The SC2 that can

[Defunded]

Hi everbody! We are a endurance racing team that acquired a 2001 SC2 with very low expectations about its performance. We ran our first race in the car and were really blown away by the abuse it took and the lap times we were turning in it. We took 2nd in this tired old saturn. Now that we know that this machine is near the pinnacle of automotive performance, we are trying to learn how to fine tune it for a little bit better handling. I hope sift through the knowledge on here to really dial it in.

Cheers,
Dan

[leighv]

add oil and check gas . wheel bearings these cars will consume - keep spare knuckles and such. stock brakes can get cooked on road course, you would benefit from some DIY brake ducts for long stints. the manual trans will shift way nicer with some mobil 1 ATF (the lowered shifting effort may help longevity of the OEM shift cables). Assuming you're running the third gen (roller follower ecotec-style valvetrain era) engine, the piston crowns are thin so just be aware of that. you'll also find the intake manifold heater hose outlet may crack itself or just the deaerator hose nipple will- easy fix all over (cut off the manifold and purchase an aluminum piece to go in its place). the stock radiator will probably crack if it is original.

Anyhow, good luck and keep it up!

[Defunded]

We bought the car with 8 or 9 races on it already so it came well sorted and with spares for the bearings, well sorted brakes (we ran the same set of EBC yellow stuff pads all weekend, not sure how much was left after day two, need to check on that) It is an automatic which does leave something to be desired as far as predictability of which gear it decides to select, but its been reliable. The engine is a 2001 to the best of our knowledge so I am not sure on which gen that would be? The radiator has been replaced and we have a spare as well. So far it has not burned any oil and seems to run like it was built to beat the crap out of for 8 hours at a time.

Any other tips? We mostly want to focus on the handling since everything else could really only get worse with our meddling.

[Defunded]

I am going to take a look at that intake manifold heater hose. That is a good idea

[leighv]

if you're doing endurance you may want to monitor oil temps. no problem may be had yet but controlling oil temperature will certainly help reliability. on open track days, 20 minute sessions in the fall i hit 270*F pan temperatures with the stock engine / mobil 1 0w-40