Z06 for track days

[Gfacter]

Hey Everyone,

I posted this in another Vette forum and didnt get much response.

I have been thinking about picking up a C5 ZO6 for a track day car and have a few questions (if you don't mind?). I still want a car I can drive to the track on.

What are the typical mods needed for track use? (Pads, rotors, tires, brake fluid, seats? harness bar others?

How long do the above items last?

Any other tidbits or gotchas?

I consider myself a fairly advanced track driver about 30 HPDE's, a similar number of motorcycle track days.

I drive a supercharged Honda S2000, which is pretty quick and nimble, but I fear it's a ticking time bomb with a weak diff and trans not to mention a highly stressed engine.

The Z06 Vettes give me a bit of trouble and seem to have lots of grip where I have little.

Thanks,

George

[DennyM]

First ... welcome to
If you haven't spent any time on the site before now, try the search function on "track"
You will find extensive discussions, (and some strongly held opinions) based on track experience. Following compliments of DJWorm: (NOTE: This is NOT prescriptive ... there are always tradeoffs on Track prepped or Track capable cars ... just consider it a talking and thinking list)

1. Brakes:
- Cryo'd Rotors
- AutoX Racing Pads
- Racing Fluid (4-16 oz.)
- Bleed Catch Bottle
- Speedbleeders

2. Suspension:
- DA or Non Adj Racing Shocks
- Front Sway Bar

3. Ignition:
- Racing Plugs
- Racing Wires
- Racing CD Wires (option)

4. Interior:
- Harness Bar (optional manuf.)
- Lap Belt Adapters
- 6 point Harness (retains stock belts) (pass. option)
- FE Mount
- FE Adapter
- 2 1/2# 1211 Halon FE

5. Exhaust:
- Titainum CAT Back Racing Exhaust

6. Wheels & Tires:
- CCW, Circle or Kodiak
- Hoosier or Kumho

7. Misc.:
- Racing Oil Filter
- Racing Air Filter
- 178 degree TStat
- Redline Water Wetter

8. Track Equip:
- Cordless Impact Wrench
- Aluminum Racing Jack
- Torque Wrench
- Portable Air Tank

A Package to upgrade the SS package to A Street Prepared would include
- Racing Seat
- Racing Steering Wheel (removes airbag)
- Additional Wheels & Tires (2 only) to maximize rules
- Wheel Studs and Lugs
- Poly graphite Bushings
- Racing Front Spring
- Camber Plates
- SS Brake Lines
- Cooling Duct Extension
- Lighter battery
- Battery Relocation Kit
- Accusump
- Oil Cooler
- Tranny Cooler
- Halltech or Vararam Intake
- Hurst Shifter
- Headers
- Lowering Bolts
- Underdrive pulley(s)
- PCM Reprogram (where applicable)

For HPDE I would offer a
- Brake Upgrade
- Suspension Upgrade
- Cooling Upgrade
- Wheel & Tire Upgrade

[MSiska]

Hi Gfacter! Welcome aboard!

If you do a search on the upper toolbar for those items you mentioned, well there is a wealth of information on pads, rotors, etc. I had done 7 DE's (mostly at Summit Point) before my babie untimely demise last august. I drove my 02EBZ06 every day that it didn't snow or ice up in the Md area. Had 35,000 miles in two years. Did the DE's and made about 250 passes at the strip. MIR, Capital, 75-80, Mason Dixon, Cecil County, Atco, Englishtown. The DE's were Pocono and Summit.
Changed the pads and rotors myself, had the shop bleed the brake lines with super blue. Had Hawk HP+ pads that sreeched like you were dragging a cat behind you until I got them hot.
The clutch and tranny are trouble spots. I had four clutches in my 35,000 miles. Had the dreaded stuck to the floor pedal syndrome. Went through four transmission rebuilds before criswell finally replaced it (guess I needed to learn how to shift).

[MSiska]

Denny...he did say he wanted to be able to drive to the track...

[MikeyB]

You'll need a trans and diff cooler if you plan to run extended hot laps definitely! The car won't make a long session without fluids overheating, unless you install coolers.

Better pads and brake fluid are all thats needed for stopping, or throw in SS brake lines as well if you want.

Stock shocks SUCK for the track, way too soft. Need to get something better.

Some type of 5 point harness, and better seats if budget permits.

Other than that, you are GTG.

[SRV]

For both a street/track car, you really don't need anything except to swap in some track brake-pads, brake fluid, and get an alignment.

While at the track:

If you don't like the stock seats (..I didn't), time for a new one, and might as well get the harnesses and harness bar.

If you're uncomfortable with how hot your engine oil runs (..280+), it's time for an engine oil cooler.

If you don't like how fast your brakes/rotors are burning up, it's time to install a front-brake cooling kit.

If you don't want to burn up your street-rubber, get a dedicated set of track-rims/tires. For that, you'll need to get something to tote them to the track: Harbor Freight has a 3' x 4' trailer, which again requires you to install a hitch onto the Z, and a tire-rack on the trailer.

I would not worry about a tranny/diff cooler if you don't get the temperature warning message on the dash. However, you'll need to change those fluids more often.

That is all you really need for a dual-purpose street/track DE Z06. There is a LOT more car than driver here, at least in my case!

[Gfacter]

Thanks everyone,

Exactly the feedback I needed.

Brakes and fluid and maybe a cooling kit (I use Cobalt race pads and super blue now) I get about 4 days on a set of pads, cooling is a problem with the S2000 also.

