New to OT

[MGC]

Hey everyone, wanted to give an update, just got back from a driving school at gingerman, it was a BLAST!! I had a great time, met a lot of cool people and at the end of the day was driving smoothly and getting faster! I'm hooked!!



Now the bad... I had a rental trailer I used to load and unload it, I knew it was going to be a pain so we used some boards to get the right angle to load it, last night after the car is loaded the board snaps. Sh!t. Get home this morning and we were unloading it, I knew it would hit the chin spoiler but didn't think it would do a lot of damage and I went as slow as possible. The trailer caught the bracket holding the heat exchanger and pulled the bolts out holding it, and bent it outward, into the front bumper which popped off on the drivers side.

I'm thankful it didn't happen at the track or else I wouldn't have been able to participate, and after calling it into insurance, it won't be too bad. The bumper was really the worst part of the car (paint chip wise) and it'll be getting fixed at the dealership while I'm on vacation. The car performed awesome and didn't give me any hiccups, I'm pretty stoked about that, and going to road america in October is going to be awesome. Thanks for everyone's advice.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

Sorry to hear about the post-event damage on the trailer - but you'll get it repaired. Glad to hear you had a great time at the road course!! Welcome to the 'addiction'! I'm sure you have a lot of lessons learned from this past event to establish a new set of goals for Road America - have FUN! Never stop learning.

 

[MGC]

Got my car back, and testing the go-pro, it's getting close!! epper:

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyfJa_kw6fk"]YouTube - Go-Pro Test[/nomedia]

 

[MGC]

Alright guys... I went to Road America this weekend... Let me tell you it is a effing blast!! The track is pretty intimidating, it's very fast, but once I learned the layout and line of it, I was hauling some ass!! The car is straight up fast. I was hitting 135 on the front straight, and 120 under the sargento bridge coming up to turn 5 (downhill braking to a slow 90 degree left hander.) What a rush going thru the kink full tilt at 100 mph!! I was faster than a good bit of cars, C63 AMG, C5 Z06, New and old Camaro's, Miata's, M3's, lotus, just to name a few. Also saw a C5 Z06 and a Lotus get totalled, but both drivers walked away, rattled but okay.

I was having gearbox trouble on both days, it didn't want to downshift into 3rd very easily so I'd brake a little harder and put it into 2nd or just leave it in 4th and power through the turn (the low end tq on these motors is a huge benefit to pushing the car through). I think it's either my clutch going, or the synchro's need rebuilt. Going into turn 3 on the last session of the day on sunday, it went into 3rd, let out the clutch and gave it gas in the apex but nothing, so I had to get off the track. I'm going to pull the trans, change to a mcleod twin disk, and rebuild the t56 to viper spec.

Overall, it was a huge success, had a lot of fun, met a bunch of cool knowledgeable people and was a great climax to my summer. The organization that put it together (MVP tracktime) was very well put together, very nice people and the cornerworker's were awesome. I'm going to change a few things on the car this winter and I'll be back full force next year to deal with those C6 Z06's, 430 Scuderia's, and R8's.

Smokin Dave - was nice to meet ya, and enjoy the free bridgestone's you won! :beer:

Got to do a little editing on the go pro footage, but in the meantime here is a vid of me on the front straight passing an S2000 at about 135!

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbb71qFQnS0"]YouTube - Road America Fly By 2[/nomedia]

 

[mu22stang]

I was having gearbox trouble on both days, it didn't want to downshift into 3rd very easily so I'd brake a little harder and put it into 2nd or just leave it in 4th and power through the turn (the low end tq on these motors is a huge benefit to pushing the car through). I think it's either my clutch going, or the synchro's need rebuilt. Going into turn 3 on the last session of the day on sunday, it went into 3rd, let out the clutch and gave it gas in the apex but nothing, so I had to get off the track. I'm going to pull the trans, change to a mcleod twin disk, and rebuild the t56 to viper spec.

Stock clutch, cable, quadrant, etc? I have the same issue. Once the transmission gets hot, I have difficulty downshifting into 3rd. I do not rev-match, so maybe that would help...

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

I use [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Purple-01512-Synchromax-Transmission/dp/B001DKTG0G/ref=pd_sbs_auto_1"]Royal Purple Synchromax Manual Transmission Fluid[/ame] (check to make sure its compatible with your transmission before use) - it really helps protect the transmission from excessive heat while improving shifting (smoother engagement). DON'T use your transmission to slow down the car, use your brakes then down shift. While it may *sound cool* - not saying you're doing this, it actually could upset the balance of the car while entering a turn if you don't match revs, and brake pads are a heck of a lot cheaper than repairing or replacing a transmission.

