Recommended mods for track day and daily driver Stinger GT AWD

[GreenGSX]

I left the car in Sport mode and never once touched the pedal shifters, so it was in auto the whole time. The one and only major issue that arose was the track control. When I entered a carousel, sometimes the car would think it was turning over, so it basically killed power. It was like I was fully braking with no response from the throttle.

So you are saying that, when tracking, I should use the shifters? I guess I could get familiar with them on my own time first.

Sorry I wasn't totally clear. You should be using Sport mode and running up and down the gears using the paddle shifters. Once you enter the track and get up to speed you'll be in 3rd which is where you'll spend most of your time. In Sport mode the Stinger will hold the gear for a good amount of time but it will up/down shift if it hasn't been shifted in a while or if its trying to save itself from heat etc. I'm sure it will be track dependent but once I learned the car and the track I was driving I found the paddle shifters and random returns to D to really be a non-issue.

When I drive on the track I turn the traction control off but leave the stability control on. Without a rear LSD I can get one rear wheel to spin under certain hard corner exits and that would cause the traction control to kick in and cut power. So far I've never needed or experienced the stability control kicking in so I just leave it on.

When it comes to paddle shifters they are new to me too. I've been driving for 33-years and never had to use them let alone work them on a race track. So it took a bit of practice to learn how to use them but once I got the hang of it it turns out that the amount of time I was actually shifting up and down was pretty minimal. I'm sure with a little more seat time you'll be fine.

 

[Rev_Night]

ok now how do I turn off traction control but leave on stability control? The only button I see for this is on my center, which says 'Traction Control Disabled'. How do I verify that stability control is on?

 

[GreenGSX]

ok now how do I turn off traction control but leave on stability control? The only button I see for this is on my center, which says 'Traction Control Disabled'. How do I verify that stability control is on?

Press the traction control button to turn off traction control. You'll see the icon on the dash display. Press and hold to turn of stability control. The process is in the owners manual if you want to dig for it.

Also, put the car in Sport mode, press and hold the traction control button until both traction and stability control are off, put it in gear, foot to the floor...enjoy launch control...lol

 

[stoopid]

Lol ok, even if I do get a set of summers, what would you recommend? PS4s? P Zeros? Cont. ExtremeContact Force?

And will stock rims work? Do I want 18s or 19s?

Not sure the brembos fit inside anything smaller than 19" rims. For the track you'll want to shorter sidewall, so 19" wins either way. If trying to get by with one set of tires all year, I wouldn't do true Sport tires (P zeros). Rather, the Pilot 3+ or 4 with *some* all season/cold weather capability would be the best compromise. I would check tire rack for reviews of any other brand sport tires and what might be best priced (and available) in your area, but the Pilot models are fairly ubiquitous now. I prefer not to buy tires only found online or in very few tire shops locally, just in case I have a blowout or impact in the sidewall that can't be patched. Don't want to wait days to be on the road again.

 

[StingertimeNC]

PS4S is the best and stock rims or aftermarket rims are fine. I have aftermarket rims that are lighter and ps4s. Money!!!

 

[Rev_Night]

Ok so lets think this through. I love my current rims, but they are a tad on the heavier side (27lb each). Oh well! It's simple enough (still PITA) to try and sell these Continentals and buy Summers. But what should my beater winters be? Stock rims 19? I do remember reading that winters should in theory be as narrow as possible to help bring the car down to make contact with the pavement, through the snow.

Current Wheels

• TSW Sprints, 19x9.5 +20
• Continental DSW06, all seasons
• 255 Squared

Future Wheels 3 Season

• TSW Sprints, 19x9.5 +20
• Mich. PS4s, summers
• 255 squares
• April 1 - Oct 30

Future Wheels Winter

• Stock Rims
• Winters
• 225, 245 rear?
• Nov 1 - March 31

 

[turboAWD]

You sound a bit like my situation, although maybe the weather differences will be a factor. I need to be able to keep the car as a daily driver, although I want to have fun on the track. Thankfully, I can get away with PS4s year round.

