[Goins2754]

When you say you will likely get a Corvette, I'm curious which one.

I haven't done a full price hunt yet, but with the heavy discounts going around right now I was kinda hoping to steal a Z06 either new or lightly used for a similar price as a Redeye.

 

[Goins2754]

I will say if you get a Widebody and put some good tires and track brake pads on it there won't be many cars at all that can out brake or out accelerate you. The hard part with our cars are slow speed switchbacks or hairpins. Higher speed turns where our inertia is less of an issue and where we can put our power down better are where we shine.
Think about what tracks you will frequent and decide what will work best for you.

Mostly Pacific Raceways in Kent.

Google Maps

It's not the tightest course in the world, but it's not COTA either. I've seen a couple of bigger cars there (Hellcats, CTS-Vs, SL65s). I mean, they're just HPDE track days, nothing ultra competitive; people just out having fun. That's all I want to do, too! But I worry about how I'm going to feel the first time a Z06 rips past me and I start to second guess whether I "wasted" money on a Challenger for the track.

 

[TrackDay]

We had a forum member maybe a year and a half ago who went there in a White Hellcat Challenger. He did some videos. I think he eventually sold his car but only because he decided to make the plunge into class racing.
I don't know much about your driving history but my only caution is that track has some corners that have very little runoff. I've seen people buy new cars and wad them up almost immediately. I cringe every time I think about it. Like Rockster mentioned if I was new to the Challenger market I'd strongly consider a low mileage used Hellcat. Get some seat time and then mod it to have more fun.
That course is not really tight and our cars could do well there. I love the double hairpins. Challenging in our cars but there is a long straight and a couple of higher speed smooth turns where we could make up some ground.

 

[sad]

.....I mean, they're just HPDE track days, nothing ultra competitive; people just out having fun. That's all I want to do, too! But I worry about how I'm going to feel the first time a Z06 rips past me and I start to second guess whether I "wasted" money on a Challenger for the track.

Personally I'm way too competitive.... I'm either chasing the clock or chasing other cars (figuratively of course).... I wish i was just out there "having fun"... but my brain just doesn't work like that...

 

[NotSoStealthy]

I should add.... HC was fun. Way fun... and is an excellent car to learn on. Why? Because it sucks at a track car. LOL. Same as a Viper...

I think you need to correct your post, or at least clarify. Saying that a Viper sucks as a track car is simply ridiculous. All the record setting times it has held, and for the fact that it has proven itself to be faster around almost all tracks in the world even when compared to cars 2, 3, 4 times more expensive. Saying the Viper is not very forgiving is one thing, saying that it sucks as a track car could not be farther from the truth.

 

[sad]

I think you need to correct your post, or at least clarify. Saying that a Viper sucks as a track car is simply ridiculous. All the record setting times it has held, and for the fact that it has proven itself to be faster around almost all tracks in the world even when compared to cars 2, 3, 4 times more expensive. Saying the Viper is not very forgiving is one thing, saying that it sucks as a track car could not be farther from the truth.

I’ll clarify by saying both the HC and the viper are “difficult to drive well” as track cars.

 

[DGatzby]

I’ll clarify by saying both the HC and the viper are “difficult to drive well” as track cars.

And this guy is good! I even rode along, but not in this lap!! Don’t go high in turn #10 at BIR. Personally anyone can see every turn 10 in my cars, I am hugging the bottom!

 

[sad]

Vomit comet!

 

[TrackDay]

I have no idea why people would go high in Turn 10. I've seen plenty of people do it and it always baffles me.

 

[DGatzby]

I have no idea why people would go high in Turn 10. I've seen plenty of people do it and it always baffles me.

Yep, full of debris. I don’t get it either when a guy can use a slight bank in the road and stay safe inside. Ha, TD then all we have to worry about is spinning the rears at 60-70. Which has happened a few times. Every, every, every one of my overtakes of apparently superior machines starts low there.

 

[TrackDay]

The drag strip burnout box area is very slick. I had to short shift there.
Regarding Turn 10 it's the bank and just the fact that's a late apex on that turn setting you up for the long straight. I guess some people think carrying more speed there helps you on the long straight. They are forgetting the speed vs distance compromise.

 

[Joe1984]

It’s all about seat time and what makes you happy. None of us are getting paid to do this, we are all paying to do it. Take different cars out for a test drive and buy what makes YOU happy. The challenge of driving an m6 Hellcat better than someone with a Vette or a Porsche makes me happy.

 

[hklvette]

C5/6/7 and anything LX-based are totally different driving experiences. Having had a C5 and now a Charger Daytona 392, I don't miss the C5. I find the Charger more fun and engaging to drive near its limit than the Corvette ever was, even though the latter is faster (greatly so in Z06 or ZR-1 trim). If all you want to do is set fast lap times, the Corvette is the better choice without question. If you want to have fun, for my money the Chally or Charger is the better pick. The best part as people have already pointed out is how surprised people are when they see how fast these cars can be on a road course.

Best advice is to drive both and see which you like better.

