Back in Chapter 10, I learned several valuable things about the car. Most important: the suspension setup seems to be coming together. After being plagued with oversteer problems in Chapter 3 and Chapter 7 the car was loose. But at the last event, the car felt much improved, and handled like I had expected from the begining. The addition of the Blaine Fab rear spoiler also helped with high speed stability. Luckily, I was getting set to hand out some ownage.
But, I wouldn't be passing anybody on stock C4 brakes or the craptastic tires I ran last time. I finally got all my parts together to install my C5 front brakes. C5 brakes are sigificantly better than the C4 J55 brakes for several reasons: stronger calipers, better pad brackets, cheaper rotors, easier pads changed, directional vanes, and pad selection. A quick call to Carbotech and I had a set of real pads on the way. I got XP10 for the front, and XP8 for the rear. This is a pretty serious race pad setup, and are by far the most race oriented pads I had installed to date. The C5 swap was fairly straight forward. I used set of C5 adapter brackets purchased on CorvetteForum for cheap. They appear to be really beefy. I also installed steel braided lines front and rear to further improve pedal feel.
Tires...What to do for tires? I had originally planned to get a long last R compund to run on, like the Nitto NT-01, preferably in a 315/35R17. But, like always, Nitto was dragging their feet and wasn't on time with new size. There is always the 555R drag radial. Hmm... After seeing a thread on F-body Road Race and Auto-x Forum, I checked out some sales from Hooiser. 335/35R17 R3S04 for only $100 a piece, with free shipping. 335's will fit the wheels I have, and they should fit the car. Being almost half the price of any other alternative, and grippier than almost anything out there, these seemed like a no-brainer. After mounting them up...these are really big tires...
So the weekend finally gets here. I get to the track, get my pit stall, and start swapping tires. The car looks fast just sitting there in the garage. The spoiler has been fixed so the rubber actually touches the car, the brakes are ready to go, and the Hoosiers just look sticky. I'm ready to kick ass and take names. The last two times I ran with Driver's Edge, I was in the blue run group (driving Firebird), the next to slowest. I was hoping to not end up there again. Luckily, they put me in Yellow solo. Being solo avoids a potienal problem with lack of equal restraints for passenger and driver. I am still running the stock passenger seat, seat belt, and air bag. First run group comes around, and I get to grid.
At this point, I get a little nervous. I have been talking shit about my domination for weeks to pretty much all of the Texas A&M Sports Car Club, and whoever else will listen. A quick scan of grid reveals at least 4 C6 Z06's, several C6 and C5's, a fully race prepped C4 (makes mine look like a daily driver), a D Sports Racer, amd a GT1 full tube race car. I quickly realize I may have talked more shit than I can actually back up. This doesn't really happen all that often to me. I decide to take the first session easy to make sure the tires warm up (they are 3 years old afterall), the brakes actually work, and the headers aren't going to fall apart like the last event.
Quickly, I realize, I was worried for nothing. Even at a relaxed pace, I dominate the first session, never get passed, and lay waste to everything in front of me. I didn't pass everyone, but I'm not that much slower than anyone else either. The rest of the first day goes well, and I quickly turn it up to full pace. Tilton was working corner 4, and had Duffy's stopwatch timing me. At one point I get stuck behind the D Sports Racer. You would think a C4 less than 10 feet away would fill up his mirrors, but it takes 2 full laps for him to actually let me by. Trains are forming like mad considering this is supposed to be an 'advanced' run group, and I'm screaming at cars to move out of the way. First day ends well, with no spins, off track excursions, or incidents. I did have an oil leak that was the right side valve cover gasket. I had removed that valve cover during the header fix saga, and apparently I pinched the gasket upon installation. Oil is everywhere on the right side of the engine comparment, and even makes it out onto the suspension. After getting black flagged the 3rd session for smoke, I finally fix it.
The second day dawns with promise. I still haven't been passed, and the car is working well. The Hooisers are hella-grippy, but have some rub. It is minor, and I remove the rear inner fenders to give them more clearence. I am very aggressive on Sunday, and actually manage to get some clean track. Tilton times me at two 1.54's, one during the 3rd session, and one during the 4th! This is a 4 sec improvement over the last time, and I feel is a pretty decent time. I go all day Sunday without being passed, and the weekend ends with me pretty much owning yellow. I pass every one of the people pitted around me at least once. One thing I do notice is the C6 Z06's are really killing me on the straight. The stock LT4 really could use a little help. I will be looking into reasonably priced power adders (cam?) as budget permits. Still on the to do list: radiator w/ oil cooler, brake ducts, headlight relocation, weight reduction, opti-shit check, and more weight reduction.
Ready for battle...
