Track Weekend #3: 1LE with Coilovers, Engine Mods and R-compound Tires

[Orange Crush 1LE]

I took the 1LE back to Buttonwillow Raceway after adding a few more go-fast upgrades. I ran in the advanced group with open passing. Previously, I had tracked the Camaro 100% stock at Thunderhill. Then I added Pedders Supercar Coilovers, bushings and a rear sway bar and tracked it again at Buttonwillow. See my signature for those runs.

The mods

For my third trip to the track, I added a road-course cam with a broad torque curve, longtube headers, high-flow cats, a CAI, rockers, springs, Etc. to yield 478 RWHP and 445 RW Ft-Lb. I also wrapped some monster 18x11 and 18x12 CCW wheels with Nitto 315/30-18 NT-01 R-compounds. These steam rollers are significantly lighter than my stock wheels and are 2.3" smaller in diameter, which gives me more torque to the rear wheels and slams it to the ground. Because I use my stock wheels for the street, I'm okay with these dedicated track wheels/tires sticking out a bit provided they give me kung-fu grip of the tarmac. I also added stainless steel brake lines and Hawk HP+ pads, along with a fresh flush with Motul 600 brake fluid.

Hitting the track

Last time I ran Buttonwillow, we drove Configuration 13 counterclockwise. This time, we ran 13 clockwise so it was like learning a new track from scratch. Sure enough, on the first session I went over a blind hill with the wrong line and proceeded to go off in the dirt! Luckily the track is surrounded by light, flat dirt, so no harm done aside from looking a little clueless.

I brought a friend with me that has lots of experience at this track, and let him drive as well. He was clicking off laps 4 seconds faster than me. By the end of the day I was still getting spanked by 2 seconds. Well, the next day during the first session, I was able to beat his best by 2 seconds. I'm a slow learner, but eventually I got the line figured out. I spent the rest of the day racing around with this GTR and another friend in his GT3, we were all running about the same lap times so they were the perfect sparring partners.

How did the mods work out?

These tires were working very well and man, the power of the engine mods! I had no problem keeping up with the GTR on the straights and could out-accelerate the GT3. It's a completely different animal than stock. The ARH full exhaust is civil in the cabin around town, but just roars at wide open throttle on the track! The Hawk HP+ brake pads had no problem bringing this big beast to a halt, even when my friend and I ran back-to-back 25 minute sessions. We ran ten sessions between the two of us on the first day, no sign of fade. Rotors looked healthy at the end of the weekend.

Lap times

My fastest time was 2:02.92, very pleased with that lap time. The GT3 had a best of 2:03.x and the GTR achieved a 2:01.x. The only cars that were running times much faster than us had big wings and splitters. Below is the video of my second fastest lap, a 2:02.98. This was about 3 seconds faster than my previous Buttonwillow run of 2:05.79, but I was running in the opposite direction so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. The clockwise direction I ran is known to be slower, people suggested 1 to 4 seconds slower than counterclockwise. So my engine mods and R compounds were worth about 4 to 7 second faster lap times. I use Harry's Lap Timer, and even with a high speed GPS, it consistently shows lap times that are 0.1 to 0.3 seconds slower than Speed Venture's high-accuracy transponder. But overall I like Harry's, it interfaces to a blue-tooth OBD module that tells it my speed, throttle and RPM.



This was likely my final track event this year as the rain is coming soon. Can't wait for next season!

[Deftones]

Kudos

[Dropspeed]

Very cool! Car looks great.

Would you mind sharing the backspacing of the wheels and would you have changed anything in the size if you ordered them again?

Thanks Matt

[Mikamaro]

Originally Posted by Dropspeed

Very cool! Car looks great.

Would you mind sharing the backspacing of the wheels and would you have changed anything in the size if you ordered them again?

Thanks Matt

x2

Great post!.
It Seems you have a defenitive track car in your hands congrats for hanging with the GTR and the GT3.
That is surely a feel good moment.

What's your CAI?

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by Dropspeed

Very cool! Car looks great.

Would you mind sharing the backspacing of the wheels and would you have changed anything in the size if you ordered them again?

Thanks Matt

Thanks Matt. Yes, this is what I would go with again, these tires are very wide and sticky, and the wear is surprisingly even across the width. Looks like I got the alignment and pressure just right. I'm running camber of -2.2 deg F and -1.1 rear. Tire pressures are 26 psi F and 27 psi R cold. Hot, they reach about 32 F and 34 R. I tried different pressures and this is what yielded the best laps and even wear.

