Dec. 7th Cadillac fun at COTA

[Rsmith350]

"... has become..." Some would question if they were competent to begin with

Can anyone name the U.S. president that said "What's good for GM, is good for the country"

[ShadowBolt]

I think you guys are really overestimating what you are going to get to do. I didn't see the information when this came out about what kind of day this is. But I doubt you are going to get turned loose on a full track in the CTS-V. I'm guessing there will be a lot of cones involved and possibly just out in the parking lot. Hope I'm wrong and I look forward to hearing all about it.

Keep telling yourself this BL. If it's anything like the SVT event I went to in 2000 at TMS it willl be a blast.


JJ

[Crumpacker]

[Fbody383]

You guys suck.

[ShadowBolt]

No we don't, we drive on new F1 tracks.

We were the first group to get to drive the track since F1. Some of us were even able to stay on track but I will let Michael and Darci tell you about that.

JJ

[Mrs. Crumpacker]

Damn it, logged in as Darcie.

Wait for it...

[Crumpacker]

That was insanely fun! I'm not sure how to take this myself, but I found the Q&A with the very knowledgeable Brembo fellow was a close 2nd to driving on track. We did run the full track BTW, and there were cone 'gates' but they didn't put much effort into slowing you down as you would expect. They did have a mandatory lift point down the 11-12 strait, before the T12 hairpin... I'm assuming that's so they could go more than 1 session on a set of brake pads.

I also enjoyed hanging out, gawking at the CTS-V World Challenge car while chatting with Andy Pilgrim & engineer. He a pretty down to earth guy.. gained a new fan, that's for sure.


For the group that went to dinner, this will make sense - http://jalopnik.com/5932640/why-a-re...oull-ever-have

[Rsmith350]

Where's the rest of the stories? More than one person went!

[marshall_mosty]

Just got home... WOW... What a day. COTA is an amazing facility, even if the bleachers were temporary for F1.
Module 1
We started with the new ATS 3.6L doing a short drag race (top of 2nd gear) followed by a stop to zero under full ABS. We then did an emergency lane change maneuver to get the Stabilitrack system to engage and same our A$$. Next was slalom. Did that twice. Discussion in the tech shed was about the construction of the new ATS and a brief on tires (what they do, blah, blah).

Module 2
Discussion was about brakes and steering (oversteer/understeer). The Brembo guy, as Sam said, was VERY knowledgeable. Our group had the most questions. Learned why a 2-piece floating rotor lasted so much longer as a single piece rotor (expansion and contraction stress). Then it was on to drive the CTS-V’s on the full F1 track. We had the 4-door and Wagon’s to drive the first time out. The instructor took us around first to explain the gates/cones/lift points. We then did 2 flying laps with a third lap at full go for the first 2/3 lap and then cool down.
The cars were great. 551HP/556TQ. 0-60 in 3.9 seconds.
The only issue was we had to keep the Stabillitrack on and it is VERY hard to drive that car at speed with all the “save you’re a$$” stuff coming on and basically shutting the car down.

Module 3
Discussion was about the Stabillitrack system and the development of the Recaro seats for the car. The last session was in the coupe. This time we got the entire drive time. I was first out on track, so went like gang busters. Ended up lapping Darcy and Jerry by the end of my 3 laps… Had a lift point at the end of the back straight that would have been right at the 4/5 shift (130mph). I was talking with the instructor and just forgot to lift as we were talking. Looked down and was going 145’ish by the time I hit the brakes (oops). Also got the car to start “dinging” as I overheated the motor in 3 laps… hmmmm. Also got a long pedal on the brakes a few times.

All together, good times!!

[ShadowBolt]

There was no lapping. My "lady" instructor would not let me go fast. She kept screaming for brakes. She made me let two cars pass. But no one went all the way around the track and lapped anyone.....not even Darci.


JJ