i have een feeling guilty b/c i dumped alot of money on my vette lately. it's time for my baby. i want to start tracking it on road courses. besides all the fluid changes and pads what do i need to upgrade. i am in for the gb for the fuel tank anti- starvation cover already.
car has 80k... tein coilovers, kirk roll bar, single turbo t78 with a front mount. twin supra tanks with lots of fuel.

all your help is appreciated? this is for fun and i am not trying to win money. just safer driving on the track.

i will start?
1) harnesses?

 

I would suggest you start doing some serious work on brakes and cooling. There is nothing wrong with running the stock belts and seats for a while.

I would run very low boost at the track until you get used to tracking the car with a single.

 

Rynberg is correct that cooling is probably next on your list for car upgrades - an FMIC is not conducive to good airflow across the radiator. A good thick aluminum radiator (koyo or fluidyne) would be good to get in there. Also, I would recommend upgrading to a dual oil cooler setup, if you don't have one already (a used stock system is fine if you can find one in good shape). Finally, a aftermarket water temp gauge is a must in order to monitor things on the track.

Brakes? Get a good set of track pads and you should be fine. Search the forum for recommendations.

But I think that your initial thoughts were spot on - safety. Since you already have the rollbar in, I would recommend going with good 6-point harnesses for both passenger and driver (most HPDEs require equal protection for both). I assume that you already have a Snell SA2000 or 2005 rated helmet? Also, you should pad the rollbar near anyplace where it will come in contact with the head - and use high-density FIA-type padding, not the lightweight foam stuff. (if you can squish it between your thumb and finger and it springs back, it's not the right stuff).

Good luck,

-bill

 

thanks, i have a helmet. i also have a fluidyne rad. i will be turning down the boost till i get used to the car. could i run the 6pt harnesses with the stock seats? i also have fuel pressure, water temp, boost, air fuel gauges. i might look into gettting a dual oil cooler from an r1. i might get some motul brake fluid. i already have the goodrich ss lines to prevent fade. thanks.

 

SS lines don't really prevent brake fade. They prevent the expansion of the rubber in the stock lines when pressure is applied. To deal with fade, you have a few things to deal with:

1. Brake fluid
2. Brake pads
3. Airflow to the rotors

Don't even think about #2 until you've done 1 & 2 and still have fade problems.

 

I disagree with your order there, Mahjik. I think a decent set of lapping day pads is a good investment even with stock airflow across the rotors. I'm not advocating Hawk blues, but a HP+ or similar pad is a good thing to have, and I would recommend it before going with any specialized brake ducting. If for nothing else than longevity.

-bill

 

That last line should have been "Don't even think about #3".

1 & 2 really go together. However, you can "get by" with just decent fluid for the first outting or two at a track, for a novice that is. Most people run decent enough pads on RX-7's where they might not be "track pads", but they'll take some novice abuse. The fluid however is a problem as most owners just get the cheap stuff from NAPA or Autozone and it won't hold up to even mild track work.

 

Ahh, well now your making sense!

I agree 100% about the fluid. It doesn't even have to be that expensive. A full flush with a liter of Valvoline Synthetic will handle most cases just fine (at least with moderate pads and street tires).

-b

 

spend it on something you think needs to most attention for reliability.