If you had a 96 z28 all factory with high mileage, what would you spend $5000 on to make it perform well on a road track?

 

No. Springs,shocks,struts,swaybars,brakes and rotors then call it a day.

 

new seats? aftermarket steering wheel? will those increase my enjoyment on the track or not worth it? I've heard I should not change the ride height of the car because of the air intake system. Is that typically the case?

 

Hi Numbr44,

I have a high mileage 96 that I take to Sonoma Raceway for track days. Older Camaros are good fun track cars.

I would recommend you plan for a suspension up-grade and better tires if you want to make some improvements. Your car has plenty of power for a (I am assuming here, let me know if I am off base) beginner. My first track day with my 96 I had the factory springs and shocks and from photos of the event I could see the car was rolling way too much in the corners. The body roll turns into tires off camber and significant loss of traction. I switched to a coil-over spring / koni yellow shocks set up and that was a big improvement. I later bought some track day 200 tread wear tires (Toyo R1R) and again saw significant improvement. Cost for me was about $1,500 for springs & shocks and about $1,100 for tires.

Make sure your brakes are in very good shape and change your brake fluid and go have some fun! Save the rest of your budget for after you have been on track and know what else you might want to change.

 

Shocks, springs, swaybars, tires, LS1 spindles, C6 Corvette brake conversion. If there is still money left, upgrade your wheel bearings. Get a CG Lock to hold you in the seat a little better.

I’d call (literally — call him on the phone) Sam Strano at stranoparts.com. Ask him this same question. I’m betting he’ll tell you the same things, and he’ll sell it all to you at a good price. There’s nobody better in the business.

EDIT: oh yeah, and an MGW shifter, assuming you have a manual transmission.

 

I would start with springs, shocks, wheels and tires. As already mentioned a stock Z has enough power for most autocross and road race events, so your best bang for the buck will be addressing the handling. Brakes and hubs can be a weak point, but you can make those improvements later. Any sort of track work is hard on the mechanicals so I would put some of the budget to fresh fluid changes and generally making sure the suspension is all in good shape.

Have fun!

 

I'll just add that I totally destroyed my 2002's stock brakes on my first track day. I was running fresh Motul RBF600 fluid and EBC YellowStuff pads. By the fourth session, the pads were gone and I had melted the rubber dust surrounds on all four front caliper pistons.

The stock brakes on an LT1 car are smaller and even more prone to that kind of failure. So, either take it easy on the braking, upgrade them first, or plan on limping the car home with no brakes.

 

[QUOTE=JakeRobb;7006296]I'll just add that I totally destroyed my 2002's stock brakes on my first track day. I was running fresh Motul RBF600 fluid and EBC YellowStuff pads. By the fourth session, the pads were gone and I had melted the rubber dust surrounds on all four front caliper pistons.

Hi JakeRobb, what track were you at when you cooked your brakes so badly?

 

GingerMan Raceway in Michigan.