G8GTOCTSV

Who has turned their V1 into a full blown race car or close to it? What race series you compete in? SCCA, NASA, ect? I debating turning my V in to a full blown track car. I've been going back and forth either using it as my DD, selling it for a C5 to convert to a track car or converting the V to a track car. I know a C5 is lighter and has more aftermarket. I already have the V. Hard decision to make.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

The V is a great daily/weekend racer and all rigged up would perform very well on the track, but itll never be on a modded vettes level. Personally for a track car its vette all the way.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

Junior1 over on the other forum has a full blown track car - you could check with him on his thoughts. I'm still street legal and have A/C & a full dash but use the car almost exclusively for time trialing with a roll bar, harnesses, no back seat. With the introduction of the revshift bushings and constant tweaking on the brakes and suspension, it's a better platform for racing than it was a few years ago but still way heavy with few options

I'm not so much interested in racing against other people (SCCA, NASA, etc.) as against the clock. If I were racing "for real", it would definitely be the better decision to go with a 'vette - you can get a caged one for about the cost it'd be to have a cage built for the V. I believe Phoenix performance in PA built Junior's and a few of the other V race cars.

FuzzyLog1c

iTrader: (4)

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...cs-v-njmp.html

NIKDSC5

iTrader: (10)

I mean, why ask this question? It is your decision, and while we can give you our opinions, you can make anything into a race car. Ask the 1 million Miata owners world wide who race their cute little cars. SOB's will catch up in the turns though. They are like gnats at the race track. I plan on turning my V into a street/race car but nothing full blown like Junior1 with lexan windows and a cage. So...how far are you going to take it? If it was me.....I would buy a beat up high mileage C5 and save a boat load of money; all while (most likely) going faster than the V would.

G8GTOCTSV

Thanks. That's all I'm asking is an opinion. People that have experience with this platform and how it does. Is it worth it or not. I spent plenty of times at tracks with my modded GTO. So I know how these cheap little cars can hand me my butt with less power. I really want a vett but I already have the V. That's all, its one of those garage ideas I was tossing around.

G8GTOCTSV

Thanks for the Junior1 reference. I'll ping him for details.

Junior-1

iTrader: (1)

I asked the same questions before building mine.
In the end I chose to stay with the V platform. I had plenty of seat time in mine, I didn't have to sell and then buy, plus I had the car since it had 3,400 miles so all of the bugs were worked out. It was just a matter of wanting an uncomfortable street car (with roll bar, harness, etc) or a heavy track car (A/C, full interior, etc.)
I chose to go all out and build it for straight track duty.
The original plan was to run in NASA's ST2 class. However just at the time we finished there was a rule change which moved me to ST3.
Years back the V's ran in Grand-Am and in SCCA T2 class but I think they wont be as competitive anymore. Scott Sanda bought John Buttermore's (from GM)old car and is running in SCCA's American Sedan. Depending on what you want to do, either wheel to wheel or time trial will dictate how to build it out.

The C5 Z06 is one of the easiest cars to build and track. I just didn't like that everyone and their mother has one. But it is a tried and true platform. As is the M3, and now the Mustang, again which is used alot.

Yooper (also a member) sold his V and went the C5 route. I was leaning more towards a C6 Z06 or the 5th gen Camaro.
The C6 was going to cost considerably more to build and a Riley built Camaro is about 200k if you want to play with the big boys.

I also thought about building a V2 but spoke with Andy Pilgrim and he talked me out of it.
Budget will come into play as well. You can build a Miata for real cheap and consumables are just as cheap. Not to mention it is some of the funnest racing around.

gangnam style

Not the best platform to start with but anythings possible with money.

I'd do the miata spec class or karting and cut my teeth there vs burning money into making the v1 semi competitive

JMO

Junior-1

iTrader: (1)

Here is the build thread:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...663-build.html

G8GTOCTSV

I appreciate the great advice. Thanks for your time in answering all my questions. I pretty much want to stick with GM, I'm a big GM person. So that really helped me out in making a final decision. I'll check out your build thread. That's some good stuff. Thanks again.

Junior-1

iTrader: (1)

For me, I wanted to stay with GM as well, plus I had some good contacts and friends with Caddy.
The shop that built my car (Phoenix as mentioned) has basically had a hand in building all of the V's that raced competitively. They are also a big Corvette shop so either way I was going with them.
Take a look at the top guys in the class you are looking to run and see what they have.
There is always going to be a better platform and people with more money so it comes down to what you are looking to get out of it.
One thing is for sure though, it gets plenty of attention no matter where I bring it...

tmonttt

iTrader: (10)

Something about slinging a near 4000 lb Cadillac around some road courses that just brings a smile to my face. Plus, with the resale of these cars slowly depreciating more and more, I'd throw mine around a track before I'd let it go for $10k with no questions asked.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

yeah, mine was a no brainer - I love the LS engine and the V itself and didn't care if there was a better power to weight platform. This is my car and I wanna race it!

+1 to getting lots of attention. The corvette guys are usually the first to want to talk to you about it.

G8GTOCTSV

That was me too. I'm used to throwing around large platforms around the track and canyons. The recent car I got to throw around was a C63 AMG Black Series. That got my wheels turning.

G8GTOCTSV

I'll know for shure once I get back to the states. I've been keeping my eye out as much as I could here. I get a little attention here in the UK.

adanieljohnson1

iTrader: (1)

How much weight did you end up cutting out? I would LOVE to see a 3200-3300lbs V doing work!

MN_V

iTrader: (5)

I think he's about 3300lbs if I remember reading. For a track car I'd get a miata or a new FRS. From what I've seen they are a lot of fun and relatively affordable. For me it would be all about the competition or improving my own times so I'm not worried about all out speed. The cornering ability is where it's at.

Junior-1

iTrader: (1)

Currently its at 3355 without me. But I am yet to install the carbon fiber fenders, doors, and deck lid. There's still some weight to save after that too...

liqidvenom

iTrader: (2)

If you want to blow some cash build a c63 track car lol. Less of those as full blown track cars than v1's i would bet.