Time to make the Z06 a waxer again... presenting the Panoz GTRA Penske
10-31-2007, 10:39 AM
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Time to make the Z06 a waxer again... presenting the Panoz GTRA Penske
My father and I have been tossing around the idea of a track only car for both of us to use at HPDEs and to start running TTs with. My last HPDE at VIR an RX-7 oiled down the braking zone on the back straight. I was the first person to hit it as I was attempting to slow down from around 160 mph. I turned my car sideways in an instant at over 120... I saved it, but it was easily the closest I've come to a "big event" on track. My father was in the same run session and hit the same oil before they started waving caution/debris flags. He witnessed a Porsche GT3 go off in front of him and then his car kicked sidways too. I pulled in the pits instantly to inform the officials of the oil down and next go around the flags were waving. This experiece cemented my/our desire for a car w/ a cage and proper safety equipment, especially if you're in a car going over 150 in the straights.
We ran through a few options:
1. Buy cheap used C5 and prep it
2. Convert my Z06 w/ a T1 cage/suspension as all other supporting mods for tracking a C5 were done
3. Buy a used T1 Corvette
We were on the verge of sending my car to Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville, PA after looking at a few used '01 Z06s. However, I then stumbled accross Gatorac's post announching that Panoz was selling off all their GT-RA driving school cars.
Turns out Barber Motorsports bought out the school operatoins and was converting to Miatas. We had both attended the Panoz school at Road Atlanta in 2003 and cemented our tracking addiction in these cars.
Closed the deal on Penske Edition #15 today... the normal school cars have white plastic panels (no paint) but two of them were used this summer by Penske as promotional vehicles. The panel fittament and paint is 100x better. Not that that matters for a track car, but down the road it should help w/ resale when/if that time comes.
Here's the actual car #15:
Here's some of the twin #11 car to show other aspects:
Basic specs
The car will be slower straight line than the Corvette (6lbs/hp vs. 10lbs/hp for the panoz) but that can be easily upgraded. The big thing is ongoing maintenance costs and consumables costs. Being 2500lbs it will use tires/brakes at a far slower rate, plus the parts are far cheaper than what's run on the vette. Furthermore, if the engine,trans, clutch, etc goes it's ridiculously cheap compared to the chevy and much easier to work on.
Car is being shipped to my father's in Greensboro then I'll go down and get it and garage it here in va beach. Might sign up for the Chin event at VIR to give it a shakedown.
Cya on track,
B
PS thanks to gatorac for posting his thread... w/o it we'd have never found them!
PPS I'm out of the LGM wilwood GP... sorry I was really going to buy them.
PPPS: I'll have corvette track car parts for sale in a bit:
We ran through a few options:
1. Buy cheap used C5 and prep it
2. Convert my Z06 w/ a T1 cage/suspension as all other supporting mods for tracking a C5 were done
3. Buy a used T1 Corvette
We were on the verge of sending my car to Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville, PA after looking at a few used '01 Z06s. However, I then stumbled accross Gatorac's post announching that Panoz was selling off all their GT-RA driving school cars.
Turns out Barber Motorsports bought out the school operatoins and was converting to Miatas. We had both attended the Panoz school at Road Atlanta in 2003 and cemented our tracking addiction in these cars.
Closed the deal on Penske Edition #15 today... the normal school cars have white plastic panels (no paint) but two of them were used this summer by Penske as promotional vehicles. The panel fittament and paint is 100x better. Not that that matters for a track car, but down the road it should help w/ resale when/if that time comes.
Here's the actual car #15:
Here's some of the twin #11 car to show other aspects:
Basic specs
Ford 302 V8 Fuel Injected engine, "shorty" headers, K&N air filter with a MSD rev limiter. Aluminum radiator, oil cooler, and remote oil filter qwith stainless steel braided hoses. This engine produces approximately 250 HP.
Heavy Duty 3550 Cobra R trans.
4 wheel disc brakes with Brembo calipers, Performance Friction vented and slotted rotors, and Performance Friction brake pads
Full tube chassis with removable composite plastic body panels, total weight is approximately 2500 lbs.
FORD 9" rear with 3:50 final drive, 5 link rear suspension with coil-overs, and double wishbone front suspension, all adjustable. All steel square tube chassis based on the successful SCCA GT-1 design.
17" BBS alloy wheels with 275/40 X 17" Pirelli "Z" rated tires, tires are "like new" with only two events.
