close To Stock Size As Possible. I Gave $600 For The Rims. I Feel More Confident In The Gm Rims Than Aftermarket. I Don't Know Where They Are Made But I Feel More Comfortable Wit G.m. Quality Control. Just My Preference
3. Seat. If You Inyend To Do A Reasonalbe Amonut Of Tracking I Would Highly Recommend A Good Seat And Harness. I Wore The Skin Of My Let Knee Hanging On At Nelson Ledges.
4. Overall - I Think You Are Looking At The 08 C6 Z51 For The Same Reason I Did. The Car Goes Like Hell And Is A Good Base To Build A Serious Track Car For Not Much Money
First, I Am New To The Hpde World. My First Event Was This Past June And Have Done Four In Total. I Bought My Car In August And Have Done Two Events With It. Nelson Ledges -nasa And Road America F Body.
1. Brakes - The Stock Brakes May Be O.k. Depending On The Tracks You Run. Mine Were O.k. For Nelson Ledges But At R/a They Were Lacking. If You Are Going To Run High Speed Tracks I Would Recommend Better Brakes. Plus S/s/ Lines And Dot 4 Fluid.
2. Tires - I Would Recommend You Track The Car With The Stock Tires First To See How The Final Drive Ratio Works For You. If You Go With 18's All The Way Around You Will Change The Final Drive Ratio. The Set Up As It Comes From The Factory Has A Lot Of Top End. 100+ Mph 3rd Gear And 140mph+ In Fourth. Depending On The Tracks You Run This May Or May Not Be What You Want. I Like The Stock Set Up Because It Requires Less Shifting. Most Tracks Are 3-4 Gear With A Little Bit Of 2nd. The Engine Pulls Hard From About 3500 Rpm.
I Have Purchased A Set Of O8 Take Off Rims And I Intend To Put Slicks On For Next Year With The Tires As Close To Stock Size As Possible. I Gave $600 For The Rims. I Feel More Confident In The Gm Rims Than Aftermarket. I Don't Know Where They Are Made But I Feel More Comfortable Wit G.m. Quality Control. Just My Preference
3. Seat. If You Inyend To Do A Reasonalbe Amonut Of Tracking I Would Highly Recommend A Good Seat And Harness. I Wore The Skin Of My Let Knee Hanging On At Nelson Ledges.
4. Overall - I Think You Are Looking At The 08 C6 Z51 For The Same Reason I Did. The Car Goes Like Hell And Is A Good Base To Build A Serious Track Car For Not Much Money
On-topic: Matt, do you have any pics of the 18" Z06 wheels on your car showing how far they stick out? I'm considering this option as well.
10-19-2007, 05:40 PM
#12
Team Owner
10-19-2007, 11:53 PM
#13
Safety Car
Member Since: Jun 2005
Location: DFW This user does not support or recommend the product or service displayed in the ad to the right
Posts: 3,989
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
If you've been doing it for twenty years you might as well get the full go package.
wheels/tires- CCW C10 or 12 or 14 whatever you like best in 18X10 Front and 18X11 rear with Toyo RA1 or R888 in 275/35 18 and 305/35 18.
At minimum C6Z06 ducts or with just a little more work, ducts with hoses to spindle ducts. I would go with the C6Z06 duct and have a custom hose spindle duct made or make your own. And your preference of race pad, I prefer PFC-01- If you cook the brakes with that setup you will need a Brake pkg, LG wilwoods/Stoptech or my preference of Brembo.
Harness- the Teamtech jetfighter seems to be the best bet for stock seats with a harness bar, I have the Sharkbar harness bar and like it, but if I were buying now I would go with the Hardbar harness bar. Although if you are fast you will want a full cage, the C6 is very fast on track with the above mentioned setup and the harness bars do not add any real crash worthiness other than holdiing your camera and belts. If you trailer the car why wouldn't you go with a full cage and all out race seat like the butler built/Kirkey or something from sparco. Hans device?
headers and a tune by 21CMC is always a good power adder for roadcourse duty.
wheels/tires- CCW C10 or 12 or 14 whatever you like best in 18X10 Front and 18X11 rear with Toyo RA1 or R888 in 275/35 18 and 305/35 18.
At minimum C6Z06 ducts or with just a little more work, ducts with hoses to spindle ducts. I would go with the C6Z06 duct and have a custom hose spindle duct made or make your own. And your preference of race pad, I prefer PFC-01- If you cook the brakes with that setup you will need a Brake pkg, LG wilwoods/Stoptech or my preference of Brembo.
Harness- the Teamtech jetfighter seems to be the best bet for stock seats with a harness bar, I have the Sharkbar harness bar and like it, but if I were buying now I would go with the Hardbar harness bar. Although if you are fast you will want a full cage, the C6 is very fast on track with the above mentioned setup and the harness bars do not add any real crash worthiness other than holdiing your camera and belts. If you trailer the car why wouldn't you go with a full cage and all out race seat like the butler built/Kirkey or something from sparco. Hans device?
headers and a tune by 21CMC is always a good power adder for roadcourse duty.
