Who's going to Thunderhill on Saturday 5/24?

[LagunaSecaZL1]

Track Masters Racing is having a "sale" on their Saturday track day at Thunderhill. I am tracking my ZL1 for the first time. However, I have tracked my previous car about 10 times since 2001 at Thunderhill. It would be great if some other members of the forum are going. I will be either driving up late on Friday night or early Saturday morning from San Jose.

[cornerspeed92]

I know a few are going in June, cant wait to hear your feedback on the track.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

I will be there! I am competing in the NASA time trial, class TT2. Looks like Track Masters and NASA are sharing the track that day.

[LagunaSecaZL1]

Great. I'll introduce myself at the track. Mike

[cornerspeed92]

[Rornls3]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

I know a few are going in June, cant wait to hear your feedback on the track.

Who is going in June, what day(s)? I want to go this summer but want some fellow C5 guys to hang out with.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by Rornls3

Who is going in June, what day(s)? I want to go this summer but want some fellow C5 guys to hang out with.

June 7-8, CrystalRedTintCoat (Brian) and on June 8 Markgws6 will be joining me. It's a Hooked on Driving event and unfortunately is long sold out.

If you're thinking about June, try to sign up ASAP. Hope to see you at the track one day.

Todd

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

June 7-8, CrystalRedTintCoat (Brian) and on June 8 Markgws6 will be joining me. It's a Hooked on Driving event and unfortunately is long sold out.

If you're thinking about June, try to sign up ASAP. Hope to see you at the track one day.

Todd

Ill be driving out to observe. Missed the sign up. Ill look you up on Saturday....

The other
Todd

[Rornls3]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

June 7-8, CrystalRedTintCoat (Brian) and on June 8 Markgws6 will be joining me. It's a Hooked on Driving event and unfortunately is long sold out.

If you're thinking about June, try to sign up ASAP. Hope to see you at the track one day.

Todd

I am already on the waiting list for both days. I know Luke from Blu808 is going too.... damn... wish I got in sooner.

I'm thinking about July 5-6 with sfspeed (formerly sf city tech)

I've ran with them before at Laguna and they are chill folks

[KRich2587]

jealous

[LagunaSecaZL1]

http://youtu.be/gIXTaUwovYI



The track day at Thunderhill was great. It was my first track day with the ZL1, but I had been going to Thunderhill for over the past 13 years.



Here is a recap of the day.



The weather was very hot. It started out at 75 degrees at 7am and hit a 100 by noon. We were running the bypass, (no cyclone). My Harry's lap timer recorded one/first lap and then would turn off with video. With out video, it worked fine, but I didn't use it in the earlier sessions. My fastest recorded lap was a 2.11 at 4:30 pm. I probably went faster during the early part of the day. Heat soak was an issue. The water temp hit 248 and the oil temp was about 270. Leaving the track at 5:00 pm the A/C would not turn on till I drove a few miles down the road. Cruising down the highway at 75MPH, the water temp dropped to 190 and oil temp was below 210, even though it was still 100 degrees. The car would lose power after about 3 laps in each session. Each session lasted 20-25 minutes.



I really think the ZL1 is an awesome car and these were the bright spots-

• The tires are great. They gripped really well, and handled the heat with no problems. Traction did not appear to go away in the sessions.
  
  
  
• The brakes are great. I did flush the system with ATE DOT4 Super Blue. The pads did not overheat and had good bite.
  
  
  
• The engine power was great, in the morning. I had plenty of power to pass a lot of cars. It was really nice having a super high power car for a change. I was sticking with spec miatas in the corners and hitting 128MPH on the front straight. The HUD, showed 1.2G in turn 1 and easy 1G+ in other turns.
  
  
  
• The gearing suited the track well. Mostly 3 gear, 4th gear on the straights, and 2 gear in two turns. The trans shifted well.
  
  
  
• PTM 5 Race mode was great. It really provide a safety net to learning a new high power car. I will try car with out it after more track days. However, I highly recommend leaving it on!
  

What could be improved-

• Either I can do a track day in the spring or fall, or add a bigger heat exchanger to control the inlet temps. If I put on better brake pads, I could brake later but would cause more heat soak by staying on the gas longer. Since some people see IAT go up in a 1/4 mile, this is probably a big problem in a 20 minute session. Putting a pulley and increasing boost/power would make this way worse. :(
  
  
  
• An oil cooler would probably help as well, but I would need a thermostatically controlled one, otherwise the oil would be too cool on the street.
  
  
  
• Better pedals. Heel and toeing is difficult. Probably could cut a second off my time with this mod.
  

Some other thoughts-

• I'll check my catch can to see how much oil is in it and post pictures.
  
• I recommend a front end clear bra, track days are tough on the bumper cover and hood.
  
• More track days will really improve my time, not better parts. Fixing/mitigating the heat soak will just make the car more consistent.
  
• GM did a great job on the Zl1.
  

My opinions-

A ZL1 is a great car, but a stripped 1LE for $20K less is a bargain.

