Little Wing
New Member
Hello new friends,
So about 13 months ago I ordered a CT4 Blackwing at my local dealership, and promptly reached out to Spring Mountain to ask about track setup: I was under the extremely naive assumption that I'd have my shiny new car in a month or two, and that I'd almost certainly be doing a few track days before attending V-Academy at their facility. About as wrong as one can get on point #1, but strangely accurate on point #2: Due to the long waitlist, I doubt I'll get to visit Nevada before hitting a few regional tracks with the car I finally took delivery of.
Anyway, I ended up emailing with Victor R., who is/was (it's been over a year - who knows?) Director of Operations at Spring Mountain, and he promptly answered all my questions below in bold. I'm sure every single one of these questions has been addressed hundreds of times elsewhere on this forum, but thought y'all might find it interesting what the guys who set this car up for a living think.
Share and enjoy!
Rear camber: -1.8 rear toe: 0.1
So about 13 months ago I ordered a CT4 Blackwing at my local dealership, and promptly reached out to Spring Mountain to ask about track setup: I was under the extremely naive assumption that I'd have my shiny new car in a month or two, and that I'd almost certainly be doing a few track days before attending V-Academy at their facility. About as wrong as one can get on point #1, but strangely accurate on point #2: Due to the long waitlist, I doubt I'll get to visit Nevada before hitting a few regional tracks with the car I finally took delivery of.
Anyway, I ended up emailing with Victor R., who is/was (it's been over a year - who knows?) Director of Operations at Spring Mountain, and he promptly answered all my questions below in bold. I'm sure every single one of these questions has been addressed hundreds of times elsewhere on this forum, but thought y'all might find it interesting what the guys who set this car up for a living think.
Share and enjoy!
- I'm assuming I have to change to high temp brake fluid for track work, yes? Yes. We use ATE 200
- Is there any special tricks (due to the brake by wire system) I need to know when changing out the fluid using a pressure bleeder, or will it be the same procedure as a standard hydraulic system? We need to use a special bleeder. Your best bet is to use a local dealer…
- Are the the stock pads durable enough to last an entire weekend (roughly four on-track hours by an intermediate driver), or are you using aftermarket pads? In our experience, yes. On our 1.5 mile tracks that we use for the training, we get about 3-5 programs out of a set of brake pads (front) and 5-7 (rear) of course, highly dependent on how fast the track is (long straights) and type of corners (hairpin/90 degree sequences etc) and how hard you drive it into the corners. I have seen people go through a full set of brake pads, or glaze them bad enough that they need replacement…on tracks like VIR, Watkins Glen etc…remember that you’re driving a street car, with track capability…
- Are replacement pads and rotors available somewhere? I can't find them online yet, but surely you've worn a few sets out at your facility already. Yes they are available at the dealerships. As well as online retailers. Look on gmpartsdirect.com as they’ll give a good discount. Make sure you select the heavy duty pads
- Do you set up the alignment different for the track than the factory settings? If so, what are the numbers you aim for? Yes
Rear camber: -1.8 rear toe: 0.1
- What are the ideal tire pressures once everything is all warmed up? You want no more than 36-38 psi all around when hot. We typically start them at 30. But in the summer, if the students are faster, we start at 28. In the winter, we’ve gone as high as 32 cold, then bleed down a couple of pounds here or there…
