Ok..I LOVE my car...it's everything I had hoped and is the BEST handling car I have ever owned. After my first Track Day I have discovered that while it is a FANTASTIC street car and a GREAT base to build upon..there are obvious areas for improvement. Tire/wheels, caster/camber plates and possibly brake upgrades and maybe some harnesses.. but I am confused as to what I really need. I am openly asking for recommendations on necessary items and suggested manufacturers as I don't have any knowledge base other than drag racing applications..
Soooooo all you real racers and track guys please chime in here and point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for your time to reply.
Don

 

Don, I am far a real racer but went through the same thing as you only having drag race experience. Having the LS you are ahead of me, trans cooler, spoiler, brake cooling etc. I ended up getting 18's for the track and there are many threads about tires from people that know better then me. I put new slotted rotors with Hawk HP+ pads and really like them. Much more aggressive pads and still streetable but they do squeal on the street cold. Also changed out the fluid to DOT 4.

Most of what you may want to do depends on how much and what kind of tracking you will do. If you are tracking times or just joy riding like me will help the others answer you better.

 

Thanks Scott...I am just a beginner...but I want to be prepared to improve my skills with the least amount of damage to the car.. I am by no means wealthy but can probably afford to do what I need to do to keep the car still streetable but a FUN trackable car that will be SAFE and perform well. I understand after this past weekend that tires and brakes are CONSUMABLES and NOT expected to last long when used hard. I do NOT want a full blown race car..IF at a later date I decided I want to try and RACE I will just get a dedicated "track car" and drive the LS on the street only.
I am at ENTRY level and will probably only get to do 4-6 events a year at best. I guess that puts me in the "JOY RIDER" catagory...

 

I am looking for suggestions on C/C plates and what settings for adjustment, rotors, brake pads, tires/wheels mainly.

 

you're on the right track. go for consumables first; dedicated track pads, dedicated track wheels and tires. mixing them for track and street duty combined will give you headaches both on the track and street. Some guys like to get dedicated rotors but I do not think that is neccessary as long as you scrub them before switching.

Some here like Hawk HP+ pads, but I have found with heavier cars, they wear terribly, and when you are pushing the car more and more, they just dont hold up to the heat. Many here like Hawk DTC pads, which are track only. I would HIGHLY recommend PFC-01 pads; great wear, great initial bite and easy to modulate, and they held up to 3 days of absolute torture at Sebring for me. I was able to get 4 full track days out of my front pads, and have at least another 4 events on the rears. Very rotor friendly too. Not sure what guys are getting out of their DTC pads, but I my vote would be for whatever you get the most money out of. If the DTC are cheaper and last longer, I'd go that route.

For tires, I like NT-05s. Much cheaper than others in it's category, fairly decent wear for a high performance tire, but the grip is phenomenal for a non-R comp tire. Theyre good in dry or rain. I'd get some more experience under your belt before moving up to an R-comp or slick.

I do like the harness idea too. I've got a Schroth 4 point that I use in my CTS-V since the seats dont hold me in at all. It's designed to work without a roll-bar or harness bar, and mounts to the stock rear seat belt mounts. Some of their 4 point ASM harnesses are also HANS compatible. Some people don't like the idea of a 4 point because in a rollover they say it will trap you upwards and you'll get crushed without a rollbar (which I still have yet to see evidence of, and the guys I talked to at Schroth havent seen either). When I'm fully strapped in with my helmet and all into the 4 point, I can still bend my head down far enough that it is level with the steering wheel. I think the benefits of it from other types of imapcts (frontal, side, rear) outweigh the roll over risks. If you look at the G-forces a body goes through during a rollover, your going to be pushed towards the roof regardless, not to mention slung all other directions, such as out the window.

 

With respect to the harnesses, most HDPE's will not let you run without the OEM 3-point system. If you are thinking about running with NASA, check their 2011 rules closely, as banning the 4 point systems is new for 2011. Specifically for NASA, 4+ point systems are only allowed with roll cages.

