[cvp33]

Not so fun fact, I was at VIR when Ezra Dyer slammed the tire wall in the uphill esses in the brand new Kia Stinger. I was also there when Ford brought the new GT for testing and when GM brought the C6 ZR1 (blue devil). Honestly at the time we didn’t know we were looking at the ZR1, just looked like a Z06 with a bunch of testing equipment you could see through the rear glass hatch.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by cvp33

Long strange trip for me as well. Started quarter-mile racing and became bored with taking a 10 second pass and then sitting in the pits for an hour to wait for your car to cool down, followed by another 10 second pass. Went to the SRT driving experience and caught the road racing bug for good.

Tried to road race my Chrysler 300, which got a lot of laughs, until I started hitting 170mph on the back straight and hitting 2:15 full course at VIR. Surprised a lot of people. Then on to my 2 CTSV’s (sedan, then coupe) again, trying to make a fat car fast. Not fun. Finally bought my first Z06. Followed by my second. Got my times down to 2:02. Wanted to switch from a seven speed to an automatic in the ZL1 1LE is the only automatic vehicle that I would trust for track duty. Haven’t tracked it yet but can’t wait.

Love your story getting into HPDE, as well as your choice of vehicles! Garage is beautiful too. We're in the market to upgrade our home, but I'm feeling like it may be best to wait and see what mortgage rates do. 2 or 3 car garage is high on the priority list. I've been able to make the one car detached garage work ok, but I think I've put as much on the walls as I can.

Looks like you started out with a 4th gen f-body as well. I suspect that's why we started out drag racing! Those cars (hey solid rear axle in the aughts!) were not optimized for going around corners by any means. But the last decade, or so, has been a great time to be an American car enthusiast and get into HPDE. I've been really impressed with the track weapons GM has been producing. Now we can play with the Porsches and Bimmers.

I'm planning on one or two events at VIR this year. Would be great to sync up some dates and meet at an event if you plan on tracking the ZLE this year.

[cvp33]

Thanks for the compliment. Long time getting there. Once I retire I have a bunch of tracks on my bucket list. Lucky to call VIR my home track and have lots of miles there. If you ever get a chance, have someone of equal skill follow you with their camera. It’ll surprise you. This is my buddy following me in a race prepped GT3 on slicks - me in my Z06 with NT-01’s and iron brakes with hawk pads and Castrol SRF of course. Otherwise bone stock. Very evenly matched but his brakes and crazy good as you’ll see him close on me under braking and the GT3’s are crazy good at putting the power down off apex. The Z06 is really picky about power application and frankly you could overpower any corner. Not ideal, but damned fun. The ZL1 1LE has already impressed me with how it puts down the power. Amazing chassis.

MY PDR

https://youtu.be/EKU9e19CBHY




MY BUDDY’s GT3

https://youtu.be/_U6k5fCfyrs

[cvp33]

Here’s my 4,444 pound SRT running 10’s on a little ol’ P1 blower and 7psi. Made over 650rwhp. Actually made close to 750rwhp and 11psi but we ran out of fuel and had to back her down to be safe for pump gas.

https://youtu.be/0GyjncnhQVQ

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by cvp33

Thanks for the compliment. Long time getting there. Once I retire I have a bunch of tracks on my bucket list. Lucky to call VIR my home track and have lots of miles there. If you ever get a chance, have someone of equal skill follow you with their camera. It’ll surprise you. This is my buddy following me in a race prepped GT3 on slicks - me in my Z06 with NT-01’s and iron brakes with hawk pads and Castrol SRF of course. Otherwise bone stock. Very evenly matched but his brakes and crazy good as you’ll see him close on me under braking and the GT3’s are crazy good at putting the power down off apex. The Z06 is really picky about power application and frankly you could overpower any corner. Not ideal, but damned fun. The ZL1 1LE has already impressed me with how it puts down the power. Amazing chassis.

MY PDR

https://youtu.be/EKU9e19CBHY

MY BUDDY’s GT3

https://youtu.be/_U6k5fCfyrs

Yeah would love to be out on track with some of my buddies. They've all been at this much longer and drive in the advanced solo groups (red or black w/ PCA). I'm still in an instructed intermediate group. Although at most events last year I was signed off solo after the first day, I still drive in the same group.

That said, I did get a chance to have some fun chasing a 996 earlier this year at WGI. It was an instructor taking his student out for a ride in my group. He let me by, I let him by, it was fun trying to catch him. Honestly, it taught me some good discipline -- I was pushing too hard at times trying to keep up and quickly realized I needed to rein it in and drive within my ability if I didn't want to end up in a wall.

It is incredible how the 911s put down power coming out of a corner. 100% agree. They just squat and go.

[mlee]

Originally Posted by RamAir02

Yeah would love to be out on track with some of my buddies. They've all been at this much longer and drive in the advanced solo groups (red or black w/ PCA). I'm still in an instructed intermediate group. Although at most events last year I was signed off solo after the first day, I still drive in the same group.

That said, I did get a chance to have some fun chasing a 996 earlier this year at WGI. It was an instructor taking his student out for a ride in my group. He let me by, I let him by, it was fun trying to catch him. Honestly, it taught me some good discipline -- I was pushing too hard at times trying to keep up and quickly realized I needed to rein it in and drive within my ability if I didn't want to end up in a wall.

It is incredible how the 911s put down power coming out of a corner. 100% agree. They just squat and go.

Looks like a fun track... Don't think you hit 2nd gear once.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by mlee

Looks like a fun track... Don't think you hit 2nd gear once.

Oh it's an amazing track! I'm very spoiled to have started my HPDE journey at Watkins Glen. A ton of racing history, including Formula 1. Cool Instagram to follow is watkinsglenhistoric

[Checkmate1]

This thread is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing!

