First track day - Road Atlanta!

[Kachow]

Hey all! Today, I signed up for my first track day with the 350. It will be March 19th, Road Atlanta with Chin Track Days - Sunday only. I see two other 350s signed up as well. This will not be my first track day as I have 10+ events with my previous 1SS1LE. Excited to compare the two. Would love y'alls advice on the below please:

Brake fluid: I put RBf600 in the Camaro but after research have learned it may not be needed on the 350 as the factory fluid is dot 4 and made to withstand high temps. True?

Camber: I ran -2.5 up front in the Camaro and found it produced great turn in and stability. I am having Vorshlag camber plates installed next week and want to set the alignment as such - Thoughts?
Front Camber: -2.5
Front Caster: 6.81
Front Toe: as close to 0 as possible or .10 toe in/out?
Rear Camber: -2.0
Rear Toe: .3 in??

Tires: The dealer put new PZeros on. They are fine for the street but am going to go Supercar 3s (like I had on the camaro) or Cup 2s. Which do you all prefer?

Oil Filter: I have an early 2017 model still with the spin on oil filter. I'll make sure to torque down to 25 lbs and perhaps put a band clamp on it.

What else am I missing for prep?

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[jmn444]

if you do cup 2, then your alignment specs might be fine since the cup 2 compound is made to work well with less camber IMO...

I prefer sc3 by a lot, they last much longer for me, and i found I liked -3.2 front with very slight toe in (not because it's faster, but because any toe out and i was killing the inside edges), and -2.2 rear, toe is good on the rear as you listed. The front actually wants more camber than -3.2, but for me I found braking to suffer when I went higher than that. I run 19x11 square/rotatable with 305/30/19 and that helps balance tire wear w/o upping front camber more.

oem brake fluid is fine, but i use motul 600.

 

[pilotgore]

Hey all! Today, I signed up for my first track day with the 350. It will be March 19th, Road Atlanta with Chin Track Days - Sunday only. I see two other 350s signed up as well. This will not be my first track day as I have 10+ events with my previous 1SS1LE. Excited to compare the two. Would love y'alls advice on the below please:

Brake fluid: I put RBf600 in the Camaro but after research have learned it may not be needed on the 350 as the factory fluid is dot 4 and made to withstand high temps. True?

Camber: I ran -2.5 up front in the Camaro and found it produced great turn in and stability. I am having Vorshlag camber plates installed next week and want to set the alignment as such - Thoughts?
Front Camber: -2.5
Front Caster: 6.81
Front Toe: as close to 0 as possible or .10 toe in/out?
Rear Camber: -2.0
Rear Toe: .3 in??

Tires: The dealer put new PZeros on. They are fine for the street but am going to go Supercar 3s (like I had on the camaro) or Cup 2s. Which do you all prefer?

What else am I missing for prep?

You’re going to love the 350 on track! Better visibility than the SS and it feels lighter in the steering wheel. I slightly prefer the braking on the 350, but both cars are really on an amazing level from the factory. Besides that, you’ll miss the extra ponies a little in the straights but obviously the 350 is no slouch and makes up for it in the turns.

The factory brake fluid is okay….. but I highly recommend switching to the rbf600 or at a minimum bleeding the factory fluid to make sure you have fresh fluid at the caliper. The first time I ever solo’d on track I boiled stock c7 z06 dot 4 brake fluid and went off track at 130mph. Luckily it happened at Putnam park with a few hundred yards of flat mowed grass or I would have been screwed. Ever since then I bleed brakes before every single weekend with rbf600 as I view it as cheap insurance.

Everyone has their opinion on camber settings, mine and many others is as follows:
alightment:
Front: camber -3.0 if able.
caster 6.81 (non adjustable)
toe in .10 TOTAL
Rear: camber -2.20 (for me, this was maxed and it was great.)
Toe .30 to in TOTAL
I know 350 guys with Vorshlag plates who could get -2.4 camber in the front, others 3.1. If you find you need more, you can always add a camber bolt for next to nothing and pickup a few extra degrees.

The cup2’s and SC3’s are very comparable. My absolute favorite tire combo is the stock 350 rear cup 2’s (FP 305/35/19) on the rear and the R spec cup 2’s for the front (305/30/19.) Amazing amazing amazing balance. At any rate, either tire will be great, so maybe pickup whichever you can find a better deal on.

Schroth quickfit pro is great if you don’t have a harness already.

Passenger side catch can is a good idea.

If you’re using stock pads, if you have less than 4-6mm of pad material, you might want to take a spare set.

If you’re going to track this car as much as the SS, do yourself a favor and buy the Caliperfexion caliper bolts and extender sleeves. After your first front pad change, you’ll understand why it’s so important

Other than that, if you do your own oil changes you should consider the oil filter guide and oil funnel I 3D print

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to PM me.

-Jon

 

[JAJ]

Hey all! Today, I signed up for my first track day with the 350. It will be March 19th, Road Atlanta with Chin Track Days - Sunday only. I see two other 350s signed up as well. This will not be my first track day as I have 10+ events with my previous 1SS1LE. Excited to compare the two. Would love y'alls advice on the below please:

Brake fluid: I put RBf600 in the Camaro but after research have learned it may not be needed on the 350 as the factory fluid is dot 4 and made to withstand high temps. True?

Camber: I ran -2.5 up front in the Camaro and found it produced great turn in and stability. I am having Vorshlag camber plates installed next week and want to set the alignment as such - Thoughts?
Front Camber: -2.5
Front Caster: 6.81
Front Toe: as close to 0 as possible or .10 toe in/out?
Rear Camber: -2.0
Rear Toe: .3 in??

