Ideas for the Racing Enthusiast

By Jack States

Last year’s 2007 listing was mostly of things you could do with your Corvette.  This year’s 2008 listing is of things you could get for yourself.  What is it that you really, really want?  To get you started, here is a baker’s dozen list of ideas for the racing enthusiast:

1.  Gadgets.  A stopwatch is a must to see how your favorite driver is circling the track.  It can be a simple one for one car at a time or one that can follow several cars at the same time.  A more elaborate device is the icard, used with an old Game Boy, which records all the lap times of and time intervals between the cars on the track.  Do you take your car on track?  If so, an in-car video camera with sound will show you where you have been and if you are clipping the corner apexes the way you should.  It will also record your comments as you spin.  Maybe you don’t need the sound feature.  A data logger could be useful too.  There are different types but they all will show you your lap times as you circle the track or maybe perform in the stoplight grand prix.

2.  Books.  Sebring International Raceway is our home road course race track with a unique history of sports car racing beginning with a race the last day of 1950.  There are two books published by Hurst Communications, Inc. which chronicle the 12-Hour races in 1965 and 1970 in pictures and accompanying text.  The 1970 race is especially interesting as Steve McQueen and co-driver Peter Revson nearly won it all in an older Porsche 908.  A very spirited drive at the end by Mario Andretti in a Ferrari 512S put him ahead and first across the finish line by 23.8 seconds.  It is all captured in the book.  For the serious trackers, there is Going Faster!  Mastering the Art of Race Driving which is the official text of the Skip Barber Racing School.  It takes you through the basics and on to the advanced techniques.  It is a very good race techniques book and can be found at a discount price on Amazon.com.

3.  Models.  If you can’t afford the real thing, a race car model can be fun to have.  Sizes vary from slot car size to quite large with prices from reasonable to out of sight.  Want a model of a Corvette C-5R or C-6R?  There are several models available as raced in the ALMS series and at the 24 Hours of LeMans.  Of course, if you have the bucks, you can have the real thing.  A 1990 Cadillac powered and badged Riley & Scott prototype sold last year at the Barrett-Jackson AZ auction for $180,000.  It had raced at the 24 Hours of LeMans in France in 1991 and 1992.  Not a bad price really.

4.  Performance Upgrades.  Corvettes are pretty potent right out of the box.  But there is more performance to be had if you want it.  The only question is how much more.  Let’s be honest.  Don’t many of us want a bit more?  It usually makes sense to start with air induction and exhaust - air in and air out the most efficient way.  This is the biggest bang for the buck.  There are several systems to choose from and your performance advisor can help you decide which is right for you.

5.  Gauges.  You know how important it is to keep your tires at the proper pressure.  Doing so will help them last longer and give you better gas mileage.  Pressure becomes critical if you take your car on track.  So a good, accurate gauge is a must.  Be sure you have a good one and not the old skinny, plastic ones we used to use.  A pyrometer can be useful too to see how your tires are heating up so wear can be kept uniform.  It can also be used to test how hot your differential is running if you take your car on track.  You may need to add a cooler.

6.  Suspension & Brakes.  Corvettes are set up nicely but you may want to control body roll and handling a bit more so you can drive through a corner more efficiently.  If so, consider replacing the stock anti-sway bar with a stiffer one, front and back.  Hotchkis makes a good one.  A big brake system can also haul you down from speed a lot quicker than stock brakes.  There are different brands available.  Wildwood has a 6-piston front and 4-piston rear set available for Corvttes.  My wife reminds me that having such a system on our Corvette is great but using it fully will likely put the guy driving behind us into our front seat.  So use with care.  If you are going this route, you are likely  considering wider wheels and more sticky tires to put more rubber and traction on the pavement.  What’s the use of being able to stop quickly unless you can get up to speed quickly?  As in coming out of a corner and running down the straight or dodging the neighborhood trash cans in the street on garbage pickup day.

