New Z/28 Totaled on Second Lap!

[VoodooBoss]

You never want to see this even on a Camaro. I'm posting this as a reminder to be safe out there and for those of us buying new GT350's to take it easy until you have a feel for the car and you have some heat in those tires. Fortunately the owner was not hurt but this is also a reminder that anything short of a full roll cage, halo racing seat, fire suppression system, Hans and all the personal safety gear you can buy is a compromise of your safety.

What's interesting is maybe the Camaro does have a handling quirk. We've seen a few show snap oversteer and get into trouble. Let me know if you need a reminder. Anyway as cars get more HP with fat sticky tires bad things happen when you reach the limit of grip. Make sure your skills are up to the task. Also give the owner credit for sharing his experience and this happened at Thompson Speedway in CT.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=428069

 

[Tucson 302]

I find it interesting that he states in his post that OnStar had him only going 14 mph when he hit the wall. With frame rail damage like that it would seem he was traveling a lot faster than that, or Chevy makes a really crappy frame

 

[Grant 302]

Whoopsie.

While it's always a possibility of driver error, I think the cars must be prone to some form of snap / lift oversteer.

 

[twistedneck]

What's interesting is maybe the Camaro does have a handling quirk. We've seen a few show snap oversteer and get into trouble. Let me know if you need a reminder.

That GT350R has 305 front and 315 rear - 11" wide front wheels , 11.5" rear. Tread width is 11" front, 11.5" rear on these crazy pilot sport cup 2's..

Its got a huge section width - 12.5" for the 305, 12.6" for 315 and a real narrow tread width like an inch less than the equivalent Pilot Super Sport. Have you stared at these tires on the car?



the amount of sidewall stretch is huge. this means it looks like the tire is way too wide for the wheel. reality its just an illusion and its built for this setup, this tunes the sidewall stiffness along with construction and compound but usually with that stiff of a sidewall there isn't no forgiving. its so stretched out!

 

[VoodooBoss]

So does that mean the R is going to have the same problem? The Z rides on 305/30/19 PTR tires front and rear on 19x11 and 19x11.5" wheels so the rear is stretched even more.

In my first ride in a GT350R at the LS Historic Races the engineer I rode with was getting the rear to break loose often but caught it well in advance. He'd obviously had a lot of seat time in the car. I'm planning on running the same tires on either the same width wheels or possible a 19x11 square setup.

 

[Grant 302]

So does that mean the R is going to have the same problem? The Z rides on 305/30/19 PTR tires front and rear on 19x11 and 19x11.5" wheels so the rear is stretched even more.

In my first ride in a GT350R at the LS Historic Races the engineer I rode with was getting the rear to break loose often but caught it well in advance. He'd obviously had a lot of seat time in the car. I'm planning on running the same tires on either the same width wheels or possible a 19x11 square setup.

I seriously doubt the R will have any such problem. Both front and rear are stretched pretty evenly, and the staggered widths pretty much eliminate the issue IMO. I am pretty sure the problem with the Z *is* the extra stretched rear, as I suspected after the first two Z's looped it on track.

The non-R I drove at track tour was pretty easy to push the front, so it shouldn't ever be an issue with the base or TP 350s. I wish I got video of me driving!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Ouch, bad news there.

 

[byronj]

Ouch, No good no mater what car it happens to. At least the driver was physically OK.

 

[Fastfordnut]

I find it interesting that he states in his post that OnStar had him only going 14 mph when he hit the wall. With frame rail damage like that it would seem he was traveling a lot faster than that, or Chevy makes a really crappy frame

My guess...
Looking at the scrapes on the front end I was wondering if the car was possibly sliding sideways at a high rate of speed while simultaneously moving in a forward direction (@14 mph?) towards whatever it was he hit?

 

[WinterSucks]

Since he stated he hit a concrete wall, I am going to guess that he hit in turn 7 on the north side of the oval? That turn felt a bit off-camber to me on the new pavement. On my second or third lap I spun counter clockwise on the exit of turn 6 when my tires were cold but thankfully I was heading away from the wall. I don't think I managed to get my tires to the right temps that day but my brakes sure got hot on that track.

 

[cloud9]

I looped the Boss on a warmup lap in Turn 5 once at MPH Cold tires and not giving it full attention due to lower speeds was the cause. The tough part about this sport is mistakes can be really costly. It requires 100% focus and attention and humans just aren't capable of that. If you lose concentration playing basketball or baseball, you miss the shot or strikeout. The stakes are so much higher in this game unfortunately. The key is determined focus and attentiveness (unfortunately I'm about as ADD as they come)

 

[Grant 302]

(NSFW for language) Turn 2 at Irvine Cars n Coffee last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmVSEUZtRk

 

[TMSBOSS]

I was behind a Z-28 at Road America. Very twitchy. He had to get out of the throttle a few times. Canada Corner, Carousel and the kink.

Spent about 8 laps behind him in 2 sessions. Never a wave by. Go figure.

 

[cloud9]

I was behind a Z-28 at Road America. Very twitchy. He had to get out of the throttle a few times. Canada Corner, Carousel and the kink.

Spent about 8 laps behind him in 2 sessions. Never a wave by. Go figure.

Very bad combination.

 

[blacksheep-1]

If you jump out of the gas the rear end will come right around because the weight transfers forward, you have to stay with it.
Hopefully the camaro guy had track insurance or he's screwed. ANY car that is entered in a competition or track event IS NOT covered for collision. There was an autocross la couple of years ago where some of the cars were just parked on the sidelines, this clown in a porsche looses it and hits them..they were parked..no matter not covered.