dereklburt

iTrader: (3)

I thought I would share my racing experience today. I am very proud of my 2004 CTS V and the performance. Today I ran an autocross at Grattan Raceway in Michigan. The course was about a mile long and included about 2/3 of the track. I ran on Yokohama street tires 255/40/18 using stock rims and my car has been modified with Ground control coil overs and upgraded sway bars. I am still on the original FE4 shocks. The car has headers, K&N intake, now a mild cam and milled cnc heads. Unfortunately, I had to run my stock LS6 intake and 78mm throttle body as someone sold me a LS7 throttle body, claiming it was an LS2 and it would not work. Yesterday, I had to swap out my ported FAST and 90mm throttle body as it kept going into low power mode (limp mode) I also only had a quick street tune for my race that was actually initially tuned for the other manifold/ throttle body. Even though I was down on power compared to what I had hoped, things really went pretty well.

Long story short, I didn't win my class but took second. I lost to a FULLY RACE PREPPED new 2012 BOSS Mustang running 315 Hoosier race tires that was trailered in. He had upgraded springs etc. (Keep in mind that this is the BADDEST Factory mustang EVER!) In stock form, it beats the Shelby supercharged mustang by 4 seconds around Laguna Seca and even is faster than an AUDI R8 around the same track. This one was certainly not stock. The guy was a very seasoned driver and apparently took 2nd at Nationals. Well, he beat me by 2.7 seconds. I will admit that is a lot but when you put in into perspective, it really isn't. Just race tires alone are good for AT LEAST 2-3 seconds if not more on a one mile course. I am pretty sure that I could have taken him in stock form or even if he was running stock size street tires. I had several hundred pounds on him in vehicle weight and 255 street tires just can not compare to 315 Hoosier A6's.

Even though I did not take the Boss, what I did do however was run faster than all of the super stock class as well as 95% of the other cars. I beat out both Lotus Elise's and 7 Corvettes!!!! (including: 1 2006 ZO6 (505hp), 1 2011 Corvette Grand Sport, a 2004 Corvette ZO6, a couple C6 vettes, and several others. I also lapped faster than the 98 M3 with race tires, and a 2009 BMW 135i twin turbo, along with numerous others including a Honda S2000, and the list goes on and on.

Needless to say, I am very impressed with my V and even with 105K miles on the clock, it is one of the baddest rides around. Now, all I need is a LS2 throttle body so I can get my FAST back on and get it tuned. If anyone has one, please let me know as I need one ASAP! I have a combination autocross/ drag race event next weekend and I need to get it on and tuned before then.

LS2duc

iTrader: (1)

Great job! You need to give credit to yourself for having some natural driving ability by beating all those other cars. I agree that an upgraded tire would make a big difference.

aurora40

iTrader: (1)

Nice work!

Also, FYI, but I think the LS2, LS3, and LS7 all use the same throttle body. They won't bolt up to your LS6 manifold, though. They are a 4-bolt while your LS6 is a 3-bolt design.

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

Congrats! It's not as much about the car as it is the driver (to a certain extent).

demang

iTrader: (3)

Any video?

meatyCTS-V

Sounds like you did good!

Why they would put you in the same "Class" as a fully prepped car with race tires is beyond me, it sounds like you won your class, as far as I'm concerned!

You did a great job man, and like the others asked, do you have video?!

-meaty

dereklburt

iTrader: (3)

I do have some video of the run. Unfortunately the way I mounted the camera, my helmet was in the way for a portion of the video as I would tend to lean in the corners. I will try to get it posted this weekend if I can figure it out. I have another auto cross event this weekend and it also includes a quarter mile drag race. It will be interesting to see what I can run. I have a LS2 throttle body on the way. It will be bolted up to my ported FAST 90 manifold, so I will have to do a manifold and throttle body swap tomorrow after I get out of work. Unfortunately I have to work until 8pm tomorrow and will have to drop off the car by 7:30am. It's a good thing that the LS engine is easy to work on as I think I can swap it over in about an hour now that I have done it. I just hope my tuner will have time to dyno tune it on Friday. I will post more info later.

