Have a 2010 CTS-V. Booked for a weekend at VIR, Mar 4-5 with Chin. Convinced wife to come, have Villa rental on the track, lots of prep into car (pads, rotors, diff cooler, blip box and seats all added since last visit in Oct). Changed oil last night in anticipation and found metal on drain plug. Like more than I can ignore. Cut open filter and found mostly non-ferrous stuff, but again, more than I can ignore. Car has good oil pressure, and runs like a top. Has had a noisy lifter for entirety of my ownership, and I assume that's related to what I'm seeing.
That's the context. My actual question, is what're thoughts on best way to salvage. Wife would be happy to just bail and use the day off and dog sitter to go somewhere else. I want to rent a track prepped car, but can only justify the cost for a single day (and not sure I can back my Chin fee down to single day, especially since I'm still novice with instructor). Final option would be the one I'd mostly want to hear opinions on:
I inherited a 2005 naturally aspirated 5spd Impreza that's just sitting in my driveway on dryrotted tires. Would it be worth running on sticky rubber, better pads, better brake fluid and an oil change? It's on stock suspension, and for both time and budget reasons, that's not going to change in two weeks.
Any thoughts? Any leads on gently used 200tw rubber for 16" stock Impreza wheels?
Re the CTS-V. is this the first time you have found metal on drain plug?
1. How familiar are you with driving the Impreza?
2. Can you get the Impreza ready and put some street miles on it to see if it might handle a track weekend?
3. Which option potentially loses you the most, and least, money?
Well... I trailering the ctsv, send it. It already has issues. Lolz.
That impreza is going to be boring at vir and have probably the same exact chance of going boom...
Familiar enough with Impreza to be dangerous. And aware of how slow it is, in relative terms. Not sure I want to put the effort into the Pandora's box that prep would likely turn into, either.
Can easily answer the cheapest: bail! Next cheapest option is sorta what I'm stuck wrestling with.
And I'm just not particularly comfortable with sending it knowing that right now I might be in a situation that only requires some minor cleanup, bearings and a few new parts vs "whole new long block".
Buy some tires for the Imprezza........My son tracks an LS400 on 400 treadwear tires and they survive fine.
If you're in a novice group with an instructor your not going to be running the thing 10/10ths........you might even learn more in the gutless wonder.
As for the brakes just slap the best pads you can find on the car and be done.
I once had a student in a bone stock Corolla with an automatic; sure it was the slowest thing out there but they still had fun and learned a bunch.
The first instructor I ever had said that my decision to show up to my first track day with 400 TA tires on a slowish car should be repeated since the tires squeal like pigs way before they let go completely and a novice should not be exposed to the traction limit that suddenly in a fast car.
So my recommendation is take the Impreza on SAFE tires with a 200 plus treadwear, new brake pads, topped off fluids, an empty trunk, and open ears. Your future trips in the CTSV will thank you.
Spearfishin said:
Familiar enough with Impreza to be dangerous. And aware of how slow it is, in relative terms. Not sure I want to put the effort into the Pandora's box that prep would likely turn into, either.
In the 80s I did the 5 lap “race” of my SCCA race school in a car I was not familiar with at all – an ITB Rabbit. My Pinto ate its rear end in the last practice session and was not repairable.
A friend / competitor who had been practicing offered the car otherwise the weekend would have been a bust. I had never driven FWD and did not know the car at all. I had about 10 minutes of “how to” with; the girl who raced it in one window telling me how to drive it, the guy who owned it in the back resetting the seat / belts, and the instructor in the other window telling me various things.
I was just barely in time to get on track (still adjusting the belts) and had to start last – out of about 20 cars. By the last turn I was kinda ready and caught up to the field. With some determination and hearing various voices telling me how to FWD I ended up in the top 5. It was a huge learning experience and a blast. And the party was friggin crazy.
How determined are you? IMO, learn be safe and be slow if you ahve to. Enjoy the experience tell the story to friends etc no matter how it turns out.
How experienced are you on track?
I vote Impreza too. A set of 200 tires, a set of good brake pads and have fun.
I think that the slower scooby will be much more beneficial to learn in. You'll have to pay more attention to driving and momentum. You wont be able to get OK lap times with just excess power making up for your poor cornering.
Plus, a track day in a slower car is much more fun than no track day.
accordionfolder said:
How experienced are you on track?
Not very. Auto-x (not in CTS) and two track days at VIR (in CTS).
I think take the Impressa. The CTSV is way more car than you need at your skill level. You will learn so much more in the Impreza.
Driving a fast car slow sucks and you don't learn much other than your right foot makes up for a lack of cornering skill.
Driving a slow car fast is so much more fun. You actually have time to think. Things happen fast on track and if you don't have experience your brain can not process the information fast enough to actually learn to drive fast. A slow car on average tires teaches you how to threshold brake and corner at slower speeds so you can actually learn something.
