C8 Z06

I hear you loud and clear on this. Apart from fast car slow not fun all the power is a crutch which holds ones development back. I like to start each season and finish each season with my loittle 195hp elise on 888Rs, its the metronome car, reminds me how to carry speed through corners and balance the car, there is no other way to make good time, and one can make surprsingly great time. Then after a few days once my flow is back in I can carry that over to a "faster" car like the v6 exige cup. Otherwise its just too easy to fall into bad habbits overbraking and then accelerating out, so much time lost and not any personal skill development.

As Paul Newman said of Lime rock, its not so hard to learn the track, but it takes a lifetime to master it, and it took me a decade to get to the point where I really understood what he was talking about. Still there are places where having the hp adds a dimension if youre not wasting it, like coming out the toe of the boot at the Glen, or just getting that run through the esses to pass those vettes and old cup cars on the exit, cars that would otherwise sit in your windsheild on corners and then hit the hammer down the straight.

All fun stuff, I wonder what and emira with the 4cyl mapped to 485 hp will be like, possibly cover many bases. The v6 exige cup I drive now while not having anywhere near the same terminal velocity as a new Gt3 down the straights(i'd estimate 5- 10 mph less) can simply brake later and carry more speed through corners and that with its Hp means its exit speed is apreciably quicker so its laptimes are lower and one can pass the odd Gt3 pretty as long as youre not trying to catch them halfway down a long straight, its just dicipilne and timing . A new Gt2 Rs thats anoter issue, hard to tangle with gain off corners and down the straight on big track 700hp gives. I think it was Stirling Moss who said the straights are the boring bits between the corners.

The lotus cup car has around 350-380 hp when hot, so plently of power, its just the gearing in 4 and 5 are too tall, would change that before adding more power, plus add some downforce, but then where does that circle end.
In a perfect world I'd have the new Dallara as a track weekend car, low weight, great aero, great power to weight ratio, low consumables, drive to the track on r compounds and drive home, but thats 300k and we cant get them here.

interested to hear about your catehram when you get ti done.

 

I love tracking street and race cars but you guys HAVE to try open-top cars on track. I know this is a ZO6 thread (and I don't want to get too far off topic) but the discussion has diverted into track driving

I went for a ride in a Radical with a pro driver in 2oo8 at Calabogie Motorsports Park (in Canada) and it changed me forever.

You need to trailer these cars to the track but running costs have become fairly reasonable (especially for some of the newer machines) and well worth the effort.

I was spending north of $3,000 per weekend tracking my 991.2 GT3. My Wolf GB08 will be a fraction of that (assuming I don't wreck and nothing breaks mechanically).

I have zero desire to drive an enclosed car on track now. Even Porsche Cup Car/Ferrari Challenge Cars are a yawn-fest compared to these open race cars. YMMV.

 

Would you care to give us an idea of how the 3k per weekend added up. I'm curious cause a Gt3 is on my list.

 

Sure, $3,000 is a sum of everything for the weekend. Now that I think about it, my costs were probably closer to $6,000 per event ($3,000 per day) and include:

$500 for track prep and pre-event inspection by my independent race shop. This includes religious changing of all fluids (especially engine oil and brake fluid), nut & bolt EVERYTHING. Probably more than needed but I tracked my GT3 at the limit and did not want any mechanical failures that could have been prevented.

$800 for track insurance and liability coverage. I insured my car for $180,000 with $1,000,000 of liability (through TheOpenTrack) just in case I hit some oil and crashed into someone's million dollar Riley prototype. Kind of a "belt & suspenders" approach.

$700 for event fees ($350 per day)/$350 for hotel fees ($175 per night)/$300 for gas for the car (100 gallons of 93 octane at $3 per gallon for a two day event) and $100 for truck ($100 of diesel fuel hauling a 24ft enclosed trailer to and from the event).

