Two votes for bronze, guess I'll hit the buy button

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go bronze once the time comes. They do have a Matte silver/grey option as well but my wheels are so consistently covered in brake dust I think they'll end up looking ugly haha.

 

Yes for bronze wheels! That said, Im a fan of the Konig Countergram in black with machined lip.

 

I have black and bronze options for myself to switch between... bronze is nicer when clean but its rare that my wheels are that clean... YMMV lol

 

Nice work with the ducting. Patching those little gaps like that will result in big differences, it really does add up. I know from experience.

As for the wheels, I'm into the bronze. The black hides brake dust better, but they are kinda just meh.. at least in pictures. In person black wheels can look good, but they almost always fall short in pics. What other colors were you considering?

 

I'm in the same boat. I clean my wheels about half as often as I need to haha. I still think bronze doesn't look too terrible with some brake dust on it.

That's about it as far as color considerations go. I'm really partial to bronze on car wheels in general, just went black with the current wheels because I felt like it went with the "color scheme".

Sounds like three votes for bronze (at least that's what I'm taking it as)! I'll order the wheels sometime next month. Also solved this in another thread but it's looking like they'll be getting wrapped in Maxxis RC-1s.

On another note, has anyone taken advantage of the Advance Auto Parts closeout sale that's going on right now? Around 50-70% off everything in-store and even more for some replacement parts. I grabbed four rear brake rotors and two sets of rear pads for $50 before tax. Are the pads any good? It doesn't matter, for $9 a set they're gonna work great on the street. Also grabbed a ton of tools for my track weekend toolkit. Score!

Don't mind the cheap toolbox that's in two pieces. Had to take a couple corners hard on the way home.

 

I'll have to look into that sale. It feels like most of the time local parts stores are 2-3x the price of Rockauto, so these days I barely bother checking their prices, or going there for anything other than generic universal parts and things I need that day. Pretty much the only parts I've intentionally bought at a chain store in the past 5 years are a radiator and alternator that come with lifetime warranties and are more easily exchanged locally (or on a road trip).

I'm partial to Bronze myself. It's a nice bit of color on silver or grey cars. Black hides all the details of a wheel and flattens it out.

 

I'm with you there. Sometimes the prices for things at the parts stores don't even make sense. O'reilly down the street from me has O2 sensors for my car listed at $256 lol. Still, at 90% off, most things are currently a bargain. I'll be grabbing a set of spark plugs for my van later as they have Motorcraft ones at $1.65 a piece. That's a fraction of what I can get them through work for lol.

First track day with the 2.5 and completed aero kit was a success!!

Finished the day shaving 3.6 seconds off of my PB from last month. Nice, especially considering these tires are about to cord. That sub-2 is easily within reach.

I grabbed the trailer from Uhaul Thursday night, got to the track, slept, blah blah blah, it's the same story every time.


I know the binder is backwards. I'm left handed and will not be confined by the laws of a right-handed world. Sue me.

This track day was teed up to be perfect for my current goals. As stated previously, I really want to optimize the car's setup this year as opposed to throwing upgrades at it to go faster. I was going to have to do a lot of this today as well, since I set the car up to understeer more during my last track day (running all the front aero but no wing yet). To my advantage, this was my buddy's event. Having instructor status, I could jump into any session/group I wanted. I took advantage of this and ran tons of sessions for 4-5 laps at a time so I could make changes and gather data. I had my recently-acquired tire pyrometer and pressure gauge on hand and was ready to actually use them.


This is the only pic I took of my data sheets at the beginning of the day. I don't think I was reading tire temps correctly yet. At the end of the day, I was getting temps pretty even across each tire in the mid-130s, with the rear tire inner edges being a little hotter than the outers.

Last week, I'd set the wing AOA at roughly 1.5* to start with and raised the rear of the car ~2mm since I'd previously taken all of the rake out of it to counteract the lack of rear aero. Session one, the car was way understeery, but I pulled a 2:03.92, 2.1 seconds faster than my previous PB here. Still, I wasn't going to be content with only gaining two seconds from the engine swap and wing. I raised the rear ride height two turns (~4mm) and flattened the wing out to 1.0*. The car felt way better the next session. It was way more eager to turn in and wasn't suffering from understeer as much as before. Additionally, the car felt like it picked up speed at the end of each long straight, as if the wing was acting like a parachute before. Big win. It was getting warmer out, though, and I only managed a 2:04.08 despite the car feeling way better. Throughout the rest of the day, I dropped the wing angle to 0.6*, took one click out of the front dampers and added three clicks in the rear. The car still could use a little more oversteer and I'll be adding a little more rear ride height before the next track day

Halfway through the day, I shifted my focus to tire pressures. I've been running 24PSI cold at ~60* ambient and not checking hot pressures at all. The next session out, I came in and recorded hot pressures of LF: 30PSI RF: 31PSI LR: 28PSI, RR: 29PSI. I dropped all pressures to 28psi and went back out for another quick session. That was good for a half second, PB was at 2:03.5 now. Came in and dropped them again to 27PSI and went out for that session in the video. I have no explanation for what happened aside from the excitement of chasing those Shelbies and C8, but I shaved a whole second and dropped my time to a 2:02.39. The C8 and I were right on pace with each other during the laps after the video ended and we ran a series of consistent low-2:03s. The driver came and found me after the session and we shared a high five and some seriously-excited words lol.



