Driving old cars fast..

[Billy Mild]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...old-cars-fast/

Interesting article and reminds me of doing all the work I did to my ZR-1 before my first track day. Now I have do bushings, one side of u joints, and a few other odds and ends.

[ghlkal]

The Annoyances Of Driving Old Cars Fast

Interesting article. Thanks for finding and posting this.

[32valvesftw]

I disagree, with the premise. I have more fun tossing an old car around than going fast as possible in the new wiz bang machine. For what its worth I have tossed an older M5 around quite a bit and it is an experience that I find really hard to replicate. there is a lot more to driving that getting the lowest time around a track. The new M5 for example pipes exhaust sound into the cabin to enhance the driving experience, WTF really? I have quite a bit of experience driving a 67 VW bus with 2.0 and twin Webers through Central America and the west coast of the US, its the essence of driving.Its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

[Billy Mild]

Originally Posted by 32valvesftw

I disagree, with the premise. I have more fun tossing an old car around than going fast as possible in the new wiz bang machine. For what its worth I have tossed an older M5 around quite a bit and it is an experience that I find really hard to replicate. there is a lot more to driving that getting the lowest time around a track. The new M5 for example pipes exhaust sound into the cabin to enhance the driving experience, WTF really? I have quite a bit of experience driving a 67 VW bus with 2.0 and twin Webers through Central America and the west coast of the US, its the essence of driving.Its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

They were getting at, the older the vehicle truly needs a refresh on the suspension and other wear items. This is because of age and will greatly reduce the performance of the car.

[8cam]

You haven't lived until you've pushed a 500,000 mile CRX on track for 24 hours, original suspension and all. Awesome. And the amazing thing was just how incredibly well it handled!

[5ABI VT]

Great article and so much truth in there.=D>

[Tripler]

Originally Posted by 8cam

You haven't lived until you've pushed a 500,000 mile CRX on track for 24 hours, original suspension and all. Awesome. And the amazing thing was just how incredibly well it handled!

Haha !!! I raced a CRX a few years back . Finished second at Mosport in the second last 24 hr I did ... All top three cars were from the same team . We finished 1-2-3 . The boss had the SI which had more hp and we drove 2 CRX's . The CRX was still my favorite . The C4's would follow us through the corners and only pass on the straights lol because we were pulling more g in the corners ...

1991 Mosport 24hr

[rhipsher]

Originally Posted by 8cam

You haven't lived until you've pushed a 500,000 mile CRX on track for 24 hours, original suspension and all. Awesome. And the amazing thing was just how incredibly well it handled!

Sounds like 24 hours at Lemons.

[8cam]

Originally Posted by rhipsher

Sounds like 24 hours at Lemons.

Yep did six races in that car, best finish was sixth overall. We could out corner and out brake everyone, but 95hp just wasn't quite enough. Most fun I've ever had in a car.

[GTOger]

This one hits close to home for me. 10 years ago, my step-grandmother parked her 86 Trans Am at my aunt's farm. She had run the life out of it. It sat there for a year, then I dragged it to my garage, where it continued to sit. We pulled it out of its slumber last June, which involved replacing nearly every gasket, seal, bushing, and other soft bits. The gas tank and heater core were thoroughly shot. I've been daily-driving it for the past few months, and have also taken it on a couple interstate road trips.

One of my Corvette buddies has just shaken his head at the prospect of me actually driving the car at speed, but I'm here to tell you that old bucket feels surprisingly solid up past 115. The LB9 5-liter leaves plenty to be desired, but that's another matter.

Fact is, yeah, it takes a good bit of care, attention and money to do it right, but I wanted the car to be safe first, then we can concern ourselves with performance.

To that end, I'm going to pick up the ZR1 from Corey Henderson's shop tomorrow. In addition to some tasty little performance upgrades, we're going to be sporting redone FX3 shocks under a new coil-over setup, fresh bushings and even some HID lights for better vision. Our cars are aging, but that doesn't mean they have to get old and fat.