vetracer

I went to a local club event today where I am a Member (Professional Auto Sports Association or PASA) at Firebird Intl Raceway in Chandler. We were driving on the West Track, which is my favorite of the three at Firebird. I had the only C6 at the event, and it sure got a lot of attention there. I have quite a few pics, so I'll just start posting them and then I'll explain a little more about how the event went. (Car is still in one piece, thank God!) Here's me with the car before the 2nd session on the track:



And here is a picture of the cars lined up at the grid. The coordinators of the event were kind enough to put me at the front of the grid ahead of the traffic and flying debris, which was really



And here's a few on the track:





And a couple of my new C5 friends dicing it up:



In this session I ran in the middle of the pack, that was a little more unnerving at first, but soon I forgot about all of the car payments I have yet to make and drove it hard:


Dang! Got an error message that I have posted too many pictures.

los7883

How'd you do compared to the other cars???

Corvette Junkie

Looks like a fun time. Just post more pics as a reply.

gmcdougle

Can you compare the C6 to a C5 or other Vette? I'm interested in what you thought of the car on the track. I took my 94 C4 to Melbourne and had a blast.

vetracer

The C6 has the power to run with the '03 and '04 Z06, I ran against these model year cars with some minor mods such as cold air intakes, cat-back systems and PCM programming. It was pretty much equal down the back straight, really came down to who got out of the corner better and shifted perfectly. I fell behind some in the turns, one guy was running slicks and T1 bars the other guy was the lead instructor with lots of track time, he had the T1 bars as well. Next time out I would like to at least have some better tires and I might even opt for the T1 bars when I can find a set. I wish I had some better pics with some of the other cars in them, but I was fortunate to get someone to take them for me.

I ran 3 20 minute sessions today driving the car pretty hard. Overall I'm pretty happy, but sometimes the shifter doesn't want to go into 4th gear. That killed me a few times on the back straight. Other than that, it ran just above 220 degrees in 100 degree heat. Still no match for my track car which is 20 years older but with a million mods is a whole lot faster:

vetracer

I've never driven a C5 on the track, but I rode in one today. I don't think the Z51 C6 is going to go out and stomp on any C5 Z06's that's for sure. But it will hang with them, and if the Z06's I ran with today were stock as my car is it would be a very interesting match. The great thing about the C6 is the torque that it makes down low allowed me to power through some of the turns and carry more speed than if I downshifted. One of the things I didn't like was that when I exited a tight turn and really got on the gas it felt as if the inside tire was spinning. (oh, and forget traction control or stability control - turn those off!) On my C4 both tires spin the same no matter what. Isn't the C6 rear a posi unit?

vetmts

wow ur C4 is incredible. can't wait to c what you'll do to ur C6. congrats

clem zahrobsky

there goes your 3/36 warranty if GM sees this post.

M_C7

cool

i just started going to the track this year. ive only done 3 events


i cant wait to track mine.. but not this year ive got an event in october but im not gonna run my C6 (i just got it friday) im gonna run my 350z and start the new year off in my C6 for the VIR full course. cant wait


but i might autox it. in november wouldnt it be in A stock?

Got Vette?

why would gm pull your warranty for track racing????

M_C7

i dont know if they would now ive heard of this with other cars.
ive never heard of a case where GM did it.


i can see why some automakers might because of the excessive wear and tear.

for example mitsubishi launced a campaign to void warranites on alot of evos for just autoxing!. one guy was responsilbe for almost 8k of repair work. from i believe a blown turbo and something else. the company has been acussed of matching evo owners with SCCA memberships

like i said i dont know where GM stands on this issue.

most of the track days around my way are listed as high performance driving schools . with an instructor, these are the ones i do but there are time trial and solo events.

so there is variety of things that are track events i guess the individual circumstances would come into play for a warranty issue

68roadster

Good work! Thanks for the picks!

I have always heard that active handling was best left on except for the likes of Fellows, O'Connel, Papis, etc.

Corvette clinches ALMS again

vetracer

They'll honor my warranty. I was just over in the Tech/Performance section, with the mods some of those guys are making you may want to "enlighten" them as well.

vetracer

I'm not suggesting that my driving abilities are anywhere near those who you mentioned (although I was lucky enough to have Johnny O'Connell as my class instructor once at the Bondurant school long before he was driving a C5R) The active handling intervenes too much and too often. It is like the surging you get when your car is running out of fuel - by the time you get full power back the guy next to you has gained a car length. I would rather feel the car slide by the seat of my pants and make the corrections myself through either changes in throttle/braking or steering than have the computer step in and say "whoa, car is starting to slide and this can't be good. Let's shut this thing down for a second and get things back under control". I tried it first by just turning off the traction control, then again with the active handling off. Interestingly enough, when both are turned off the words "COMPETITION MODE" come up on the driver's DIC. In reference to my last post, just what type of "competitive" driving can you do on the street?

joezr2

I'm just a new guy who doesn't own a Corvette (yet ) but didn't the C5 owner's video have a whole section on what to do when you take the car to the track? i specifically remember them talking about adding a quart of oil, etc. Then they showed them running the car at Mid Ohio. (That in car video is on the Mid Ohio website, by the way)

My background would lead me to believe that it would be very hard to dispute a warranty claim due to racing alone unless it was a result of a specific incident like a crash. (By the way, your insurance policy won't cover that)

I obiously havent' seen the C6's video (if there is one) but I'd assume a similar thing exists.

Just my thoughts....

joe

smokeyburnouts

vetracer...cool pics. nice c6 and i love your C4. that thing looks sweet!!!!

C5Longhorn

Interesting thoughts and comparisons. Thanks for posting.

mikeyc6

Yes, but I don't know if the same recommendations apply to the C6. For example, the C6 has a redesigned oil pan that is supposed to allow for much greater cornering force and is supposed to eliminate the problem of oil starvation with high G's. You may not need the extra quart in the C6.

Mike

Z-Rated

Very Cool !!!!!!!!!! Glad to see a C6 at the track !!!!!