Thursday at Gingerman Raceway

I went to Gingerman on Thursday, August 26th, 1999 to try out the various suspension changes for the year. It was the first time I have ever put the car on a real race track, other than autocrosses or occasional dragstrip duty. It was real eye-opening: I learned a LOT about my car that day! The good news is the handling: It handles phenomenally well!  I don't think I pushed the car beyond the the handling envelope but maybe once. The thing is, the car out turns the engine's ability to keep up the speed: Leaving the corner was always a disappointment, because the engine couldn't ever deliver much acceleration, or so it seemed. Sometimes I'd leave the corner with some really good  velocity, but the engine would soon run out of air within a few seconds. It's time to help out the engine.

Summer of 2001: The car now sports 1LE brakes,17 x 9.5 inch wheels,  and a newly revived 305 engine. The whole valvetrain has been redone. The result? Better gas mileage, less oil leaks, and about 13 MPH in the quarter mile. The engine is now putting out approximately 275 horsepower.  I hope to re-do this test in the spring of 2002.

 
 

What does it take to make a F-car handle to this level of performance? Well, One thing's for sure: Luck. We had hot, sticky tires on a freshly washed track, and a 75-degree day.  How about the accuracy of the recorder? It's NIST certified. The track is flat, and the peak accelerations were within 10% of the peak accelerations registered by another acceleration system on-board. (A 5g triaxial system called the SnapShock Plus) This acceleration measurement system is identical to systems that have been extensively tested by Thiokol, NASA, JPL, and Boeing. It is identical to the system used by GM to record crashes in CART racing. It is similar to the system used by FORD in the IRL crash recording program. The US Military uses the very same system for recording acceleration of missiles in sub-orbital flight.	Dan's Modifications & suspension setup: 1984 Pontiac Trans Am, WS6/L69 package Weight: 3550 pounds Approximate quarter-mile Performance:  14.0 at 101 MPH
Alignment:	Caster: +4.5 degrees Camber: -1/2 degrees Toe-in: neutral
Tires:	Goodyear GS-CS 255-50-ZR16 DOT-legal race tires (treadwear rating: 20) on lightweight PRIME model 200 16 x 8" rim Zero offset, no spacers. (light rubbing at full wheel lock)
Suspension:	Koni "red" struts, maximum stiffness. Herb Adams three-way adjustable shocks, full-soft Stock 1984 WS6 springs & swaybars. (32mm front) Ride height: 27 1/2 inches Polygraphite bushings in lower control arms by PST Polygraphite bushings & pieces on all endlinks, swaybars, front & rear Stock rear control arms and panhard rod. New Moog ball joints, end links, tire rod ends, center link, pitman arm.
Chassis:	Kenny Brown "Y" "super-subs, welded to rocker panels by M78 Body Shop, Haslett, Michigan.
Brakes:	Stock GM pads, Stock 10" front brakes, slightly modified to fit 1LE brake lines 1992 J-65 rear disk brake retrofit (11 inch rotors, PBR aluminum calipers) 1989 1LE proportioning valve (1st design) M1.0 thread version. 1989-1992 Master cylinder for J65 (aluminum PBR) brakes Earl's braided stainless-steel brake lines for 1992 1LE performance package

Want to see more? Well, Here's more. It is the data acquisition record for one whole lap of Gingerman Raceway. It isn't a particularly fast lap, but shows all of the curves, braking, and downshifting of the transmission. It is also annotated to show each of the curves according to the Gingerman track layout! Click on the picture to the right.