Pontiac GTO 2004-2006 - Anybody else open track their Goat yet?

I took my car to Grattan Raceway (www.grattanraceway.com) yesterday for some open track time, and learned quite a bit about my GTO.

1- The stock BFG's can't take open tracking. I chunked the tread pretty bad on the fronts.

2- More front brakes are a must. I was running PF pads for a C5 (there is another post on that), but the rotors were not up to the task, and I boiled the fluid. Time for a brake upgrade.

3- The car need more front camber, or more camber gain. I have seen worse, but I chewed up the outer two tread blocks on the fronts. I another degree might help the problem. As far as body roll, it was pretty good for stock..

4- As usual, the stock car is set up to understeer. This sucked, and it took some hard lfogging to get the tail to come around. I think the posi needs more pre-load too, as the inside can get broken loose pretty easy..

5- Run the oil level 1 quart high. I had the oil light come on once on a hard right hander with hard suspension inputs. I tossed in an extra quart, no probs..


The rest of the car RAN AWESOME!! I got 100 miles out of a tank of gas, 6 mpg indicated on the DIC :eyes: . I had a Thermocouple in the oilpan, the sump temps never got over 275F, without any external oil coolers, but it's good to run synthetic. Engine temps NEVER got above half, on a 65 degree day. I was running with some guys with A-sedan cars. If I could get the car to corner a bit better, I could out lap them, no prob. Sure, I had 5.7L, they had 5.0L, but they had slicks (maybe very worn R-compound treads) and weighed 1000# less.


Next time I go back, I will have:

- More front camber
- Better tires
- Better brakes
- I'll probably leave the passenger and rear seats at home, and the spare tire in the pits.
-Maybe a gell cell.
- I wonder if the BMR strut tower brace really does anything, I'll might try it out.

Good info. I read about your brake pad upgrade. Do those pads make a difference on the street? I probably won't track my car, but better stopping is always a good thing.
:)

Good info. I read about your brake pad upgrade. Do those pads make a difference on the street? I probably won't track my car, but better stopping is always a good thing.
:)


Pads improve feel bit, you need less pedal to get decel/decel comes in with less pedal. I can't say the pedal feels a lot better but there is an improvement. AS far as street performance, I don;t think the stock pads are bad, you are not getting enough heat through them.

I was reading about a guy who swapped in C5 calipers, but don't remember if it was to a GTO or F-body...anybody recall or know if the swap to GTO is a straight bolt-on fitment?

I was reading about a guy who swapped in C5 calipers, but don't remember if it was to a GTO or F-body...anybody recall or know if the swap to GTO is a straight bolt-on fitment?

The 2005 GTO is supposed to get C6 calipers, and larger rotors to compensate. I am looking into that right now, but parts will not be available for a bit yet. Rotors will be GTO specific since the rotor hat on the Vette is much shorter than the GTO's.