This will sound a bit harsh but you should have been prepping the Impreza from the beginning. The CTSV is a poor choice for a car to start with.
dean1484 said:
I think take the Impressa. The CTSV is way more car than you need at your skill level. You will learn so much more in the Impreza.
Driving a fast car slow sucks and you don't learn much other than your right foot makes up for a lack of cornering skill.
Driving a slow car fast is so much more fun. You actually have time to think. Things happen fast on track and if you don't have experience your brain can not process the information fast enough to actually learn to drive fast. A slow car on average tires teaches you how to threshold brake and corner at slower speeds so you can actually learn something.
This will sound a bit harsh but you should have been prepping the Impreza from the beginning. The CTSV is a poor choice for a car to start with.
I can appreciate your stance, and agree the CTS is a poor choice for more than one reason, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will continue with it once the motor is back in shape.
Learning on a slow car is a great way to see how a car handles at its limit and beyond. Put some decent tires on and have fun. Sumitomo makes a great tire at a reasonable price.
Push it back a week and take the Impreza to the THSCC rallycross?
Are you anywhere near Maryland?
I have a set of 200tw Accelera Sport 651's in 205/50R16 that can be removed from my champ car wheels early next week? They arent the best but work well at lasting a few days on track.
I also have a set of 14mm camber bolts if you wanna throw them up front for some camber?
Spearfishin said:
accordionfolder said:
How experienced are you on track?
Not very. Auto-x (not in CTS) and two track days at VIR (in CTS).
If not very experienced, I can guarantee you'll learn more in the Impreza than the V. I'd put some 300-ish TW sporty (ish) tires on it, brake fluid, and an OK pad - something like an EBC yellow stuff - and send it.
In a car that slow after your comfy and safe on track, put a predictive laptimer on it and pay attention to what the difference in lines and throttle application will do to your predictive sector times.
Point in case, all my track cars were down at the beginning of last season - I did exactly what I recommended to a 2.0 (very slow) 5spd Jetta and had a good time. I ran down several corvettes in the important corners (obviously not on the straights) and made them look silly. A stock suspension, stock everything jetta on 400tw tires that looks like it's about to tip over is filling up your mirrors - ha! There's a ton to learn and the cost of entry will be low compared to the consumables on the V (or blowing it up!).
Get some cheap tires and burn em up on the Subie. Have fun!
I have a 400hp race car and am jealous of you sliding a Subie around next weekend at one of the most iconic tracks in the US! Also, getting a car prepped that is being neglected will only make it in better shape for its next non-track task!
Just remember, if it seems like you are going too slow: BRAKE LESS!
Put some decent rubber and brake pads on the Impreza, change the oil and go over it to make sure nothing is going to fall off and go have fun. If you're not having fun on a race track regardless of what you're driving you're doing it wrong. To be clear I love fast cars but I've had as much fun in an original Mini on a race track as I've has in a 1,200+ HP Z06 Corvette.
Another option would be to work a corner. I think everyone who spends time on track should do that at least once. You can learn a lot about driving from that vantage point and it's also good to understand the sanctioning bodies perspective on an event.
I try to never turn down an opportunity to spend time at a race track. Instructing, wrenching, racing, lapping, working a corner, chairing an event, race steward. I've done and enjoyed them all.
Taking the Subie could be a decent idea, but be aware that Subies in general are prone to rapid unplanned engine disassembly even when everything is in good stock condition. They pretty much all need engine mods to survive track use.
Depending on how much risk you're comfortable taking with the CTS-V engine, you could also change the oil and filter, maybe bump up viscosity, and take a gamble with it. It already needs an engine teardown and likely rebuild so you don't have as much to lose...
My vote - Impreza with stickier tires.
4-5 years ago, I was doing the SCCA race school at Summit Point in order to get my competition license. The loaner ASedan Camaro I wasn running decided to set it's valvetrain free on the front straight, ending that weekend short of the required hours. There was an "alternative driver's school" (track day with SCCA sign-off) coming up at Watkins Glen, and since my Camaro wasn't done yet, my only options were my 2006 F-350 plow truck and a 2004 Honda Civic LX winter beater, complete with 100hp of fury and a 4-speed automatic. I found some cheap and near-dead G-Force summer tires on Si rims and went out thoroughly embarassed to be showing up with this POS (on a trailer, no less, in case I blew it up). Honestly, it worked out great. Sure, I did a lot of point-bys, but she ran well enough for the one-day event to get my necessary hours and sign-off. I'm still using (to varying degrees of success) the lessons the instructor taught me that day.
Impreza for the win.
that sucks about the CTS-V; hopefully it is simple enough to repair.
kevinatfms said:
Are you anywhere near Maryland?
I have a set of 200tw Accelera Sport 651's in 205/50R16 that can be removed from my champ car wheels early next week? They arent the best but work well at lasting a few days on track.
I also have a set of 14mm camber bolts if you wanna throw them up front for some camber?
I appreciate the offer, but I'm on Eastern Shore of VA, so unless you're on the MD Shore, likely more effort than it's worth.
