mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Took the V out to MSR-C today running the 3.1 big track. A friend rented it, celebrating his 50th birthday and it was basically an open track all day long.

This car is amazing. I fianlly got to push it a little bit and found the limits and things I need to address.

First of all ... camber. I have done zero research, but thought I would ask ... what kind of front and rear camber should I run? The car had a low speed push that would require a tap of the brake pedal to get it to grip. Or slow down ... and that wasn't going to happen.

Tire pressures were 36-38 and the edges looked OK. So I'm thinking more camber.

Second of all ... if I were to track this car more, I would need to put this beast on a serious diet. It just doesn't "feel" nimble, although it did hold its own until ...

Third ... brakes. Hawk HPS pads just can't handle whoa-ing this tank down. I glazed the pads late in the morning and after about 3 or 4 laps each time this afternoon.

They are great for teh street and light duty. But they just can't hold up to taking this car from 110 to 30 a couple times per lap.

Except for the massive diet, everything is easily managed.

.Houdini.

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like you had a lot of fun man. I can't wait till I get to do that some day.

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

There isn't much data on alignment specs, but many who track the V seem to use the settings listed on cadillacfaq. The only kind of diet I'm willing to do is a lighter clutch assembly, lighter brake rotors, lighter batter (pc925), lighter wheels, and clean out the car before the session. A CF heat extractor hood may not be any lighter, but would certainly aid in cooling and aero.

What were your cold tire pressures when you saw 36-38 hot?

branland

iTrader: (2)

There are alignment specs on the other forum under the FAQ. My alignment guy couldn’t get any significant amount of negative camber out of the car at the stock ride hide. Once I installed the Ground Control I was able to get about 1.5 degrees out in the front.

I run the Hawk HP Plus pads in the font and the HP pads in the rear. Racing Brake makes a two piece floating rotor and steel braided lines that will also help. I run the Super Blue Racing Brake Fluid and I bleed my brakes often. If money is no object, there is also the V2 front brake conversion that some people are currently looking at.

I love the way the car this car rotates mid turn. Can’t wait to get back to Willow Springs this year.

SilveradoSS500

Nice, I'm walking out the door to head to MSR now!

woohoo

jerrycecco

mitchntx, sounds like a great day
Nice to find another V open tracker in the DFW area.
FYI: Eagles Canyon having an open track day Sat Feb 26th, $150.00 includes in car instructor if newbie....

The V likes HP+ pads (Im now on my third set) AND you should get steel braided lines and run a high temp brake fluid (I run Motul) do all at once.
ALSO bleed out your brakes AND clutch fluid too before track day.

Dieting the V is tough, I've like to do seats but cant due to the seat belts.
Like to see what weight can be taken off the FRONT of the V.
I dont know if a battery move to the trunk does much...

Q: Anyone do a battery relocation kit yet? what were the results?


Next time you go email me @ jerrycecco@gmail.com

Big Bu Bu

iTrader: (4)

The need for above average tires are significant on this car. What are you running?

tweeter81

I agree with the tire comment above.

Also, I have run as much as -2.5° of camber on the track but driving the 400 miles home, it ended up eating up the inside edge of my tires (r-compounds). My recommendation, and what I have run on the street for thousands of miles and on the track too, is -2.0° of camber. This shouldn't wear the inside edge of the tire, and it really makes a difference in handling, responsiveness, and turn-in.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Looking at the track map and some random videos on youtube, that's one busy track! Whoever designed it obviously isn't a fan of straightaways!

I'm basically running the "Track" alignment from the CTS-V FAQ (note that is not on cadillacforum, it's a separate website - if you go looking in the FAQ on cadillacforum you'll come up empty). I haven't really experimented at all, so I don't know if other settings would work better or not. I got it aligned to the Track settings and have just left it there ever since. Like tweeter, I've been running -2deg (or even a little more) on the street for a couple years now and haven't had any tire wear issues.

I hate to break it to you, but slow down is the right answer. Tapping the brakes mid-corner is going to get you in trouble when you're actually carrying some speed.

I was able to get my car aligned to -2.2 camber front and rear at both stock ride height and the lowered KW ride height.

Braided lines won't do anything for pad fade. And I haven't noticed any difference in fade resistance with the RB 2-piece rotors. I like that the rotors are significantly lighter, and they don't wear as quickly, but I really can't say they're doing anything for fade resistance.

The V likes real track pads even more!

branland

iTrader: (2)

Just looking at the way the front suspension is designed, it doesn’t have any adjustability at the top of the shock tower and I haven’t seen any caster camber plates for this car. I’d be curious to see what your guy is adjusting to get 2.2 from the stock setup.

Mine is currently at ~-1.5 for the front and I can see a noticeable difference from the inside to the outside of the tire. Although here in CA I do mostly highway driving and flow of traffic is typically higher than east coast cities.


