Tracking A 5at!!!

[coachk]

I did a search but most of the threads were a year or two old, and was hoping maybe there were some 5AT guys tracking their Z's now.

I will be shooting for my 10.xx sec 1/4 mile within the next couple of months and after that I am going to setup the car to run road courses. If anyone has some good positive input on tracking a 5AT, please chime in. If you're going to bash the 5AT's then just move on to another thread.

If you're tracking your 5AT NOW, you're input is appreciated. Even if you're tracking your MT but have knowledge of guys running AT's on the track, please chime in.

[JETPILOT]

You damn bastards and your no good 5AT's tryin teh road racin!

























J/K.... 2fast4ya has a 5AT he tracks at Sebring. He is an experienced track guy. I'm sure he could answer any questions if you PM him. I don't think he checks in that often.

You should join CHIN Motorsports and head out to Sebring with us on October 4th or 5th. Registration for that event opens on Aug 11.

CHIN Motorsports.

[coachk]

I am planning on joining CHIN and since I live about an hour from Sebring that will be my testing grounds.

[JETPILOT]

My advice to a novice is to pay your annual fee now. That will allow you to register for the event as soon as it opens. You will have about 10 minutes at best to register for the event before all the novice positions fill up. There are only 20 novice positions each day. at 10:00:01 PM Aug 11th you better be hitting the keys registering.

Let me know which day you want to attend and maybe we can meet up out there. CHIN is a bunch of good guys.

[coachk]

N O V I C E...who you calling a novice


I looked at the 2008 calender and Sebring has something in the beginning of November that might fit my time schedule. Will you be racing at the one in Oct. at Sebring?











j/k about the novice thing!!!

[Audible Mayhem]

hellyeah, track that thing coach k ...

[JETPILOT]

Well.... no matter how much experience anyone has driving... the first day at any new track with CHIN you are listed as a novice and get an instructor until he signs you off for solo.

I am at all of the Sebring events, but only for one day.... this sh*t is more expensive than a drug habit. With hotel ($100), and track fee ($375) and food, and brake pads (could be as much as $500 for a set of race pads), and tires and gas your looking at about $600-$1000 for a day and that's if nothing breaks.

[mikez97]

Originally Posted by JETPILOT

Well.... no matter how much experience anyone has driving... the first day at any new track with CHIN you are listed as a novice and get an instructor until he signs you off for solo.

I am at all of the Sebring events, but only for one day.... this sh*t is more expensive than a drug habit. With hotel ($100), and track fee ($375) and food, and brake pads (could be as much as $500 for a set of race pads), and tires and gas your looking at about $600-$1000 for a day and that's if nothing breaks.

yea im second guessing the track day until i get a better job.
how you been?

[2fast4ya]

hey guys, i think i am one of the few 5AT guys who tracks and auto-x
regularly- as i mentioned before it wasn't my first choice to get auto
but my wife drives the car 60% of the time so i bought it that way
to keep her happy-our last car was stick and she ruined the clutch in no
time and she wrecked it once because was in first instead of reverse
one day-did not want to chance that happening with a $40k car-
last car was only $24k

back on topic-one problem i have with the auto is the tranny gets pretty hot
and does not want to respond on downshifts-will stay in the upper gear and
will have to pull on the stick several times before it changes

i changed the trans fluid to royal purple full synthetic and that helped
but if i am lapping for longer than about 20-30 minutes it starts to happen
again-with the stock fluid it would happen in about 7-8 minutes

the gear ratio works out pretty well in 2nd and 3rd gears-i keep it there
for most of the track at Sebring but get into 4th a few times
i have a lot less hp compared to JET and CoachK so my 5th gear sux

-(F.I. envy)

i just started working part time on the weekends to fuel my racing habits
i should have enough dough to buy all my brake upgrades and track fees
for October-i have been debating on selling my other motorcycle and
if i do i will have the money for August as well

[iStan]

2fast- Tranny Cooler?

Coach- I've autocrossed plenty of times, drag strip 9-12 runs straight, and had people drift my car. The Tranny wasn't my issue- my Vlsd was.
You should be ok. Just get a tranny temp gauge to see how the fluid is doing. Go out there and beat on your car.

ps- you're still slow.