PI dash with data logging, MOMO removable steering wheel, power steering
Fully adjustable KONI race shocks with Eibach springs
Fuel Safe large capacity fuel cell, full roll cage, window net
2 Corbeau racing seats with Sparco competition seat belts
This car also comes with a very heavy-duty full custom fitted cover
This car is fully track prepared. A great car for track days!
This car is a purpose built race/school car. The FORD 302 engine can be easily upgraded for more power at low cost. The rest of the car is mostly the same as the current PANOZ GTS model which cost Tens of thousands more, (About $80,000). A Panoz GTS model won the GT-2 class at the 24 Hours of LeMans race last year in 2006, beating out the best from Porsche and Ferrari!
This handsome PANOZ was one of 6 cars leased by PENSKE Racing for a special promotion and was painted red with a white racing stripe. It has also been fitted with a new rear window and the headlight decals, as well as "gone through" by the Penske organization.
Heavy Duty 3550 Cobra R trans.
4 wheel disc brakes with Brembo calipers, Performance Friction vented and slotted rotors, and Performance Friction brake pads
Full tube chassis with removable composite plastic body panels, total weight is approximately 2500 lbs.
FORD 9" rear with 3:50 final drive, 5 link rear suspension with coil-overs, and double wishbone front suspension, all adjustable. All steel square tube chassis based on the successful SCCA GT-1 design.
17" BBS alloy wheels with 275/40 X 17" Pirelli "Z" rated tires, tires are "like new" with only two events.
PI dash with data logging, MOMO removable steering wheel, power steering
Fully adjustable KONI race shocks with Eibach springs
Fuel Safe large capacity fuel cell, full roll cage, window net
2 Corbeau racing seats with Sparco competition seat belts
This car also comes with a very heavy-duty full custom fitted cover
This car is fully track prepared. A great car for track days!
This car is a purpose built race/school car. The FORD 302 engine can be easily upgraded for more power at low cost. The rest of the car is mostly the same as the current PANOZ GTS model which cost Tens of thousands more, (About $80,000). A Panoz GTS model won the GT-2 class at the 24 Hours of LeMans race last year in 2006, beating out the best from Porsche and Ferrari!
This handsome PANOZ was one of 6 cars leased by PENSKE Racing for a special promotion and was painted red with a white racing stripe. It has also been fitted with a new rear window and the headlight decals, as well as "gone through" by the Penske organization.
Car is being shipped to my father's in Greensboro then I'll go down and get it and garage it here in va beach. Might sign up for the Chin event at VIR to give it a shakedown.
Cya on track,
B
PS thanks to gatorac for posting his thread... w/o it we'd have never found them!
PPS I'm out of the LGM wilwood GP... sorry I was really going to buy them.
PPPS: I'll have corvette track car parts for sale in a bit:
- Dewitts racing radiator w/ left side EOC, all braided lines, and LPE adapter block
- OEM 17x11 Grand Sport wheels w/o tires (lighter than repros)
- DRM front brake cooling ducts
- BK harness bar w/ lap belt mounting kit
Last edited by Cobra4B; 10-31-2007 at 11:21 AM.
10-31-2007, 10:58 AM
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Melting Slicks
I'm interested in the wheels. Pm sent.
Last edited by 69autoXr; 10-31-2007 at 11:05 AM.
10-31-2007, 11:07 AM
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Ok... let me get them cleaned off and take some pics. The V710s on them have 35ish heat cycles and are done so I'll have those dismounted and discarded.
Thanks... thinking about signing up for a december VIR event to throw it around and see how it does.
Thanks... thinking about signing up for a december VIR event to throw it around and see how it does.
CONGRATS, Brian !!! 
10-31-2007, 11:36 AM
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FYI the track parts aren't for sale yet... have had 2 PMs for the wheels so far.
I'll save those... and post up when they're truly for sale.
I'll save those... and post up when they're truly for sale.
10-31-2007, 11:48 AM
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St. Jude Donor '08
Brian,
First, congrats!!
Great minds must think alike.
I too after doing some long hard thinking and research came to the same conclusion as you. I think in the long-run buying a used race car will be less expensive and time consuming, while at the same time the car's performance will greatly exceed the vette's.
I am going to keep my corvette as a street car (still going to do a lot of mods to it this winter, though) and go out a buy a real race car down the road a piece.
