I am starting this thread to log and track the progression of my GTM as both the vehicle and its driver (me) evolve and perform, (hopefully well) at my regional tracks.
What I will document is firstly how the stock FF5 platform performs then how various upgrades improve that performance.
Engine: LS-1 Twin turbo, just shy of 650rwhp
Transaxle: G50-20 out of a 1995 993, stock gearing but beefed up bits.
My setup is stock FF5/Corvette with the exception of poly bushes on the control arms only and aftermarket brake disks.
Total car weight with full tanks = 2540lbs
Front 960lbs - Rear 1580lbs
Ride height is set at 4 1/2"
Tires are Toyo Proxes 888:
Front 275/40/ZR17-98W
Rear 335/30/ZR18-102Y
Alignment figures are:
Left Front Right Front
Camber -1.5 Camber -1.2
Caster 0.4 Caster 0.8
Toe 0.05 Toe 0.05
Front
Cross Camber -0.2
Cross Caster -0.4
Cross Toe 0.1
Set Back -0.06
Left Rear Right Rear
Camber -1.1 Camber -1.6
Toe -0.03 Toe -0.03
Rear
Total Toe -0.07
Thrust Angle 0.00
Last Wednesday I had the GTM out at the track to see how things have progressed since my last visit to MSR.
Car ran well and felt more sorted as a package after getting the suspension setup closer to where it needs to be and the engine mods that I did over Christmas. The car actually felt very stable and a couple of times I was able to feel the traction balance point on one of the sweeping left handers. The organizers ran me with the advanced group based on my pervious run with them and I was happy to find myself running about mid pack for only my second time at a track period. My driving experience is with drag racing and dirt ovals.
Only real issues are the engine overpowering the clutch and the new alignment settings are causing some front left tire rub on the hood latch molding of the body.
Being forced to gently feed in power made me concentrate on the racing line which was actually a good thing for my learning curve as a driver. So no crazy top end speeds down the straights but I still managed to drop about 17 sec per lap off of my previous best time at MSR running in CW orientation.
Track day Stats:
Top Speed ; 118mph (had to nurse the clutch but was getting around 150mph last time out)
Average Speed: 75mph
Best time: 1.57
Lateral G’s 1.14
Linier G’s 0.76
Gopro from my last session:
http://youtu.be/eMtZ8nxyexw
Friend’s cell phone of pit straight
http://youtu.be/19oCc7i1WvE
Future plans:
Get the clutch replaced and look to get more track time before making suspension or alignment changes as right now I am not pushing the car hard enough to see where the first performance weakness is. What excites me is identifying and measuring performance gains to see what changes do what and why.