[R3ctivision]

I decided to keep notes of my track driving experiences in the 1LE, inspired by my new habit of doing the same in iRacing. Here is what I learned at my first track day with the car at Sonoma. It was May 22 with Hooked on Driving in the advanced open-passing group D.

Bone stock, including brake pads and tires. Swapped to Dexos2 5W-40 oil, DOT4 brake fluid, replaced differential gear oil after break-in all according to the owner's manual. Carefully bedded brake pads during first session out -- got them smoking and rotors uniformly blue with the transfer layer.

Alignment:
Front: -2.6deg camber, -0.05deg toe out
Rear: -1.6deg camber, +0.18deg toe in

PDR video:

I was not pushing 100% here, still getting used to the car. Throttle curve is very sharp around 3/4 of the way through, so it is difficult to modulate power on corner exit. PTM Race mode is awesome. I can definitely feel it intervene on corner exit but it helps especially with the sharp throttle. I can definitely go faster particularly in Turns 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10 -- all of them can carry more entry and apex speed for sure. Max oil temp was 270degF, oil pressure was good all day. Used auto-rev match while I was getting comfortable with the car this time out. Normally I'd heel-toe but this system works so well! I think I still am about 5 seconds off the pace with this car (best lap was a 1:54).

I'd like ideally around -3deg camber in the front. Outer tire wear was definitely worse than on the inside. I can't get any more camber stock though. Same for rears, probably -2deg or so would be ideal.

Tires stick like glue! These stock Goodyears are awesome. Brakes were also fantastic and easy to modulate.

For anyone interested, you can download my notes (in Excel spreadsheet form and zipped) here. They contain tire tread temperatures, track temperatures, and brake temperatures for each session.

I did have a concern with the front outer brake caliper bleed nozzles seeping. Even after they were tightened up and cleaned up, they wept again. Anyone else observed this? I think I had seen this issue with the C7 on the Corvette forums, but not sure what the fix was. Also, the brake pads had tons of greasy goop that melted and splashed all over the inner side of the wheel barrels. I worried it would get onto the pads and rotors but after 3 sessions it stopped melting. Pics are attached for reference.

Finally, although I installed ZL1Addons rock guards all around the day before Sonoma, I still got marbles streaked down the sides of the car in front of the rear wheels. The rubber all came off, but I actually got several big scuffs in front of the right rear wheel that didn't come out. Next time I'll coat this entire area of the car with painter's tape.

[AZ_1LE]

Nice driving, dude! I was there a few weekends ago working for GMG on a few of their Cayman GT4 clubsports that are running in the GT3 Cup Trophy series. Awesome track, but DAMN was it hot, and I live in Phoenix







FYI, I didn't have issues with weeping brake fluid, but did have issues it at my first track day with grease puking out of the calipers. I found out it was the grease they put on the ends of the pads to slide in the caliper. Basically, they used way too much, the caliper got hot, and it dripped down. I did end up getting on my pads, which sucked -

[AZ_1LE]

By the way, they were running the same track config and 1:54 is within just a few seconds of what the race prepped Caymans were running. The GT3 Cup cars were running mid to low 1:40's.

[glamcem]

congrats on the car and your first event. Small weeping on the brake fluid is normal. It happens to me too on the first session after I bleed the brakes before an event.
You may use some water and towel to clean it. Make sure you don't over tighten the bleeder screws but they're also tight enough.

If you have an air compressor, my friend mentioned that he uses to get rid of the small amount of fluid in the screws after tighten them

[Electric]

Seems like alot of people complain about overly sensitive throttle in the mid range. I wonder if it's a perception due to the throttle being too slow during its initial repose (due to the shape of stock throttle body.) Another words, perhaps it's not that it's too sensitive, it's just the slow initial throttle response miscalibrates your senses.

If that's really the case, perhaps ported throttle body can solve the problem by making the entire throttle range more linear.

[seanblurr]

Nice, my favorite track for sure! My calipers weep as well, it must be 'normal'. It can be an intimating track to really push yourself, so don't harp on times too much. I posted a video in the track section if you want something to compare to. Hope to see you out there sometime!

[wjones14]

Excellent report! That track looks like awesome fun with the elevation changes. I've seen the NASCAR race there plenty of times on TV and even driven the track a lot on my PC with the old NASCAR 2003 Papyrus racing sim. But of course, nothing is like the real thing.

Your car looks great too - I'm close to ordering a 2018 Summit White 1LE, black bowties, and PDR myself - and if I do get it, the first mod would be the rock guards!

Good advice about the painter's tape too. Thanks for sharing the video and story.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by R3ctivision

...
I did have a concern with the front outer brake caliper bleed nozzles seeping. Even after they were tightened up and cleaned up, they wept again. Anyone else observed this? ...

First of all, thanks for sharing and congrats on a successful first time out!

Regarding the brake bleeders, you're not alone. The more time elapses, it seems the 6-piston calipers are prone to leaking. Mine were weeping and it took 4 heat cycles to snug them up enough to have them finally stop. Jaymsu also recently put the 6-piston kit on his SS and he had to quit his last track day early because his calipers wouldn't stop leaking all over his wheels, where his stock 4-pistons were fine. We're both veteran track guys with a lot of experience under our belt; the bleeders are at fault here.

[R3ctivision]

Originally Posted by AZ_1LE

FYI, I didn't have issues with weeping brake fluid, but did have issues it at my first track day with grease puking out of the calipers. I found out it was the grease they put on the ends of the pads to slide in the caliper. Basically, they used way too much, the caliper got hot, and it dripped down. I did end up getting on my pads, which sucked

Thanks for the comments! Did you have to throw away the pads after that, or were you able to push through it? I didn't notice any effect on braking performance, just crap all over the wheel barrel.