 

I am running the Maximum Motorports caster/camber plates and they are excellent quality and produce zero additional NVH. I am able to get up to -3.3 degrees camber on the driver's side and -2.8 on the passenger side. I have run -1.7 and while it's an improvement, the car could use more. I ran -2.2 my last two track events and based on tire wear, it's pretty even but the insides are slightly more worn than the middle/outer edges. I've run them forward and backward to even out wear side to side. If anything I have too much for the Nitto 555RIIs which is surprising. I haven't run my Hoosier R6s yet and will wait on any further adjustments until I do. Hoosier recommends -2.5 to -3.0 for the R6.

 

I run the car hard and I have 6 track days on used rear DTC 60 pads already and they're finally toast. I would say I got 10 days on the rears, but the rear pads don't do that much work on our cars. My front DTC 70s took the 6 days I gave them with the Boss and are now toast. They can be hard on rotors, but I'm running DBA 5000 two-piecers and while heat checked they're still fine. I got 15 days out of my rings last year and changed to new rings for the Boss this spring. However, I still had some life left, just not sure how much so put on the new rings for this season. I swap rotors and pads. I've had issues with contaminating street rotors by mixing pad compounds so I've just resigned myself to swapping both over and it works great. Braking performance has been better on both the track and street.

As far as tires, it is all over the board. That said, if you switch to a street tire from the Corsas you ran last weekend, you'll notice a significant dropoff in grip. The Nitto 555RII or NT01 are "reasonably" priced R-comps (much cheaper than your Corsas).

 

Thanks Gary!

 

Do you know off hand which organizations, other than NASA, require the OEM 3 point system? My instructor, who has the same 4 point Schroth setup that I've got, has ran with a number of clubs this year (Chin, 10/10ths, ReZoom, HookedOnDriving) and hasn't had a single issue.

 

Sorry, I don't have any info on that.

 

good point though, i'm glad you brought it up. regardless of the 4 point debate, some groups just flat-out wont allow them.

 

unless you go full tilt with a harness and cage, best to keep it OE 3-point. No issues ever teching in HPDE situations.

As far as the OP - do as little as possible and get familiar with your car before going postal as a weekend warrior. Pads fluids, yup!! - If that was your first track day, stay with street tires for the rest of the year. Park the Corsa's.....

 

Truly a perfect post, I have been adding things as I go and learn since the car is well set up for a beginner. The seat belt thing was discussed here a while back and the general consensus was to leave it alone since a four point is more dangerous than a 3 point out there. Unless you add a roll-bar and 5 point set up best to leave it as is.

BTW Scott, the HP+ pads have two days on them and I see little wear. I like them a lot and will pass on more as the car has more days under it's belt but so far I think it was one of my better decisions.

 

Yeah, the HP+ depend on how you really drive the car. You can definitely get away with them if you arent driving the living hell out of the car, and after seeing the OPs tire pics after the first DE weekend, lol, I figured he was...

And regarding the harness, there still is no proof that a PROPER 4 point (Schroth ASM comp belts, Sparco comp 4 points) is more dangerous than a factory 3-point. I went through a very lengthy discussion about this with the guys at Schroth.

 

Could not agree more with the above. You may want to think about tightening up the nut behind the wheel! Seriously, if you really enjoy tracking your car, become a student of the craft. You can start with the book "Going Faster!", and then check out the Ross Bentley books.

One thing that I liked to do at HPDE's is switch instructors for a session for a different perspective. Even when signed off to drive solo, grab another instructor to ride with you. It's not as sexy as driving alone, but you will get faster quicker.

For the beginner, seat time and knowledge will make you faster through the turns than just about anything you can bolt on your car.

Caution: this can become an addiction. People have been known to strip down perfectly good cars and turn them into worthless race cars.

 

Caution: this can become an addiction. People have been known to strip down perfectly good cars and turn them into worthless race cars.
Been there done that to a perfectly good 06 Roush Stage II!

 

What a fantastic quote

 

Well, proof or not, there are quite a few race organizations that won't let you through tech with them presently, if you aren't caged. Personally, I'd rather race that argue with a tech inspector.

 

absolutely agree, thats why I said above that regardless of the debate, some groups flat out wont allow them. I'm just responding to the comments about them not being safe.