As a fellow ZLE owner (2018 MY with 22,000 miles on the clock since I bought it new), I've done similar mods - SPL Rear Toe Rod, ADM V2 etc.

I also have the Katech Ported Throttle Body that significantly improves the throttle action for the car (with no off the line bogging or hesitation).

I switched to the Falken RT660's for the Street (from MPS4S) and couldn't be happier. Strongly suggest it for backroad drives or the track.

I am an active HPDE enthusiast and I firmly believe this is the best track car GM has ever sold bone stock. As a young dad - can't think of a better car for the money that is this exceptional for under $150k.

My previous ownership history (Descending) -

• 2016 C7 Z06
• 2011 BMW M3 (E9X)
• 2003 BMW M3 (E46)
• 2004 BMW Z4M

My local home track is Summit Point Main. I think you should definitely check it out.

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by Checkmate1

This thread is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing!

As a fellow ZLE owner (2018 MY with 22,000 miles on the clock since I bought it new), I've done similar mods - SPL Rear Toe Rod, ADM V2 etc.

I also have the Katech Ported Throttle Body that significantly improves the throttle action for the car (with no off the line bogging or hesitation).

I switched to the Falken RT660's for the Street (from MPS4S) and couldn't be happier. Strongly suggest it for backroad drives or the track.

I am an active HPDE enthusiast and I firmly believe this is the best track car GM has ever sold bone stock. As a young dad - can't think of a better car for the money that is this exceptional for under $150k.

My previous ownership history (Descending) -

• 2016 C7 Z06
• 2011 BMW M3 (E9X)
• 2003 BMW M3 (E46)
• 2004 BMW Z4M

My local home track is Summit Point Main. I think you should definitely check it out.

Thanks for the compliment and glad you're enjoying the thread so far.

Good feedback on the ported TB. I've been considering getting one and am always tempted when they pop up in the marketplace, but I may wait a bit and do a series of mods at once -- thinking Kong X port, TB, supporting fueling mods, etc. I'm certainly enjoying the car as-is and may keep her in her current state as long as I'm still popping in quicker lap times. By keeping the car largely the same, I have some level of certainty that I'm continuing to improve as a driver. Once I plateau (I think I can still improve another 2-3 seconds at WGI), I'll start with the go-fast-goodies.

I'll keep the Falkens in mind as well. Honestly, my PS4S tires will probably die of old age before I wear through them. Not a lot of street miles -- mostly trips to and from tracks.

I wholeheartedly agree about the value of this car in general and specifically for HPDE. All of the Porsche guys at the events are super impressed with the capabilities of the ZLE. And I've had two instructors blown away by how "nice" the interior is. I've gotten the, "Whoa. This is a Chevy?" I love that the Camaro team was able to build this monster. Whenever I read about Camaro sales or think about the lack of marketing across all trim levels of Camaro, I can't help but feel bad for the Camaro engineering team who clearly built the best car in the segment and one that can compete with the European cars 2-3x the price and, yet, didn't get the support from GM that they deserved.

Summit Point is on the list for this upcoming season! The tracks I'm trying to get to in 2023 are:
- Watkins Glen
- VIR
- Summit Point
- NJMP - Thunderbolt
- NJMP - Lightning
- Pitt Race

[RamAir02]

Welp I added another car to the fleet. Sort of unexpected, but it was a good deal I found locally. 2001 Trans Am WS6 M6 Navy Blue Metallic. Cammed, long tubes, exhaust, 4.10 gears. I was mostly interested due to the very clean exterior & interior. Almost all of these 4th gen f-bodies have tears in the seat bolsters and cracked dash mats / door panels from the sun damage. This example was garage kept. 88k miles. She sat for the last 9 years, so I need to do full fluid flush & maintenance. Whatever aftermarket clutch is in there is brutal to drive and the T56 trans is overly notchy. So I think there is an issue with hydraulics or perhaps the clutch was not shimmed. I'll probably start with a new master cylinder, new fluid & clutch bleed. If there are still issues, I'm thinking a Monster Twin Disc Clutch, slave cylinder & new pilot bearing. She's pretty though.

I have mixed feelings on the aftermarket hood (Superhawk hood) and the rear badging "WS.666" will be replaced with a factory WS6 emblem. But this is a new toy.

[DamonZ28]

Beautiful car! Looks like it's in great shape.

[RamAir02]

Finally got around to installing the Competition Motorsport Roll Bar today. Overall, really straightforward install and only took a few hours start to finish.

A good amount of time was spent drilling the holes for the frontmost mount points. That is some thick steel. I burned through a drill bit with my drill on too high of a setting. With the second bit, I switched the drill to low speed and used some 3-in-one oil. That was the better approach.

I didn't get the Schroth Profi II ASM harnesses installed today. Slightly annoying since I'll have to remove the seats again for that install. I didn't realize they only come with the snap-in brackets for the lap belt. So I ordered up the Schroth B23A Bolt-In Kit since I am using my stock seats for now. This will enable me to attach the lap belts to the stock seat belt location on each side of the seat.

[RamAir02]

Antigravity H6 / Group 48 40Ah Battery arrived today. So did my Optimate 4s 6A Lithium Charger.

Installed the Optimate pigtails on the battery so I can easily hook up the charger when the car is stored.

[RamAir02]

Took her out for a short weekend in Hudson Valley (~2 hour drive) with the wife. I think that's the first street miles she's seen in about a year other than trips to and from the track. She needs a bath badly.

Did a full Castrol SRF brake flush this morning in preparation for the HPDE season.

And finally got around to installing the SPL Toe Arms w/ eccentric lockout. Pretty easy install. Need to get an alignment now