Project Track Addict Get’s A Big Dose Of “Whoa” With Alcon Brakes

In our previous update on Project Track Addict, we took the C8 Corvette to Willow Springs International Raceway to begin testing. First, a baseline was set by making laps with the car in stock form. These lap times will be used throughout the project to gauge the time gained through each phase of upgrades. 

Track Addict looks stunning with its Forgeline street wheels.

Phase one of Project Track Addict included upgrading the rolling stock to lightweight Forgeline SS1-R forged monoblock wheels wrapped in Continental ExtremeContact Force tires. The SS1-R wheels are designed to handle the stresses of track duty while being lighter than the factory Corvette wheels. The sticky 200-treadwear ExtremeContact Force tires increase grip considerably over the stock tires. Not only did this combination perform well on the Big Willow road course, but it improved Track Addict’s appearance tooOn the track, the Forgeline wheels and Continental tires showed immediate improvements in the lap times along with greater confidence in the car from our test pilot, Allen Ward.

Having Ward on this project with his driving abilities and feedback have been a tremendous help. His consistency in the car and ability to push Track Addict is impressive. Although we shouldn’t be surprised, as Wards background and experience speaks volumes. Ward spent 15 years racing superbikes with the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club and WERA West. He’s spent the last 13 years — and is currently —  managing GMG Racing and also serves as one of the team’s driving instructors. From 2016 to 2019 Ward won four championships driving a Porsche Gt3 in the CC16 class of the Porsche Club of America.

Alcon brakes

The track wheels from Forgeline are wrapped in Continental tires and drastically improve lap times for Track Addict.

Phase two of Project Track Addict is going to involve upgrading a part of the C8 Corvette that received praise initially from Ward after driving the car in stock form. “The factory brakes bit and performed well in the initial testing,” Ward says. “They were one of the things I liked most about the C8.” Track Addict’s owner, James Lawrence, feels similarly and was equally impressed with the C8 Corvette’s stock brakes. “Driving the C8 with its stock brake system was pretty impressive,” Lawrence says. “The pedal feel was firm and responsive, providing good stopping power. Under intense use, there was a slight softness that crept in. This was acceptable for most driving conditions but could be improved upon for peak performance.”

Race-Engineered Brakes For Our Street Car

As good as the stock Corvette brakes are, we wanted to make them even better. For this upgrade, we reached out to our friends at Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE). Because LPE specializes in Corvette performance, it was a no-brainer to get the expert recommendation of LPE’s VP/COO Mark Rapson. “When we started looking for a brake partner on the C8 in 2020 we talked with all the major companies,” Rapson say. “At that time the C8 was a new platform, first year for the vehicle global B electronics, and also the new electronic brake booster, no one had much data or experience with the cars. We had as much or more information than the aftermarket brake companies.”

“While looking we saw GM was using Alcon brakes on the C8.R race platform and that Alcon had already developed a performance aftermarket version (for customers),” Rapson explains. “After meeting with [Alcon], we realized they had a very good understanding of the C8 system and the data supporting needs to properly integrate with the e-boost system. We teamed up Alcon to help with testing and future developments.”

Alcon is a global leader in race and performance brake applications, and a perfect partner. — Mark Rapson, VP/COO LPE

In its infancy, Alcon started supplying brake systems to IndyCar builders in the mid-1980s and quickly grew to become a leading supplier of ultra-high-performance brakes to top-level race teams in IMSA, Trans-Am, and NASCAR. According to Alcon, their Pro-System package is engineered to enhance braking capabilities for high-performance street cars and pro-level racing programs alike. In our conversation with Rapson, he spoke at length about Alcon’s extensive development of its C8 brake system. “The e-boost brake system on the C8 is very sensitive to fluid volume and piston size controlling brake pressure distribution versus pedal pressure,” Rapson say. “Even the factory system had issues in a competitive hard driving situation. Alcon had already done a great deal of testing with regard to brake balance versus the chassis dynamics of the C8. We believe their work with C8.R race car program helped tremendously.”

