[69SHEVL]

She ran it last weekend for her first time at a local autocross. She did pretty well for her first time, finishing mid-pack at 38th of 64.

I finished 4th.

What car did she drive?

 

[Derek69SS]

We both drove the Chevelle.

Jenna's fastest 45.845:

she would have been faster, but missed 2nd gear and coasted through the finish.

My fastest 40.549:

 

[427L88]

That BADBOY runs as good as it looks DK! NICE WORK MAN! 👍

Jenna works the beast quite well!

 

[Derek69SS]

I think I can rule the hood a big success. The front end never felt light at speeds up in the 135-140 range, and coolant temps never went over 180° running 15-minute sessions with a ton of WOT time, getting over 130 in 3 places per lap. Even with the 8:1 steering box, it never got twitchy or felt unstable at all like it used to do above 110-ish.

I didn't do any testing of the rear spoiler, I just replaced the 10" autocross spoiler with an 8" version to meet USCA rules, and laid it back as far as I could, which was 36°

This was my first time on a real roadcourse, and I can improve in a lot of places. I dropped 2 more seconds in the next session, but the SD card on the GoPro was full so I didn't get video of my best lap. I was having trouble with 3rd gear, not sure if the synchro is bad, or what... also, pedal spacing won't allow heel-toe. I can do it in my Corvette, but not in the Chevelle at all.

 

[-SS454-]

So awesome to see a Chevelle around Road America. We you using a lap timer? If so, a video overlay would be awesome

I was noticing how little steering imput you need to put in, I didn't know you had an 8:1 ratio. I would love to try that. The 12.7:1 I have is not remotely fast enough.

How were the brakes? It didn't look like you really attacked the brake zones, but slowing from 130+ 3x a lap can build some heat.

Not sure about those mid corner downshifts though.

 

[Derek69SS]

So awesome to see a Chevelle around Road America. We you using a lap timer? If so, a video overlay would be awesome

I was noticing how little steering imput you need to put in, I didn't know you had an 8:1 ratio. I would love to try that. The 12.7:1 I have is not remotely fast enough.

How were the brakes? It didn't look like you really attacked the brake zones, but slowing from 130+ 3x a lap can build some heat.

Not sure about those mid corner downshifts though.

No data acquisition or GPS, only the official results which show a 2:56.379 being my fastest.
The video is a 2:58.941, so I did drop 2.6 seconds from what is shown here.

Brakes were not great. I have base C5 brakes, manual 7/8" master, and put some PFC "Z" pads on it for this because the heat range was better than my autocross Hawk HP+ and I had them on the shelf already from before I changed to manual. They took a ton of pedal effort to bite, and I never felt real confident in them. They felt really inconsistent, and I scared myself pretty good overshooting turn 1 once and running all the way out to the end of the concrete run off just before the sand trap. They never faded or anything, just crazy pedal effort required.

Mid corner downshift was the only way I could do it. I can't heel-toe this car, so I had to do it as soon as I was off the brakes while rolling through the corner and then be pretty quick to bring revs up and be soft on the clutch release as I went back to power... I have a lot of autocross experience, but this was the first time on a big track, so I'm really not used to rowing gears in a competitive setting like that.

 

[-SS454-]

No data acquisition or GPS, only the official results which show a 2:56.379 being my fastest.
The video is a 2:58.941, so I did drop 2.6 seconds from what is shown here.

Brakes were not great. I have base C5 brakes, manual 7/8" master, and put some PFC "Z" pads on it for this because the heat range was better than my autocross Hawk HP+ and I had them on the shelf already from before I changed to manual. They took a ton of pedal effort to bite, and I never felt real confident in them. They felt really inconsistent, and I scared myself pretty good overshooting turn 1 once and running all the way out to the end of the concrete run off just before the sand trap. They never faded or anything, just crazy pedal effort required.

Mid corner downshift was the only way I could do it. I can't heel-toe this car, so I had to do it as soon as I was off the brakes while rolling through the corner and then be pretty quick to bring revs up and be soft on the clutch release as I went back to power... I have a lot of autocross experience, but this was the first time on a big track, so I'm really not used to rowing gears in a competitive setting like that.

Have you looked at Harry's Lap Timer app? It's cheap and runs off your phone's GPS.

I don't know how the PFC "Z" pad compares with the Wilwood lineup, but it sounds like a more aggressive pad may be worth trying. I've ran a Wilwood B compound pad on the track. I liked the performance. They make a lot of dust though.

I know what you mean about the heal-toe issue with the Chevelle pedals. I have to be slow on the clutch release to avoid axle hop during downshifts. If you axle hop or lock a rear mid corner, that'd be downright terrifying and almost surely would cause a spin.

 

[robertr63]

Cool car, I have the same front spoiler, yours is the first Chevelle I have seen other than mine with one.

 

[Derek69SS]

Got a couple really cool pictures from Road America

 

[77 cruiser]

Looks like it means business. Looks great.

 

[-SS454-]

Awesome

 

[Derek69SS]

At UMI's King of the Mountain, the rain Saturday afternoon was kind of disappointing, but it made for some spectacular pictures.

I finished 14th of 33 in the "Early Model" class. I'm pretty happy with that, finishing in the upper half among some really fast and well-known cars & drivers in the Pro-Touring community. I was the highest-finishing A-body, behind Corvettes, Camaros, and a Nova.

 

[77 cruiser]

Suitable for framing.

 

[cage2592]

Chevelle looks amazing every time you post up! Congrats on the finishing. The hood is still lookin mean and good as well.

Mike

 

[Derek69SS]

I have a new favorite picture...
Some slip angle, some counter-steer, and hard on the throttle with a wheel off the ground.

 

[77 cruiser]

Looks great, reminds me of some of the old NASCAR pics from Riverside.

 

[cage2592]

Man that thing looks so tough ! Also love hearing it kick a$$ on the others ! That #2 picture in your post #52 looks good as well. The colors and the wet road set it off.

Mike

 

[Derek69SS]

A local club had a CAM shootout this past weekend, and the check for the top prize had a picture of my Chevelle on it (picture from the same event last year)

I lost the back end and wiped out a wall of cones on the Saturday shootout, but stayed clean and fast, and won the shootout on Sunday!

 

[-SS454-]

Way to go!

On an irrelevant note, that's an awfully big check for $25 lol.

 

[Derek69SS]

On an irrelevant note, that's an awfully big check for $25 lol.

I am now a semi-professional racecar driver.

Too bad I figured the expenses to be about $800 for the weekend with tire wear, travel, hotel, food/drink, and entry fees.
These Yokohama A052 have about 1/4 tread left with 77 runs on them at $1600/set, so I'm figuring $16/run and we put 28 runs on it this weekend with my wife co-driving on Sunday.

Front tires are starting to lose grip from too many heat-cycles, so I had to keep cranking up the rear shocks and brake bias to get it to turn in and stay balanced. I'm hoping if I flip them, they'll at least be consistent until they cord.