Road Racing - Yesterdays track event at VIR, few set up questions.

It was an awesome event, our group from Raleigh were the only four f-bodies there with the Porsche club. There were a couple of C5's there and a Ferrari F40. I'll post vids. later.

Problems I had:
Clutch hydraulics in first session.
The clutch pedal would not return to the top, usually on long straights on the 3-4 shift. If I tapped the pedal a fews times it returned to the top.
Another problem in later sessions, was difficulty shifting from 3-4. It seemed like the shifter didn't want to go to any gear. Could this be the transmission getting too hot?

Current set up on 99' TA is Eibach pros, HD Bilsteins, and BMR sfc's, Adj. panhard., stock sway bars, 17 inch wheels, 386 rwhp, M6. I have LCA relocation brackets but they are not installed yet.

Coming off some of the faster turns the car's out side rear suspension felt like it was bouncing off the stops and wallowy (not sure if that's a word). The Eibach springs have 60k+ miles on them. Could they be worn out? If so what should I replace them with?

Last question. Without a tire pyrometer how can you tell if you are running to much or little pressure? I ran street tires (BFG KDW) with 37 psi front and 36 rear. After the event the tires were worn about 1/8 inch from the outside edge of the tread blocks.

I also learned that I will not run street pads on a racetrack. Someone on this forum said he was running auto parts store brand x pads for his track events with no problems.

I ran PFC front pads and warped two sets of rotors. Next time I will spend the $$ and go with Hawks.

Tell me what you guys think.

Me and several friends are headed to VIR this Friday for this week-end's activities with N.A.S.A. (http://www.nasaracing.net) on the north course. I run in the intermeadiate group for the HPDE.

1) Not sure why your clutch pedal wouldn't return all the way up. Has it been bled recently or a fluid change? How old is the fluid in the trans, cause, yes, it was getting hot.

2) Doubt that they are worn out, unless you thrash them frequently for the last 60K miles. What'll help is to get the relocation brackets in.

3) I don't (yet) have a pyrometer, so the poor mans way to determine best air pressure is to simply draw a mark on the sidewall extending up onto the tread. If your pressure is good you'll erase the mark right down to the edge of the tread, top of the sidewall. If there is too much air you'll still see the mark on the tread and if too little the mark will be erased on the sidewall. But then again, I run an 'R' compound tire. Either a Hoosier or a Goodyear GS-CS.

4) I ran the GMPP front rotors for two and a half seasons with no problem. The first season was with DuraStops, the remainder was run on Hawk (black) pads. This week-end I'm trying a new set of Brembo rotors.

If you want to come up and watch the fun and activities this week-end, let me know. We participants are allowed 5 'crew' members to be admitted at no charge. Drop me an email and I'll leave your name at the gate.

Mike

<small>[ October 09, 2002, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: 99HOSS ]</small>

1. I did bled the clutch just before the event.
Maybe the slave got too hot? It only happened in the first session, which was weird since I was driving harder later in the day.
The tranny fluid probably had 5k miles on it. I'll have to check my log book. Guess I'll put in fresh fluid right before the next event.

2. I have been to four track events with the Eibach springs over the course of the 60k street miles. I'll have to get those reloc. brackets in to help reduce the rear of the car squatting. I may consider going to a stiffer or linear rate spring.

3. That's kind of what I figured. I might have benefitted from dropping the pressure 1 psi, because the wear was really close to the egde of the tread blocks. The tires only had about 500 miles on them so it was easy to tell how far they were rolling over.

4. Good info on the brakes. Two other guys with me ran the PFC pads and autozone rotors. They had some warpage also. Mine warped so bad by the end of the third session, I was afraid something was going to come apart due to excessive vibration under braking. I swapped rotors for the last session.
What Brembo package do you have? Fronts only?
Let me know how it does.

Thanks for the invite to the track, but I won't be able to make it this weekend. I may try to make it to one more event at VIR this year. I'll post on here to see if you or anyone else wants to go.

What's you car suspension set up? I am trying to decide what I need to upgrade next.

For the most part my 99 SS is stock. SFC's, STB and an aftermarket panhard rod is it for the suspension.

The only front rotors are Brembos. I got them thru Sam Strano. We'll see how they hold up this week-end with the Hawk 'blacks' surrounding them, as compared to the GMPP front rotors that I just took off.

Now my 87 T/A is different. It has a completely adjustable suspension.
SFC's with adj panhard rod and LCA's (both are poly/rod end) from Spohn.
WS6 sway bars(36 f/19 r)with poly bushings and endlinks.
Eibach 850 lb/" f, 175 lb/" r with height adjr's.
Adj caster/camber plate over TPIS re-valved struts.
and a 1LE brake system.

Track day was a blast. No brake warpping and no 'off-track' excursions.

Here's THE LINK (http://community.webshots.com/album/52580756JsQzsh) to some of the pictures from the event.

<small>[ October 25, 2002, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: 99HOSS ]</small>