This is how Chevy treats my $45,000 "track ready" car

[TxBandit911]

Also, the warranty on the clutch, since its considered a common wear item is only 12k miles anyway....regardless if it was used on the track or not....

[Billy10mm]

Sorry backeddy, but you're going to lose this one. And this isn't a problem just for Chevy, or just for the 1LE. This is a battle owners have been having with manufacturers of good cars for decades now and it will continue on for quite some time.

Doug Hayashi, famous NSX owner and author/owner of the NSXFiles website, had his Honda S2000 motor grenade on him at Laguna. This is a car that was sold to him with an SCCA brochure in the glove compartment. But because he tracked it, motor not covered by warranty. As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, even one of the most track-focused cars on the road today, the Porsche 911 GT3, explicitly states that your warranty is voided once you've tracked a car. That M3/M4 you talk about alternatively purchasing, go look at the Bimmer forums and read about the number of folks who've been turned down on major repairs because they've tracked their cars. There is no escaping this.

And while it sucks, I fully understand where the manufacturers comes from in this regard. Two of the fastest drivers I know cannot perform a proper heel & toe downshift to save their lives, they don't even bother trying. They have this funky brake modulation thing they do as they let out the clutch to try to prevent the rear wheels from locking up on them because for whatever reason, despite thousands of track laps, they cannot blip the throttle properly. They each go through about 1 clutch per year and this is on dedicated track cars that see no road time.

I've seen guys at the track downshift from 5th to 2nd (whoopsie, missed 4th), complete overrev, then try to get the blown motor warrantied from the manufacturer. I've known guys who consistently "dance" on the over-revving limit, often downshifting a bit optimistically and overrevving the motor by a few hundred or a thousand RPM. While this doesn't necessarily grenade the motor on the first instance, the brief over-stressing will eventually cause a rod failure that will cause catastrophic engine damage and for some of these men, that's exactly what happened.

Although I'm not a drag racing fan, I've watched enough Youtube videos to know that whoever designs the shift rods and synchros in a modern muscle car really needs to beef the hell out of those parts. I see more guys that throw their entire bodies into the 1 -> 2 upshift than don't. These same guys go and complain on forums that the synchros are trash and, "Oh gee, Ford/GM/Chrysler/BMW/Yugo won't cover it. Why not, I didn't do anything wrong?"

The guys that are constantly overrevving, they don't think its their fault either, and they conveniently forget that the car has seen hundreds of small overrevs when they go in for their warranty claim, or they don't realize they are doing it. But as a manufacturer, it can be a nightmare.

I'm not saying that this is you. I'm merely pointing out a small portion of the difficulties a manufacturer has in warrantying a product that gets used on the track. While there are certainly people out there who are kind to their equipment (I am surely one of those and it sounds like you are too), I see far more track junkies who care more about track time than they do their vehicles and they "pound on" their equipment trying to wring out every last tenth.

My recommendation to you and everyone else who tracks a car, is to never ever ever post online any track videos, lap/strip times, or track results. And to never, under any circumstances, admit to your dealership that the car has seen anything but public roads. I don't mean that for people to lie to their dealerships in an attempt to get something fixed that they clearly broke by abusing the car. Rather, for people who've legitimately been gentle to their vehicles who find themselves locked out of a warranty despite the fact that their warranty claim is valid.

[GONIF]

While I agree with it possibly being driver abuse/error ,the fact is the clutch system design is seriously flawed and GM knows it . There are many of folks that do not track or abuse their cars that have problems with it . GM built a high performance " track ready " car and they knew damn well how people would use it .

[Camaro Dude]

I don't think that this is an off-topic question, but I must ask this.

I have heard, read even, that Chevrolet Performance parts were 24 hour endurance tested.

Is this true? If so, then I beg the question, was the 1LE package tested through a gruelling R&D as well? If so, surely they would of had encountered this "weakness" that has been rearing its ugly head as of late on here?

[backeddy]

Funny, lot's of people disagree with me...my fault etc.

First, I raced legend cars in Atlanta, karts, a prepped m3 etc. and I also grew up racing with Jimmy Spencer when I was a kid in PA. I am capable of 1:45:XX times at Laguna in a stock 1LE. That is not the beginner arena, also I do not miss a 2-3 shift EVERYTIME. You get that EVERYTIME. While that may be OK with some of you that YOUR car does does this (although if it did, I bet YOU would quikly become the " jagoff", you claim me to be), I am not.

Lastly, once again, I am NOT BASHING THE CAR, I AM BASHING GM'S APPROACH to avoid warranty action on a KNOW ISSUE on a NEW CAR. why is that so hard for you to understand?

[Kiteboarder85]

Originally Posted by GONIF

While I agree with it possibly being driver abuse/error ,the fact is the clutch system design is seriously flawed and GM knows it . There are many of folks that do not track or abuse their cars that have problems with it . GM built a high performance " track ready " car and they knew damn well how people would use it .

