speedbugy996

Turn 13 is pretty common place to crash actually, especially if one has turned off traction control and doesn't get the entry right and lifts mid corner to try and save the exit. Of course by then it's usually too late. The kink though, that corner if infamous for taking out cars, but great corner when ya get it right.

Whitnith

iTrader: (2)

Yep, at RA.

Yeah, the word is that splitter alone was a $1,200 piece. It was destroyed.

Whitnith

iTrader: (2)

I let my friend take my car out for a couple laps since he used all his pads the first day and had nothing to drive the second.

He tried to see if my car will do 13 flat. It will. Complete with using *all* the rumbles, dirt and access road... Also him yelling "hold on!" at me while he did it...

After that I told him to take it down a notch, even though he already was only going 8/10ths.

NickD

Nice number choice



Btw, where did you get your numbers from? Are they vinyl magnetic?

RyBread761

iTrader: (2)

Nice track that youre at there...hahaha. I have a little detail shop inside the track and I work at a garage 3 miles from NJMP. Local?

NickD

Sorta local, northern Jersey. About 2 hours away. I haven't gone this season back down. Heading up to Watkins Glen and Thompson. Then I'm done for the season. I may be heading back down there next year. I've yet to get on Lightning yet.

RyBread761

iTrader: (2)

Very cool

Whitnith

iTrader: (2)

Nice! 27 is what I normally run, but for some reason when I registered it didn't stick to my name, so got claimed by someone else... 127 is my backup.

These ones are vinyl, magnets will fly off at track speed at Road America. I have a set of magnets though for autox.

I have a friend with a sticker machine that makes them for me.

Powell Race Parts

iTrader: (3)

Lol whitney; you lend your car to a guy who has run his car out of brakes, and he tries 13 flat and gets away with it? "take it down a notch" you say? How about: "park the damn car Jackass you cant pay for it if you wreck and its NOT yours. " lol

Foximus

iTrader: (13)

Off to willow springs for the weekend. Practice day on Streets of Willow tomorrow to feel out all the new goodies, and time attack Sunday. Hopefully getting to keep my #05.

Whitnith

iTrader: (2)

I trust him, simple as that. He's driven it before, and knew it could handle 13 flat.

Powell Race Parts

iTrader: (3)

uh oh. then why did you tell him to take it down a notch? wondering. Can he pay for it if he wrecks it? lol. for sure it can handle 13 flat. one reason three letters lol.

YYZ

Whitnith

iTrader: (2)

To save some fuel, this was the last session when it got down to 1/4 left... I've known him for 4 years, he's been my instructor for 3 (since my second track day...) He's been doing this awhile, and is a national level autocrosser. He's one of two people I've let track it.

mongorat427

iTrader: (82)

Made a functional blade

yellowsupercharged06

iTrader: (3)

Damn looking good. How much work did that bad boy take ?

Foximus

iTrader: (13)

thats something i'm still considering Jeff.


Streets of Willow was fun.l 100+ degrees both days, but going either direction ran a 1:37.00 Only damage was a melted fan wire i need to fix so I get a rad fan again....

mongorat427

iTrader: (82)

100 hrs give or take a few

speedbugy996

there ya go makin sense again lol...so far the only person I've let drive my car on track has been John Heinricy and that was quite the ride at Autobahn Country Club.

speedbugy996

I don't think I've taken turn 13 flat since I was stock motor, fe5/pedders with a hardcore bar. Not sure I'd want to even try it on a street bar, even with the slicks, your power mods will bring the speed up enough to be ....risky in the wrong hands.

Lino

Just your casual weekend auto-xer.


2009 Cobalt SS

Mods:
CM Springs
Hardcore Bar
K&N
ZZP Catless DP
HPTuned 20PSI
Stock wheels with Hankook Ventus V12 225/40R18
Stock Brake Pads


Future mods:
Hankook RS3 225/40R18
Clutch (not sure what one yet)
CABs

Foximus

iTrader: (13)

Stoptech or Hawk HP+ pads. Thoughts / input?

mongorat427

iTrader: (82)

Signed up for this. Cant wait

Ohio Musclecar Challenge Pitts Int. Race Wampum PA.(Team TA)

Sponsored By:

Forgeline Wheels
R&H Motor Group.
A Plus Powder Coaters, Inc.