Consumables. Again, your costs may vary but I drove the snot of my car at open track events and was averaging 4 hrs of actual drive time per day. This resulted in new AP Racing pads ($800 for fronts and $600 for rears) and tires ($2,000) for every two day event. I ran Hoosier R7's. Tires were the bulk of my costs and ran around $2,000 per set after mounting and balancing. I would go through a set of tires every two days as a result of driving more than 300 miles on track for a two day event.

If you hit something or get hit you will have to add another zero to your event budget. Tracking a modern GT3 at 10/10th's is not cheap. I believe there are more fun, faster, and cheaper ways to travel around a circle. That's why I sold it and am karting and also getting the Wolf.

Add it all up and it's approximately $5,800 for a lovely 2 day event of basically open track from 8:00am until 4:30pm. I would definitely recommend a GT3, it is a fantastic car and perhaps the ONLY street car you can reliable track at the limit for extended periods of time.

It is, however, probably cheaper (and safer) to buy a dedicated race car for track days. I also sank $40,000 in mods (rear half cage, AP Racing brakes, cool suit system, camber kits, 2 sets of BBS wheels, 5 point harnesses...etc.) to get the car where I felt comfortable driving it on track.

Good luck!

 

Basicaly Tires and pads came to $1750 per day for you, the rest applies to any other car more or less the same, except possibly gas..
On the exige, tires are $1400 a set mounted and last 2.5-3 days with similar run time to you per day. Lets say $600 per day. Pads last 5 days fronts and longer in the rear but I swap all at the same time. so about $200 per day. However the exige needs race gas, so thats $10 per gallon and was running about $400 per day, 40 gallons at 8 mpg. So $1200 per day for the lotus. Gas being a huge number in comparison to the Gt3. In future I may do a 50/50 mix 93 and race gas which will reduce the number somewhat, but its still at least 1k per day to run the car, plus track time, getting the car there, I do my own prep, which is oil every 3-4 days run time, transmsiion and brake fluid every 5, plus pad changes which I just look at and chagne with wheel swaps as need be..

Motul 20-60 is about $100 per change 7.5 qts and bake fluid is about S60 (endless race fluid is best for me) plus maybe $40 for tranny oil 2.5 qts Mt90. So that comes to another $40 per day in fluids. Theres also the odd alignment for a few hundred per season and a couple of hundred for the Motec guru to analyze engine heath and optimize coding. Mostly i drive LRP which is 45 mins away or the Glenn, where we stay at seneca lodge for $100 per day. Track cost varies depedign on wheter its free for instructing or $350 per day.

best to just enjoy and not add it up. Its just 20-30k per year habbit if the car is free. Alternatively one can go to a nice resteraunt with the wife for $300 per day, so I deduct that from my car entertainment total..

I suppose for me a Gt3 would cost $500 more per day using your consumable numbers, assuming the oil chage is easy enough at home. But considering one woudl drive to the track savings on truck. But then youre buying premium at the track which is $6. So yeah $500-600 more than the lotus however one slices it.

These are all just based on consumables, and the difference in consumables boils down to car weight regardless of car,(how long do your rotors last?) . it will be interesting to see what a z06 will cost to run. Its going to be heavier than a Gt3 so more tires and pads.

What does a wolf cost per day?

To me a crash, the car is a write off, money gone.

All of which tells me I might as well stick with what I have instead of selling up and paying in another 125k to get aGt3..

 

Lower down the food scale, one can run an elise on track, pads last 10-14 days so $50 in pads, Fluids $25, Rotors last years and are $600 when the time comes, Punp gas is $100 per day max, and tires are 888Rs which last 4-5 days at maybe $1000 per set. So $4-500 per day. Laptimes at the Glenn are 13-15 secs slower, you arrive at each corner on average 20 mph slower, Im not sure its less fun esp at a small track like LRP which is more about momentum anyway.

 

I haven't had the Wolf on track but I would estimate that it will cost 1/4 of what the GT3 costs per day. The Wolf only weighs a little over 1,000 pds so consumable wear is much easier on the wallet. It also has a Honda 4 cylinder engine which also helps cut maintenance costs considerably.

