I just had my first track time ever this weekend. The car performed great and I don't think I did too bad myself (for a newbie).
It's too bad hardly anyone runs these cars on track! Everyone at the event who asked about the car just looked shocked because they had never seen one at the track before.

My best lap was 3:09:653 with a top speed of 115.7 on the main straight. There was a lot of traffic in the beginners group, so that slowed me down a bit. I was able to pass a G35S, RX-8, and a bunch of others, so I like to think that I made a good impression.

My mods were:
-MagnaFlow Exhaust
-Single-pipe CAI
-Eurocharged tune

The video of one of my slower sessions is here: Road America - 2004 Chrysler Crossfire (MFBA 2012) - YouTube

I felt that my brakes were the biggest thing holding me back. I'm not sure what pads are on the car since I haven't changed them since I bought it.

Does anyone know of any good Track pads that I can put on the car without upgrading to SRT brakes?

 

Awesome! I totally want to do that with my SRT but its a bit too expensive for me in my current situation. What was the price to run? How many laps did you do and do you have to replace your brakes after the session?

 

A friend from my work introduced me to it. We went with Midwest F-Bodies Association. The cost was $450 for Saturday and Sunday with 4 half-hour sessions each day. I probably got around 45 laps in. They did a very good job of keeping it safe and fun for everyone. I'll definitely be looking for more opportunities to go back.

There was a good mix of cars on track. Mostly Camaros and Trans Ams, at least 6 GT-R's, 3 Vipers, tons of Vettes, STi's, Bimmers, a classic Challenger and a bunch more.

I definitely need to change my brake pads now. My fronts were around 50% when I started (I realize now that was a newb mistake) and they're nearly gone now. I did replace my brake fluid with Ate Super Blue before hand and had to bleed them once while I was there.

 

The price doesn't seem too bad considering how fun it is to get out there and have the time of your life. The tire and brake expense is the thing that is scaring me away from doing this since I am broke as a joke since I returned to school for my masters. Next time you are planning to go give me a heads up if you could.

 

Looks like an awesome time, that is a great track. Next time, if there is more heads up and a single day, let us know, I may come over from Indiana. In the next few weeks, I am heading out to Putnam Park for the same type of thing.

I would HIGHLY recommend upgrading to SRT full brake setup w/ SS lines. It will cost you some cash, but with several of the SRT guys upgrading to larger setups, you can find a nice set fairly cheap, if you look. Minus a few new bolts and trimming the dust shield, it is a direct bolt on and feels GREAT on an NA. If you can not do this, and want to go to a true track pad, check out the offerings from Porterfield.

Good luck out there. There are many of us that track our cars, there are just a lot less of our cars than with bimmers, camaros, etc

 

Looks like you had a great time! And another fellow track enthusiast here

 

I've had mine on the track at Road America about 5 times. I usually do the lunch touring session if I'm up there for Redmond or one of the other club events. One of my goals in life is to hit the Canada Corner right. So far I've found any number of wrong ways to do it.

Surprised you rolled with the window down. Doesn't the buffeting from the wind bother you?

 

Canada corner scares the hell out of me, but I think I've got it down. You come in so fast through Kettle Bottoms and there's not a lot of time to let the car settle before braking HARD.

I had to keep both windows down for safety. I didn't really notice the buffeting with a helmet on going 115+

 

Video is no longer available. :-(

 

I don't upload to Youtube very much so I was capped at how long the video could be. I'm reuploading it now. Check back a a few hours.

 

For anyone who's interested, registration is open for this year's Road America session with the MFBA group. It will be May 4-5th. I've signed up for both days, but you can register for individual days as well.

Individual days start at $235, but remember to factor in the cost of brakes, helmet, etc.

Here's a link to their page: MFBA Track Days

Since last year I upgraded to the 74mm and I have a H&R cup kit that I'll be installing when its warm enough.

Hope to see another Crossfire there!

 

Hey good job. I put the brake pad info on my site which kind of wotks like a crossfire library (the parts page has the brakes). However, the racing guys here at the forum use race pads that get changed after the race like the Poterfield and Hawks. The street and light track pads are the Poterfield R4S and Hawks HP plus. Disk Italia has a Hyper ceramic that will work as well.

 

I ended up replacing my pads with some of the StopTech Street Performance ones that they sell on TireRack. That was right after I was at the track last year, so I'm excited to see how they perform.

I REALLY wish I could go with the SRT6 brake setup, but I don't think they'll clear my 16" rims for my snow tires. Maybe in the next few years I'll get a winter beater, then it won't be an issue.

 

I'm working on uploading my videos from this year's event.

Changes to the car from last year are Stoptech pads, 74mm throttle body, sprint booster, and the H&R Cup kit suspension.
I made a lot of progress this year, getting my lap time down to 3:00.

My friend was instructing a newer driver in a supercharged E92, and it was pretty exciting to be able to keep up with him. Of course, he'd pull away in the straights, but I was able to get right up on him in the corners. Great fun!

Here's the first video:

 

Nice video!

Are you saying someone took a newer BMW 335 with either a single or dual turbo and fit a supercharger on it in place of that, or a dual charge setup or what?

Simply wondering because with a simple tune, those cars are over 400HP and quite quick...

 

It was actually an E92 M3. He had added a supercharger and Brembo BBK. It WAS his first day at that track so I'm sure that had everything to do with it. With an experienced driver, I wouldn't stand a chance - that thing had EASILY 2x the horsepower of my NA.

On the other hand, my friend took his stock E92 M3 on the track for the first time (he's been running at Road America for like 7 years now) and was doing 2:50's and he was babying it. He also immediately boiled his brakes and had to switch to better fluid at the track.

It just shows that Driver mods are the best thing that you can do to improve performance!

 

Ok now I understand, a SCed V8 M3 would certainly have at least 2x the power of our modded NAs, but it also weighs ~500 pounds more than we do

I bet it was a fun day, nice work.

 

I love watching Crossfire footage on track. As far as the brake fluid, at least ATE Blue and after learning to get more speed out of the car something better like Motul RBF 660 which is what I use. I'd recommend getting track pads and switch them in the day before and go back to street pads after the event. Once you've swapped them out a few times it's quick and easy.
Les

 

I'll probably take a closer look at my brakes this weekend. I bled them a few times at the track, but I didn't have any bubbles. I already have the ATE Super Blue, so it seems to be holding up. On my last session of the weekend they did a "Red Flag test", so I stopped on the side of the track and my brakes were smoking. Either they didn't have time to cool down or I melted my brake-wear sensors again.


Les, are you using slotted rotors or just stock rotors with track pads? I'd like to get the best braking performance without going to SRT brakes. My Crossfire is my daily driver and I have to be able to fit my smaller rims for snow tires.

 

I'm using slotted but plain are better. (Stoptech BBK on the front and stock brakes on the rear) Smooth rotors resist cracking from the heat better, more metal overall (good) and cheaper in the long run. I cracked and grooved my Stoptech 2 piece rotors and you don't want to know how much it cost to replace the outer rings. Stay with inexpensive parts. If you do lots of track days the rotors wont last, the calipers will need rebuilding every 2 years (piston seals harden and crack) My best recommendation stays the same. All pads that are rated for temperatures of 1200º to 1600º (what you really need for a fast track) will be almost unbearable on the street. I used Porterfield R4S with my stock brakes and they were fine until I got fast and learned how to brake. You could use them or something similar like Ferodo 2500 if you don't want to be changing pads but having 2 sets is a better decision. I used ATE Blue for a while. I boiled the fluid after pulling off the track with no cool down. Otherwise I might still be using it.

Les