Tires: The dealer put new PZeros on. They are fine for the street but am going to go Supercar 3s (like I had on the camaro) or Cup 2s. Which do you all prefer?

Oil Filter: I have an early 2017 model still with the spin on oil filter. I'll make sure to torque down to 25 lbs and perhaps put a band clamp on it.

What else am I missing for prep?

Just one comment on the oil filter - take the cover off and make sure it's a genuine Motorcraft FL2069ST filter. They have a thread locker on the threads. There are aftermarket filters that fit, but they might not stay on. As for torque, the 18 ft-lbs on the sticker on the filter is all it takes, torqued when warm. If you go as high as 25 you might have a hard time getting the filter off again.

 

[ChipG]

That will be fun! Are you the one who just commented on my YouTube lap video?

Great advice above. You say you've tracked before - is it your first time at Road Atlanta? If so, it can be a very intimidating track the first time because there are several spots with real consequences awaiting an off.

For my part, I like the GY SC3s. I think the SC2s may have a very slightly higher peak, but I've found the GY SC3s to be fast and very much more consistent throughout their long life.

Motul brake fluid is good, and flushing at least the caliper before a weekend is good advice. I boiled my Motul at Barber last summer because it wasn't fresh for that event. I also added stainless brake lines for peace of mind, and the caliper bolts are amazing. OEM brake pads will work fine (it's what I've always run) but make sure you have plenty of meat, and I recommend bringing a spare set.

I run -3.2* camber up front, stock caster, and -2.7* camber rear (was previously running -2.0*), with zero toe at both ends. My tire wear is great and even (on 325s), though I may try to take a little rear camber back out to see if I can put down power out of corners a bit better. If you can't get -3* or more up front with Vorshlag, you can either hole saw the tower to make more room or put in camber bolts as well (which is what I did).

Other prep, other than the normal track day stuff I assume you are familiar with (shelter, chairs, water, tools, etc.): I agree with the Schroth QuickFit Pro harnesses - I run them with a HANS and an anti-sub strap. Make sure oil has good life left. Be prepared to refuel once or twice. Air/oil separator is a nice to have, but not strictly necessary. I can't think of anything else necessary for your first run - these cars are great on track right out of the box. I haven't run in a Camaro but have run with them. I'd expect the GT350 to feel a little softer coming out of corners but it will charge harder once wound up, which is great on the long RA back straight. Enjoy, and I'll be interested to hear your opinion on the comparison afterwards.

 

[sublime1996525]

Oh I'm jealous!! Have fun!

 

[Kachow]

I really appreciate all of your replies! You all have provided fantastic information.

I have a couple of leftover bottles of RBF600 and will ask the shop to do a brake flush as well when they are installing the camber plates. I'm also going to provide them with the alignment specs y'all have suggested.

Chip - that was me! I've been watching your videos on youtube, they are great. I'd like to get a gopro and start recording, once I get my feet wet with the 350.

Will report back on this thread after RA with how it went!

 

[fpa1974]

Tires: The dealer put new PZeros on. They are fine for the street but am going to go Supercar 3s (like I had on the camaro) or Cup 2s. Which do you all prefer?

Where are you finding SC3s? The sizes that I want (295/30/19 and 305/30/19) have been backordered for more than 1 year.

 

[jmn444]

Where are you finding SC3s? The sizes that I want (295/30/19 and 305/30/19) have been backordered for more than 1 year.

same here, but i'm assuming they will come back at some point. re71rs might pop up in the 305/30/19 sizing as well and those might be a great option too.

 

[Kachow]

Where are you finding SC3s? The sizes that I want (295/30/19 and 305/30/19) have been backordered for more than 1 year.

I haven't looked for them yet. I just assumed they would be readily available as they always were for my 1LE. The 1LE wheels were 20s OEM and a slightly different size. Never had any problem sourcing. The 1SS1LE factory wheel is the Supercar 3!

 

[svttim]

I agree with all of the above. Find a starting camber point then read the tires. Drivers style can have an effect on grip and wear differently from one driver to the next, Read the tires. Flush the fluid as you have stated. Two years is long enough. You may have to cut the shock towers. Someone makes a saw that works with everything installed. My Vorschlag plates only went to -2.6, only .1 more then my factory plates. I cut mine, ordered touchup paint and I'm good to go.

 

[Muligan]

Take care to get yourself ready, too. Prepping the driver for a track outing - especially with these cars that can blur the scenery really quick - is just as important as good brakes and tires. Lots of rest, proper gear, quality food, and stay hydrated (even in cool weather).

 

[Kachow]

Just picked up the 350 from the shop! Below is what they were able to do, top of towers were cut and the tech applied touch up paint which was great.

Seems to fall in line with what y'all were saying. She could only get -2.3 and -2.2. You can see on the right front, it is touching the tower. She stated its typical with the 350s to have a misaligned subframe from the factory, as to why there is inconsistency when comparing left to right.

She stated the Vorshlag came with an additional adjustment for caster, as it now sits at 8.5 degrees and recommended it for the back straight at Road Atlanta. Based on my research, I see the 350 may not really benefit from this as the stock 6.81 is good enough. I hope it doesn't have detrimental effects.

Will the -.08 total Toe kill the fronts?

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

 

[Rb1987]

Dont forget to have fun!

Im excited for you man!

Got a couple months until I can think about tracking.

Newbie question for everyone.... Do people adjust their own alignment settings or are the tools cost prohibitive unless you are doing this a lot and on multiple vehicles? I know the OP went to a shop. Just wondering.

 

[NeverSatisfied]

You lost some camber by moving the caster up.

You can get more camber with crash bolts.

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