enzom

I am likely heading down on Saturday morning to see how she runs. Only a few weekends left before the track closes for winter, and the weather forecast for Saturday looks great. Not sure if anyone else intends to head there, but there will should be at least 1 TT there.

Snorman

Good luck!
FYI...I did hear from Rob about the Atco rental and we are both good!
S.

enzom

Launch control isn't working correctly for me. Not sure if it is my snow tires or something else. But I would activate launch control, tires would spin, and the RPM's would drop to 2,000 rpm. My 60 foot times were in the 1.8's. Best ET was 11.335 @ 125.75. Worst was 11.552 @ 127.29. Not at all happy.

Going to put my summer tires back on for my next trip down and see if the LC works better.

What's weird is that I changed to winters because the Pirellis were lighting up whenever I floored it in first. As soon as I switched to winters last week, I could nail it without any wheelspin at the top of first. So they seem grippier than the Pirellis are in this weather. Yet they don't grab with LC.

wrs

Never had this problem and I have done it quite a few times. The worst 60ft I have gotten was 1.7 and the quarters have been 11.0 and 10.9 ish. I haven't run one in a month or so but I would think they would get better due to cooler air now. Do you have a Vbox to practice with?

WCH BOS

Just might be too cold. I had a lot of wheel spin yesterday when I tried LC (on summers) in the morning when it was about 50F. Also make sure you are in auto mode (not manual).

enzom

Where do you run, and how cold is it?

I don't have a vbox. The launch control should be automatic. I use it often. But rather than hooking up and launching me like I'm on a roller coaster, it has just been spinning and dropping the rpm's. Started a little over a month ago.

wrs

I am in Texas and I have several county roads I use out of town. I don't go to a drag strip so I have to live with whatever the traction of the surface is on these roads, some good, some not so good. It was hot when I did the launch control runs. This weekend is the coldest weather we have had but I can still go out in the middle of the day and run the car and it will be in the 70s or 60s. So if it's due to the cold I wouldn't have seen it yet.

I use the Vbox for all my quarters, I may go to the drag strip at some point but so far I enjoy just making runs with the Vbox.

enzom

I am of the view that launch control won't work well in cold weather because you can't get enough grip for a launch. Last night, it was 64 degrees and the car hooked much better on winter rubber. The impressive 1/4 miles are being run in warmer weather. Whatever power might be gained in 30 degree temps is lost because you can't put the power down with launch control. Summer tires get hard and slide when the temps are at 50 degrees or less. Winter tires have better compounds and stay soft, but the tread pattern and pliability compromise its ability to keep contact with enough rubber to stay hooked. I think warm summer tires are ideal, so I will switch back to summers for drag racing. I just need to figure out how to get them hot. Doing a good burnout with a rear wheel drive car is easy. Haven't figured out how to do it with the TT.

wrs

Yeah, I think ideal temperatures are mid 60s to 70s and if you drive the car out to where you run, the car and the tires will be warmed up already. If the car has been sitting around at the strip you won't be in as ideal a condition. I never do burnouts but the Porsche always hooks up whereas the M5 is really hard to get below a 2.0 60ft time with. Of course these experiences are all in warmer temps.

enzom

I sat for at least an hour and a half before they let us run our first runs, and I was the second car down my lane. The tires lit up at the launch and then again at the top of 2nd. Had to lift as the rear kicked out a bit. Then a good hour between runs. I am doing a rental next month, so I can just keep hot-lapping.

Am considering buying drag radials for the rear for the track rental, but if I can't heat them up (anyone have any idea how to light up the rears on these cars) then I am not sure that I will see an advantage over summer tires.

wrs

Yeah the cooler air should be good for the hot lapping. In the alternative, find some isolated county roads you can drive out to. In NJ that might be tough but maybe not so tough in Pennsylvania.

enzom

I'm looking into electric tire warmers from chicken hawk racing and a small Honda portable generator for track days. Am determined to combine the benefits of great air and great traction.

Just need to figure out if there is a jacking point somewhere in the rear that will allow me to raise the back of the car a bit. Otherwise, I will drive onto them and then wrap the tops. Manufacturer said that the heating elements can sustain the weight of the car.

enzom

Ordered my tire warmers, extra floor jack and Honda power inverter. I am going to get the rears nice and hot for my Atco rental in December. Will put the Pirellis on for the day. See what great air and great traction means for a TT with a Europipe exhaust.