The 315s look a little wide on an 11" wide wheel. It's possible that 305s all the way around would handle better, but I'll likely stick with 315s again. One driver suggested that having my wheels and tires stick out of the wheel wells was creating lift and drag, but again the lap times are impressive so I think it's a good trade-off. These heavy cars really benefit from wide tires. I might see if I can add the Z/28 fender flares if/when they become available.

To run 18's, you have to pick a wheel that has enough clearance. Even then, you need to grind away a bit of the front spindles in the non-structural area at the top. But the reward is light wheels, lower cost R compounds, I think it's worth it. CCW C10s are the model, with the standard bead-blasted black anodize finish. Looks sweet.

I liked working with CCW, they've done about 10 Camaros with this set-up, and guaranteed they'd fit. They also suggested that the ultimate set up would be Hoosier R6's, 315/30-18 F and 335/30-18 rear. I mentioned that the Camaro likes a square tire set up to avoid understeer, but they believe that once you get this wide, the 335s in the rear will give more bite accelerating after the apex and will yield faster laps. I may try it some day.

I'll shoot you a PM with more info.

Todd

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by Mikamaro

x2

Great post!.
It Seems you have a defenitive track car in your hands congrats for hanging with the GTR and the GT3.
That is surely a feel good moment.

What's your CAI?

This car really is a sleeper, and a bargain for it's performance. I was the only Camaro out there, very few realize how capable it is. That's what makes it so cool. A number of guys stopped by just to congratulate me for getting my big heavy muscle car around the track so quickly. It really surprises people when I am able to catch cars that are 1,000 pounds lighter in the corners, then sprint past them in the straights. It's a blast!

The CAI is a Roto-fab. They paint the box to match your factory paint, for a fee of course. The carbon fiber looks cool but it's fake. I also sprung for the carbon-look intake cover and the color-matched valve covers. All made by Roto-fab. A big improvement over the plastic engine cover IMHO.

[SteveV]

Man that looks like SOOO much fun. I cannot wait until next summer when I have the time and $$ to track my 1LE.

Kudos!!

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by SteveV

Man that looks like SOOO much fun. I cannot wait until next summer when I have the time and $$ to track my 1LE.

Kudos!!

You're going to love it! Even bone stock, the car is extremely capable and easy to drive even as you approach the limits.

[Mikamaro]

ARrrr...18'' wheels...hummm... nitto NT-01 miam miam
I thought I had my next track setup figured out 19x11 with Forgestar CF5V wheels and 305/30 RE-11 tires...

Do you know if all the 18'' needs some modifications to the front spindles ?

I need to get 5sec of my time next year.
I'm aiming to past the Top M3 track car at my club...

[cornerspeed92]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

I took the 1LE back to Buttonwillow Raceway after adding a few more go-fast upgrades. I ran in the advanced group with open passing. Previously, I had tracked the Camaro 100% stock at Thunderhill. Then I added Pedders Supercar Coilovers, bushings and a rear sway bar and tracked it again at Buttonwillow. See my signature for those runs.

The mods

For my third trip to the track, I added a road-course cam with a broad torque curve, longtube headers, high-flow cats, a CAI, rockers, springs, Etc. to yield 478 RWHP and 445 RW Ft-Lb. I also wrapped some monster 18x11 and 18x12 CCW wheels with Nitto 315/30-18 NT-01 R-compounds. These steam rollers are significantly lighter than my stock wheels and are 2.3" smaller in diameter, which gives me more torque to the rear wheels and slams it to the ground. Because I use my stock wheels for the street, I'm okay with these dedicated track wheels/tires sticking out a bit provided they give me kung-fu grip of the tarmac. I also added stainless steel brake lines and Hawk HP+ pads, along with a fresh flush with Motul 600 brake fluid.

Hitting the track

Last time I ran Buttonwillow, we drove Configuration 13 counterclockwise. This time, we ran 13 clockwise so it was like learning a new track from scratch. Sure enough, on the first session I went over a blind hill with the wrong line and proceeded to go off in the dirt! Luckily the track is surrounded by light, flat dirt, so no harm done aside from looking a little clueless.

I brought a friend with me that has lots of experience at this track, and let him drive as well. He was clicking off laps 4 seconds faster than me. By the end of the day I was still getting spanked by 2 seconds. Well, the next day during the first session, I was able to beat his best by 2 seconds. I'm a slow learner, but eventually I got the line figured out. I spent the rest of the day racing around with this GTR and another friend in his GT3, we were all running about the same lap times so they were the perfect sparring partners.