 

[mu22stang]

I use Royal Purple Synchromax Manual Transmission Fluid (check to make sure its compatible with your transmission before use) - it really helps protect the transmission from excessive heat while improving shifting (smoother engagement). DON'T use your transmission to slow down the car, use your brakes then down shift. While it may *sound cool* - not saying you're doing this, it actually could upset the balance of the car while entering a turn if you don't match revs, and brake pads are a heck of a lot cheaper than repairing or replacing a transmission.

The revs are sufficiently low to grab the next gear and long after the brakes have slowed the car for corner entry. Oddly enough, I found this occured mainly when trying to shift mid-corner. I have a feeling the floppy IRS bushings under higher loads may cause a bind in the drivetrain. I can replicate this bind even in slow speed corners in daily driving. The car just seems to not want to shift. I'll try the Synchromax to see if it helps. This "blocking" feeling is exactly like the high-rev upshift problems Terminator T56's can get.

 

[MGC]

Stock clutch, cable, quadrant, etc? I have the same issue. Once the transmission gets hot, I have difficulty downshifting into 3rd. I do not rev-match, so maybe that would help...

Yes, stock clutch, cable, and quadrant. Rev-matching helped, as did short shifting to 4th then back to 3rd.

I use Royal Purple Synchromax Manual Transmission Fluid (check to make sure its compatible with your transmission before use) - it really helps protect the transmission from excessive heat while improving shifting (smoother engagement). DON'T use your transmission to slow down the car, use your brakes then down shift. While it may *sound cool* - not saying you're doing this, it actually could upset the balance of the car while entering a turn if you don't match revs, and brake pads are a heck of a lot cheaper than repairing or replacing a transmission.

I put synchromax in when I had my trans flushed about 10k mile ago. Good advice but I don't use the engine to brake. It does a poor job of it anyway being only 8.5 compression. I use my brakes to slow down, clutch and select the gear then hit the apex, I need 3rd gear to push me through of the faster corners or the kink at road america.

The revs are sufficiently low to grab the next gear and long after the brakes have slowed the car for corner entry. Oddly enough, I found this occured mainly when trying to shift mid-corner. I have a feeling the floppy IRS bushings under higher loads may cause a bind in the drivetrain. I can replicate this bind even in slow speed corners in daily driving. The car just seems to not want to shift. I'll try the Synchromax to see if it helps. This "blocking" feeling is exactly like the high-rev upshift problems Terminator T56's can get.

That's a good point, happens right before or during turn in often for me too and under hard braking looking back on the video and yes it feels like something is physically blocking you from selecting 3rd, occasionally on the street at a dead stop shifting back into 1st to take off it will "block" me out as well, I wonder if that is a related issue? I'm going to do the FTBR IRS bushings this winter, change to a Mcleod twin disk and have someone take a look at the synchro's while it's out to find the issue.

 

[MGC]

Has anyone had any success running a transcooler?

 

[Back-N-Black]

A couple questions about the Go-Pro. In one video you are shot from the stands and the other inside the car. Is that the same lens? My interest is more for shooting the track in front of the car.

I have seen two cams, one says wide angle. $299 and $179. What ar the differences and which one do you use for shooting the track ahead? Would be nice if you could do either.

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

Has anyone had any success running a transcooler?

I have not heard of anyone running a trans cooler on an open track 03/04 Cobra.

I use the RP trans fluid and have the FTBR dif bushings and a stock clutch, cable and quadrant.

I have never had any issues going into third, even before the bushings.

I do not know what is causing your problem, but thought I would share that info.

I am using very slightly cut stock spring and stock shocks, with used Kumho 710 DOT slicks. Which is a very soft set up with those tires, I have lots of body movement that I have to manage very carefully.

Luckily I have not had this shift issue. I suspect your clutch is not fully disengaging. For what ever reason.

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

If you want to install a transmission cooler, there is a T1 racing setup that will work with any car. It's sold for the (ok... I know this is heresy...lol) Corvette C5 that I use and it works great. Cooler, lines and an electric pump to circulate the fluid through the cooler and transmission. They're not cheap. T1 trans cooler – $1069.78 + $28.50 shipping.