Yesterday I did run my car first time on racing circuit, during the track day and encountered couple of problems.

First there was massive wheelhop while braking into turn and downshifting from 4-th to 3-rd. My suspension setup is pro-kit/bilstein combo and stock LCA's w. Spohn reallocation brackets and stock torque arm w. poly bushing. I have also stock clutch. What could cause such wheelhop ?

Second problem was, that power steering fluid started to boil after 5 laps on 1 mile course and also there was quite loud noise when I was turnign the wheels. Noise (like the belt was slipping) dissappeared later, when I was driving back to home. Is this normal on our cars and should I get some kind of cooler for PS fluid ?

Also by the end of the day I managed to break a rear-end, probably broke a teeth from ring gear - but I have drag-raced my car a lot, so I suppose thats normal.

Otherwise I enjoyed fully my first outing to racing circuit, it was really lot of fun. Only I should change my m+s rated falkens to something more reasonable.

 

The axle hop is what broke your rear end. I have chased that problem, actually both problems, and have found that running good pads up front, and OEM in the rear helps. An LG torque arm and good LCA's (make sure they have a rod end on at least one end) will help, but what works the best to eliminate brake hop is smooth braking. Ease into the brakes a little smoother, and don't just slam on them. Easy on, press hard, easy off. Also, what kind of brake fluid are you using? I use and suggest Motul 5.1.

As for the power steering pump, the OEM ls1 cooler works great, and appears that it would be easy to transplant to an lt1 car. They may have been an option on lt1 cars. Regardless, you need to get a cooler and flush the fluid with good fluid like RedLine.

 

Well, I got wheelhop only when used downshifting to decelerate the car. It happned at the moment when I released the clutch. When I braked into turn without downshifting simulatneously, there was no wheelhop although i braked sometimes real hard. My rear brakes are currently quite weak, they need new pads and I have track-kit in the front. So with our cars it's best to brake first and then downshift ?

Thanks for the info regards cooler, I didn't know LS1 cars have one - I will check it out.

 

I do not compression (engine) brake my car, and most "experts" state you should not. If you are going to engine brake, you have to learn to heel and toe. That is where you are pressing the brake pedal with the left side of your right foot, and blip the throttle with the right side (or heel) of your right foot, to "rev match" the engine rpm to the drivetrain rpm in the new gear. It takes practice, but I practice on the street

 

There's nothing wrong with your car. You need to match the revs when you downshift.

Learn to heal & toe and it'll save you lots of money (keeping you from braking parts).

 

Thanks for your help.

Jon: nice writeup about brake ducting on your page !

 

Are you unhappy w/ the 502s,Est96Z? I concidered these tires. My power steering was the first to go for me.Deteriorated the seal around pulley shaft dropped all fluids on the way home.I called it a half day after hearing what you heard,and total failure 2mi.s before home.
Thats some tough luck,1st time.I expect it, but been pretty lucky so far http://www.go-fast.org/z28/roadrace.html site has some PS cooler install hints.
T.

 

Hey Jon, are you street driving the car with the Nitto's? Just curious as the link on your web page to the tire info says its a street-driveable tire. I'm looking for a tire that will give me max dry traction (auto-x) but can still be street-driven, I'm not ready to be trailering my car just yet, still enjoy driving it on the street occasionally.

 

Well I guess for the price they perform ok, but I have Bridgestone Potenza S-03's under my other car which I did also drive on the track and they were much better. 502's are m+s rated, so they are not performance tires.

I have new PS pump, so hopefully I get no further problems with that. Thanks for the link, I already checked out links from Brent's site and going to install the cooler soon.