After a major suspension overhaul, it's time to properly install a set of racing bucket seats and six-point harnesses and take Goldie back to the race track to attempt a new personal best...
Another great video! Hunting lap times can be one of the most frustrating or rewarding things at the track. The dedicated track track tires should close the gap to the GT3's time. Once you get the AP racing brake kit sorted that should help too. These videos are holding me over until I can get back on track in early May.
A good investment for not much more money is to get some proper air ducting for the front brakes. The AP Racing setup is a huge upgrade but the improved cooling to that area will be the insurance you want to protect it.
While not a Corvette guy myself, I appreciate your down to earth videos. Pointing out your mistakes is part of the learning process. There's a lot to be learned from guys like yourself regardless of what people drive. Well done.
BTW I noticed on all 3 laps, you're SOOPER low RPMs around the 1 min mark, not long before that back stretch. I bet you could shave another .5 or so if you didn't upshift so early there. But grats on shaving off 2 seconds!
Them LS 7 like to let go of the stock valves at higher RPM sadly 😢. But they do make a nice aftermarket head for them. That I'm trying hard to talk josh into 😅
I have been plowing through your videos since I got the C6 ZO6 bug. Its been great seeing your process with the car and your honesty throughout. Keep up the great work!
Make sure to upgrade the dual sump capacity to the Lingenfelter 11qt unit. GM upgraded the sump to 10.5 qts. in 09 due to insufficient oil supply at high Gs resulting in blown motors. Don't risk blowing that $20k motor over a couple hundred dollar sump tank!
What a great video! Thank you for taking us along! Goldie sure is a sweetheart! I can’t wait to see how she performs with lighter wheels and some DOTR compounds. I’m sure Goldie could also use some aero.
Goldie is looking really solid on the track now. Though I must admit, it's hard to remember that "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast" while on the course pushing your limits. Well done bud. I look forward to what you have in store for the next one.
I started watching your channel with aspirations of getting a C6 z06 next year. Watching your journey is making it that much clearer this is something I need to make happen!!
99.9% of RU-vid is crap. This channel is the exception. I am either learning something new or relearning something that I forgot a long time ago from it. Keep it up! Oh yeah....I did the "more oil coming out of the car than I can put into the receptacle" dance more times than I'd like to admit.
My previous comment was made about half way through. I was literally...and I do mean LITERALLY...siting at my workbench in my garage by myself, cheering near the end. You might have heard me all the way from Nashville. :) Smooth run, nice job!!! Can't wait for the Apex wheels/race tire run. Buzz me if you ever visit my area.
Well, Love it when a plan comes together! So I guess your proof of concept is pretty close to being established. Can’t wait to see what that sticky tire yield. I suspect additional good things to come! Can’t wait! Thanks for taking us along!
Thanks buddy! I am still on the fence about aero. I don’t want to destroy the street-ability of the car completely but I don’t know if you can get really functional aero without taking the ride height way down and adding a big front splitter.
Warms my heart that you use Good quality oil and top notch filter, Oil temp..... its not to bad. Also consider used oil analysis, set a base line, and then you can easily monitor the engine wear, i have done used oil analysis on my 911 the last eight years in my ownership.. OCI at 5000 miles, hard track use, no problems, allmoust no wear metals.... consistent readings, i use Valvoline Synpower... but oil is religion i will not debate that
What a cool experience to have witnessed. Very well done video in terms of story line and proving the right amount of detail and emotion. I'm hooked! Also, really inspiring me to get my NB miata on track this year.
Thank you! You should do it, I had an NB Miata and they do great on track even in stock form. SCCA runs a "Track Night In America" event that's a great way to get your feet wet.
Enjoying the content. Great driving. If you haven’t already, upgrade the oil tank to the larger capacity, and or aviaid tank baffle, check those valves, test the oil sample for Titanium ( rod bearings) and lastly leave it stock. I modded my ls7 and it took about a year before the ring land on number 7 broke, cracked the sleeve and block. It was heads/cam and heads fixed. Ls7 are monsters, but unfortunately the most fragile and flawed engine in the LS family.