I have a '19 GT1 AWD. I just did my first HDPE sessions this year (3 total) and just "graduated" to HPDE2. Here are the mods I have:
-jb4 (running E30 most of the time on map3, but ran it at stock levels for the first couple of days)
-DIY intakes
-Whiteline sways
-Mando ECS controller (to adjust the electronic shocks)
-BMS pedal controller
-stainless lines
-Pro683 fluid (getting older, needs to be changed at some point)
-G-Loc (similar to Carbotech) R16 pads up front, R12 pads in back

I bought 18" Enkeis as my "track" wheel/tire combo - WAY lighter than stock, more sidewall, slightly cheaper tires. I went with 245/35/18 and 285/30/18 (or maybe it's 40/35 aspect ratios) instead of square.

Mods I'm adding soon - BMS intercooler (it gets hot at Sears Point!) and transmission cooler (probably BMS). At that point, I'm leaving it alone for a good while. Also, my Lozic TCU (level 2) is arriving soon. That's for faster / stronger shifting.


As for the paddle shifters - I find them SUPER useful, when I have the presence of mind to remember to use them - everything happens faster at the track and I'm still not THAT good / experienced. I go into manual mode (and unlike GreenGSX, who has a GT2, I think), it doesn't ever shift back to auto on its own. Yours will be the same. It will upshift when the revs get too high, and downshift if it gets way too low. The paddles are great for "priming" the transmission during braking when getting ready to turn and then accelerate - you can get it ready to be in 2nd (or even 1st) as you get ready to roll out of the corner and back on the power. This lets you "feather" the acceleration as you unwind the steering wheel, rather than "nothing, nothing, nothing, <shift down 3 gears>, WHOA! Brake!" that you get leaving it in D the whole time - my instructors always said "smoother on the throttle" - well, if the TCU put it in 5th because I was doing close to 100, and then braking down to 25 it might go down to 4th, maybe 3rd at 1500 rpm. There's very little power there with no boost. 10% of the throttle gets you almost no response. So you push a little more, and still nothing. Then, finally, you trigger the "he wants to GO!" logic, and it jerks into a lower gear and rockets away and the instructor complains. By manually shifting down, you can have that better throttle response of being at 2800-3200 rpm, right in the power band, as you START to push the throttle. WAY better control.

I'm not saying it drives exactly like a manual (I drove nothing but manuals for 20+ years, so I have a bit of experience with that), but it's still way better than "dumb auto" mode, IMHO. And if you get too busy, it will still handle it, more or less, for you without breaking anything.

I sent back my Lozic TCU tune because it was bouncing off the rev limiter as soon as I did ANYTHING other than D (i.e. even in D if I used the paddles at all!). That would be deadly on the track if I forgot to shift. So hopefully, now it will be just as OEM in terms of auto-shifting (i.e. will still shift for me in manual mode when I get to 6000 rpm, except for all-nannies-off-mode).

I may have to try traction-control off - I've always run with all nannies on so far.

 

[StingertimeNC]

I have a RWD GT2, PS4S on the rear, 275x35, 19. Front's still have 225x40 PS4 (oem) as they have a lot of tread life. I think your conti's DSW 06 would be fine for NoVa assuming you can stay off the road in the worst snowy weather. I wouldn't worry too much about the size. I assume you have AWD based on the square setup. Honestly you could use the Sprints with Conti's just as they are. Sell the OEM rims and get a dedicated track set-up with some lighter rims. 18 or 19 inch Enkei RPF1's would be great. if the car came staggered, get a staggered setup for the track and get Conti extreme contact or Michelin PS4S.

 

[Rev_Night]

Well there is nothing lighter than an Enkie, I had RPF1s for the Z and they were like 18lbs. I guess me running Enkies/Summers for racing and my current setup the other 6 months of the year isn't a bad idea.

What enkies will fit the stinger? What size is ideal for track?

 

[turboAWD]

Well there is nothing lighter than an Enkie, I had RPF1s for the Z and they were like 18lbs. I guess me running Enkies/Summers for racing and my current setup the other 6 months of the year isn't a bad idea.

What enkies will fit the stinger? What size is ideal for track?

Talk to "getyourwheels.com" on here - they were very helpful. I really like my TY-5s. With the spoke attached to the rim, some speculate it might be stronger than the RFP1. But, it should be similar, and it's under $300/wheel in 18s. I got 18x8.5 ET+35, 18x9.5 ET+35. Fits great. Running 245/40 and 285/35 on those. The OD of those tires is 653.2 mm / 656.7 mm. Although in 19s, 245/35-19, 285/30-19 are even closer (654.1 / 653.6). Wheels are a bit more in 19s.