All in all, great shakedown on the new engine and aero setup. I didn't have to tend to the car once during the day. Oil pressure stayed the same before and after and there's currently no weird noises coming from the car so I'm stoked. Cooling system is working great even with the stock radiator still. Coolant temps didn't get above thermostat temp at any point, though oil temps are about 10-15* higher than with the 2L. Highest I saw was 240*.

The 2.5 is great on track. I was able to eliminate one downshift compared to last time and let the low-end torque pull me through turn 2 where the 2L needed to be in second gear to keep momentum. The fact that it pulls harder all the way to redline is nice as well. With the stock 2L, the party's over after 6k which can be a bummer on long, high speed straights. My top speed increased 4mph over last time even with the wing being added, so I'm happy with that.

The car's got a sub-2 in it here for sure, especially running CW which is generally a second faster than what we ran this weekend. As for excuses, well I've got one...



I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that switching from these heat-cycled, chunking NT05s will net some solid improvements

Bonus post, I've been following/chatting with this dude on Instagram for a while. Guy's from Pennsylvania and drove his homebrewed Chevy Caprice time attack car out here to spend a month running track days all over SoCal. The car is probably the most awesome vehicle I've seen in person. 315s, gutted, trash can aero, ALL the vents, and it's much quicker than it looks. We were running in near-perfect sync on the last session until I got excited and blew off into the dirt on the last corner. I'll post that video later lol.



Got one of his signature stickers to slap on the NC as well.

 

Congrats on the great results! That's moving right along at Chuck...

A pyrometer is definitely the right tool, but hard to use without a crew... To get really useful data, you need to pull into the hot pit right off a hot lap and have someone take temps for you. By the time you pull off, get back to the pits, get out and take readings, the tires will have cooled enough to skew the data. With lots of camber, the outside will cool much faster than the inside at slow speeds.

Love the Impala. That's one hell of a boat to turn into a track car! Needs black/white livery and red/blue lights...

 

Sick updates, the car is singing!

Also stumbled across this:

 

Good work on the PB, congratulations. The wing introduces a significant trade-off between DF/cornering, and Vmax. On a fast open track, Vmax probably rules, on a tight/twisty track high DF for higher cornering speeds. It pays to look at the L/D curves for different AoA values, if you haven't you might be surprised to see how much DF is produced at 0*, or even negative AoA. This is where keeping records comes into its own - just make sure you keep repeatable readings - take them from the same spot at each venue EVERY time. Reset the wing every time you adjust ride height/rake, change tyres, anything that might influence the AoA of the airfoil. After a while you will develop a 'feel' for each track, and for your high, medium and low DF settings, and only need to fine tune as power levels and grip levels change.

Seconding Roda on the need to get those temps from the pyrometer as close to the track as you can.

And a hobby horse of mine ... if you are fast enough to be hanging with a C8, get yourself a HANS - and wear it every time you strap into a harness.

 

Not a bad way to get your setup roughed in, but I wouldn't make a lot of changes with those tires. Setups are best done on sticker tires or as close as possible. Make sure you get those ambient temps written down too.

 

Thanks, all! I appreciate all the feedback from you wiser folks as well. I know I'm not doing everything correctly but I'm trying to take steps in the right direction.

I got a bit of that correct. Did make sure to pull in straight off a hot lap and was pitted close to the track exit so I had that going for me. But yeah, I only had a buddy ready to get temps for me on one occasion (the time where I recorded temps in the mid-130s). Great point about the insides holding heat longer than the outsides, I'll take that into consideration the next time around and make sure to have a helper ready to record temps right off the track.

Thanks Nate! Yeah she sounds sublime at full throttle. About as good as a 4 banger can sound without blow off valve noises...

I'll own it. I ended up on a group drive with Mr. NiteMoves a few weekends ago and we've driven together with some mutual buddies a couple times since. The guy's one of the most enjoyable dudes to be around. We went up super early to shoot that mini-film last weekend and managed to see only a couple other cars all morning. That being said, I'm still not on the late night/double lane crew haha.