OUCH! Thanks for the tips! My intention from the get-go was to say "500 hp at the crank is plenty" and just worry about suspension, braking, and reliability. After driving my friend's built car I found myself wishing I had an exhaust, but I don't feel like I need more power. Wish I could get my hands on a Ti Akropovic unit but I don't think they're available any more.
Congrats, Josh!! You deserve that time. I have to admit, the lap just before your best had me really bummed. I started doubting my own involvement with cars, wondering if it's all worth it. That last lap had me celebrating with you, though. You're an inspiration! My C6 GS is not gonna be looking for a forever home after all!
DUDE!!!! Congrats!!!!! I found you when you started chasing the GT3 time, so it's super exciting to see you nipping at the heels of the GT3!!!! Better tires and pads and you're there!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome channel! I don’t even own a corvette but I really enjoy the content. I get down to Road atlanta once a year in my M3 but really want to check out AMP this year. Looks fun!
Awesome! Glad to see your excited and still having fun! Race tires alone should get you there now. Then Add aero, and AP brakes, bye bye GT3s! Nice content creation, very engaging videos to watch.
This is one of the hidden gems of youtube. Your format is great, content is awesome. Ive been watching since your miata race (would love to see more of that) and don't even like corvettes 😂 but you're suckering me in with the porsche competition 😝 . love this stuff.🎉
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. I found your channel a month ago or so and am all caught up! I've been on a similar path with my old Honda Civic, but I am considering moving to something faster and possibly RWD. You're also inspiring me to actually talk in my videos and maybe even be on camera (more intimidating then the driving 😅). Thanks for sharing, and keep on keepin on.😎
Thank you! RWD is certainly a lot of fun, just don't upgrade to something with too much power until you're ready for it. The saying about driving a slow car fast is definitely true, in my experience at least. Figuring out how to tell stories on RU-vid has been a bigger challenge than the driving or the wrenching, that's for sure. The only way to get better is to make more videos!
My wait for parts this year is just forever. I had hoped to be on the road a couple weeks ago. I still don't have half my stuff, yet. I did post a quick video of $10K of billet and carbon intake manifold finally all together.
Josh brother that's amazing. And to know i road with you going mis 1:33s in the atom. How fast that felt its amazing to see that N/A 3000lb street car with AC going 1:30s on street tires. Your a driving animal and I love seeing the hard work and progress not only in the car and driving skills but the channel. Congratulations on the amazing lap time and for all the hard work paying off .
Alibaba is going to be your best friend ever for tracking this car. Its all there for the season with astounding pricing on pads rotors and complete systems. Not advertisement, but just saying.
That’s what I’ve been hearing! I didn’t realize GM added a couple of quarts of capacity for the ‘09 and up cars. I’m sure they wouldn’t have done it for no reason. 😕
My 2011 Grand sports holds I believe close to 10 quarts of oil with the deep sump so yours has to be close to that. I know the Z06 has the deep sump motor also.
Keep up the great work. Might I suggest, since you are close to gt3 times, a detailed dissection video between the z06 with the current mods vs. the gt3+ other drivers cars? Really curious how it stacks up from a steering feel, suspension, drivetrain, chassis perspective. Lap times and feeling I find are often 2 different things. Thanks again
Awesome video and great to see you drop that lap time so much! You got lower than I expected with the mods you've done so far. I'm quite sure you could hit 1:27's if you get the suspension, brakes, and tires beefed up further.
Outstanding Job! Solid hands on work and still having a questioning attitude like any good mechanic. No question you can drive that car like you stole it lol congrats on the time. Video and editing work is excellent. Keep up the hard work spinning all those plates lol.
I would recommend professionally reworked heads with non-OEM lightweight exhaust valves, ti retainers, psi single coil valve springs and quality roller rocker system with correct setup over the valves, a stage 1 cam (low lift, longer duration with minimal overlap), johnson link-bar reduced travel lifters, coated Kooks or A/R headers and x-pipe, Corsa sport mufflers, and a somwhat conservative tune for street/track use. That should give you a nice boost in power making the car even more responsive while dramatically increasing reliability. The Corsa sport exhaust will give a great tone with 0 drone.
