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Which Car for first timer? C6 Corvette Auto or RSX-S manual


NathanG

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I have been bitten by the HPDE bug hard after attending a Nasa event at Firebird raceway and getting a ride as a passenger for a few laps.

I am coming out to Wild Horse in march for my first track day and I am debating with myself as far as which of our two cars to dedicate as as our 'Track machine".

 

First up is our 2006 Acura RSX-S, a manual 6 speed front wheel drive 4 cylinder with 200 hp and 150 lbs of torque. It is a rev happy 8700 rpm redline two door .

 

I also have a 2005 c6 corvette with the A4 Auto transmission, with the Z51 package, also stock except for mufflers.

 

Both cars have less than 50,000 miles.

 

I know the Vette is a much more capable car in weight and horsepower, suspension, really everything, but the auto transmission, cost of tires, and depreciation from racing are bugging me.

The Acura is a much slower and less capable in all respects, but it is also cheaper on tires, has better seats, and is still a lot of fun.

 

Besides the obvious answser of "try them both", does anybody have any experience with either car they would like to share?

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I'd go with the RSX - less powerful cars don't mask mistakes (like slowing down too much for a corner, etc) and it's also manual which will allow you to get used to the footwork (heel-toe and such) that you'll want to have developed as you get deeper into this sort of stuff. The lower operating costs are icing on the cake.

 

Just my $0.02 though.

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Corvette.

 

1. FWD sucks

 

2. With the auto and the active handling in the Corvette you can stick it in drive and learn the line and adhesion limits in a safe manner.

 

3. Long term I'd say neither... get a manual Corvette.

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Any issues with the auto in those cars trying to suddenly downshift coming off a corner as you roll into the gas? How good is the traction / stability control?

 

Seen someone bin a pretty powerful / supercharged C5 automatic about 100' past pit exit, car unexpectedly kicked down a gear and powered through the traction control.... bang! Happened faster than it took to read that sentence. Rare occurance, but the trans in the 'vette is what steered my recommendation esp if both cars are otherwise pretty much ready to go. YMMV though.

 

If you do go with the Corvette be ready to try and anticipate something like that happening (the unexpected kick-down unsettling the car) and/or talk to your instructor about it so you can be ahead of the curve and proactive instead of reactive

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The auto sucks, but some years have pretty good push button programming. The TCS/Active Handling systems are very good. They provide a good safety net, but they do cover up mistakes. I much prefer students to drive with the nannies off so they can learn to catch the car from the beginning. Getting fast with nannies makes it that much harder to turn them off.

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Well after showing my wife that I had four people recommending Her car for HPDE, she replied with the statement " Well fine, but if you break my car, you will never hear the end of it..."

 

So Corvette it is!

 

The A4 has 1st, 2nd, third and "D" on the shifter. I am pretty good at manually shifting it, I am sure it will be a whole different story on the track.

 

The non paddle shift A4 trans from 2005 will stay in 2nd if it is selected, wont allow first or third all the way up to redline, which is good from 40-95 mph, and then I pop it into third on the straights. I have experimented with 3-2 downshifts under heavy braking, and the car waits until rpms drop a bit before it lets it downshift, which is pretty non-violent. I haven't had the balls to try to give it enough gas while in 3rd to make it drop into second while I am exiting a corner on a mountain road, as when it does it in a straightway, it is pretty abrupt. So I will be shifting to second while braking, then hitting third on the straights.

 

The Car already has a trans cooler, oil cooler, etc. I know trans heat will be a limiting factor eventually.

 

Thanks for the advice!

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Out of those two cars, I'd start with the RSX. If you're having a blast in the RSX but wish you had real wheel drive and more horsepower, you'll have more NASA friends from the track to consult when you decide what the next track car should be.

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I know the Vette is a much more capable car in weight and horsepower, suspension, really everything, but the auto transmission, cost of tires,

 

I used to run the old V6 Taurus SHO's (also FWD) and I remember being scared silly at the price of race tires in the vette sizes coming from the 225/245 sizes on the SHO. Took me about 1 event to realize the vette was 35,000 times easier on tires than a nose heavy, FWD car with a quaife. "Tire budget" was much less due to the usable life. Lighter car with real geometry, better weight distribution and MUCH more tire to support it.

 

That being said, FWD only will do so much on the track, but I think I'd rather have a manual FWD car than an auto RWD car, especially to just scratch a DE itch.

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Another vote for the Acura.....because of the auto trans in the vette.

 

BTW: I went through HPDE in a "auto-stick" SRT8. (Making 400hp/tq to the wheels, the car consistently outruns a buddies 05 vette like yours). At my first track weekend my instructor wanted me to get used to the car without having to "change-gears". Accelerating out of a turn the car did downshift as I was hard on the gas......I almost lost the azz end of the car. I had to learn to use that stick immediately.

 

BTW: horsepower is overrated....spend the money of setup and BRAKES!!!

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There's a guy, in TX I believe, that TT's an A6 C6 ......although I have no idea how he does it. I've never driven a fwd car on track and shudder at the thought (due to my inexperience more than anything) but I think I would agree with the recent posts that a manual, almost anything, would be better than an auto, almost anything. Yeah, it's one more thing to fiddle with while you have: turn in, apex, track out, blend line, threshold braking, did you see that corner station?, check your mirrors, point-by, check your gauges, running out of your ears but if you are there to learn to communicate with and control the car, best to have as much control over it as you can....w/ out getting into a separate conversation about nannies and newer drivers, of course.

 

Here is his channel if you want to see how he manipulates his auto on track.

 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwgFrrMzumbGNn2qIeFzXw?feature=watch

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There is no way I would track my wife's car.If you break it your toast.I would track any car other than my wife's car even if it was a 1973 Pinto wagon or a 2015 z06 vette!

Talk about setting yourself up for the kill.

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There is no way I would track my wife's car.If you break it your toast.I would track any car other than my wife's car even if it was a 1973 Pinto wagon or a 2015 z06 vette!

Talk about setting yourself up for the kill.

Ouch

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We take Laura's car to the track so I can give her and her friends track ride alongs

 

Sounds like you at least have an idea of how to somewhat mitigate the auto's downsides - it'll probably be fine through HPDE1 and such while you figure out if you like this and want a more focused track car

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Since you decided on the Corvette A4 Let me fill you in on a couple of issues with the car.

I had a student with the same car/trans (his was on 06 - but same/same)

When the trans got hot it would NOT shift by the shifter - computer took over which meant the downshift he thought he was going to get before the apex wound up occuring at track out. If he was NOT an experienced driver we would have been all over the infield at VIR after southbend. Not a good situation.

 

So keep it cool, keep it in D, learn the line, watch the downshifts after apex (gently roll on the throttle to help)

 

Put good brake pads on it, flush the brake fluid (no one does that with any regularity) and have FUN!

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Get to the track and meet some of the folks. You may run into someone who can help you find a trade for a manual or any other car you decide on after a few events. This NASA family is very resourceful, just get out there and give it some time.

And keep your costs as low and close to the predetermined budget as possible. You will want to be able to sustain this for a long time.

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I heard some where "Miata is always the answer". If it were me, I'd take the RSX out a few times, then find a cheap Miata and put a roll bar in it.

It's a lot of fun to drive a car on track that you don't have to worry about driving to work on Monday.

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