Rain setup?

#1

Hey guys,

I’m looking for a little advice for when the weather gets crappy out on track.

I’m currently doing HPDEs and TTs, but my car is prepped to the spece30 rule book except i have a roll bar instead of full cage.

At the last event I did (at VIRN) it rained the first day. In the morning there was somoe standing water onthe track so i decided to go out on my treaded street tires (Falken Ziex 512s) to play it safe. The car felt HORRIBLE. literally walking on tip toes on ice sort of feeling. Infact, i spun out of hogpen on the warm up lap. I was going slow and lugging a gear up. I don’t think i did anything abrupt or aggressive… the back end just sloooowwwly came around and and i did a slow motion loop inside, but stopped short of the armco. It wasn’t ‘snap’ over steer, it was slow and smooth, but my counters had no effect it seemed.

So I pit in, crew says the car looks fine, i go back out. I’m still taking it easy because this feels bad, i’m lugging a gear up, then out of 5a around she goes again and this time i end up in the tire wall. Another slow motion smooth, yet uncontrollable spin. #$#$#! I crawl back into the pits.

At this point i’m sure something is wrong w/ the car. I’ve driven in the rain plenty of times before in other cars and its never been like this. I check everything though and it all seems fine. shrug. so i go play on the skid pad for awhile and the car behaves fine. So after pinging a bunch of E30 guys in the paddock i get the impression that i should be on my rcomps.

So i switch to a set of Hoosier R6s and go out. Its still drizzling a little, damp track, but little standing water on line. The car feels great. I felt like i could actually feel the grip and the road instead of feeling like i was on a layer of Crisco gliding around. The back end could step out, i could save it no problem. I saw/felt it coming a mile away. Felt great.

Throughout all this i never adjusted the car’s setup from my normal settings. I guess there’s not much to play w/ on these cars, but i’m wondering if maybei should have unhooked or loosened the rear sway bar for the rain. Anybody do this?

Also, do you guys have any input on the street tires in the rain? Any ideas on what might have beeng going on?

I’d like to get some input and learn something because i’m going up to VIR tonight and its supposed to rain all day tomorrow. I’ll go straight out on rcomps and if there’s too much standing water i’ll just stay in. I guess the lesson to be learned is that when it felt like shit i should have come right in.

Sorry for the lenth. In short, what do you do differently in the rain? :slight_smile:

#2

You can definitely loosen/unhook the rear bar. Lots of people do that. Makes it much more forgiving, sometimes faster, sometimes not. What pressures did you have in the street tires? Are they known for decent rain traction? Could just be bad for that purpose, or maybe you need lower pressures.

#3

How old are the street tires? If they are your regular street tires that you actually drive on the street, they are going to be way too hard.

#4

Those Ziex 512s are not ideal. Soft sidewalls and I found not so hot in the rain on the street. I have a set I used for to and from the track on the e30 before I started getting heavier into the Spec Prep.

Last time I was in the wet on street tires it was on Falken Azenis, and they did fairly well.

#5

Hrmm yeh these tires are about… 1.5 years old maybe and they just serve for driving on to and from events on. I guess it sounds like a case of the wrong tire for the job. Especially since the rcomps did very well. I guess I didn’t know tires could be that bad. :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ll also try unhooking the rear bar for a session and see what that feels like.

Thanks all

#6

Skeen’s wet lap times are faster than mine in the dry. If it rains, I just sit in the paddock and sulk.

Sasha

#7

Hey Guys great info.

Dan I had the same issue at Lime Rock earlier this year. I was on 3 month old all season street tires. I had my instructor on the edge of his seat the whole time. The rear end wanted to come around every where (even going up hill)

He ( the instructor) races an e30 in KP and he said he had never driven a car this twitchy. I got kudos (HPDE WINNER!) for not spinning the car and lots of people telling me that they saw me sliding around turn X.

I would guess it is all in the tires. I will also have to try the sway bar Idea next time.

#8

I bought Ziex 512s because they were cheap. Bad idea.

One drive in the rain at the track and I got rid of them quick.

512s are the worst rain tires.

#9

good to know.

Yeh i know what you mean. Its not like i was having grip and then itd suddenly go. Its like i literally never had grip. like ice. haha no one believes me when i tell them this, but it was horrible. Even the tip toe back to the pits after the tow truck pulled me out of the mud was hairy! :woohoo:

Live and learn.