@@JoshVanVeld I don't believe there is significant weight savings but I don't remember exactly (I weighed them a few years ago). I've tried/driven with numerous systems in numerous combinations including Akra's, and Corsa sports offer the most satisfying sound without impeding enjoyment. You can still hear the radio at human levels and have a conversation in the cabin during regular driving but it gets more intense as you lean into it until it finally screams at high rpm. Corsa's do give a hp boost you can feel as well. I believe they ad to any driving experience.
So fun to watch. Not just because I love corvettes, but I love watching you wrench and turn laps. My teeth were clenching the entire third session because I want c6 to represent so badly! There’s one section in a crest left right left I kept wishing you’d drop down to second, it feels like you’re losing the meat of the power right there. But, being in the car you’re probably feeling like you’re on the edge of losing grip. I love this stuff! Go vette!
I thoroughly enjoy your videos and your journey. I stumble across your content while looking for C6 ZO6 track experiences. It’s fantastic to watch your experiences and the results better or worse. I am looking for one to do some weekend tooling around and some SCCA auto-X/road course fun. The cars I was/am considering is the C6 ZO6, C6 Zr1, C7 ZO6, ZL1/ZL1-1LE and the GT350/R (before the prices went obscene the Porsche GT4 was a consideration). The C6 ZO6 seems to be the best bang for your buck value. Each of the cars are significantly different. I try to remind myself that power isn’t everything but it is hard not to get swept up in as my race car(Cobra Jet Mustang) makes 1,500hp.
Wow I bet that Cobra Jet is wild! My philosophy is that track cars are rungs on a ladder and there's no reason to skip rungs and start with the fastest thing out there. If you buy something right you can sell it after six months or a year for what you paid. Climbing the ladder is a lot more fun than owning a single car that you eventually get bored with and don't drive as much. I started with a C5 Z06 with bolt-ons as my first track day car and it was a bit too much for me. I learned a lot driving Miatas (not everyone's cup of tea) and now I feel like I have the skills to tackle something like the C6Z. Then again, everybody is wired differently. I think the C6Z is a lot of car for the money.
My advice to most people is learn how to drive a slow car fast first. What you gain in experience translates to quicker and quicker cars so that you can actually access their potential. My start was dirt bikes, then Fox body mustangs into a very long line of newer and newer mustangs. Working each car up with improved brakes, handling and power. Then I focused more and more attention on drag racing with personal cars/competition licensing/competing in a class. Dabbling still in the left/right arena with others cars and taking some driving courses along the way. Truth be told a 2013 Boss 302 with upgraded brakes and tires has been a very good spot that I’ve enjoyed tracking. Wanting something just a little bit more now.
On the race tires, I'm sure you know that your brake cooling issues will be far worse than they already are. As a guy building a C4 Corvette along similar lines, I will be very interested to see what it takes to overcome the problem in your car.
Great video! I love the GoPro view of the gauges, what software do you use to edit/crop just the gauges like you do? I've grown tired of the layouts that Track Addict and Race Render have.
I love how you did the gauges while driving on track. I see you filmed them with a GoPro, but how did you get them to look so clean? After Effects or something?
Thanks! I got the BL-5000SLX. I got it on sale at Costco over 3 years ago, it looks like that model has been discontinued since then. I love it and get a lot of use out of it. You probably wouldn't want to try to do extensive work under the car with it because it doesn't get a ton of height and the jacks sort of block your access from the sides of the car so you have to go in from the front or the back, but it's convenient and feels pretty safe. I think they have newer models that can get you more height.
By the end of the video I turned in a faster lap in the C6Z and I think a lot of that was down to an aggressive alignment and getting comfortable leaning hard on the car. The GS I drove had an automatic gearbox and that probably saves some time as well. I think the stock suspension on the C7 Grand Sport is better for track work than the C6Z, as are the brakes. I was slower by quite a lot in the C7Z I drove and I think that was because I was intimidated by the power and trying to modulate the throttle on a twisty course like AMP. That car was also on a run-flat tire and just didn't give me a lot of confidence. I think if I had turned a lot more laps I could have gone much faster.
Congrats on the 'great success'. I really liked the graphic with the gauge cluster. The metal shavings on the oil plugs 'is-a not good'. How long was that from?
Thanks! It's been six months since the oil was changed just before I bought it. I'll send a sample off to blackstone next time and see what they find in it.
