Anyone Auto-x or Trackday?
 

Does anyone autocross their HHR or do track days? I have been toying with the idea for a long time. I have a track toy (2015 Z/28) but want to have fun in the HHR too. It needs some maintenance badly, which will happen later this year then I might see about auto crossing it or doing a track day.
Obviously it needs its COG lowered, who has good drop springs/shocks? I always loved the feedback through the wheel, which is odd for such a cheaply made car, but it works well. I can lift off oversteer the car (puposely) and get it headed where I want it. Could use some firmness up front though, and needs more plant.

Is any sponsors still producing sway bars? Shocks/springs?

Autocross
 

I ran my SS back in 2011 on street tires. I had won a class championship locally in DSP in 2010 with my NA 2.5L Saabaru on Hoosiers.

It was all kinds of terrible. Turbo lag totally trashed my run, but the OEM tires sucked too (a big part of why I tried - these tires need to go... let's play). I smoked them coming out of 3 different corners. Smoked Gouda.

My SS understeered tremendously compared to my Saabaru (Saab 92X). I couldn't adapt in one event.

Seriously, hit the Cobalt guys' forum up for this. There are more more of them, and some are on lower level components and budgets.

My wife threatened to make me sleep in my car, so I retired in 2010. My 14-yo son is now talking about doing autocross, so we will see. I might "have to" return. I can build a great car, but I might have to drive it to improve it. My "feel" is much better on autocross courses.

Anyways, I still have lots of connections with autocrosses in the Detroit Metro area. Let me know if you need help finding one.

Sweet! A ton of people I work with at MPG do auto-x, though I did manage to convert some to track people. But they at least got me thinking about auto-x to kill some weekends when I am not at the track or a show.

I am moving in about 35 days, so Detroit region is a no-go for me, sadly. Counting down my last days in MI. I will look over on the Cobalt forums. Which forum is best?

I still intend to track the HHR this season, I give it probably 1/2 a day before it grenades, but i'm going to give it hell anyway. Before then, unfortunately it sounds like the INNER joitn of the drivers CV axle took a dump. On my move from Michigan to Texas, I hit a crater in Cincinatti, OH and the car felt IFFY for the rest of the 20 hour Journey. Its gotten considerably worse now, to the point that I think everytime I drive it, it seems liek cheating death LOL.

Anyway, I could use some help, has anyone done a remote aftermarket trans cooler and a trans temp gauge yet?

I'll tinker with it a smidge, under heaving braking the car has tended to over-steer just a touch, which I like. I want to keep it that way, but plant it just a little more. Eventually I want to try wheels and tires first, good set of meats will probably help the goal initially.

I can vouch for the OTTP rear anti-sway bar. Made a HUGE difference in rear end stability.
Just don't be in a hurry. Took almost a month after payment to actually receive the things.

But in the end, it was worth it!

I use a Progressive. It has a smaller diameter than the TTR unit. I know sway bar diameter plays in suspension preload, but don't know how much between products. Never had an another bar to change out to see the difference. Metallurgy design is also a unknown, which can be a factor how hard or soft the spring of the bar can be.

I am going to keep it simple as I can at first. A) track pads B) lower the COG just a touch C) add some grip. Like I said, the tendency for the car to over steer under heavy braking is decent (I've spun the car twice), the understeer can be curbed a little bit left foot braking. The car is surprisingly pleasant to drive quickly, just needs a few tweaks taken care of.

Also, trying not to melt the trans, hence the cooler..

1970judge read line 10 of this:
The guy used a Hayden cooler and Hayden adapter fittings.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/gene...do-8753/page2/

Track? Is this road course? I have some ideas, but I'd like to know where you are going first.

I autocrossed the SS a couple times stock and it was a pig - and I was a champ with a 2.5L NA car. Turbo lag was a birch for my pre-learned style...

Autocross ideas are gonna be about making it rotate better, and respond faster. Road course? You are on track with better brakes for heat tolerance. No matter what, your exhaust needs to be loud enough for the driver to HEAR it with a helmet.


Did you leave GM? The trip back to TX makes me question. NP if you want to PM.

Yep! I left in September. I left before the hatchet men came around, though i am pretty sure my job would have been safe. Needed to come home and be near family at this time, so had to sacrifice the job.

This will be road course. I have tons of seat time in the Z/28, waterford hills/gingerman in Michigan, I am only doing the HHR for funsies/see how long it lasts/I actually enjoy driving it fast. I believe I managed to find some good pads, finally, instead of burning through OTC pads constantly. Next up will be some tires/lower COG..inevitably my engineering degree will take a hold of this project, and i'll take it too far and tweak it too much..but trying to drive the yearly cost of tracking down a bit by subbing in the HHR from time to time. :)

1970judge
What type of pads did you decide to go with ?

Looking into GLOC pads

Thanks

Well, good news is I got the car tidied up this week. Turns out the CV axle was NOT bad...the control arm bolt had backed out/not been tightened. I had the drivers control arm replaced a couple of days before my move. The shop did not tighten it well enough and it backed out/jolted out after a cross country drive and a couple of pot holes in the midwest. Got that squared away so it is drive-able now. Cleaned it up this weekend for the first time in a couple of years. Went and drove it hard on a top secret test track...as I suspected, I cooked the rotors/pad pretty easily. New track pads soon. Next up: suspension upgrades/maintenance, brake cooling ducts, and a trans cooler.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...73ad045b3.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...9366b74b9.jpeg

Upgrade those front rotors to SS non Brembo if you haven’t already

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/brak...ard-hhr-42938/

Nice-looking Camaro in the corner of that one pic!!

I am a fan of white ones...

Edit: Those G-LOC pads were new to me, but that looks legit. You need to figure out where your tradeoffs are. Aggressive bite means dust. If you don't have race tires, you might not get some pads hot enough to work well much of the time, etc. Be prepared to adjust compounds...

Yes, tires on going on soon. I dont have much option with these wheels, so will be looking for a new set of wheels soon. So far it has been about getting this heap back to road worthy first, track worthy second and testing out some brake pads. They are easy swaps, so its easy to test some OTC pads. And yeah, my actual track car is my
Z/28.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...4c0923fd9.jpeg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...2a1ff0d2d.jpeg

Is that a stress crack on the rotor?

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/ss-s...caliper-48544/


Size up up to SS non Brembo rotors, Caliper brackets , use your calipers and pads.

Yes it has a couple of them, it happens, especially with the left foot braking I do from time to time. I'll upgrade soon enough. Lots of fun coming soon!

Fun when a rotor breaks or shatters ? Oh , fun after the new rotors!

Fresh fluid today! Man I miss changing oil on this car, much less time consuming than on the Z/28..and less $$!


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...c53fc0270.jpeg