Trans and diff coolers, at least frequently changed fluids.

Shocks, ok didn’t plan on that, but I am on my 3rd set with the S2000, KW 2 way.

Alignment, I guess there are some varying opinions on what to use?

Tires, I am using Shaved Toyo RA1's I get at least 8 full days plus driving to the tracks (VIR 5 hours, Summit 1.5 hour) while not the ultimate in grip, they don’t seem to heat cycle and harden much.

Clutch? Can that be done with jack stands as a DIY job? Do they hold up or is this something to plan on?

Seat and harness, I have them already and will likely want something similar.

Thanks for the feedback

George

[Yakisoba]

Your setup is going to be quite different from mine, because you are seeking a dedicated track car. Mine is daily driver and the track car, so going slow with mods.

I found that the car is fast enough as is. Horsepower and torque wise, it'll be a while until I'm faster than it is. Thus, I'm going to concntrate on things to allow it to last longer in the heat of Texas road courses.

Trans cooler, diff cooler and oil cooler are up there on my list, along with a larger radiator. Brake ducts and harness bar are up there too. The 04 shocks are a bit better (or so I hear) than the 02, so those are going in when I can manage it. Extra rims and tires. Just about settled on Nitto R2's for the track and Firestone wide ovals for the street, but that's partially a budgetary consideration that you may not care so much about.

DJWorm's list is comprehensive, and likely the goal of a dedicated track car. Welcome to the list and the Z. It's a fantastic vehicle for road courses, IMHO.
--Yak
PS: I have not had clutch problems so far.

[Arnoldir]

Hey Gfactor,

My 2 cents, please value accordingly.

If going through the trouble of adding an oil cooler, also add an accusump. Great for prelubing at startup, and no starvation worrys.

Mine is mounted inside the drivers side inner fender.

The LGM spindle ducts are the better part over the Phoenix ducts (no offense to Phoenix Perf who built my car).

Either duct requires the DRM extension kit, and there are lots of posts showing how best to install them.

Many members are driving the 555R2's as street tires, as I am. I went 18x10.5 CCW's with 285 front and 18x11.5 with 305 Rears. Many menbers are running 17x 275 fronts and have good results as well.

I started thinking about harness bars and such, but ended up with full T-1 cage and have no complaints about it.

Whatever your chioce, welcome to the community.

[UstaB-GS549]

Clutch? Can that be done with jack stands as a DIY job? Do they hold up or is this something to plan on?

Do a search. FRC Tom had pictures of doing a clutch in a parking lot at the Corvette museum or something. I was impressed.

[Mafia]

I used to have an S2000. Mine was stock, however. I used R-compound tires and race compound brake pads whenever I went to the track. S2000 is a great little car that's very quick on circuts that reward good suspension and agility (ex. Grattan). However on power cirtuts like Road America S2000 gets smoked by anything with lots of power... The reason I got a Z06. So far it's been very reliable and very fast. I did the usual mods - a set of R-compound tires on stock rims, race compound brake pads, and brake fluid.

This set up worked great on shorter tracks, but at RA which has pretty long braking zones my front brakes were overheating. I've since added DRM brake duct extensions and LGM spindle ducts. Brake problems seem to have gone away.

Now the only problem I'm getting is a little bit of overheating - if you run a farily long session transmission overheats. There is a GM performance part out that supposed to fix that issue. Another issue is the rubber dust boots for the ball joints on the tie rods get melted off since they're close to the brake rotors. There is a way to wrap them or put a insulating sleeve to protect them.

Otherwise the car is great and very fast. It's just about as quick as an $85K GT3 it just doesn't quite have the fit & finish of the P-car (of course, it's about $50K cheaper.

Drew

[Gfacter]

Great stuff here,

From what I have read so-far the parts needed are not terribly expensive.

I still need to find a good car.

[Mafia]

all you need is a car, supposedly '02+ is better due to a little extra power and maybe an oiling issue on '01's. '04's have a bit better shocks than '02-'03. Brake pads for the vette are roughly 2x what s2000 pads were and tires are aobut 1.5x the cost.

[MikeyB]

Originally Posted by SRV

I would not worry about a tranny/diff cooler if you don't get the temperature warning message on the dash.

Considering I get it everytime at the track, then it's something to worry about. If you are touching the car's potential, expect those lights to come on.

[SRV]

Originally Posted by MikeyB

Considering I get it everytime at the track, then it's something to worry about.

I agree that for you it is.

If you are touching the car's potential, expect those lights to come on.

2:36:11 isn't too bad a time for an essentially stock car at Road America, especially since it's only my 3rd time out on any track, and my light hasn't come on yet.

I imagine driving style dictated by the track layout has something to do with tranny/diff temps. The only time I'm in 2nd gear is coming out of the pits; it's 3rd to 5th the rest of the way until it's time to come in.

Another thing I do is double-clutch ALL downshifts which makes it infinitely easier on the synchros, and less heat is produced.

So, depending upon track and driving style, a tranny/diff cooler may not be immediately necessary (..although it's a great addition), and money can be spent in another area like a new seat and harness bar.

This coming Friday (..8/26) I'll be out there with the Northwoods Shelby Club, and hopefully I can improve on my time. Per event, my best lap was: 2:52:xx, 2:45:8, and 2:36:11; I have lots of room for improvement, so we'll see how it goes. Who knows, maybe my light will finally come on too.