Awesome job man! It seems like Corvette's have it in them, but you have to respect them when you drive, over the limit they seem to fall apart. I can't wait for the brake, suspension and tire upgrades! Are you planning on running lap times after each single mod or do them all at once? It would be interesting to see a "stair-step" down, as to how effective each mod is. Just my thoughts though, loved the vid!
Original intention was to test each mod individually, but so far almost nothing has gone according to plan, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens :)
Could you cut a new hole in the carpet on the passenger side like you did for the wiring on the driver's side but rather than tuck it away, route it over the top of the outboard passenger seat rail and connect it to the OnStar box?
Great video, and great job on the lap time! Couple of questions… 1. Do you turn traction control completely off, and if so how hard is it to manage power delivery with those street tires? 2. I think your car is 2009+ correct? If not, do you have an expanded oil tank (that came in 2009+)? If not, you may want to consider it with those long left handers when you go to stickier tires (or at the very least log your oil pressure and watch for drops). Apparently the extra g’s over streets can cause oil starvation in the perfect storm. Thanks for the great video, finally get rewarded for all that hard work!!! Just need to address those brakes now! 🎉🎉🎉
Traction control / stability control are fully off. It's tricky to figure out when to get on the power (you can see me getting on too early or too aggressively in some cases) but you get the hang of it. My car is a 2007 and you're the second commenter today to mention an expanded oil tank so that's something I'll look into. It's all fun and games until the motor pops.
@@JoshVanVeld LFE has an exchange program that has pretty quick turnaround (you send yours in and they do a mod to increase the capacity, similar results to OEM). That is the route I took on mine... Better to be safe than sorry.
Nice job! Any other changes before switching to better tires, other than pads, or are you going to try to get the better brakes to fit for the next session?
I'm always so surprised by how much lap times can swing in a given day. I have been lucky enough to have days like Josh had where the day ends much different then how it starts, but just a couple days ago I set a decent time (still a full second off my best) in an early cold session and while the conditions improved, my driving smoothed out I figured that record might be breakable, only to go within hundreths of that early morning time session after session, and ended up the day 4 hundreths slower. Lap times are still a bit of a mystery to me, because dang, they don't correlate as well as you'd think to how it feels in the car.
Track conditions and driver mindset are very difficult to quantify. I'll often come in from the first session of the day thinking, "That's all the car has to give!" but usually I've left at least a couple seconds on the table by making mistakes, pushing too hard, or not pushing hard enough. Then the day gets hotter, the track gets greasy, and the opportunity is lost. Sometimes it works out, and it feels like magic! I was happy to capture one of those instances in this video because they don't happen very often.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Man Josh your videos are so entertaining to watch because of your reactions. Am I watching a racing video or a comedy show. More the reasons why I’m sticking around. 👍🏻👍🏻 I gave this one a 2 thumbs up. Nice work Josh 1:30.79 Damn and YOU did it with no help other than your friend showing you how to set up your alignment. Hell yeah
If those Sparcos are anything like the Sparco Evo seats I have in my rally car, the foam in the pad that's under your rear end is just some really cheap stuff that basically provides no padding. I ended up buying some "Confor Memory Foam" from Aircraft Spruce, the 1" thick stuff in medium density and replacing that cheap foam. As Confor warms up it conforms to your butt and is really quite comfortable, we end up spending like 4 hours in the car at a time and I never suffered from *ss ache.
These videos are awesome! Between you and one other RU-vid channel it finally gave me the push the pick up a c6z! Love it! What camera system are you using when you talk into the cam and do car work? Either way keep up the awesome work. Love these vids!
Wow, that's awesome! They're great cars. For the garage stuff I use a Sony EV-10 camera with a Sony E 15mm F1.4 lens. I also use a Panasonic GH5S with a 16-35mm lens, but the auto-focus on that isn't great so I'm trying to lean on the Sony more.
@@JoshVanVeld thanks! Also I have watched all the vett videos. Love them and really like how you look at doing the work yourself and how you put that it’s not always easy to try. Thanks for sharing this side. It’s awesome to see as cars can be emotional for some of us and what they mean lol.