Date: August 16th & 17th, 2014

Limit 60 Cars

Where: 201 Penndale Road, Wampum, PA 16157

Event:
Saturday: Road Race North Track 1.6 mile Coarse
Sunday: Autocross
Event Run by: Bob Bertelsen/Orange Cone Racing
Cost: $250 (Price includes transponder, lunch and dinner on Saturday)
Spectators $5, pay at gate

Proceeds benefit Victory Junction Gang

This is a Team TA Contingency event

Optional Friday Cruise I have arranged a cruise for Friday afternoon and evening. This optional, not mandatory and does not add any points to the event. It is just something to do.

Starts at 2pm sharp at Pitt Race track, stops at A Plus Powder Coaters, Doc Snyder's personnel car collection and then Dutch Hause for dinner and back to the track around 8.

Flash Light Drags There will be flash light drags Saturday night. This is not an official part of Ohio Musclecar Challenge, but an event being held at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The cost is $25. For more info: Flashlightdrags.com

Saturday we have the air conditioned club house that overlooks the north track were we will be racing. Lunch & dinner included

BA89

iTrader: (1)

I don’t get on here much and wanted to share my thoughts as the highest placing non-AWD car at Nationals this year in 12th. Apologies for the long post as I want to share all my thoughts.

After racing a Neon in FSP the last two years it was a big change racing on street tires for the first time ever. I wasn't sure where I fell performance wise until Wilmington Tour when I was up by 2 tenths on Wayne (2015 WRX) after day 1 and then ended up 2nd by 63 thousands. Wayne ended up 2nd in DS this year at Nationals. I've been at events on concrete at Oscoda where I'd base my times on GS front runners Azmath Muhammad (Celica) and Jon Rogers (SRT-4). I'd run times right in line with them and sometimes I'd straight time them. So I felt pretty good with the car setup and my driving knowing GS has been straight timing DS at many National events.
At Nationals on West course my 1st run raw time was within 3 tenths of Mike Wood (DS winner ’13 WRX) but with a cone. I struggled with cones and then blew my 3rd run so there went my trophy chances. I drove like jojo the circus monkey on day 2.

Here are some additional thoughts from my first year on street tires:

- I only bought 6 tires all year and didn't really need to buy 2 of them. Through Wilmington Tour I was on Hankook R-S3 V2 225/45-17 square (7.5" rim width) and decided switch to 245/40-17 on the front after Wilmington and for the rest of the year. I honestly couldn't tell a major difference in car performance but it did feel like once I changed to 245s up front I was getting less and less into the ABS.
- 36f/34r pressures all season regardless of event. Always bleed down after each run. Car was very consistent from location to location and allowed me to focus on driving/line and not the car.
- Car was the loosest it's been all year at Lincoln for Nationals. I did a TnT session on Monday (which was a cluster) and the car felt loose but driveable. After almost hitting a worker on the far end of the course, they were fixing a cone in the right hand sweeper after the slalom and I wasn't looking up enough I called it a day. Looking back I think that really rattled me more than I thought.
- I believe the above loose condition is also why I had cone issues on the West course. I was turning in as I normally would and the car was rotating faster than expected. I decided to drive through it rather than make any changes which I feel was the right thing to do but didn't work out in the end. I’m not a fan of making adjustments in between runs.
- At Lincoln I had no pick up on rear tires after 1st or 2nd run. And a ton of pick up after 3rd run. About half way through my 3rd run on day 1 I could feel the rear get even more insecure.
- I've never sprayed tires all year as I never felt them really go away once they get hot. Maybe at Lincoln that was the wrong approach as once the rears got hot by 3rd run they started to get some pick up. On day 2 on the East course I decided to spray tires (since everyone else was) and the car didn't get any rear pick up but it also never felt like it was "biting" into the surface and more or less just skimming across the top.

