[Catmaigne]

Howdy, I figured I'd post a couple vids of my Firehawk in action. I'm relatively new to track driving as this is only my second year doing road course stuff. I'm not a total newbie though as I've done some drag racing and autox in the past. Does Gran Turismo count as seat time? just kidding...

Pocono North/South course (typical TNiA layout) - 1:45.56 best so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Ch8dw3EfM

NJMP Thunderbolt - 1:36.75 best so far, although I feel I could definitely shave more time off at an event with less traffic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RwJho47DjM


NJMP Lightning - 1:16.56 best so far, hanging with a SS 1LE and a C7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCJhFHY5ztU
and 1:18.44 from last month https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQhoC0jkFtE

I'm working on getting a tow rig so I can make it to farther tracks next year. Summit Point, Glen, Pitt, etc.

Specs:
95 Firehawk
Stock SLP Bilsteins
UMI/BMR springs f/r
Hellwig 35mm front sway
Founders LCAs, Founders panhard, UMI torque arm
GW front upper A-arms
Kenny Brown subframe connectors
CTSV1 brakes and no ABS
Headers, a glasspack, and 1.7 roller rockers are the only power mods
18x10.5 C5z wheels with 315 Falken RT615k+ tires

This post has been edited by Catmaigne: Sep 22 2022, 04:32 PM

[Jeff94TA]

It looks like you're having lots of and just a couple of comments from my LT1 experience. They have great torque down low but I think you would be better suited to run some of the tighter 4th gear sections in 3rd gear instead. The motor is happy around 4,000 to 5,000 rpm. With my stock LT1 with headers, intake, exhaust and tune I actually went faster running 295's or even 275's in lieu of the 315's. This was on a larger track, Sebring, but I dropped around two seconds. The car didn't have enough horsepower for the rolling resistance of the 315's. They rock for autocross though. Just my thoughts.

[Catmaigne]

It looks like you're having lots of and just a couple of comments from my LT1 experience. They have great torque down low but I think you would be better suited to run some of the tighter 4th gear sections in 3rd gear instead. The motor is happy around 4,000 to 5,000 rpm. With my stock LT1 with headers, intake, exhaust and tune I actually went faster running 295's or even 275's in lieu of the 315's. This was on a larger track, Sebring, but I dropped around two seconds. The car didn't have enough horsepower for the rolling resistance of the 315's. They rock for autocross though. Just my thoughts.

Yeah, there are a couple sections where I should definitely keep it in a lower gear. I've been trying to keep the motor farther off the limiter because the oil pressure starts to spike at 5-5.5k for some reason. It started after putting on my oil cooler setup about a year ago and I've since swapped the pump and pan without any luck.

Also, I was thinking of downsizing to a slightly narrower tire (285 or 295) for next year and going with a better compound. Car can feel very loose at transitions and a 315 on a 10.5" wheel certainly isn't helping. Most of that is probably from my shocks though.

[mr.beachcomber]

Yeah, there are a couple sections where I should definitely keep it in a lower gear. I've been trying to keep the motor farther off the limiter because the oil pressure starts to spike at 5-5.5k for some reason. It started after putting on my oil cooler setup about a year ago and I've since swapped the pump and pan without any luck.

Is your oil cooler thermostatically controlled, i.e., oil flows through the cooler only when it had reached a certain temperature? If not, That could be the source of your oil pressure spiking as the cooler is a restriction until all the oil reaches 220-230F temperature range. The only other thing that I think could cause this problem is a stuck closed oil pump by-pass valve. (Not sure if that's possible. I've only experienced by-pass valves that got stuck open.)

Hope this helps. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Catmaigne]

Is your oil cooler thermostatically controlled, i.e., oil flows through the cooler only when it had reached a certain temperature? If not, That could be the source of your oil pressure spiking as the cooler is a restriction until all the oil reaches 220-230F temperature range. The only other thing that I think could cause this problem is a stuck closed oil pump by-pass valve. (Not sure if that's possible. I've only experienced by-pass valves that got stuck open.)

Hope this helps. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Yeah, the sandwich plate is a thermostatic version. The current setup looks like this:

-Derale plate cooler
-Derale thermostatic sandwich plate (uses a thermostatic metal strip to block off a bypass hole)
-Stock oil filter adapter with bypass valve plugged
-Duramax oil filter with internal bypass valve (WIX 57202XP)

I thought the problem was an obstruction in the oil pump bypass valve, so I swapped in a Melling 10554 pump while installing a Kevko RR pan. It didn't resolve my problem though. Maybe I need a different filter or higher quality sandwich plate? Could also be RF interference? Not sure.