 

[StingertimeNC]

Either of the above would be great. I would choose 19 just because of the look and stiffer sidewall. For drag strip I would go 18.

 

[Rev_Night]

I'm at the Enkei website, and all I see are lists of rims. I see Racing, Tuning, Performance, and truck/SUV. Obviously that last one is not for me, but why isn't there the slightest bit of explanation about which rim is right for me? Are they all the exact same category?

 

[StingertimeNC]

Try Fitment Industries. My son just ordered a set for his GTI through them.

 

[turboAWD]

I'm at the Enkei website, and all I see are lists of rims. I see Racing, Tuning, Performance, and truck/SUV. Obviously that last one is not for me, but why isn't there the slightest bit of explanation about which rim is right for me? Are they all the exact same category?

Look for flow formed / rotary forged. That makes them stronger / lighter. I think getyourwheels.com lets you filter on that.

 

[Rev_Night]

So 'getyourwheels' got back to me and said that the Enkeis were on backorder. He said that I could get some 18" Forgestar 14s and Michelin PS4s for like $3000 total. I get that they are expensive, but damn, that was more than I was willing to spend.

How much of a performance decrease would it be for me to find some stock Stinger rims/PS4s and just use those for the track? I occasionally see them for about $1000-$1500.

 

[Rev_Night]

Also, with AWD, would there be a huge difference between square and staggered? Again, track day.

 

[Stungbyastinger]

Ok so lets think this through. I love my current rims, but they are a tad on the heavier side (27lb each). Oh well! It's simple enough (still PITA) to try and sell these Continentals and buy Summers. But what should my beater winters be? Stock rims 19? I do remember reading that winters should in theory be as narrow as possible to help bring the car down to make contact with the pavement, through the snow.

Current Wheels

• TSW Sprints, 19x9.5 +20
• Continental DSW06, all seasons
• 255 Squared

Future Wheels 3 Season

• TSW Sprints, 19x9.5 +20
• Mich. PS4s, summers
• 255 squares
• April 1 - Oct 30

Future Wheels Winter

• Stock Rims
• Winters
• 225, 245 rear?
• Nov 1 - March 31

Try Yokohama V601 for track use, reasonably priced for performance. I have them 255 squared on my GTS AWD.

 

[MerlintheMad]

So 'getyourwheels' got back to me and said that the Enkeis were on backorder. He said that I could get some 18" Forgestar 14s and Michelin PS4s for like $3000 total. I get that they are expensive, but damn, that was more than I was willing to spend.

How much of a performance decrease would it be for me to find some stock Stinger rims/PS4s and just use those for the track? I occasionally see them for about $1000-$1500.

Also, with AWD, would there be a huge difference between square and staggered? Again, track day.

I have never tracked a car. But I know about rolling weight, and (finally) over and understeer. There is no reason to pay that much unless you are racing; seriously, 99 out of 100 people tooling around a track in a Stinger are not going to know the difference between a "boat anchor" (OEM Stinger GT wheel) and something pounds lighter. Stock wheels went for $630 apiece when I priced them three years ago. Ridiculous. So, if you can get a set for that price range go for it!

AWD with wider tires in front (to run squared) will tend to oversteer. Just be ready to adapt and everything should go swimmingly.

 

[Rev_Night]

ok great, so i'll just find the generic 19" OEM rims that are staggered (typically 225/245) that have the M. PS4s on them and just be happy with that. A signficantly cheaper investment. Kinda makes me wish I never sold mine BUT I did sell them brand new for $1500. Buying some in decent shape for $600 would be quite the profitsssss.

Curious, how long would these summers last me with 2x year track days (spring/fall)? All other days I use my all seasons. Rims are kept in back shed, not climate controlled but no weight on them.

 

[RM7]

Most production cars are made to understeer, with varying degrees of severity. This is deemed a "safer" condition, but it's often way overdone. This is likely why the GTs with 255s have such skinny 225s up front. What we'd like from a performance point of view is a neutral car, one that doesn't really under or oversteer, but that's pretty rare to get outright, except for some very high end performance cars.