I think these are still good mods for the braking system. Two piece rotors will reduce unsprung weight and help dissipate heat which will help overall braking performance. A brand new braided line .vs. a brand new stock rubber line shows very little difference in pressure tests that I’ve seen. The advantage is that the rubber hose will expand over time whereas the braided lines will be more stable as mileage increases.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

In the name of full disclosure ... I've been building and racing F-Bodys for over 10 years now. So this isn't my first rodeo.

I agree, slowing down a tick would help the low speed, mid-corner push. Why I think it's alignment and not so much a speed induced issue is that it corners very stable at the higher speed stuff.

It has a nice slip angle and I can slide it through T11, T12, T16 and T1 (http://www.motorsportranch.com/3.1-road-course.cfm) without an issue. And entry into T2/3 and T14 aren't a problem either. But the track is coming to me, that is its flat or on-camber and uphill.

But the flat stuff or off-camber, low speed stuff, like T5, T6, T10 the front end would wash-out when I was trying to transition back to the throttle.

And to compound problems ... I have no clue what my camber is right now. LOL


Someone asked early on what my cold pressure were ... I started the day at 31psi with an ambient temp of about 35.


Brakes ... I don't want a pad that requires some heat to begin working. I daily drive this thing and want a quick initial bite for obvious reasons.

Brake lines ... factory lines are just fine. The pedal feel after a brake line install comes from fresh bleed with fresh fluid and not so much the lines themselves.

Brake fluid ... Castrol SRF is in the V right now. I use nothing else in my race car or the V. I hate bleeding brakes and Castrol requires no bleeding after initial install. I sealed my race car's brake system in 2006 and haven't done a flush since. I do crack open the bleeders when I push the pistons into the caliper, but that is it.

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

I've read elsewhere that SRF lasts quite a while. Seems that it may be worth the high entry fee, afterall.

UnsafeAtAnySpd

I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but what tires are you running? Like somebody else mentioned, that makes a lot of difference. So far with my car I've run stock sized all-seasons, stock sized ultra-high performance summer tires (the brand eludes me at the moment) and 265/35/18 Kumho Ecsta r-comps (I'm moving to 275/35/18 R6s this summer). The increase in all around performance between the three was obviously a lot. If you don't want to mess with swapping wheels/tires for events (and depending on how many miles you put on the car), you could maybe get away with it and run something like the Kumhos all the time as they don't wear quite as fast as something like the R6s. That's what I did all last summer and since you're in Texas the ambient temps shouldn't get too bad to be dangerous. I would probably only do that if you got a good deal on them though (I picked these up on closeout for $100 each. Good considering the usual ~$250 price tag). I'm also curious what tires you ran and only saw a 4 psi increase. With my previous tires, I could start in the morning at 30 psi and hit upwards of 46 psi by the end of a session.
As for the brakes. I wouldn't run the HPS as they're worse than stock. Typically the HP+/HPS combo is pretty good. That's what I used to run street and track and thought it worked for me pretty well as the HP+ is about as good as you can get and still be safe for the street. That said, though, my last set (I've used 3 now I think) only last me about a month and 3 or so track days before they were gone. I now run DTC-70s on the track. It's really not that hard to just swap them at the track. I also have the UUC two-piece rotors up front, SS lines, and TiSpeed shims. I know it probably sounds like a placebo effect, but I noticed a difference in turn in even on the street with the rotor change.
Some weight loss would be awesome. I know people seem to think that is a lost cause with these cars, but I don't think a couple hundred pounds is that unrealistic and should make a somewhat noticable change. Even just common parts, the weight adds up. Headers drops pounds, lw flywheel/clutch set-ups, 2-piece rotors, lighter wheels, etc. I really want to swap my seats as well. Oh speaking of that, if you don't already have a CG Lock, pick one up as it helps a lot with keeping you in your seat and thus also allows faster lap times.
Overall, I've been pretty happy with my car's performance on track and I really don't even have that many mods. Other than the brake set-up already mentioned, I have the BMR front STB, rear STB, Kooks/cats/Corsa, r-comps, and 105k mile FE4/stock suspension set-up.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

Stock sized GY Eagle F1s front and rear.

Not the best performing tire, but it was the same, front an rear. I'm looking to get the car to handle and balanced. Increasing grip all the way around doesn't necessarily change balance. It can certainly mask it or band-aid it.

But this isn't my track car ... its an occasional play thing.



Edit:
Forgot about the built-in G-Meter.

1.03 <==> 0.97

jerrycecco

WOW, great price, was that for NEW tires?
where?
web site? phone?

jerrycecco@gmail.com

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Yeah, they were brand new on Tirerack. The previous summer I picked up the Dunlop high performance tires I had also for $100 each and $60 rebate that covered shipping. Just have to keep a look out.