Not that we needed more convincing, Rapson shared LPE’s experience with the Alcon Pro-System performance C8 brake package on their own C8 Corvettes. “We installed the brakes on two cars with two experienced drivers,” He says. “On the road course both drivers took over two seconds off their lap times. In the first speed-stop event we entered, the Alcon’s allowed the driver to run a full car length deeper into the stop box and gave us the win, again, the consistency and confidence is amazing.” 

It only took one competition to realize we were working with the right company. — Mark Rapson

Alcon brakes

The Alcon Pro-System brake package from LPE includes everything necessary to upgrade the front and rear rotors, pads, and calipers.

Needless to say we ordered the Alcon Pro-System kit for Track Addict, which included front and rear rotors, calipers, and pads. The Pro-System kit is offered in two front rotor diameters for those using the stock wheels and those running aftermarket wheels. To work with our Forgeline SS1-R wheels we opted for part number 200553. The floating rotors are machined from Alcon’s specially formulated cast iron to provide excellent thermal stability, friction coefficient, and heat transfer characteristics. The forged aluminum six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers increase strength while being lighter than the factory four-piston units.

The Alcon Pro-System brake package is considerably lighter than the C8's factory braking system.

The Alcon front calipers weigh 6.98 pounds each, while the factory calipers tip the scales at 10.57 pounds. Additionally, we shed rotating mass with the Alcon rotors. Each front rotor weighs 18.13 pounds compared to the factory rotor’s 22.11 pounds. In total, we dropped almost 30 pounds from Track Addicts race weight with the complete front and rear Alcon Pro-System brake package.

Removing the factory brakes is a simple process. Seth had the stock components off the car in short order.

Getting Track Addict Prepared To Stop Abruptly

The installation of the new brakes is a pretty straightforward process. Fortunately, we have a Bendpak two-post lift that makes working on the C8 much easier. Once the car was in the air, our resident technician, Seth Ward, removed the Forgeline wheels and began disassembly of the brakes. It doesn’t take long to have the calipers removed, howevercare must be taken with the brake lines so they are not pinched or damaged when disconnecting them. Also, it is wise to plug the ends of the brake lines so as not to make a mess with brake fluid. With the factory calipers out of the way, the stock rotors can come off the car after removing the torx-head retaining screw. Once Seth had all of the factory equipment removed it was time to repeat the process in reverse with the new Alcon Pro-System components.

The Alcon brake calipers may look slightly smaller but they are mighty, improving braking power considerably. The Alcon rotors are a larger diameter than the stock pieces and will help offer peak performance under extreme conditions and extended track sessions.

Seth had all the brakes re-installed and torqued in no time. After bleeding the system of any air in the lines, the wheels were bolted on, and Track Addict was ready to hit the street and track. Something to note here is that the Alcon Pro-System brakes are pre-bedded with pads on Alcon’s brake dyno. They do this so the customer doesn’t have to and can hit the road immediately after installing the kit.

However, because we switched to track-focused HAWK DTC-60 brake pads,  we needed to perform the bedding process once again. We had the rotors turned very slightly to clean them up before the installation to prepare them for being bedded in with the new DTC-60 brake pads. 

The new Alcon Pro-System brakes look great on Track Addict and will allow our drivers to push the limits of this C8 even further.

Alcon Brakes Perform No Matter What

With our new Alcon Pro-System brakes and HAWK pads ready to perform, we returned to Willow Springs International Raceway to attack the Big Willow road course. The increased performance was immediately noticeable by our two drivers. “The upgraded brakes delivered significantly enhanced stopping power, allowing for much later braking into corners and more precise control,” Lawrence said. 