I need to start watching more. I'd love to have the time / money to track more. The one track day I did there was so fun but too much traffic with slower cars to see what laps I could achieve.
@@JoshVanVeld Yeah it was a "bring your friend" day. I was the "friend" but with a very capable car. I've done many track days on sport bikes and consider myself competitive by nature, so I'd love to see what I could do there. Was only on PS4S's though while chasing my friend in her GT2RS with Cup2's. I stayed with him though. He's a Platinum member there. Way more time / laps on that track. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PtYMUwi60R8.html
@@protectandswerve Oh yeah that's terrible traffic. Come back out for a guest day on a regular member day (costs $250, you can do it twice a year) and you'll get a totally different experience. GT2 RS is a ridiculous car. I got to ride in one on a drag strip and the power was amazing.
@@JoshVanVeld Yeah, that's what I need to do for sure. My exhaust and tune puts me equal with Mike's GT2RS but the suspension, chassis, and tires are on another level for sure. He's got a GT3RS and a Radical also..Used to do the Spec. Miata class also I think. Hopefully I'll see ya out there for sure soon..
I've got a GoPro Hero 7 mounted on the steering column. I sync all the GoPros in Adobe Premiere and I use a mask so that the instruments are visible over the rest of the footage.
Good question. At this point I don't know because I haven't tried. I should have my brakes sorted soon and that will give me an opportunity to do a longer session.
Been re-watching your videos and something caught my eye this time through. I have scars on my hands/arms from people who trim zip ties like you did on your shoulder belts. Get some flush cuts, your hands and forearms will thank you!
@@JoshVanVeld You see them more in aerospace but they are absolutely worth it. Re-watch stands up for sure, I jump around a little to see what kind of products you use (was digging into the harness bar) but all your videos are great stories instead of a how-tos. You are like the Mr. Rogers of C6 corvettes/wrenching.
Hey Josh, love the content you've been posting up. I saw in the video you posted your gt3 experience and I was curious if you had recorded your best lap time from your 997 turbo?
Thanks! I never drove the Turbo on track much. I don’t think I ever did better than a 1:34 and I don’t think I filmed it. That car would have benefited a great deal from an alignment and track-focused tires.
I just realized which part you were talking about. She came out to complain about the noise (kids were in bed) and I told her it was going in the video. I didn't think anybody would pick up on it!
I think it can be done but you need to figure out a solution for the buckle. It's not practical to bring the buckle over from the factory seat (it's got a big tensioning mechanism) so you need to find something that fits. There's no room between the tunnel and the seat so it will be a pain to fish the buckle through even when you've got it mounted. I did it with my C5Z and it was always a hassle.
Good question, I don't know the answer as I don't run track day insurance (I tend to take unwise risks, hence my blown LS7 at the moment). Hagerty is well known but I'm sure there are others.
I haven't watched the entire adventure... I keep hearing about GT3 killer, I am curious now, what time and year of GT3 are we talking about? My Z is at the shop waiting for a new twin disc install!
Great question! The short answer is - whichever one I can convince to come out and do a time attack battle with me at the track when the build is done! The long answer is that I've now driven a 2010 GT3 (gentle laps on track), a 2011 GT3 RS (long spirited mountain run), and a 2019 GT3 RS (fast laps on track) and they are all amazing to drive and very fast in stock form. The tricky part of the comparison is the driver factor. A pro driver is going to be several seconds faster than an amateur and most pros will hold back a little when it's somebody else's car and there's not a race on the line. So an apples-to-apples track battle will be hard to pull off. I'm not capable of getting the fastest possible times out of either car, but I like the idea that I could show up at a track day with Goldie and have no trouble keeping up with an amateur driver of similar skill level in a GT3 of any flavor, knowing that my car cost a fraction of what the Porsche did. The other factor that's hard to quantify is driving enjoyment. The GT3's I've driven practically beg you to push harder and you can't stop thinking about the experience afterwards, but Goldie did not have that quality when I first bought her. She was out of her element. That's the big transformation so far - she is now happy to be pushed to the limit. Back to the question... maybe the fairest comparison would be a 2007 GT3, but I think Goldie might already have that car beat. So let's say a manual transmission 991 generation GT3 is the target 😀