I don't really need to be any faster on track than I was in the GT3. The GT3 was already a sub 2 minute car around Watkins Glen but the Wolf will be considerably quicker (should be able to lap Watkins Glen in the low to mid 1:40's) but, more importantly, it will a ton more visceral.

I tracked my Gokart for a season and then hopped back in the GT3 and was really disappointed.

Can't wait to drive an aero car with a full carbon chassis and no windshield!

 

Below 2 mins is really cooking no matter how you slice it.
Looking forwards to hearing about your wolf experience, maybe thats the answer. $500 per day in cosumables and a 5k motor.

 

Going underneath a test Z06 - Magnesium DCT!
GOING UNDERNEATH A TEST C8 Z06 ~ MAGNESIUM TRANSMISSION?! - YouTube

 

Tantilizing, sounds like they're going for it, ie more than just Hp and big tires.
I can see how with a bunch of magnesium skipping elctric seats etc they could get 300lbs of weight off.
I wonder if the same DCT in the MNC20 is already the lighter version.

Price is going to be more than 80K.

 

What’s the process to order a car without paying over sticker
Is it best just to wait a year or two?
Or can one get on a list for 24

 

There's a thread on the vette forum that is keeping track of dealerships that are sticking to msrp.

I ordered my car from a local dealership that gets around twenty allocations per year. They tell me I won't get any surprises when I take delivery, but there are horror stories involving other dealerships adding massive markups upon delivery.

They required a thousand dollar deposit (refundable) and estimate eight to twelve month wait.

Hope this helped.

 

A great friend of mine owns multiple Chevy dealers. I'll go through him. That's my process. I've never paid over for a car. Can't imagine doing so.

 

Since you are very late to the party your best bet find out when kerbeck starts taking deposits, if you can get a deposit with them as soon as possible then you will get a car at MSRP and quickly, rather than haivng to wait over a year. Kerbeck is the biggest dealer, and big dealers get cars first. The other big dealers started taking pre orders more than a year ago. Kerbeck has not started taking deposits yet, so if you get in there as soon as they start taking them you are golden. The only down side is their have a big deposit requirement, 10,000, much bigger than any other dealer and IIRC it is non refundable.. but if you are a serious buyer that is irrelevant and if filters out all the flaky buyers.

 

Thank you for the heads up. Ill look into kerbeck not least ebcause if its over MSRP on principle I wouldnt buy.
Im happy to wait a year or two, have other cars and buying anything from Gm in the first year is never a good idea.

In my mind its either z06 or a lotus emira with the 4cyl mapped to 500hp.
The decison will boil down to actual track prowess and durability there.

 

Our Best Look Yet at the 2023 Corvette Z06 (msn.com)

 

Still looking for a Convertible mule.

 

The rear end looks way better with round exhausts, also the wheels finally fit the car. Front end doesn't look as different as I thought it would. I get the function of the wing, but I don't think it looks as good as the options on the stingray.

I don't feel like the aesthetics are updated very much here. On the C7, there was a noticeable difference, to the point I would have to buy a Grand Sport over the Stingray just due to looks. On the C8, just swap the tires and the spoiler and it looks similar to the C8 Z06... at least this camo version.

 

Hate the wing.

 

front and rear proportions just seem off. it's more a triangle than a bottle shape. slim in the front and a straight line widening to the rear. it'll be a beast though !

 

@sainthoo -

Welp, I'm sold. Sounded better than that McLaren on there too, at least from what I can tell. The wing is kind of growing on me, but I'd probably go for the one that looks more like a lip. They're going to sell out of those Z06's so fast. I'm sure it's going to eat into the Mustang GT350R buyer segment too.

IDK if I'd take it over a 458, but I'm pretty sure I'd be hard pressed to choose it over spending on a new Ferrari unless I was in the "money is not object" income bracket. This is quickly going from a "I want one", to a "I have to have one" category for me.

Thanks for sharing!