Camaro Z/28 Wins at Indianapolis Motor Speedway!!!

[MBellRacing]

Originally Posted by 130R

Thanks.

I can see how they can lock the lever in several positions, but what is on the other end? That is, what is actually changing the roll rate of the ARB?

It's a blade-type sway bar. There's a flat piece of spring steel that mates the hollow tube to the link. Moving the adjuster rotates the blade so it is more or less flexible. Imagine a ruler. If you hold it on either end (the 0" and 12" marks) it will only bend in one direction. If you try to bend it on a 45 degree rotated angle, it will be roughly a mid point. That's the same principal for the bar ends. I feel like I didn't describe that right, but that's the best I can do!

As far as the dampers/brakes are concerned: The Z/28 is well outside the rules for this series in stock trim. That's not to say it shouldn't race, but GM turned that program up to 11 when they mounted carbon brakes. We are the only race car in the series with a production twin that has such a thing, as far as I know. If we want to race against a diverse field, we have to play nice with the rule makers. No carbon brakes for us. The dampers are Penske. Last year the series had to run AST, Koni before that. They are both great development shocks, but for a top-of-the-line team, Penske is the way to go.

Thanks for the kind words to the team, from everybody! Robin and Andrew knocked it out of the park this race. The uneventful races seem to suit us well-- drama causes us to slip down the charts. Hopefully we'll have a good showing in Road America. We've had success there before. After all, it was the first place a Camaro GS car won in this series!

[mlee]

Good info Matt... thanks for checking in.

[130R]

Thanks Matt!

Having a little bit of trouble visualizing the front ARB with a blade adjustment, but I understand what you described…

It looks like you're running an FE3 rear ARB, is that due to the blade adjuster?

It also looks like you run OEM rear lower control arms, toe rods & trailing arms; are you allowed to change bushings?

[MBellRacing]

We can change bushings, but suspension arms and mounting points must be stock. Both front and rear bars are blade-type.

[Q'smuscle]

Sweet! I'm sure there's more to come!

[130R]

Originally Posted by MBellRacing

We can change bushings, but suspension arms and mounting points must be stock. Both front and rear bars are blade-type.

Thanks.

[sho928]

Originally Posted by MBellRacing

It's a blade-type sway bar. There's a flat piece of spring steel that mates the hollow tube to the link. Moving the adjuster rotates the blade so it is more or less flexible. Imagine a ruler. If you hold it on either end (the 0" and 12" marks) it will only bend in one direction. If you try to bend it on a 45 degree rotated angle, it will be roughly a mid point. That's the same principal for the bar ends. I feel like I didn't describe that right, but that's the best I can do!

As far as the dampers/brakes are concerned: The Z/28 is well outside the rules for this series in stock trim. That's not to say it shouldn't race, but GM turned that program up to 11 when they mounted carbon brakes. We are the only race car in the series with a production twin that has such a thing, as far as I know. If we want to race against a diverse field, we have to play nice with the rule makers. No carbon brakes for us. The dampers are Penske. Last year the series had to run AST, Koni before that. They are both great development shocks, but for a top-of-the-line team, Penske is the way to go.

Thanks for the kind words to the team, from everybody! Robin and Andrew knocked it out of the park this race. The uneventful races seem to suit us well-- drama causes us to slip down the charts. Hopefully we'll have a good showing in Road America. We've had success there before. After all, it was the first place a Camaro GS car won in this series!

Excellent explanation of sway bar adjuster, it is also a simple and reliable method.

One can only hope for a series in the future that rewards innovation and the building of well sorted cars by OEM's; others should just catch up instead of the Z28's having to ditch the best parts

If F-1 had the same mentality we would be denied a lot of current technology we now take for granted.

Yes I know there is the cost thing, but by any rationalization racing is never going to be cheap.

[Need4speed_motorsports]

That race car though !

[serpent]

I wonder how close (or far) off a street legal Z28 is from the R version?

Good to see an American car take the win over Porsches and Bmws!!!!

[MBellRacing]

Originally Posted by serpent

I wonder how close (or far) off a street legal Z28 is from the R version?

Good to see an American car take the win over Porsches and Bmws!!!!

I know this is another older post I'm commenting on, but that is a VERY good question. We had our old SS our with one of the pre-production ZL1 Camaros and it was close. I actually believe, due to the power and weight of the race car, the street car might actually be faster. Let's all call GM and have them test it!

Replying to comments about how epic this form of racing is: SPEAK UP! This series is run by the same old guys that nobody really wants to fire. I won't point fingers, but Grand-Am simply changed their logo to IMSA. It's a new show with the same cast making the same mistakes. They still believe that big-budget GT and Prototype teams are what the average American wants to see race. They need to know that you all, like me, LOVE watching production-based race cars run into each other just as much, or more than the boring, no-contact prototype races. We don't need any push-to-pass buttons, DRS, or KERS. We are driving massively heavy, over-powered, under-tired muscle cars. Ford against Chevy against Aston against BMW. This is a blast to watch and I have the time of my life competing in it!

