sunnysrt8
03-19-2007, 09:06 AM
So this weekend I did my first road course event with the JGC SRT8 at Homestead raceway down in Miami. It was perfect weather, mid 70s, low humidity, tons of sun. The JGC SRT8 did great!
To prepare for the event I had my brake pads changed out to the EBC Yellowstuff Racing pads and the brake fluid flushed out to a high temp one, ATE 200. Other than that, mopar catback and intake, everything was stock. I knew the tires would take a beating so I made sure to visit my Goodyear guy before this weekend and have it check for the recall. They authorized the replacement and have the tires on order so I will get them installed this week, good thing for the recall. I have to say I was very impressed with the EBC Yellowstuff brake pads, no fading the whole day and I ran over 3.5 hours of track time throughout the day. I was pushing the truck pretty hard, especially the second half of the day. Homestead has 4 fast straight runs on the road course where I was reaching over 100 mph and braking very hard at the end of each one. The brakes actually got better as the sessions went on, living up to the high temp rating they have. No brake fade the whole day.
So I have some interesting observations I made throughout the day.
1) The first session I forgot to turn the traction control off but after about 20 minutes into the session, I noticed it had turned itself off. I am guessing it realized I was driving it hard and turned it off to prevent the brakes from overheating.
2) After about an hour of track time the transmission really adapted to my driving by downshifting early and holding gears a lot longer.
3) I used 2 tanks of gas through the day! Since I was at the track I figured I would try the racing fuel, 98 octane. I have to say the SRT8 pulled MUCH harder during wide open accelerations the second half of the day after I put the racing fuel in. I have no scientific proof, but myself and the instructor both agreed it pulled a lot stronger.
4) If anyone is going to run a road course defiantly get a hood bra or protection for the front of the truck. I have 2 small scratches now in the bumper from rocks on the track. Time to order an ugly hood bra for track days!
5) And finally, the one PROBLEM I had all day, I got a transmission overheat light at the last lap of the day. I wasn’t expecting this. I thought my brakes would overheat or the oil temp would get to high but not the transmission. As soon as the light came on, I started my cool down lap. It went away within 15 seconds so I hope not much damage was done. I plan to get my oil and transmission fluid changed this week. Has anyone added an aux trans cooler? This is a must before the next event or anyone else planning on running a road course. I can only imagine this being even more of an issue on warmer days.
Overall, everyone was extremely impressed with the JGC SRT8. My instructor was amazed at how well the brakes held up. By end of the day, I outpaced a 350z and held with a modded EVO and WRX.
To prepare for the event I had my brake pads changed out to the EBC Yellowstuff Racing pads and the brake fluid flushed out to a high temp one, ATE 200. Other than that, mopar catback and intake, everything was stock. I knew the tires would take a beating so I made sure to visit my Goodyear guy before this weekend and have it check for the recall. They authorized the replacement and have the tires on order so I will get them installed this week, good thing for the recall. I have to say I was very impressed with the EBC Yellowstuff brake pads, no fading the whole day and I ran over 3.5 hours of track time throughout the day. I was pushing the truck pretty hard, especially the second half of the day. Homestead has 4 fast straight runs on the road course where I was reaching over 100 mph and braking very hard at the end of each one. The brakes actually got better as the sessions went on, living up to the high temp rating they have. No brake fade the whole day.
So I have some interesting observations I made throughout the day.
1) The first session I forgot to turn the traction control off but after about 20 minutes into the session, I noticed it had turned itself off. I am guessing it realized I was driving it hard and turned it off to prevent the brakes from overheating.
2) After about an hour of track time the transmission really adapted to my driving by downshifting early and holding gears a lot longer.
3) I used 2 tanks of gas through the day! Since I was at the track I figured I would try the racing fuel, 98 octane. I have to say the SRT8 pulled MUCH harder during wide open accelerations the second half of the day after I put the racing fuel in. I have no scientific proof, but myself and the instructor both agreed it pulled a lot stronger.
4) If anyone is going to run a road course defiantly get a hood bra or protection for the front of the truck. I have 2 small scratches now in the bumper from rocks on the track. Time to order an ugly hood bra for track days!
5) And finally, the one PROBLEM I had all day, I got a transmission overheat light at the last lap of the day. I wasn’t expecting this. I thought my brakes would overheat or the oil temp would get to high but not the transmission. As soon as the light came on, I started my cool down lap. It went away within 15 seconds so I hope not much damage was done. I plan to get my oil and transmission fluid changed this week. Has anyone added an aux trans cooler? This is a must before the next event or anyone else planning on running a road course. I can only imagine this being even more of an issue on warmer days.
Overall, everyone was extremely impressed with the JGC SRT8. My instructor was amazed at how well the brakes held up. By end of the day, I outpaced a 350z and held with a modded EVO and WRX.