Did my first track day...

"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
10/06/2014 at 09:54 • Filed to: None

... and it was pretty much the best thing I ever did with my clothes on! Spent the day at Waterford Hills with my baller Cousin Dave and buddy Kevin. Turns out my old C5 is pretty easy to control in a slide (way better than the Fox Mustangs and other crap I've driven like they were on fire). I slid, I drifted, I got passed by a Focus, I killed my brakes and I want to do it again!

... and I averaged about 7 mpg over the day! I usually get like 24...

Dave and Kevin laughing about my Corvette getting rocked by a Focus!

Fun fact: The anti-seize on my lug nuts melted and ran out onto my rims! Dat brake heat!

And she made it home in one very dirty piece. What a great way to spend a day!

DISCUSSION (18)

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 10:07

Kinja'd!!!

I get 6MPG.......in the 351W powered F-150 while towing my BMW Z4 (soon to be Audi S4) to the track.

Does that count?

Rock Bottom > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
10/06/2014 at 10:31

LOL YES! Ha ha!

Related: Do you know about what your fuel burn is on track? I'm kinda curious if some cars are more efficient at speed than others...

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 10:35

My N52 engine in the Z4 did about 9MPG at Roebling Road Raceway. Normally it's 10MPG on track.

Remember that it's still a smaller engine and has Bavarian Black Magic Valvetrain.

Rock Bottom > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
10/06/2014 at 10:38

Bavarian Black Magic Valvetrain... I like that. Like GER-TEC or something!

Racescort666 > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 10:40

I think we calculated the Racescort to be about 8 on stage. I can't decide if you're doing better or worse than me since you've got probably triple the power.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 10:42

That came about because the N52 engine has a Valvetronic head, there is technically no throttle return spring.

But one must test the throttle return spring per the tech sheet. Even though my gas engine and every diesel doesn't have a throttle.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 10:45

One of us... One of us...

That being said, I know slidey-dorifto time is fun, but it's slower around a track. Cut that out, and watch your times improve.

I get about 7 mpg running E85 in the Cobalt.

I have some Corvette friends who run race fuel, and they get 4 mpg. Or 1 lap around Road America per gallon.

roflcopter > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 12:49

We've never actually calculated it out for the 4-banger Mustang, since we don't have a fuel gauge, don't keep it topped off, and typically don't get a full tank between breakdowns... But I have run the RX8 at autox's and all and it actually get's pretty good mileage, about what I get when driving hard on the street. Typically between 15-16. I'm pretty sure it would stay over 12 on track. Dat rotary lyfe.

Rock Bottom > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
10/06/2014 at 13:02

Yeah, the sliding was never (ok, rarely ) planned. Toward the end of the day my brakes were going pretty much to hell so I found myself overcooking the shit out of a few corners, resulting in much drifto desu. Luckily, the car handles that drifto stuff pretty easily and saved my bacon whenever I ran out of talent (or brakes)!

Rock Bottom > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
10/06/2014 at 13:04

That's funny! They tech'd the hell out of my cousin's Mustang, but when I came through they just asked me "Is it stock?" I replied "Pretty much." They just check all the boxes without ever popping the hood and I went about my day!

Rock Bottom > Racescort666
10/06/2014 at 13:07

Well, Racescort did have that mystery header... so I might only have twice the power!

But seriously, you might have had lower average speeds on stage due to, ya know, dirt. So in the same situation as me you might have done better than me!

Audi-os, Amigos! > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 13:35

The C5 Corvette is my dream attainable super performance car.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 13:58

"Is it stock?" "Yeah" <— This is the kiss of death in terms of scrutiny, because stock brakes tend not to hold up to extended high temperatures on a track.

I would recommend that you change your brake pads and rotors to something a little more track oriented than the stock pads for your next time out. I already have new brakes being shipped for the S4, and they will get changed out prior to Daytona.

Rock Bottom > Audi-os, Amigos!
10/06/2014 at 13:59

Get one! Insurance is cheap (less than my previous 2008 Civic Si), they get good fuel economy, they're reliable, and they sell for like 1/3 their original value every day in good shape! Add in the fact that this is the last tailhappy Corvette (the C6 was designed to have more "accessible" performance) and it has pop-up headlights. It's the definition of a hoon-car. V8, cheap, 6-speed, cheap, quick, reliable and cheap. Perfect for us hooligans on a budget!

You really should get one!

Audi-os, Amigos! > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 14:04

Oh my God they're going for like 12 grand. I want it...I want it hard.

Rock Bottom > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
10/06/2014 at 14:29

Oh yes, I was well aware of the braking situation going into this.

Honestly, our C5 brakes don't need as much help as most others. These cars already have pretty good brake ducting right out of the box, so you don't have to worry about air management as much as on your typical car. Good brake ducting is super rare in the cheap-car world (and by cheap, I mean sub-$100,000). The C5 grabs air at a fairly high pressure, right on the leading edge of the relatively pointy front end and ducts it cleanly to the rotors, which themselves live in a well-faired wheelwell. This high-pressure real estate on the front of the car is usually hotly contested territory by the powerplant cooling guys and the fuel economy clowns with little care for what the brake guys think. MPG and HP numbers sell cars, not brake performance on Lap 5. The fact that the Corvette brake designers were able to carve out that little piece of the aerodynamic pie instead of being forced to grab low-pressure-shit-for-air from somewhere lower or further back on the fascia is a triumph in the age-old battle between the efficiency weenies and the car guys.

For a counterpoint, look at a typical S197 Mustang. They put these huge Brembos on them from the factory, and then wonder why the brakes still go away after a few laps. They don't manage the airflow to the brake rotors at all. If you're making the same amount of heat (and you will if the car isn't getting lighter or slower), then you have to either make that heat go away (and airflow is the only tool in that toolbox) or make brakes that can live and work at a much higher temp.

Sorry for all that, I'm an aeronautical engineer working for one of The Big Three and vehicle airflow management for cooling is pretty much all I do these days...

At any rate, I had some stock-replacement Bosch ceramic pads and fluid that might be as old as the car when I took to the track. Failure was 100% expected. I'll probably run some Hawk pads (like I did way back in my autocross days) or some Ferodo pads, like some of my friends are doing now in SCCA track events. I'm not looking for more thermal mass or air flow, but I want to raise the comfortable operating temps of the pads. I'm pretty sure I'm about $300 away from having plenty of braking power for my talent level.

Rock Bottom > Audi-os, Amigos!
10/06/2014 at 14:32

Consider me to be that little devil on your shoulder that keeps saying "just do it, what's the worst that can happen?"

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Rock Bottom
10/06/2014 at 15:34

It's pretty rare that you get any brake ducting under $100K. Normally, if you even get some, it's all an afterthought. See, for instance, R56 Minis.

I'm running Hawk HP+ and Pagid S on my BMW, and I'm putting Carbotech XP10/XP8 on the S4. Fortunately in my case with the S4, the lower bumper is more open than a standard B5, but it was crammed full of intercoolers (Because 2.7TT V6), so I'll have to watch and see what kinds of brake temperatures Daytona produces. The longer straights on the oval should help the brakes not get insanely hot.

The worst I've seen is Talladega Gran Prix Raceway. The straights are so short, and the braking required is very high impulse, so there really isn't time to get enough air over the front brakes.

Normally, as you know, fresh fluid and good pads mean that most of the time, you're fine on a track. Besides, it's not a race...