Don't get me wrong, I love wheeling a GT car, and the DPs are obviously great fun, but nothing comes close to the racing that goes on in this class. Anybody else see the Atlanta race?!? I honestly don't know what people can functionally do to make themselves heard besides showing up to the races, walking up to IMSA officials, and telling them you have a ton of fun cheering for the race cars that most closely resemble your street cars.

[ZED SLED]

Well said Matt. I put together a Camaro Corral for the Watkins Glen event every year, and every year it is an uphill battle. Actually, the person I work with at Grand Am...err, I mean IMSA, is very supportive and does a lot for us. However, the IMSA brass are pressuring the track into things that ultimately squeeze us out. Our corral was outside the track last year. Over the past couple of years even Chevrolet has become more and more non-committal. Now, if we were a Corvette group, whoa, lookout, they would be doing backflips for us. Aside from that, we always look forward to the time Mike Johnson and the rest of your guys spend with us. Good luck to you and Lawson this season. See ya at the Glen, hopefully

[ripcard]

Matt, while I agree with most of what you're saying I'm not sure I understand your point. Maybe I missed something.. and not being directly involved in the sport, I'm obviously not aware of all the details, but you sound like you are lamenting the loss of a class for next year. Will there not be GS and ST classes next year? That would suck.

I'm a huge fan of the technology of racing and thus really find Prototypes and GT cars interesting to watch. Maybe they don't provide the fender on fender visually exciting style of racing that a lot of people like, but if you get into the technical side of things there is lot's to follow. Comparing chassis/engine combinations, strategy during endurance races, qualifying lap time comparisons and such between the teams and drivers makes it interesting... for me anyway.

Getting around to the various view points of the Glen gives a great view of the relative speed of the different classes in corners and down the straights. The spectacular acceleration and braking of the big budget cars is intoxicating but I have to admit the action provided by the "under-tired" GS and ST cars can be quite thrilling.

As Mark mentioned above, Mike Johnson and Lawson Aschenbach have generously given the group (Upstate C5) their time to show us Camaro folk (GM customers) an inside look at the cars and team operations. A highlight of the weekend each year for me and a gesture that is greatly appreciated, not to mention Mark's efforts to organize this for the group. Other forms of racing could learn from this approach.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here Matt and good luck in 2015. Hope to see you at the Glen again this year.

[MBellRacing]

Originally Posted by ripcard

Matt, while I agree with most of what you're saying I'm not sure I understand your point. Maybe I missed something.. and not being directly involved in the sport, I'm obviously not aware of all the details, but you sound like you are lamenting the loss of a class for next year. Will there not be GS and ST classes next year? That would suck.

I'm a huge fan of the technology of racing and thus really find Prototypes and GT cars interesting to watch. Maybe they don't provide the fender on fender visually exciting style of racing that a lot of people like, but if you get into the technical side of things there is lot's to follow. Comparing chassis/engine combinations, strategy during endurance races, qualifying lap time comparisons and such between the teams and drivers makes it interesting... for me anyway.

Getting around to the various view points of the Glen gives a great view of the relative speed of the different classes in corners and down the straights. The spectacular acceleration and braking of the big budget cars is intoxicating but I have to admit the action provided by the "under-tired" GS and ST cars can be quite thrilling.

As Mark mentioned above, Mike Johnson and Lawson Aschenbach have generously given the group (Upstate C5) their time to show us Camaro folk (GM customers) an inside look at the cars and team operations. A highlight of the weekend each year for me and a gesture that is greatly appreciated, not to mention Mark's efforts to organize this for the group. Other forms of racing could learn from this approach.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here Matt and good luck in 2015. Hope to see you at the Glen again this year.

Thanks for the comment. No, the series is not going anywhere, but the series constantly spends a lot of marketing budget on the Tudor series, and very little, or none, on the CTSCC series. They seem to miss the point that many people, including myself, find production racing very interesting.

[MJanowich]

Originally Posted by MBellRacing

Thanks for the comment. No, the series is not going anywhere, but the series constantly spends a lot of marketing budget on the Tudor series, and very little, or none, on the CTSCC series. They seem to miss the point that many people, including myself, find production racing very interesting.

Do you have any twitter handles or email addresses we can contact and let know how much we like production based racing (and why we prefer it over other forms of racing)?

And Matt, thanks for taking the time to come to this forum and express your opinions. It really means a lot to me as a Camaro owner and race car fan. I'm hoping to see you and Lawson kicking ass in the Z/28's in the coming months!