Virginia International Raceway - Charity Laps

[lfalzarano]

If you are near the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA on Friday, March 3rd, they will be hosting charity laps. $25/15 minute session and the gates open at 8AM ET. :cheers:

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b5bef62cd5bdc4d700abe0341&id=393f821452&e=f5624d6c68

The track is really spectacular.

[lfalzarano]

Overnight the temps at the VIR track dropped in the 20's, which made the track cold and I found out the hard way that the Goodyear F1 GSD's don't work at all when the temps are even in the high 30's or low 40's. Guess that why they say it is a Summer performance tire... :o

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wq6djmgx8rcu6c/VIR%20Laps%202017.jpg?dl=0

Went off the track in the same corner, correctly named the "Left Hook." All four tires gave up on grip and I slid off. Recovered with no damage to the Z, but a big blow to my driving ego.

It was a great charitable event and there were plenty of Vettes there. The oldest was a 63 split window with a 386 with two 4-barrels, otherwise it was all original.

The event gave you 15 minute sessions, which is about 4 fast laps around the 3.27 mile track. Not racing speeds but I was well over 100 in certain sections of the track. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat Fun!
:cheers:

[Tripler]

Looked like a lot of fun . Did you know that on the new C7 vets that the tires will crack below 50 degrees or something like that . So no C7's could partake in such an event . All new vets have to be kept in a heated garage now ...
Glad you came out ok from the off track excursion . C4's are tough cars...
;)

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[lfalzarano]

Didn't know that about C7's, but there were plenty of them out there. There were several C7 Z06's out there with cup tires on. They survived. When I got home I went to TireRack to search for street tires, and there is nothing for ZR-1's, except Goodyear GS-D3's, which are max performance summer tires. They worked great in Florida at Daytona and Sebring, but NG for VIR. All the other options are drag, Autocross or track tires. We have to move to 18" wheels to get something that works in cold weather. Lessons learned by an old dog!

So you don't take your ZR-1 out until the weather is really warm then... :-)

[RussMcB]

According to folklore, when Richard Petty raced there in the 1960's, he had a hard time with a certain corner (the first left hander), running off track more than once, and now they call it Nascar Corner.

That's from memory. I tried to find something about it via Google but couldn't, so maybe I'm full of it. :-)

I don't know anyone who has every raced there and not been impressed. It's one of the best tracks, for sure.

[Shrek]

One of our favorite places on earth!
Yes, it will bite and humble you pretty damn quick!

Results of a late November cold track day back in 2014.

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq186/2manyvettes24/96/Dec%202014%20Damage/002_zps3fa9f312.jpg

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq186/2manyvettes24/96/Dec%202014%20Damage/006_zps61250294.jpg

[lfalzarano]

Ouch!!! What kind of tires were you running?


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[Shrek]

Ouch!!! What kind of tires were you running?


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OLD Goodyear race rubber. Tried to squeeze one more weekend before buying new for the next season. BIT ME IN THE ***!!!

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq186/2manyvettes24/96/96%20Rebuild/58d86d0a-0852-4468-8373-21739b6eda91_zps7mqj1yac.jpg

[lfalzarano]

According to folklore, when Richard Petty raced there in the 1960's, he had a hard time with a certain corner (the first left hander), running off track more than once, and now they call it Nascar Corner.

That's from memory. I tried to find something about it via Google but couldn't, so maybe I'm full of it. :-)

I don't know anyone who has every raced there and not been impressed. It's one of the best tracks, for sure.



NASCAR corner (turn 3) is a long sweeper that you can usually take at 70 mph, but the track and my summer tires could grip at that speed. Turn 4 bit me twice though... [emoji35]


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[lfalzarano]

Typo - Could not have gone at that speed


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[Tripler]

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/03/michelin-issues-statement-after-corvette-owners-complain-of-cracked-tires/

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[lfalzarano]

Never thought cold temps could damage the tires. Learned two things now about tires and cold temperatures


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[Tripler]

I know right . Wow . Not sure why Michelin and GM are putting these kind of tires on street vehicles. Those tires that are cracking seem to be like a full blown race tire . Very peculiar tire for these cars when the weather can switch up so quickly in many parts of North America.
;)

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[Tripler]

I was recently at a GM dealership and my friend who works there showed me how they had to maneuver other cars around in the garage to make space for the 2017 vets as they cannot store them in a cold environment.
Why put a product on a vehicle with such limited usage . I see Porsche cars all winter long with no tire issues and it's the #1 competitor for the vet is it not ...
;)


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[lfalzarano]

I was chasing a Porsche that cold morning and had a hard time catching him in the corners. Porsche recommends tires for summer and winter driving for their cars.

http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesandservices/classic/tyreapproval/


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[BigJohn]

You can purchase winter tires for your corvette!

[lfalzarano]

Where?


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[BigJohn]

Pirelli winter 240 Sottizero Snow tires!

[lfalzarano]

Couldn't find any 17's that fit a ZR-1, but I did find that there are Nitto Motivo all season tires for the ZR-1. They are speed rated to 168MPH. Couldn't find a recommended review of them. But appears to be an option for running hard on cold surfaces and cold weather... Maybe[emoji848]


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[RussMcB]

I think it's a waste of time searching for fat 17" Corvette tires that're going to be grippy in 20-40 degree weather. You just need to adjust your cornering speed to the grip available. And (I'm sure you probably already know), be sensitive and smooth with your inputs so you're not introducing abrupt weight transfer changes that will break the tires loose.

What air pressure did you run? I think our cars/tires want a little less than 30 lb. I remember that was a surprise to me. Most of my previous street car tires needed more pressure to keep them from rolling over onto the sidewalls.

When I ran my ZR-1 on a track with new, full tread Goodyears, I was impressed with their grip. But, that was not on a cold day. Probably in the low 60's that day.

[lfalzarano]

Got that point about grip. I was running standard 35psi. I understand that under racing conditions, around 30 is a good starting point as the tires will heat up on a normal day. It was really cold with a biting wind chill!!!

I did dial back my speeds, but obviously not enough. My inputs might have contributed to the incidents as I heard the tires start to squeal and "Oh S#&@" was heard in the video reviews [emoji23]


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