How Would You Build the Ultimate C7 Corvette Track Car?
Corvette Forum member seeks advice on transforming a current gen Corvette into a track-only machine.
It’s safe to say that the vast majority of C7 Corvette owners will never take their prized possessions to the track. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, of course. For most, buying a new Corvette is simply a means to own a car that you can enjoy and cruise around in. But for others, including Corvette Forum member Poor-sha it’s just a base for what soon becomes a highly modified track attack machine. So he decided to head to the forums for some advice on how to proceed with this sort of build.
“I’m contemplating building a dedicated track car from a C7 Corvette. I love the platform and want something I can beat on heavily doing DEs, track days, and TT. I have my own thoughts, but I want to hear what the forum has to say.
If you were going to build the ultimate C7 track car what would you build? What mods, vendors, parts are on your wish list? Of course it needs to be fast and reliable. But it should be as light as possible to reduce consumable costs. I don’t want to make any compromises for street use. This will be a 100% track car. I also don’t want to be constrained by a particular class.”
ErnieN85 kicks things off by suggesting that, above all, the OP add some lightness. Among other things.
“Lighten everything where possible. Use Lexan in place of all the glass and get some carbon fiber wheels. Remove the interior and insulation, and get a carbon racing seat. Add a cage made from aluminum alloy instead of steel if possible. Carbon brakes are good, too. I’d leave the air conditioning if you can run with the windows up, because it’s more aerodynamic.”
lrobe22 agrees with that assessment, but goes into more detail in terms of what parts to add.
“I would probably start with a Grand Sport M7 1LT. Add Z07 sway bars, DSC coilovers, Essex AP brakes front and rear, Forgelines or Finspeeds, and the softest slicks you can find. Then get an Aeromotions S2 Dynamic wing, big carbon splitter, more robust cooling, Katech 427, cage, seat, long tubes, Akra titanium exhaust, oil system beef, etc. Remove the speakers, carpet, A/C compressor. Get a Z06 torque tube/prop shaft, etc.”
On the other hand, village idiot suggests sticking with simpler, perhaps less expensive methods.
“Start with a GS and replace the bushings with solid stuff. Get a proper race splitter. Like one that sticks out far and needs rods. Add a proper wing, gut the car, then a rollbar or cage (no on aluminum). Ohlins coilovers and maybe even some good race control arms. Exotic brakes are nice but they’re expensive. Factory iron brakes honestly aren’t that bad at all. But of course, you can spend money and improve. Also, get some huge cooling upgrades. 18″ wheels and other obvious stuff like harness, seat, etc.”
One thing’s for sure, there are many different ways to approach building a track-focused C7 Corvette. And this thread seems to touch on most of them already. But since bench building is so much fun, we also want to know what you think. So head over hereand tell us how you’d build your ultimate track-only C7!