Overall it was a fun year learning street tires. My biggest expense was maintenance items (new front hubs before Wilmington, new rear hubs before Nationals, brake pads, brake rotors, brake calipers, brake lines, bushings, tie rod ends, sway bar endlnks, etc) as my 5 year old Cobalt has spent most of its life as a race car and is wearing through parts.

With that out of the way here is my set:
Car: 2009 Cobalt SS, Sport Red Tint Coat, G85, high rise rear wing, no sunroof. I’m the 2nd owner and the original owner was the Lordstown plant manager.
Weight: 2865 at Nationals with 3 gals. Gas
Mileage: Current has just over 70K with 4 years of racing on it.

Interior/Misc
- Schroth 4 point harness
- I sit very upright close enough to the steering wheel that I can rest my palms on the top of the steering wheel
- Floor mats removed
- I always go through the same procedure that as soon as I get in the car I turn off traction and ESC
- OEM air filter. K&N just gets too dirty too fast especially if you live in a dusty environment.
- Muffler delete, cut off right at the muffler and had a straight pipe to exit at stock location.
- Try and run with gas around 1/8-1/4.


Front End
- Koni yellow inserts on full soft
- Strut mod for more camber. Loosened all bolts and tried to use any compliance to get as much camber as possible.
- Did the above for as much caster as possible as well.
- 0 toe – I’ve tried various levels of toe out and felt it was too surface dependent on if it helped or hurt
- Make sure your sway bar is centered
- OEM front pads. For me any front pad more aggressive than stock takes away the ability to trail brake. Meaning the car becomes too front brake heavy with my driving style.
- TCabs are the non-void Malibu style by Moog. When I replaced the original ones at the beginning of the year I about swore off the car. Hardest damn job to get those bolts out. Yes the design sucks, yes you have to stay on the stockish design, so don’t let this be a mental block into having fun and going fast.

Rear End
- Koni yellow shocks on full soft
- Powell XXX rear bar – This is the one change that completely turned the car around and made me want to race it this year as I was up on the air on what I was going to do.
- OEM rear pads. I’ve tested with Hawk HP+, Stop Tech, and Carbotech AX6 and feel the car was always best on the OEM pads. Going with a more aggressive rear pad does help with trail braking. Biggest difference is with the OEM rear pads I feel like I would get into the ABS less, the feeling of “ice mode” goes away, and if need be I can get on the brake hard in a turn and the car doesn’t want to spin out. This has allowed me to adjust my line to go harder into turns knowing if I had get on the brakes I could with confidence.
- I have strung the car to make sure the rear end is square. Took some time to get it right and was well worth the effort.

Wheels & Tires
- Sport Edition A8 17x7.5” from the tire rack. I needed a new set of rims due to cracking one this past winter and it was cheaper to go with 17s for rims and tires. No real logic here, just what was the cheapest at the time.
- Started out with Hankook R-S3 V2s 225/45-17 square, switched to 245/40-17 up front. Moving forward I would do 245/40-17 all around so you can rotate front to rear and flip to add longevity.
- What I like about the Hankooks is they have a very nice audible tone. As you push harder you are able to hear right as they are about to break away or if they start to chatter. Makes it very easy to adjust your input to bring them back under you.
- Pressures are 36 front and 34 rear. I’ve been all over the board and settled on this as the car felt very balanced regardless of event location and inspired confidence in really attacking the course.


As I said earlier I had to do a lot of maintenance on the car this year. Most of this is from just not having the time to go through the car whenever I get a chance and racing so many consecutive weekends. I’m starting to get some strange noises from the front again so either I’ve gone through another set of front hubs or more likely the axles are starting to go. I’ve also noticed the rear twist beam bushings are starting to tear as well so I’ll need to replace those.

Really no secrets with how the car is setup and with how consistent it is has allowed me to really focus on driving. I should also state that I only ran this year on concrete at Peru, Wilmington, and Oscoda. It’s more a function of my work schedule then anything so I do not know how the car will do on tarmac. I should know in a few weeks as I plan on doing some events with Chicago and Milwaukee Regions.

As always your mileage may vary and what works for one might not work for the other.

speedbugy996

what springs are you running BA?

ssyellow

Thanks for the post BA, appreciate you taking the time to write that up.