Correct, but play by the rules....

tracking = consumer pocket fix
No track = GM fix

Its the risk the owner takes on KNOWING that it can potentially be voided.

[Kiteboarder85]

Originally Posted by backeddy

Funny, lot's of people disagree with me...my fault etc.

First, I raced legend cars in Atlanta, karts, a prepped m3 etc. and I also grew up racing with Jimmy Spencer when I was a kid in PA. I am capable of 1:45:XX times at Laguna in a stock 1LE. That is not the beginner arena, also I do not miss a 2-3 shift EVERYTIME. You get that EVERYTIME. While that may be OK with some of you that YOUR car does does this (although if it did, I bet YOU would quikly become the " jagoff", you claim me to be), I am not.

Lastly, once again, I am NOT BASHING THE CAR, I AM BASHING GM'S APPROACH to avoid warranty action on a KNOW ISSUE on a NEW CAR. why is that so hard for you to understand?

Playing devils advocate - I'm not against you whatsoever

But...Basically you are saying because you are experienced at the track means you get the special treatment and the line "tracking your car may void warranty" is erased from your disclaimer?

[z3R0fo01]

Originally Posted by backeddy

Funny, lot's of people disagree with me...my fault etc.

First, I raced legend cars in Atlanta, karts, a prepped m3 etc. and I also grew up racing with Jimmy Spencer when I was a kid in PA. I am capable of 1:45:XX times at Laguna in a stock 1LE. That is not the beginner arena, also I do not miss a 2-3 shift EVERYTIME. You get that EVERYTIME. While that may be OK with some of you that YOUR car does does this (although if it did, I bet YOU would quikly become the " jagoff", you claim me to be), I am not.

Lastly, once again, I am NOT BASHING THE CAR, I AM BASHING GM'S APPROACH to avoid warranty action on a KNOW ISSUE on a NEW CAR. why is that so hard for you to understand?

The car ain't new nor is it under warranty for a clutch after 75 laps around Laguna seca. What company on this planet would warranty a 40k car like that. And it's the fact that u are on the 1le boards and u drive a 1le. Is that really hard to understand? U r milking it, whining, and it's Shameful. I for one don't want to be associated with this. Enough is enough.

[cornerspeed92]

Just for the record, as these threads bring out some negativity.Im not at all complaining that if my clutch is worn that GM should replace it no questions asked. The point of my thread was to hear back from all of you as to if anyone else has experienced this problem. My concern is with the slave cylinder, clutch master, ETC. My car is in the shop and as i write the tranny is being dropped. If in fact it is my clutch from my driving, then so be it, and i will pay without a complaint,but if this problem isn't my clutch(or anybody else's)then hell yes these cars should be covered under warranty, again it's advertised as a "track ready" and should be covered. We will know soon as they will call me when it is dropped and im going there and will be taking pictures to show. So we will all know shortly if this is a clutch issue, or something else in the system.

[TxBandit911]

Originally Posted by backeddy

Lastly, once again, I am NOT BASHING THE CAR, I AM BASHING GM'S APPROACH to avoid warranty action on a KNOW ISSUE on a NEW CAR. why is that so hard for you to understand?

What part of "no where in the known universe has it been written that you keep your warranty on your clutch when you track the car, nor is it ever implied" do you not understand?

If you hadn't ran 70+ laps in your 1LE, you may of had a leg to stand on. You are asking for something completely unreasonable.

[GONIF]

Originally Posted by Camaro Dude

I don't think that this is an off-topic question, but I must ask this.

I have heard, read even, that Chevrolet Performance parts were 24 hour endurance tested.

Is this true? If so, then I beg the question, was the 1LE package tested through a gruelling R&D as well? If so, surely they would of had encountered this "weakness" that has been rearing its ugly head as of late on here?

If it were performance tested the system would have a sep res for the clutch ,like the GTO did at the very least . Bottom line is they( GM) were trying to get off cheap and save a few bucks . This half A$$ed system can cause trans damage .

[ForcFed93]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

again it's advertised as a "track ready" and should be covered.

As has been said previously, track ready and track warrantied are two different things.

Just because it's track ready doesn't mean they fix everything that goes wrong because of track use.

Claiming they should is absurd.

[GONIF]

You guys are missing my point , the clutch system has been flawed from day one ,GM knows this and has done nothing to address the problem. Burning out a clutch disk is normal ,and that is something that is a wear item and I expect to change it and the throw out and pressure plate from time to time. . A poorly designed clutch system is not ,and by now GM should have redesigned it .

[White_SS/RS]

We all recognize the difference between the clutch (friction surfaces) and the clutch operating system... right? Its not a clutch issue its the clutch operating system. (from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder). The operating system should not get jacked up after 11k and 3 track days.