HiWind

Seems that a huge cold front has arrived this week and my race day tomorrow is going to be very wet ...
1-2mm per hour from 6am thru 3pm.

I quali at 9, then race at 11 and 2 ... S&P all likely to be wet and even raining during.
I have a new set of full wets ready to roll but unscrubbed. Problem?

Would love some insight into how to address the task of driving well on these
my first set of wets (Michelins) on my 05 996 Cup.

1. Don't/can't heat them up right?
2. So just heat up brakes in warmup laps?
3. any other big things to know beside be smoother/gentler/more progressive ...
4. and avoid puddles even if they're on the 'right' line ie wet line differs from dry one?
5. Can I put rain-x on in the am?
6. Should if soften front or back a few clicks?

Thanks all!

bobt993

Rain tires can get hot and need the heat. I find the best warm up is getting into the abs in a straight line during your formation lap. I would use quali session to get a good lap in and adjust tire pressures for the race especially if conditions are going to be similar. Full loose or unhook sway bars. There are puddles and streams when it is really bad. Streams tend to run across the track in or around the apex of course. I keep steady state through a stream not varying much at all but opening the steering a little bit to avoid snap spins. With ABS you can brake very effectively in a straight line. Again get comfortable with the slipping, ABS pulse and steering movements. Puddles can vary, but again making changes or driving one side of the car into a puddle can cause unpredictable car behavior. Search the track for grip if you have time in qualifying stay out and get some practice. Pick an area for threshold braking that has run off and avoid using the edge of the track as you learn the cars behavior. If the track has a crown your going to want to be toward middle track most of the time. You want to be smooth on gas and steering (stay up a gear and avoid extra shifts when possible), but to get heat in the tires you must be a bit deliberate on the brakes and over use them till the heat comes up. The tires will still have effective grip in a straight during braking, but the lateral grip can be sketchy. Also assume traffic cannot see you at all and pass with a bit of room.

HiWind

Cheers Bob - lots of great insights thanks!

bobt993

I was always dumb enough to drive/race in the rain. Good luck !

HiWind

LOL ... Now that's advice!

ninjacoco

I have a somewhat newbie/Texas-specific-ish question to ask: how can I get better at driving in the rain without many opportunities to do so?

It started drizzling during a trackday today and I discovered that I was terribad at actually moving a car around in a quick manner...at all. Eeeek. "Has no idea what to do with the magical sky-water" kind of terribad.

So, help--what are the basic things I need to try to do the next time it gets drizzly? Things I need to remember? Any basic rules or pointers on what to expect the car to be able to do (or not do)?

Veloce Raptor

Generally, on many track, finding grip in rain means driving in the exact opposite places you drive in the dry. Avoid apexes, outside rim****s in corners, squaring everyothing off when possible, crossing the "dry" line at as much of a right angle as possible. Wet tracks generall have lots of grip, as long as you know where to place the car.

TXE36

Not a coach, just a long time student. I had a session with an instructor who is known for being particularly good in the wet and his advice when I got nervous about the car slipping around was "it will do that every time" which I took as get used to it.

It is best not to judge ones performance on raw speed, compare yourself to your peers as the raw speeds will be lower. I've got lots of weaknesses to work on, but one thing I'm proud of is relatively speaking, I'm a lot faster in my run group when it is wet than when it is dry. I've been let out in the front of the grid in the wet and three laps later I'm wondering "where did everybody go?" - that *never* happens in the dry. Hey, Rainman, this is for you .

When it is wet it is the perfect time to try other lines as VR stated. The surface of the tracks I drive on are more polished on the dry line and they get more slick with water added than the non-dry line part of the surface. The wet surface makes the car very sensitive to being upset so it is a good time to get better at being one with the car. I often have very good dry runs after a wet one due to being better at not upsetting the car.

One other piece of advice is attend a car control clinic that has a wet skid pad. PCA is doing one in Houston at the Police Academy later this month and one can slip around on that thing with abandon without worry.

Oh, and if you think a wet track is slick - try wet grass. As has been stated, it's an accelerant .

-Mike

mglobe

Wapner at 4:00. Definitely, definitely...

In the rain:

• Supposedly soften your suspension and disconnect the sway bars. I say supposedly because I'm too lazy to do it. I just go out and dive.
• Soften and smooth out your touch on all controls. Delicate, delicate, delicate.
• Search for grip. It often will not be online, particularly not at the apex where the track surface is polished and water often puddles.
• Often times the quickest way around a turn in the rain may be to take the rim-shot. I.E. drive all the way around the outside edges of the turn.. I typically start on the outside of turns I know are notoriously slick, and methodically work my way down to the apex lap by lap.
• Soft soft hands when you go through puddles. The car is going to hydroplane. You need to be prepared to catch it when you come out of the puddle.
• Be VERY careful about applying power.
• Run in a higher gear than you usually do. This helps with being smooth and careful with the application of power.
• Don't make fun of friends who spin and end up in a big puddle off track. It messes with your Karma. Ask me how I know.

TXE36

BTDT, but did not get a T-shirt. At least I waited until lap 2 for my T4 spin, rather than that other guy who did it on the out lap .

There were some spots at TWS yesterday where the steering wheel became merely a suggestion device. I wonder who made the mess between T5 and T4? It was someone during the second Red .

-Mike

ninjacoco

Yeah, my relative speeds were...crap. I brought a FWD Lancer on new tires, so theoretically, a wet track would be the time where I'd have more fun. Nope. I suck.

Dry track = all right, I'm the slowest thing on the straights, but I can keep up with most people in the turns in my run group. All's well.

Wet track = I need a mannequin arm on the on the side of my car that's posed into a point-by. Ouch.

Oooooh--that sounds like fun. When is it?

COTA was the laaaaaast place I wanted to slip around, so I think part of my problem was leaving the ***** of steel at home.

TXE36

June 22. Register via clubregistration.net. We start early in the morning to beat the heat, so that would be an very early morning for you from Austin.

WRT COTA, my very first session there was in a pouring rain. The track is flat with very good drainage, so there was no ponding. Since the track is new, there also wasn't much polishing of the dry line, so wet grip was quite good. The video from the session is quite boring, but I did manage to pass a couple of P-cars and a Corvette while figuring out the track during the single green flag lap of the session.

That video is posted along with dry sessions over here:COTA 2013 Videos and Impressions

One other thing about driving in the rain is attitude: If you think you will be scared, you will be scared. Embrace it, think of it as fun, and it will be fun.

-Mike

ninjacoco

Ah, nuts. That's when the ChumpCar race we're doing is.

The attitude part makes sense. I'll take a lot more chances at H2R in the rain because I know that one pretty well and want to goof around. Anywhere else--eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

mglobe

VERY true.

Cogito_Ergo_Zoom

I guess your tow vehicle has arrived?

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/06/13/2...usauto00000016

Are you getting a royalty for each one sold?