There was no hint of fade even during extended sessions, which was outstanding. — James Lawrence

For this test session, the decision was made to switch to the Garmin Catalyst Driving Performance Optimizer for data acquisition and recording lap times. The device and software we used in the Phase 1 testing proved to be unreliable and inaccurate. Because of this switch, we don’t want to compare the lap times from this Phase to the Phase 1 testing. However, we will be using the lap times from the Garmin Catalyst device moving forward for the rest of our testing. The Catalyst device has a key feature that will show an optimal lap time — essentially what our best lap could be — based on all of its recorded performance data. This shows our drivers where they can pick up time, and it is an excellent tool for comparing our actual lap times.

During this test session, Ward was doing his best to push Track Addict harder than before, but unfortunately, track conditions were not favorable. The track surface was over 20 degrees hotter than our Phase 1 test session, and slower traffic was once again an issue. Nevertheless, Ward came into the pits with plenty of praise for the Alcon brake system. “The brakes are absolutely phenomenal,” Ward says. “It’s actually more (braking) than I need. There’s great initial grab and modulation. I can actually hear the tires squealing when I’m hard on the brakes.” 

While the track conditions were not ideal, the upgraded brake system performed flawlessly. The two heavy-breaking zones on the Big Willow course are entering turns one and three. Coming to the end of the front straight Ward hit -1.02 G upon deceleration going into turn one, and -1.08 G entering turn three. The quickest lap of the day was 1:37.71 (keep in mind we aren’t comparing this time to the quickest time from the testing in Phase 1) compared to the Catalyst’s optimal lap time of 1:37.52. Ward was able to hit a max speed of 136.2 mph with an average speed of 88.1 mph.

 The [Alcon] brakes are unbelievable. I was braking much later into [turn] one and actually had to let off because they’re so good. — Allen Ward, Professional Driving Instructor

Turns one and three are the hardest braking zones on the Big Willow road course. The column on the left shows the braking forces Ward was able to achieve going into turn one and three during the first test session. The column on the right shows the data from the second test day when track conditions were better. Comparing the green lines (Ward's performance) to the pink lines (Optimal lap) shows that he is doing a good job with the car. As you can see, he loses ground on the Optimal Lap time in the last two turns that make up the big sweeping right hander where applying power while maintaining traction can be tricky.

Even though Ward was able to put in a lap that was just 0:00.19 seconds off the optimal time, we felt Track Addict had more in it with better track conditions. So we returned to Big Willow a week later for additional testing. This time track conditions were more favorable and on lap one of the second session of the day, Ward was able to pick up 0:00.77 seconds over his previous best and turn in a quickest lap of 1:36.92. On this day the optimal lap time according to the Catalyst was a 1:36.02. Again, Ward was running just a hair behind what the Catalyst predicted the car could possibly do. Again, Ward consistently hit over -1.00 G under hard braking going into turns one and three with a max of -1.17 G on turn three during his quickest lap time.

After putting in laps on Big Willow with the new brakes, Lawrence had this to say, “The upgraded brakes delivered significantly enhanced stopping power, allowing for much later braking into corners and more precise control. They significantly boosted my confidence in the C8. Knowing that the car could consistently deliver powerful and reliable braking allowed me to push harder and explore the car’s limits without hesitation.”

Because Track Addict is also still a street-driven car, we were interested in how the race-focused Alcon brakes would perform in stop-and-go traffic. “On the street, the Alcon brakes continued to impress me,” Lawrence says. “Despite being track-oriented, they performed admirably in everyday driving conditions. The initial bite was strong but not overly aggressive, making them perfectly manageable for regular street use.” Now that we’ve increased grip and braking on Track Addict we are shifting our focus to more upgrades to improve the C8’s handling. Stay tuned for phase three of this project to see what’s in store for Track Addict next.

   

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Jeremy Nichols

Jeremy loves to go fast, whether that's on two wheels, four wheels, or boating. With a willingness to compete at almost anything, Jeremy shoots competition long-range rifles matches and races road bicycles and enjoys building vehicles for people.
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