The Z/28 is an awesome car, but for $20K more than a ZL1 and $40K more than a 1LE takes some serious thought and skills to justify it. I do at most 3-4 track days a year, and daily drive my ZL1. The magnetic shocks, stereo, sound deadening, and tires make it much more livable.



Orange Crush 1LE was running 2.03 lap times over the cyclone(longer and more difficult). So a prepared(slicks, wing and etc.) car/1LE is the proof.



Buy whatever you can afford, Gen 5 Camaros kick ass!!

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by LagunaSecaZL1

http://youtu.be/gIXTaUwovYI

The track day at Thunderhill was great. It was my first track day with the ZL1, but I had been going to Thunderhill for over the past 13 years.

Here is a recap of the day.

The weather was very hot. It started out at 75 degrees at 7am and hit a 100 by noon. We were running the bypass, (no cyclone). My Harry's lap timer recorded one/first lap and then would turn off with video. With out video, it worked fine, but I didn't use it in the earlier sessions. My fastest recorded lap was a 2.11 at 4:30 pm. I probably went faster during the early part of the day. Heat soak was an issue. The water temp hit 248 and the oil temp was about 270. Leaving the track at 5:00 pm the A/C would not turn on till I drove a few miles down the road. Cruising down the highway at 75MPH, the water temp dropped to 190 and oil temp was below 210, even though it was still 100 degrees. The car would lose power after about 3 laps in each session. Each session lasted 20-25 minutes.

I really think the ZL1 is an awesome car and these were the bright spots-

• The tires are great. They gripped really well, and handled the heat with no problems. Traction did not appear to go away in the sessions.
  
• The brakes are great. I did flush the system with ATE DOT4 Super Blue. The pads did not overheat and had good bite.
  
• The engine power was great, in the morning. I had plenty of power to pass a lot of cars. It was really nice having a super high power car for a change. I was sticking with spec miatas in the corners and hitting 128MPH on the front straight. The HUD, showed 1.2G in turn 1 and easy 1G+ in other turns.
  
• The gearing suited the track well. Mostly 3 gear, 4th gear on the straights, and 2 gear in two turns. The trans shifted well.
  
• PTM 5 Race mode was great. It really provide a safety net to learning a new high power car. I will try car with out it after more track days. However, I highly recommend leaving it on!

What could be improved-

• Either I can do a track day in the spring or fall, or add a bigger heat exchanger to control the inlet temps. If I put on better brake pads, I could brake later but would cause more heat soak by staying on the gas longer. Since some people see IAT go up in a 1/4 mile, this is probably a big problem in a 20 minute session. Putting a pulley and increasing boost/power would make this way worse. :(
  
• An oil cooler would probably help as well, but I would need a thermostatically controlled one, otherwise the oil would be too cool on the street.
  
• Better pedals. Heel and toeing is difficult. Probably could cut a second off my time with this mod.

Some other thoughts-

• I'll check my catch can to see how much oil is in it and post pictures.
• I recommend a front end clear bra, track days are tough on the bumper cover and hood.
• More track days will really improve my time, not better parts. Fixing/mitigating the heat soak will just make the car more consistent.
• GM did a great job on the Zl1.

My opinions-
A ZL1 is a great car, but a stripped 1LE for $20K less is a bargain.
The Z/28 is an awesome car, but for $20K than a ZL1 and $40K than a 1LE takes some serious thought and skills to justify it. I do at most 3-4 track days a year, and daily drive my ZL1. The magnetic shocks, stereo, sound deadening, and tires make it much more livable.

Orange Crush 1LE was running 2.03 lap times over the cyclone(longer and more difficult). So a prepared(slicks, winand etc.) car/1LE is the proof.

Buy whatever you can afford, Gen 5 Camaros kick ass!!

Good to meet you, Mike. Your ZL1 along with the other ZL1 were looking racy out there. Glad you had a good time. Agreed if you hit a 2:11 in the smoldering 100 degree weather at 4:30pm, you were probably a good couple seconds faster in the cooler morning sessons. That's fast for a stock car, especially for a maiden voyage. Interesting about the heat soak, it doesn't surprise me that it would be pulling a lot of timing in that heat.

I didn't run the 2:03 over the cyclone, I did that at the beginning of the warm-up session Saturday. More about that in another post.

I agree about the pedals not being heel-toe optimal, I have a pedal set that I will soon install to remedy that.

That ZL1 is quite a machine, and unless the car is primarily for track use as mine is, it's the one I'd choose over the 1LE. Congrats on your successful maiden voyage.

Todd

[LagunaSecaZL1]

Todd, nice meeting you too. I was really impressed with my ZL1. Your 1LE looks awesome with the big wing, CCW and race numbers. It is really fast, and shows how much good preparation is worth. Best of luck on the engine "problem". Keep us informed on the outcome. I'll let you know about my next track day. I want a ride in your machine!


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[LagunaSecaZL1]

And a picture of your 1LE


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