Anyone here try a BASE C5 Corvette for track days use?

Hi guys, I rarely post here, mostly just lurk and soak up the collective knowledge, but I have a question.

I own a nice E36 M3 convertible, and enjoy it, but I've hit the limitations of a convertible for track day use. I attend a handful of track days every year, (mostly Road Atlanta and Atlanta Motorsports Park), and am at the point where I need to upgrade the car, or sell it and move to more appropriate one. I'm not sure it's worth doing coilovers/camber plates/rollbar etc on a convertible.

So as a big fan of the E36 Chassis, I was eyeing M3 coupes, but they have appreciated a fair amount since I bought my vert.

Anyway, I've noticed that early C5 vettes can be had around 10k with average miles in good condition. That seems like a hell of alot of car for the money.

I know that everyone screams to spend more and buy a Z06, or atleast an FRC, but those are over what I want to spend. I have a self imposed budget of around 10k for a second toy car, and don't want to risk totalling any more of an expensive car than that. That's the most I'm prepared to walk away from if I ever crash it.

I'm looking for a replacement that will see 4 or 5 track days a year, 5 or 6 autoX's, and maybe a random weekend drive every now and then.

So, knowing that, how good is a BASE C5 Corvette with the manual for a hpde/autoX car? Any durability concerns? Any handling issues? Cooling problems? Do they hold up to the abuse?

I do all my own work, so I can handle any upgrades necessary.

I really don't care about buying a creampuff example, as I would plan to track the car as much as possible, and drive the wheels off of it.

I can find plenty of discussion on Z06s (which I would be all over if they get any cheaper) but I can't find any talk of the base Corvette.

Any input would be awesome, thanks.

I just went down this road myself. I bought a 2003 6-speed c5 coupe about 2 months ago.

C5 build thread

It does wallow around quite a bit. I am planning on upgrading to z51 or z06 springs and sway bars. Fortunately they are cheap figure 200 ish used for the springs and maybe 250 for the swaybars. Keep an eye on the forums and ebay they pop up periodically.

A cheap shock upgrade is the c6 z06 shocks. They are around 300.00 brand new for all 4. Koni sports are about 1200 for a set.

The stock seats are awful. They flop around and don'the offer a ton of support.

You will need an oil cooler, that is my next upgrade. Also invest in a set of tow hooks. Stock there isn't anywhere to easily attach a tow rope.

They are easy to work on, can fit a large Tire, and there is a huge after market. The engine is great.

I am happy with mine, and once I get it sorted it will be hard to beat for the investment.

I think the think to think about is that the base car is very much a GT car. If you track it much you'll be headed toward the suspension setup that the Z51 or Z06 cars had. You'll effectively end up with a Z51 in the end. The real question is whether it's cheaper to just start with a Z51 or not. Also, only you know if you're the type of person who would upgrade a Z51 anyway, so in that case if you're going to end up pitching the Z51 stuff in the end, you certainly save money doing it that way.
All of this has crossed my mind as well and I'm watching pimpm3's thread with great interest because of that. I want to get a feel for what his running costs are as far as tires/brakes and what he 'needs' to upgrade. It's nice having someone experiment for you.

Man I've been wrecking my brain trying to find an alternative, but that is a lot of car for the money! Especially when you want to go coupe.

The brakes were surprisingly cheap on tirerack. $200 for Hawks front and rear.

Link to brakes

Wheels are cheap. I bought a set of four 17x9.5's this weekend for $150.

I have a PCA instructor school next weekend, that I am trying to get the car ready for. Last month my differential starred whining on the 4th track session. Hopefully fixing it tomorrow.

I had a co-worker that would track and autocross a Saturn Ion.

do the maintenance, prep properly, have fun.

This is great info guys, I appreciate it.

That build thread is awesome. I'm envious, so much speed and fun for the money right off the bat.

I've also heard from another owner about the wallowing at the limit. Another question for the guys who've tracked them, how is steering and brake feel? Is the base Corvette a neutral handling car stock? Is it prone to over/understeer with the stock setup?

I'm admittedly spoiled with my M3's steering feel.

There's two $6500 M3's in southeastern PA I know of. If you want to go that route.

Cheap E36 325 coupe + M3 suspension bits + V8 swap?

A C5 is a lot of car for the money. I own a 2003 C5 and have had it on the track at Watkins Glen quite a few times but I don't really go out for Track days. I don't believe it wallows around much and mine is a coupe. The touring setting is very soft and even too soft for me on highway trips, but the sport setting is pretty good even for the track. The nannies of traction and stability control continue to surprise me as to how much they do what they were intended to do. And of course you can turn them off when you want to. The car is a lot of fun on or off track and you can build it into anything you want or leave it alone and still have a fun track experience. I haven't seen 10K C5s yet in my area unless they are really fixer uppers, here I would expect to pay at least 15K for something immediately usable. I have made no repairs to my car and I have owned for about 11 or 12 years. I have traveled from Maine to Florida with it 4 times. The only changeout I do not look forward to if I ever have to do it is to change the clutch. Rear transaxle you know. That also reminds me, the car has a 50/50 weight distribution and get 29/30 miles per gallon on the highway. Final drive ratio in this particular car in 6th gear is 0.5 to 1.0. different models had different rear gear ratios.

In reply to jrh2009: The base car could use a little more front tire as it will exhibit under steer at the limit with the stock setup. Lots of owners switch to the Z06's 9.5x11 front size on the base car and it is a great help if rules permit. Thereafter, neutral behavior is typically attainable with an alignment setup.

There is enough brake for autox with the base setup but there are superb options for even better autox performance all the way to track use. An affordable setup is Hawk HPS or HP+ pads. The truck setup used to be some manner of Carbotech pads but I can't recall the compound specs any longer.

In reply to jrh2009:

If it's going to be track-only, I'd be happy to sell you my beater '95 E36 M3. Just needs some hammer work in the left rear quarter and some new front struts.

Sadie

In reply to AngryCorvair:

I want that....

In reply to conesare2seconds:

I am running 275's up front and 305's in the rear. Car is surprisingly neutral.

That's the way to go. Glad it's working for you.

This has been great info guys.

As for the E36 builds, I appreciate the offers and ideas, but I've owned 4 E36s already and I think I'm ready to try something new. Not to mention I already own a never ending restoration project that gets the serious wrench time, so I really don't have the time to devote to engine swaps and major jobs. Which is why I'm looking at newish, mostly reliable stuff.

Suspension upgrades and durability mods are totally fine, however. Or any mods I could do in a weekend.

Sounds like the C5 is a winner. As for the prices, I've noticed that 97-00s are fairly easy to find around 10k with 100k miles. I also have friends in the car business so that helps.

I'll post up any updates when I narrow down a particular car.

cmcgregor wrote: In reply to AngryCorvair: I want that....

Then perhaps we should talk before the weather warms up and I start my low-budget bodywork experiment. :-)