Originally Posted by AZ_1LE

By the way, they were running the same track config and 1:54 is within just a few seconds of what the race prepped Caymans were running. The GT3 Cup cars were running mid to low 1:40's.

Damn. In that case I am pretty happy with my times! My best ever at Sonoma was a 1:52 in a 991 GTS with ceramics. I'm hoping I will match that in the 1LE next time I go there.

Originally Posted by glamcem

congrats on the car and your first event. Small weeping on the brake fluid is normal. It happens to me too on the first session after I bleed the brakes before an event.
You may use some water and towel to clean it. Make sure you don't over tighten the bleeder screws but they're also tight enough.

If you have an air compressor, my friend mentioned that he uses to get rid of the small amount of fluid in the screws after tighten them

Thanks glamcem, that's a good tip. Glad to hear I'm not the only one!

Originally Posted by Electric

Seems like alot of people complain about overly sensitive throttle in the mid range. I wonder if it's a perception due to the throttle being too slow during its initial repose (due to the shape of stock throttle body.) Another words, perhaps it's not that it's too sensitive, it's just the slow initial throttle response miscalibrates your senses.

If that's really the case, perhaps ported throttle body can solve the problem by making the entire throttle range more linear.

It's not a "throttle response" issue, it's the mapping of pedal position to throttle position. To me, throttle response means input lag: the delay from moving the pedal position to the time the throttle and engine respond. Although there is some noticeable throttle lag, that's not really what I was concerned about. It's more like if you hold the accelerator pedal around 3/4 down, the engine is putting a decent amount of power out, and then if you incrementally push further, then all of sudden the throttle opens up sharply. It seems to me like a steep throttle mapping. For that reason I was overly cautious on corner exit.

Originally Posted by seanblurr

Nice, my favorite track for sure! My calipers weep as well, it must be 'normal'. It can be an intimating track to really push yourself, so don't harp on times too much. I posted a video in the track section if you want something to compare to. Hope to see you out there sometime!

Thanks, I'll check it out!

Originally Posted by wjones14

Excellent report! That track looks like awesome fun with the elevation changes. I've seen the NASCAR race there plenty of times on TV and even driven the track a lot on my PC with the old NASCAR 2003 Papyrus racing sim. But of course, nothing is like the real thing.

Your car looks great too - I'm close to ordering a 2018 Summit White 1LE, black bowties, and PDR myself - and if I do get it, the first mod would be the rock guards!

Good advice about the painter's tape too. Thanks for sharing the video and story.

If you ever get a chance, definitely do Sonoma, it's a blast. Actually, my first-ever HPDE was there in 2008 during a November downpour. Learned a lot that day!

Originally Posted by Ryephile

First of all, thanks for sharing and congrats on a successful first time out!

Regarding the brake bleeders, you're not alone. The more time elapses, it seems the 6-piston calipers are prone to leaking. Mine were weeping and it took 4 heat cycles to snug them up enough to have them finally stop. Jaymsu also recently put the 6-piston kit on his SS and he had to quit his last track day early because his calipers wouldn't stop leaking all over his wheels, where his stock 4-pistons were fine. We're both veteran track guys with a lot of experience under our belt; the bleeders are at fault here.

Hmm. I wonder if it is a safety problem or just a potential cosmetics issue with brake fluid eating away at the caliper paint and the wheel finish? I'll keep a very close eye on it this weekend, I'm headed to Auto Club Speedway for my first time at that track. Worried about braking into Turn 1 after the oval section!

[AZ_1LE]

Originally Posted by R3ctivision

Thanks for the comments! Did you have to throw away the pads after that, or were you able to push through it? I didn't notice any effect on braking performance, just crap all over the wheel barrel.

Well, I didn't notice it until I got home and took the pads off the next day to check them out. But during the track day, the brakes seemed to fade and then come back, and the grease explained it.

[seanblurr]

Originally Posted by R3ctivision

Damn. In that case I am pretty happy with my times! My best ever at Sonoma was a 1:52 in a 991 GTS with ceramics. I'm hoping I will match that in the 1LE next time I go there.

Definitely possible. I ran 149.2 my first time out a few weeks ago, the car should be able to break into the 48's.

[Electric]

Originally Posted by R3ctivision

It's not a "throttle response" issue, it's the mapping of pedal position to throttle position. To me, throttle response means input lag: the delay from moving the pedal position to the time the throttle and engine respond. Although there is some noticeable throttle lag, that's not really what I was concerned about. It's more like if you hold the accelerator pedal around 3/4 down, the engine is putting a decent amount of power out, and then if you incrementally push further, then all of sudden the throttle opens up sharply. It seems to me like a steep throttle mapping. For that reason I was overly cautious on corner exit.

Perhaps I should not have used the term "throttle reposes". Reading your reply I do think we are both talking about the same thing.

I do not know for a fact that it will work with the 6th gen (mine won't arrive until August), but installing ported throttle body on 5th gen SS 1LE has improved my ability to modulate the throttle under medium to hard acceleration. Basically because of the shape of the throttle body, first 30% of the pedal travel gives you very little change in power. When you go past the initial 30% however, the change in power output in relation to the change in throttle position becomes much steeper. So before installing ported throttle body my 5th gen would always surprise me with how sensitive the throttle becomes when I actually want to use the power.

After I installed the ported throttle body, the relation between the pedal position and power output became noticeably more linear, and the power output has become noticeably more controllable.

Again, that's based on my experience with a 5th gen, but given that it's just a previous generation of the same car, it might very well be applicable to the 6th gens. As always, YMMV.

[formoutofchaos]

Great driving looks like an amazing track