[Whiteshadow]

Well we had a pretty darn good time.

I still haven't gotten my Ecsta 710 race tires, so I was on street tires today. It was cold, and the asphalt on this particular track is sealed. So basically, it's just a big ice-rink!

I beat most or all of the cars that weren't AWD, including some pretty good drivers in Miatas, and Mustangs. I have pretty much made up my mind that I will be competing at Solotime events around the midwest this year, in hopes of getting a top 10 placing at Nationals this year.

Some things that concern me about racing my GTO though:

1. The power steering doesn't want to catch up to my inputs... The wheel gets hard to turn when trying to re-direct quickly.

2. It pushes pretty hard, at low, or high speeds. I didn't adjust the air pressures too much, which could make a difference.

3. The brakes. They aren't good.

Now with the brakes, I'm pretty sure something is failing on my car. After casually driving my car, I get out and it smells a lot like clutch. (or brakes.) I think I may have a brake dragging.

AND, ever since I picked up my car, I thought the brakes have felt weird. They don't have much feedback, it's a really soft feel. I didn't think much of it, but after doing a few panic stops on the highway (with no one around) I noticed the pedal was almost on the floor, and the car WOULD NOT STOP. I ran into this problem today, coming into a Chicago box, the brakes flat out weren't working, and I ran right thru a couple cones.

Does anyone have this trouble with your brakes? I mean how do they feel?

I'll be setting up another appointment with the dealership in a day or two to have them checked out.

Anyways, input/feedback is welcome!

PS: I was really excited to see a Black '04 GTO show up before the event started today. I was hoping for some competition! But he left before anything really got underway...

 

[Maximental]

break info.

I don't remember having seen much about the power steering here, or on other forums either.
There has been alot of stuff posted all over about the brake problems that you speak of, however. A couple of recommendations that I have seen are: 1. Change the brake pads, (I have aftermarket Hawk performance pads on the front brakes in my car.) If you look @ the pix in my gallery, you can see the difference in the stock ones and the ones I put on. I did notice the new ones were dramatically better when I put them on. They are made of different material than the stock ones, but have the same shape and size of the friction material.
2. Change the brake fluid to one with better ratings than the stock stuff. - IE: higher boiling point, but be careful to make sure you get the stuff that is compatible with what's in there now. I've seen pix of some of the fluid that has been bled through when people do this, and the stock stuff looks nasty when it comes out. I will be doing this when I have the necessary resources. I have noticed that the brakes are still not as solid as I would like them to be. Others who have done this say that there is a dramatic improvement after changing the fluid.
One more thing, did you have the TC on when you were racing? I would assume you didn't, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right? I noticed a very strong smell like the one you describe when I would spin my tires with the TC on. I started turning the TC off all the time and haven't noticed it since. I think the TC actually applies the rear brakes to "help" stop loss of traction, and this was overheating the rear brake pads. I can't prove it, but this is my theory. :cheers

Happy motoring,

Maximental

 

[Whiteshadow]

Yep, the TC was definitely off... hehe I hope to have a few pics up at some point this week of the event, I roasted the tires all the way down a few straightaways. Fun!

I was thinking of doing the pad change as well, I was hoping to do the C5 Hawks, but have to check the rulebook to see if this is legal. For sure I'll be bleeding the brakes real soon.

 

[Whiteshadow]

here's a picture showing just how bad the brakes got... I went right through this cone!

 

[Maximental]

Soooo...

I assume that's smoke from your tires in the background.
I'm supposed to be getting my Lingenfelter CAI this week. If it gets here soon enough, I will be able to get it in before I go back to work Saturday. It would be cool to show it off to the couple of people who would actually be interested in checking it out.
I will be hitting a 1/4 mile track here sometime this summer. I would really like to do something like you're doing, though. I think I would rather road race than dragrace. $$ and time are the problems, like anything else.
Thanks for sharing.

Happy motoring,

Maximental