Not so much in cornering, but under hard braking yes...

Depending on track and drivingstyle, 35 - 40 FR and 30 - 35 RR HOT. Start on the higher side and let air out untill you just start to roll. Keep an eye on that little arrow on the side of your tires. The idea is to run as low pressure as possible on the front for max grip and dial in the rear to suit your style.
I run 245/40/17 Yokohama AD08 BTW.

 

Ya I'll sign up here in a few weeks or so.

 

Weird question, I thought putting 19s on these would make it better in the corners, due to the grip. I see you have 17s. I want to start racing my cobalt too, would like to figure out what to get first.

I have GMS1
K&N
ZZP Downpipe Catless
Muffler Delete

What should I get next?

 

Bigger wheels = More rotational inertia (usually)

This means:
Slower acceleration
Slower deceleration
Slower turn-in

Slower acceleration and deceleration are because there's more weight further out from the center of the wheel and therefore harder to start/stop the wheel. (Rotational inertia for an object like a wheel is mass times radius squared and divided by two. That means that the distance from the center of the wheel makes a huge difference in performance!)


I=Inertia, m=Mass, and r=Radius from the center

The slower turn-in is because you're trying to change the axis of rotation of the wheel. More rotational inertia means it'll be harder to do that quickly.

 

And to address the 'usually' part of the post up there, if you get 19's that weigh less than the 18's on the car, I am sure 17's weigh even less than the 19s, lol.

 

So over the weekend I was at Blackhawk Farms Raceway for a lapping day. My first session I was out was completely horrible as I was trying out EBC Yellows for the first time and apparently they were not completely broken in yet, so they were fadding out on me like no other!! I was a scary feeling for sure.

My 2nd session out was alot better though, after the pads and rotors had a chance to cool down they performed a hell lot better, but I still wouldn't recommend EBC Yellows for HPDE driving. All I can say is I wish I had Hawk DTC-70s cause the competition in Advance group was pretty tough! Cars ranged from Vipers, C6 Z06, C5 Z06, Built EVO's, STi's, and a couple of M3's! It was nuts, but I was only passed by the C6 Z06 Vette, one viper, and one EVO so I was pretty happy about that =) Plus my GF was recording my laptimes on a stopwatch and my best was a 1:15.xxx, and after looking up the NASA TTC track record that was set at 1:21.xxx I was pretty excited!

So now I was on my 3rd session, going into my 1st lap after the warm-up and coming out of turn 4 I shifted from 2nd to 3rd gear when all of a sudden the shift linkage snapped! Needless to say that ended my day very early! Luckily I could still shift somewhat enough to get the car in gear to get closer to home until it completely broke when I was about 30 min away!! So I got outta the car and manually shifted it into 3rd gear and got the car home that way, boy did the clutch not like me anymore =)

So all in all it was a good day until that happened. I wasn't pissed about it or anything but just sucked! I'm not worried about warranty issues cause I had already taken the car because the shifter felt very stiff and very crunchy while shifting and they told me it was normal. So, i'm kinda glad it did break just to say told you so!! Car is now getting towed to my dealer =)

 

Cobalt Friction XR1. EBC has never had a track worthy pad.

 

yea I was skeptical about using the EBC Yellows but I got them for free, so why not try them ya know? lol.. all I can say is I was very disappointed in them!

 

Your using XR1 pads front and rear right?

 

HP+ on the front.
I was on the track last week and left them on the car for daily use this week. So far I am pretty happy with them.

 

I dunno how you're making it on those pads without setting them ablaze. They're not bad, but they die horribly when they get really hot. If you think the HP+ are nice, try the Cobalt Friction XR1 sometime.

Just the front. The rears have enough bite when they get up to temp. I'm running stock pads back there, and I have good pad and rotor wear so far.

 

What would you recommend for those of us that don't though? For instance, I've already got R1s and HPS back there, so what do you think I should look into for a track pad in the back? Based on your other comment, I'm guessing not HP+. lol

 

HPS or HP+ is fine for the rear.

 

i run hps front and rear and have been very pleased with them at the track. i do need to change my fluid to the gold. blue is great, but gold is better. stock fluid has been boiling too much.

dont hate on ebc pads or rotors, i run them on my prelude for track days. they brake amazing, i even out brake my friends pro3 car with them.

 

Where are you guys purchasing your brake fluid?

 

tc motorsports in auburn, wa. most performance retailers can get a hold of the the brake fluid.

 

What brand of gold stuff are y'all talking about?

 

How?! I've smoked HPS in a 1 minute autocross run, how the hell do you run them on a track?! and your boiling stock fluid before HPS pads?

Oh, I usually just search for the fluid I want on Google shopping and go with amazon or the cheapest reputable place unless I'm already planning on ordering from SPS, Pegasus or Summit.

 

[QUOTE=Wangspeed;4983099]I dunno how you're making it on those pads without setting them ablaze. They're not bad, but they die horribly when they get really hot. If you think the HP+ are nice, try the Cobalt Friction XR1 sometime.

The Cobalt Friction XR1 have a very agressive initial bite with a fast ramp torque level. Similar to the Grand Sport GS1's I used to race in my Cobra in SGT2, it was ok with 315 BFG R1's.
Satisfied Motorsports used to sponser me in 05 and 06 with GS pads. Great product, pitty they don't have anything for the SS/TC...yet
http://www.ibrakeparts.com/products/...t/Default.aspx

With AD 08's (street tires) on the Cobalt I prefer a softer initial bite (easier to heel & toe) and not too aggressive torque ramp. Plus I am too lazy these days to swap brakes at the track...

 

i dont know how i dont burn them up. they seem like great pads, way better than stock.

maybe i thresh hold brake like a boss LOL

 

HPS pads are not suitable for aggressive track driving. Stock pads handle heat better than those. I'll be upgrading to Hawk DTC-70 for the front and DTC-60s for the rear. NASA has a Hawk contingency so i'll be running those.

ATE Super Blue and ATE Gold are the exact same, just different colors. I've never had a problem with this brake fluid and its the best price for the liter.

 

mron, how far have you got with your TT prep? I'm curious about the autopower cage fitment or if it's better to go custom. Still long time off for me, just wondering what your planning.

 

Custom is going to be better every single time for both safety and chassis rigidity. You're in NASCAR land. You have a lot of good options down there for cage builders. You should see the prices in my area for a high quality cage :-(

Autopowers are fine, but usually the fitment is suboptimal. You end up with door bars that don't give you a ton of side clearance, and a halo that is too low. Still, better than nothing, but if you have a choice, go custom from some that knows NASA/SCCA cage rules.

 

I'm pretty much done, just finding the right brake pads for the car. I think your mistaken as to what NASA TT is. The car is classified in TTC in stock form and is already denoted 7pts from the 20pts you can use as far as mods go. So i'm not putting a cage in the car just keeping it within it's class. If I wanted to go all out then i'd be shooting for TTU but that won't be for along time.

 

Isn't a 4 point required? And I don't think it costs you points unless it goes through the firewall? Guess I'm gonna have to read up.