How did the mods work out?

These tires were working very well and man, the power of the engine mods! I had no problem keeping up with the GTR on the straights and could out-accelerate the GT3. It's a completely different animal than stock. The ARH full exhaust is civil in the cabin around town, but just roars at wide open throttle on the track! The Hawk HP+ brake pads had no problem bringing this big beast to a halt, even when my friend and I ran back-to-back 25 minute sessions. We ran ten sessions between the two of us on the first day, no sign of fade. Rotors looked healthy at the end of the weekend.

Lap times

My fastest time was 2:02.92, very pleased with that lap time. The GT3 had a best of 2:03.x and the GTR achieved a 2:01.x. The only cars that were running times much faster than us had big wings and splitters. Below is the video of my second fastest lap, a 2:02.98. This was about 3 seconds faster than my previous Buttonwillow run of 2:05.79, but I was running in the opposite direction so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. The clockwise direction I ran is known to be slower, people suggested 1 to 4 seconds slower than counterclockwise. So my engine mods and R compounds were worth about 4 to 7 second faster lap times. I use Harry's Lap Timer, and even with a high speed GPS, it consistently shows lap times that are 0.1 to 0.3 seconds slower than Speed Venture's high-accuracy transponder. But overall I like Harry's, it interfaces to a blue-tooth OBD module that tells it my speed, throttle and RPM.



This was likely my final track event this year as the rain is coming soon. Can't wait for next season!

Very,very,cool,wish i could do those mods to mine.The car sounds wicked,look forward to being at the same track with you sometime.Im running Fontana Nov 10th if you can make it down.I hope to be able to run Willow springs in Dec.providing im instructing at Fontana, and can earn track time.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by Mikamaro

ARrrr...18'' wheels...hummm... nitto NT-01 miam miam
I thought I had my next track setup figured out 19x11 with Forgestar CF5V wheels and 305/30 RE-11 tires...

Do you know if all the 18'' needs some modifications to the front spindles ?

I need to get 5sec of my time next year.
I'm aiming to past the Top M3 track car at my club...

I believe that you need to mod the front spindles to run any 18", and was told that many 18" wheels won't clear even then. Also, many wheels are not available in the offset I went with, so that's another limitation.

I imagine 19x11 Forgestars with 305s would also be great, I've heard good things about the RE11s. The advantage of the 19x11s is that it could be a dual purpose street/track wheel. My 18s are solely for the track. They stick out too much for daily driving, and with the 30 series tires make the car very low. I will drive around on them for a week or so if need be, and they're fine to drive to and from the track. But i swap my stock wheels back on for street duty.

Funny that you are aiming for an M3 too. There was a guy that ran the fastest laps both times I was at Buttonwillow in a late-model M3 with coilovers, a huge wing and splitter, and R compounds. He ran a 1:55 last time, that's 7 seconds faster than me and faster than the production car record of 1:56 that a Viper ACR holds. I think I could shave another second or two off with practice, but realistically could only catch him with aero (and maybe not even then). I am looking at wings and a splitter as we speak.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Very,very,cool,wish i could do those mods to mine.The car sounds wicked,look forward to being at the same track with you sometime.Im running Fontana Nov 10th if you can make it down.I hope to be able to run Willow springs in Dec.providing im instructing at Fontana, and can earn track time.

Thanks cornerspeed.

I'm looking hard for an opportunity to track again this year, I'm booked Nov 10th but will look at Willow Springs in December. What date and with which organization is the Willow Springs event? I won't track in the rain, so even if I'm available it would be weather permitting.

[cornerspeed92]

Yeah i wouldn't track in the rain either.It's a pretty sure bet that it wont be raining,i raced my bike there for 6 years,and we never got rained out.
It will be Dec. 14th http://www.speedventures.com/EVENTS/Default.aspx

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Yeah i wouldn't track in the rain either.It's a pretty sure bet that it wont be raining,i raced my bike there for 6 years,and we never got rained out.
It will be Dec. 14th http://www.speedventures.com/EVENTS/Default.aspx

Dec 14th is a longshot as I've plans as of now, but I've got it on the calendar in case it opens up for me.

Dec 21 - 22 at Buttonwillow are a very good possibilities for me, and they don't get much rain in December either. I'm pretty sure I'll be there.