[peterjank]

I attended day one of the Bondurant Advanced Driver School on Monday, June 23 to get a feel for how well the C7 might hold up for track day use. Bondurant utilizes the C7 with Z51, magnetic ride control, manual trans, and competition seats. I came away very impressed with both the C7's quickness and durability. After lunch, I drove the C7 for more than an hour continuously with the ambient temperature between 105 and 110 degrees. During that run, water temperature did climb to 240 degrees on two occasions. However, I was able to bring it back down to 220 by running a few laps at reduced speed. I experienced no warnings of excess heat in the engine, trans or diff. Very encouraging, as I had overheated the diff in my C5 after less than 10 laps at a Road America track day many years ago. It never was the same after that.

The only temperature related issue I experienced was with the display in the center console. It shut itself down with a message indicating that the shut down was due to overheating. That is a minor concern as I am planning on ordering the PDR option. I am wondering if the PDR would continue recording with the center console shut down due to overheating?

Driving the C7 in track mode was challenging and a lot of fun. I really needed to have the wheels straight and feed the power gradually to keep the rear of the car under control. Very different from what I normally drive on track. I've raced Spec Racer Fords in the SCCA for the past 10 years. Low horsepower and a lot more tire (relative to weight.) I normally go to full power at the apex with the Spec Racer.

I also enjoyed the auto rev match capability. I though it worked extremely well.

I'm looking forward to ordering my 2015. Planning on a Z06, but if the price is too high I'll be very happy with a Z51.

 

[jsvette]

Hi peterjank and welcome to our forum! A number of us have been through the GM backed Ron Fellows course for Stingray owners and all to my knowledge have been greatly impressed with the C7s speed, agility and durability. In our group we did not experience temperature warnings but did follow hard lapping with several cool down laps run only in 4th. I do not recall anyone mentioning a overheating issue with the Infotainment screen. As I anticipate you did, we ran the AC continuously while on the track here in the desert with similar temps to yours. Once we brought the cars back in however, they always asked to have the windows lowered fully.

 

[peterjank]

I was running on track with the AC off and the windows open. However the track was very tight, basically all 2nd and 3rd gear. The car wasn't getting enough air to cool effectively. Very impressed with how well it held up.

The instructors asked us to leave the engine running after we parked the cars at the end of each session to keep the coolant circulating. They also asked that we NOT use the parking brake as the brake pads might weld themselves to the rotors. Common sense things to do on a track day.

In mid-May, I ran ten laps in a C7 Z51 automatic with Exotics Racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was 103 degrees. Ran with AC on. My session did generate warning messages regarding the transmission. Definitely will be a manual transmission for me.

 

[FormulaRedline]

We did not experience temperature warnings but did follow hard lapping with several cool down laps run only in 4th.

To clarify, I DID experience a water temperature warning running hot laps in the Ron Fellows level 2 school on the slightly larger (with longer straightaways) course. I had also been following another car a for a few laps, likely limiting the cool air reaching the radiator.

At the suggestion of the instructors, short-shifting into 4th on some of the straights seemed to eliminate the issue.