I am looking at SCCA sport racer class D cars. In particular, the older Radical Prosports. From what I have read, they can be bought for around $25K and are ready to race. They are very fast!! I read a post that this guy got around the full VIR course in about 2 minutes flat.
The cars weigh about 1000 pounds w/o driver and have around 180 horsepower with the standard motor. They are also capable of pulling more the 2gs in the corners and even more braking.
Here is a link to the latest edition of the Radical Prosport for those interested.
http://starsandstripesms.com/ProSport.html
Good luck with the new ride and if you do take her out post up how it went.
First, congrats!!
Great minds must think alike.
I too after doing some long hard thinking and research came to the same conclusion as you. I think in the long-run buying a used race car will be less expensive and time consuming, while at the same time the car's performance will greatly exceed the vette's.
I am going to keep my corvette as a street car (still going to do a lot of mods to it this winter, though) and go out a buy a real race car down the road a piece.
I am looking at SCCA sport racer class D cars. In particular, the older Radical Prosports. From what I have read, they can be bought for around $25K and are ready to race. They are very fast!! I read a post that this guy got around the full VIR course in about 2 minutes flat.
The cars weigh about 1000 pounds w/o driver and have around 180 horsepower with the standard motor. They are also capable of pulling more the 2gs in the corners and even more braking.
Here is a link to the latest edition of the Radical Prosport for those interested.
http://starsandstripesms.com/ProSport.html
Good luck with the new ride and if you do take her out post up how it went.
10-31-2007, 11:49 AM
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St. Jude Donor '10-'11
Congratulations, Brian ... what a great way to spend time with your Dad! 
And ... you've already trial-fitted the car, so you know it'll work for you.
And ... you've already trial-fitted the car, so you know it'll work for you.
10-31-2007, 12:41 PM
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The Penske cars sure are a bit nicer then the standard ones.
Don't be fooled by the headlights, they're just stickers.
BTW the rear has a Watts-Link. Pretty nice set up.
By the looks of my log book the rotors can last over 100 hours.
I thought about a Radical too. They are pretty much the fastest things out there at the OT events. Once I started looking at consumables, I quickly focused my attention on something different. They recommend sending the engine back to England every 50 hours for a rebuild.
I don't need too know the price on that to know it's expensive.
Don't be fooled by the headlights, they're just stickers.
BTW the rear has a Watts-Link. Pretty nice set up.
By the looks of my log book the rotors can last over 100 hours.
I thought about a Radical too. They are pretty much the fastest things out there at the OT events. Once I started looking at consumables, I quickly focused my attention on something different. They recommend sending the engine back to England every 50 hours for a rebuild.
I don't need too know the price on that to know it's expensive.
10-31-2007, 01:03 PM
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St. Jude Donor '08
The Penske cars sure are a bit nicer then the standard ones.
Don't be fooled by the headlights, they're just stickers.
BTW the rear has a Watts-Link. Pretty nice set up.
By the looks of my log book the rotors can last over 100 hours.
I thought about a Radical too. They are pretty much the fastest things out there at the OT events. Once I started looking at consumables, I quickly focused my attention on something different. They recommend sending the engine back to England every 50 hours for a rebuild. I don't need too know the price on that to know it's expensive.
Don't be fooled by the headlights, they're just stickers.
BTW the rear has a Watts-Link. Pretty nice set up.
By the looks of my log book the rotors can last over 100 hours.
I thought about a Radical too. They are pretty much the fastest things out there at the OT events. Once I started looking at consumables, I quickly focused my attention on something different. They recommend sending the engine back to England every 50 hours for a rebuild.
I don't need too know the price on that to know it's expensive.At least this is what I read on the radical forums I visited.
The info I gave in my first post is for the stock motor not the built to the max motors.
10-31-2007, 01:15 PM
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10-31-2007, 01:22 PM
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The Panoz GTS is raced in NASA GT2 I believe... but that's a 75k car. It's the same car as this but w/ a 351 carbd motor rated at 420 hp, better shocks and 18" wheels/slicks.
I'm just looking to run HPDEs and TTs for now... don't have the time or budget to go racing. If I ever do I'll worry about it then.
I'm just looking to run HPDEs and TTs for now... don't have the time or budget to go racing. If I ever do I'll worry about it then.
10-31-2007, 01:23 PM
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Do I get a prize 
Not sure on the intake... in the other pics some of the school cars from Texas actually have explorer gt-40 motors w/ the intake in the normal positioning.
I'll have to ask.
I'll have to ask.