[coachk]

I have a tranny cooler so hopefully that will help with the heat issues. I also have a BBK-AP Racing with Ferodo pads up front.Will I need to upgrade the rears too?

[2fast4ya]

trans cooler is in my thoughts as a future upgrade-i have been
contemplating getting a different front bumper with larger openings
to allow more room to add brake ducts and a cooler eventually
been thinking about vertex or aerosync

with regards to your rear brake pads i was told the rear brakes take a
lot more abuse on 5AT cars, especially ones with vdc, i turn mine off
while on track but from what i have read it is not fully off unless yaw
sensor is unplugged

i know mine got hot two track days ago, the letters on my calipers
changed from red to brownish/black-last event my pads wore out
before lunch so my day got cut short

[JETPILOT]

Originally Posted by coachk

I have a tranny cooler so hopefully that will help with the heat issues. I also have a BBK-AP Racing with Ferodo pads up front.Will I need to upgrade the rears too?

Do you have the Brembo rears or the OEM rears? The Brembo rears will be ok with a good pad. But a larger caliper with a larger pad will increase pad longevity.

[mrg1981]

Originally Posted by coachk

I did a search but most of the threads were a year or two old, and was hoping maybe there were some 5AT guys tracking their Z's now.

I will be shooting for my 10.xx sec 1/4 mile within the next couple of months and after that I am going to setup the car to run road courses. If anyone has some good positive input on tracking a 5AT, please chime in. If you're going to bash the 5AT's then just move on to another thread.

If you're tracking your 5AT NOW, you're input is appreciated. Even if you're tracking your MT but have knowledge of guys running AT's on the track, please chime in.

I'd love to see you hit the 10 second range. I'm going to be getting my 5AT roadster back next week and will be running the 1/4 shortly after. I will be doing a couple of NASA weekends on the track as well. I want to learn the nuances of my car before I do too much with it.

I am hoping for the high 9 second range with my 5AT! Let's show them what can be done.

[coachk]

Originally Posted by JETPILOT

Do you have the Brembo rears or the OEM rears? The Brembo rears will be ok with a good pad. But a larger caliper with a larger pad will increase pad longevity.

No, I have the OEM's in the back. I guess I'll just get the AP Racing for the rears. I was told the Ferodos are a good pad for road track racing.

What about suspension, front and rear?????

[mhoward1]

Good thing about the OEM brakes is they wear fairly evenly, the bad part is they wear fast under track conditions. I would make sure that both the front and rears have similar compounds (there can be a little more aggressive stuff up front) and that both have about the same amount of pad material.

[coachk]

Originally Posted by mhoward1

Good thing about the OEM brakes is they wear fairly evenly, the bad part is they wear fast under track conditions. I would make sure that both the front and rears have similar compounds (there can be a little more aggressive stuff up front) and that both have about the same amount of pad material.

Thanks for the input...I saw a couple recent pics of the BC car at the track event and it has the AP Racing brakes on front and back, so I guess thats a good brake set up.

Are the Ferodos a good compound pad for track use??

[mhoward1]

Originally Posted by coachk

Thanks for the input...I saw a couple recent pics of the BC car at the track event and it has the AP Racing brakes on front and back, so I guess thats a good brake set up.

Are the Ferodos a good compound pad for track use??

I really like the Stop techs, but AP is good too.

As far as the Ferodos, it really depends on what compounds. I have heard the DS3000's do well. I prefer the XP10's from Carbotech, HT10's from Hawk, or PR1's from BHP.

[coachk]

Any chance you could PM me with a starting point as to front and rear suspension..

Thanks

[mhoward1]

Starting out, I would leave things stock for now. Get a feel of both the car and your driving style first. Many here will suggest a set up (and there are quite a few), but the learning curve is faily steep at first and a street suspension is easier to learn the fine points on. It will also keep you from spending a bunch of money only to find out the setup you chose doesn't fit your style.

Another suggestion, stay off of R compounds for a while. Let street tires talk to you in lower limits.