| Re: Questoins about road racing/autocrossing.... |
Subject: Re: Questoins about road racing/autocrossing.... by SpectatorRacing on 2008/11/28 2:25:39 My suggestion to you is to try it before you make any more modifications (except front brake pads). You will know very quickly if it's for you or not. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you will love it. Of the 20 or so friends I've brought to the track every one of them has loved it, with about half sticking with it or even buying the requisite track-only car to keep doing it. The rest don't go regularly simply because it's VERY expensive. Only one guy didn't go again because he didn't enjoy it, he was simply too nervous out there. You don't sound like you're going to be that guy. The more performance modifications you do to your car the harder it will be for you to become a good driver. Big brakes and lots of HP can mask a LOT of weak techniques. Carrying speed through the corner is what makes lap times better. With the amount of power you are making I'd be concerned with your cooling system. Have you done any upgrades? My biggest mistake was when I added a nice top end to my stock LT1 but didn't add any capability to the stock cooling system. First day on the track (cool April temps) I cooked the oil and fried the bearings. If you're going to do brakes anyway then I'm sure you'll be thankful. I've never run stock C4 brakes, but I know they are a weak point. I can't comment as to whether you would cook them on your first ever track day. It seems unlikely, but Kevin may be right. I know the C5 brakes are fine, C5 Z06 brakes would be ideal, but you've already seen that they won't fit under you stock wheels. If you decide you are going to do this a few times a year (or more) then there is a whole list of items I would suggest, a harness bar and harnesses being the first. But again, you can't use these with stock seats, so you're looking at spending some coin. But I agree 100% with Jeff. If you try this, decide you like it, and do it often, the best thing you can possibly spend your money on is time behind the wheel. I have sooo many students that bring their modified cars to the track and get passed by econoboxes with better drivers. And I am always amazed that the first thing out of their mouth is that they need a bigger this or better that, never that they need to work on driving skill. And lastly, the percentage of modified cars that break at driving events is waaaaay higher than that of stock ones... |