I owned a 2001 BMW M3 with a 6-speed prior to my CTS V and all I can say is that the V is superior in performance both in a straight line and in regards to handling. I am very impressed and I absolutely love it.

dereklburt

iTrader: (3)

Update- I beat the 2012 Boss 302 today!! Had another autocross and this time, he drove to the event on street tires (instead of using his 315 Hoosier A6's on all 4 corners). By the way, I run 255/40/18 Yokohama's. I also ran against a heavily modified 2011 mustang 5.0 on race slicks. It was a longer fast course again and I took first out of 6 cars in my class, Boss took second but was over a half second behind. I knew I could take him without his wide race slicks. His is even slightly modified as well.

I would hate to be that guy. Beat in your brand new "ultimate Mustang" by a 2004 Cadillac with 106K miles on the clock. Just goes to show you that the V is no joke! Haven't had time to post video, but I got another one today. Haven't had a chance to view it. Hopefully it turned out better than my last.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Also says a lot for the driver. The devils advocate in me wants to see your times in the boss vs your times in the v. As much as I love my V, I think the Boss would be faster.
PS: POST THOSE VIDS!

meatyCTS-V

That's one reason I love autocrosses. It tends to humble a lot of people in the "badass" cars.

My buddy who's now back in New Jersey, would consistently get Fastest Time of the Day and First Place in his class.

His car? A 1991 Mazda Miata, KYB AGX 8-way adjustables, springs, 12" diameter diamond racing wheels, and a small ecu recrystallizing to overclock the ECU and let it rev higher. Everything else was stock. Full interior. On R compounds.

Never underestimate what seems like an under-dog


Also I watched the Porsche Club at an Autocross this past sunday... You can buy a fast car... but you can't buy driving skill...



-meaty

dereklburt

iTrader: (3)

Well, hopefully the videos will work. I have tried to attach them several times but it doesn't seem like they are attaching. I had to redo them on my phone due to having an old video camera. I thought I would mention that the guy driving the Boss is no slouch either. I was told that he placed very high at Nationals in his class. At Grattan, he did beat me by 2.7 seconds but considering the length of the course and the fact that he was running 315 Hoosier A6 race tires compared to my 255 street tires, I think that more than accounts for the difference. I ran a 78.138 second time and as I said before, that was better than the whole SS class.

I did place second in that event and beat out a Camaro and several modified mustangs etc. I did however beat him in the second event by almost a full second. I think it was about 0.9 seconds. Unfortunately I won't have the times for a while. Can someone tell me how to attach a video? I try and it uploads but then nothing happens?

aurora40

iTrader: (1)

I think you'll have to put it on youtube or something, not attach it here.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

As aurora said, upload them to youtube. Free and simple.

Doing a quick look at the results, Dave Heinrich was 5th in ESP at Nationals this year, less than 1/10 of a second from 3rd, so he's no slouch. I have to confess, my initial read of your post was, "Meh, results at local events don't mean much." But the fact that you were classed with someone who just did well at Nationals provides a baseline to compare against, and I have to say your results are pretty damn impressive. It's not the car - the V is a fricking pig, there's a reason nobody runs them competitively in FS or ESP.

Oh, and unless your M3 was broken, if you drove them back-to-back at the same event the M3 would be faster.

dereklburt

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the compliment. I have been super busy at work but I will try to get some videos posted. I have a couple in car and one that someone took at Grattan where I did a controlled slide at about 65-70 as I came over the hill and went into a corner. Maybe I have improved with my driving but I like the way the V handles. It does have Ground Control coil overs but I am still running the stock shocks (not the performance option but standard originals with 106K miles now) and Sway bars. I also run stock rims with summer Yokohama tires. I would love to have race tires but I also have an Elise that I am doing a bunch of work to (putting a 3.6DI engine in it) and that is really my track/autocross car. My V is my daily driver and it just does it all