What is left of the C4 front HP+
At the last min, a deal with struck with Kyle P (thanks Kyle!) to work for me in exchange for work on his truck. This gave me all day Saturday to get my headers on. With the boss gone from work, I was up at the shop before 8, and was able to use a lift and welder to get the job done. Much thanks to Russell for dragging his skinny ass out of bed to help! Six hours after we started, we had it done. It wasn't that hard with everything missing from the engine compartment, but it was very time consuming. Pics of headers back in Chapter 9.
A quick look at my rear street tires shows they won't last another day at the track. Some digging in the garage reveals two left over V700's from Hunter. He left them in Wade's garage, who let me take them to make space. I aged them like a fine wine for at least 10 months, and used them at OD102. I had them mounted on two different wheels: one 17x9 WS6 wheel and one 17x9 Camaro SS ZR1 wheel. The WS6 wheel was free, and slightly bent, but it was already mounted. Brake pads created another situation. Planning to go to C5 brakes when I bought the car, I bought some relativily cheap Hawk HP+ for daily driving/auto-x/some track use. These were now metal on metal. But with the impending C5 conversion, buying more C4 pads was silly. More digging in the garage, and I find some leftover pads from my ill-fated 92 Camaro B4C, that was wrecked almost 2 years ago during a now famous trip to Sonic. These pads were on it when I bought it, so I have no idea what they are. On the car they went...
What is left of the C4 front HP+
Sunday started chilly, but clear. Track conditions were nearly ideal. With air temps in the 40's, sunny skies, and a guesstimated track temps in the 70's, the car was making great power, the engine ran cool, and grip was fanstasic. Quite a change from the last track event, which was wet, cold, and super slick. The car feels great, and even with the spoiler turned up, I go faster down the straights than ever before. The rear tires manage decent grip on back, while the front provided the same worthlesness I was used to. The car had some understeer, but it was easily managed. I go all day Sunday with no off track excursions, no black flags, and minimum car problems. The brakes had horid pedal feel, but the car always stopped. The B4C pads lasted 3 sessions, and were then hot swapped (and I mean really hot swapped) for the leftover pads that were on the Vette when I bought it.
Tilton timed me, and recorded several 2:00, 1:59, and a best of 1:58.7!! These are far and away my best times at TWS. I finally broke the 2 min barrier, and
I did it on craptastic tires and brakes. The car worked really well, and the suspension setup seems at least relatively close. The last session (which was over 45 mins!)
the car picked up a slight vibration, and was a tad loose. I figured the rear tires were cooked, as they didn't have much tread to start with. I finished the
session out, and the LR tire looked like this:
The remains of the LR tire
Tilton said I was running around the 2:00 mark in the last session, even on a corded tire! I only got passed once all weekend, by a well driven C5 on very large and very soft V710's. My Kumho ASX front tires aren't going to cut it anymore...During the last combined session, I managed to lap several other cars. That is another first for me. Sure, they were really slow, but I have never been going fast enough to lap a car in a single session before. I also got a chance to weigh the car again. Martin had his scales at the track, and was nice enough to let me use them (thanks Martin!). With 1/2 tank of gas and me not in it, it now weighs 2930, with 54/46 weight distribution. It was previously weighed in Chapter 4, and has since lost 120 lbs, with a 3 percent change in F/R weight distribution. While the car is certainly lighter, I was hoping for 28xx. Still on the to remove list: wiring, pop-up headlights, passenger air bag, HVAC ducting, more wiring, antenna and motor, HVAC controls, and even more wiring.
Next up: Driver's Edge in 2 weeks. I plan to have C5 brakes with REAL pads, along with a few other surprises to see if 1:55's aren't doable, in addition to completely owning whatever run group they put me in.
Turn 10, taken by Sam Craven
Front Straight @ Start/Finish line, taken by Sam Craven
End of the Front Straight, taken by Bobby Childres
Middle of Turn 10, taken by Bobby Childres