7.  Lubricants.  Parts don’t move against one another for long if they aren’t properly lubricated.  Both Red Line and 40 Below make a line of fluid additives that can help you  lower temperatures and better lubricate parts.  If you do spirited driving, consider adding supplements to all your fluids.  If you drive really hard, you may also need to add coolers too.  GM’s Fuel System Treatment Plus gas additive may be helpful in keeping the fuel gauge sensors clean so you don’t get a false no fuel signal.  Chevron’s Techron Concentrate Plus is a good fuel additive too.

8.  Garage Wall Art.  Posters, race car parts and banners are all great additions to a car enthusiast’s most important room - the garage.  There are all kinds of posters available from races decades ago to more recent ones.  An autographed Corvette Racing poster looks really cool.  And ones from Sebring are pretty neat too and you can find early ones, for a price, at a vendor’s tent at the Sebring historic and 12-Hour races.  What is super cool is a body or mechanical part from a Formula 1 race car.  Maybe it is a damaged front wing or body panel with the driver’s name.  Of course, a racer’s driving suit and helmet would look good in the garage too, but the prices are, shall we say, healthy.  Then there are large banners such as Mobile 1 and ALMS that you see at races.  Nicely ask the guy who is hanging them at a race and you may get one free.

9.  Outer Wear.  Having a Corvette racing shirt is a must.  It tells anyone who sees it on you just who you are.  Sometimes you can get one free at an ALMS race if General Motors is feeling generous.  You need a hat to go with the shirt and the Jake hat is a hot one.  Jake is the Corvette Racing team mascot and is a stylized version of a skull.  It came from a drawing on the Corvette pit wall at the 2004 24 Hours of LeMans race.  It says it all.  There’s more. To be really cool and a worthy bearer of Jake, you must be wearing Corvette sunglasses.  Oh, Yes.  And have a leather Corvette bag to carry all your stuff in.  No question who you are.  One thing more finishes your look - a great pair of driving shoes.  The best-known brand is Peloti and the range of types and color combinations is good.  You could opt for a pair in the Speed World Challenge colors of red and black or go for a premium medium brown pair of Sebring leather shoes you can wear to dinner Friday and to the track on Saturday.

10.  Patches.  There are some interesting patches from past races, events and organizations you can find at vendors’ tents at the races.  One vendor at Sebring has a very old Sebring race official’s timing and communication patch which would be a nice addition to someone’s collection.  Sew them on a jacket or shirt or keep them in a collection box along with old race passes, tickets and programs for a really nice conversation piece.

11.  Car Stickers.  If you are into speed and Corvettes, spell it out on your car with a Corvette windshield decal.  When the driver in the SUV sees you coming, they will know you are to be reckoned with.  A few more stickers will just add to the mystique like your name above the driver’s door and a few product stickers like Mobile 1.  And whatever else your spouse lets you add.

12.  Race Simulators.  When you can’t make it to a race, what better way to spend your time than handling the controls of a racing MG or Ferrari or Corvette?  There are simulators from professional grade to play stations.  Most of us don’t have the green to buy the professional stuff but we can make use of whatever game systems we have.  What makes the latter a lot more interesting and real is to have a stationary seat with steering wheel and pedals like Hot Seat Racer GT with 6-speaker surround sound.  All you need to add are some oil soaked rags and burned rubber and you will swear you are actually on track.

13.  Tools.  You absolutely have to have tools in your garage.  Doesn’t matter if you actually use them.  The most important tool is the socket wrench set.  Both the SAE and Metric.  Chrome plated and shiny.  Lots of them in all the sizes available.  They are, of course, to impress your buddies when you go out to the garage for a beer.  And they must be displayed side by side in a red tool cabinet, in a drawer you can casually open on the way to the garage fridge.  You can throw some other tools in the other drawers so the cabinet is full, but it is the socket drawer that says you are an official wrench.

You will likely have some other ideas of what you want.  That’s good.  Make your  list and go shopping.  And watch for the pewter C-5 coupe with FL plates RD RACR.  That would be me.