I'd like to make it known (if it wasn't already obvious) that the C8 was absolutely being underdriven. As much as I love my car, I know it's not on pace with a C8 at full tilt yet But yes, point taken. A HANS device has been on my list for some time now. I'm planning on getting fitted for one sometime next month.

Copy that, I know 9LR has the L/D data for the airfoil on their website. I haven't peeked at it yet but will print out the graph for my own reference. I hadn't even considered that the wing will still produce downforce at a negative AOA. Makes sense, though. It's good to know that 0* isn't the absolute flattest the wing can go. I'm keeping my digital angle finder in my "racing" toolkit now too and will keep track of AOA with ride height changes, etc.

Note taken. Yeah, "roughed in" is a great way to put it. I mainly wanted to get the over/understeer balance dialed in since I knew it was going to be way out of whack with the new wing and previous adjustments I'd made. It's looking like the car will be running RC-1's by February, but I'll likely do another track day or two on the other set of NT05s I have still. I'll consider this "practice" for the time being.

 

Nice work! I need to start taking data acquisition more seriously. I have a similar notebook I keep recording my setup, ambient conditions, lap times, and impressions on the cars handling. But as far as data goes, I have a free lap timer and a GoPro, and that's about it. I'm sure I could learn a lot more with a bit more equipment.

Another vote for the HANS device. I got a Schroth SHR III (I think) from Demon Tweeks in the UK, it was substantially cheaper than buying from a US seller. At the grassroots level, personal safety is all over the place. Last track day I jumped out of my car with an extinguisher because someone else's car was smoking - he had a fire suit on, but didn't have an extinguisher or even a 5/6 point harness in a winged C5 Vette. My only fire "protection" was jeans and a ratty old cotton M1965 field jacket. I guess I'm going to need a new SA2025 helmet here soon, sigh.

 

The car does look way more dialed now, getting closer! It does look a touch understeery but no more of that snap oversteer either. You'll find a balance in there somewhere. Great driving.

 

Thanks, dudes! Yeah, a HANS is gonna be a priority for sure. Option, very true about grassroots safety being all over the place. I was very surprised at my first track day that even a fire extinguisher wasn't mandated to get your car on track. I guess mandating and enforcing additional safety devices would cut down on driver counts in most organizations. I'll check out Demon Tweeks and see what they have. Honestly, I haven't done much research yet so I need to get informed.

As promised, here's the clip of me going into the dirt right before the finish line. Really I just dropped two off, then decided to accept my session was over instead of trying to bring 'er back on track. Bending one wheel last month was enough. The course marshal sounded angry about my slide at first but ended up smiling and chuckling after our brief exchange. Seriously, I swear. You just can't hear it in the video


Lil' sumbitch doesn't look too shabby in pics either.

 

Haha good stuff man. Holy runoff man that's nice. Do they smooth out that runoff periodically? Good thing no big ruts or divots off track. As other said, I'd get yourself a HANS asap. I got mine from demon tweeks as well years ago.. lol

I've learned getting back on track when off should be done VERY gingerly. I was 4 off going straight and tried to get back on track too quickly and got back on the throttle.. spun the rear around and fortunately didn't hit anything.

 

Hunting down C8's? Maybe the NC was the right move.

Photo's aren't loading for me right now but good stuff man. Car looks sorted and I'm glad to see the upgrades are paying off.

 

Me too! Also years ago, not sure how their pricing stands up now.

You might also want to check out the Simpson(?) version, which has the spine down your back with chest straps to hold it in place. If you are doing tuition with a 3-point belt, there is no harness to hold it in position. Note that because your spine can move forward in a 3-pointer there is less risk (but not no risk) of neck damage compared to a properly tight harness.

 

Yeah, we're spoiled with our runoffs here in the high desert haha. To my knowledge, they don't smooth out the runoffs often. At least I've never once seen or heard of them doing it. The "dirt" you're seeing is mostly soft sand on top, though, and doesn't develop ruts or harden after it rains. Lucky for that.

Thanks, man! That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me this month hahaha. Hopefully we'll be onto slingshotting past all C8's one day

Thanks for the heads up on the Simpson version, Gee! Hadn't even considered that. I'll dig into it further.

Looks like Demon Tweeks is still competitive on pricing. You guys are all running the 20* recline HANS devices, yeah? From what I've read the 30* is mostly geared toward vehicles with a fully reclined/lying down seating position. Rookie question I know, but I'd love your guys' feedback.

 

I just pulled up my old receipt from Jan 2017, man it's been a while. I'm running the Simpson Hans sport 2 which has a 20 degree angle. It was $251.61 back then, looks like it's $302 now? That's not horrible, thought it'd be worse like most things these days..