Edit to add:
You say you're worried about reliability. Lets start at the back: differential is Getrag, and isn't a problem unless you're doing a lot of 1/4-mile work (Corvette is same here). Driveshaft is easier to access by an order of magnitude, and isn't known for problems unless you get a lot of wheel-hop. Next is the transmission: Tremec TR-6060 or ZF-8. Former is same as Corvette (TR-6070 just adds a 7th gear), latter is found all over the place and is very well regarded. Finally, current Hemi engines simply don't have systemic issues. Some early ones had MDS problems, but the blower Hemis don't have that system anyway. Track use for the hemi isn't as common as the LS/LT, but Hellcat's cooling and oiling systems are in some ways superior to GM's setup.

 

[Hemi Dave]

 

[Goins2754]

I've been subscribed to everything Wesley MS puts out for a while. Ever since he started that Pike's Peak thing with the Challenger a year or two ago, I've been in love with his channel. That video you linked is one of his best and really makes me think that maybe tracking the Challenger won't be so bad.

And also, I've been watching a couple of forum users' channels: DGatzby and TrackDay have some amazing videos. One of them that's especially relevant should've been titled "chasing a Z06 into limp mode." LOL

 

[Goins2754]

Follow up question to anyone who's still participating in this thread (thank you, BTW!): do you think the Challenger would handle rougher country roads better than the Vette?

Some of the back roads I like to play on around my area aren't much more than asphalt slapped over whatever dirt road used to be there. It can get kinda bumpy with dips and off-camber tilts where it looks like maybe the road is sinking in a couple of places. When I took out the Vette after I rented it, that little plastic air dam was scraping on everything. I even got a little worried that I should probably chill out so I don't damage it. Do you think the Challenger would be in any danger of tearing off the front splitter or bottoming out going over these rougher country roads?

 

[TrackDay]

You should see the durability testing the SRT products do at Chelsea. I wouldn't be concerned until you lower it significantly or add a front splitter (both of which I've done)

 

[TrackDay]

Btw, several of us are now mostly focusing on Hellcat forum dot org.

 

[Rockster]

Follow up question to anyone who's still participating in this thread (thank you, BTW!): do you think the Challenger would handle rougher country roads better than the Vette?

Some of the back roads I like to play on around my area aren't much more than asphalt slapped over whatever dirt road used to be there. It can get kinda bumpy with dips and off-camber tilts where it looks like maybe the road is sinking in a couple of places. When I took out the Vette after I rented it, that little plastic air dam was scraping on everything. I even got a little worried that I should probably chill out so I don't damage it. Do you think the Challenger would be in any danger of tearing off the front splitter or bottoming out going over these rougher country roads?

Yes. Even in my area there are surface streets with dips that require I slow down below the limit -- at one intersection I have to slow below the 35mph limit -- to avoid bottoming my Challenger's suspension or hitting some part of my Challenger on the pavement.

In a number of my previous cars I have encountered roads -- paved roads -- in which the car bottomed out its springs.

There was also the concern of how rough the road surface was and how this affected grip. On one particular section of road not too far from me there's a sharp uphill turn that over the years I have taken in a number of cars. The turn's pavement is rippled from the effects of the sharp turn, the acceleration that is present during the turn, and the summer heat and so on. In some cars the rear end would skitter out of line because the ripples caused the tires to lose too much contact with the pavement.

The best car for this turn was my Boxster. I could take the turn at some speed above what I could (dare) take it at in other cars and the rear end stayed planted.

While I seldom drove on anything but "good" roads one time I had an occasion to take my Porsche 996 Turbo on some less than "good" roads to get around a terrible back up on I-40 freeway. This back in January of 2015 about 30 miles west of Albuquerque, NM. In trying to find a way around the backed up freeway I ended up having to take a questionable paved road that appeared to be the case of a previously gravel road being given a layer of asphalt. The result was not only was the road surface uneven there was some horrific potholes that had I hit one even at a low speed would have probably caused a tire blow out.

As bad as this road was it got worse. It reverted back to a gravel road and one that had developed washboarding that is characteristic of gravel roads if not graded once in a while.

The wash boarding was so bad I had to slow the car way down. At higher speeds the car wanted to drift out of its "lane" and had I not backed off the gas pedal the car would have rotated and spun out.

If you want to drive these kinds of roads at speed, and to have some reasonable chance of making it to the end with the car in one piece, you have to look at what rally cars have for suspension. The rally car sits higher to provide more wheel travel. Better springs, better shocks, sometimes 2 shocks per wheel, and a substantial "skid" plate to protect the car in the event of the inevitable bottoming that will occur. Suspension arms are boxed to provide more strength and resist bending/breaking. Tires are of course designed for this use as well.

Obviously turning the Challenger into a rally car is not what you want I believe so you will have to be quite selective on which roads you chose to drive on.

With reasonable choices of roads the Challenger could be a fun car.

 

[DGatzby]

TD,

I've been subscribed to everything Wesley MS puts out for a while. Ever since he started that Pike's Peak thing with the Challenger a year or two ago, I've been in love with his channel. That video you linked is one of his best and really makes me think that maybe tracking the Challenger won't be so bad.

And also, I've been watching a couple of forum users' channels: DGatzby and TrackDay have some amazing videos. One of them that's especially relevant should've been titled "chasing a Z06 into limp mode." LOL

TD, great laps! I never watched that. Yep, he must have warmed it up a bit much. We have seen several do it. What a fun track for a Hellcat!