Wet weather racing

[drbob]

Being in Australia we dont get many wet weather race meetings ( enough to know I am not very quick in the wet). Any advice on set up for an historic touring car (lotus cortina) but more particularly driving technique

[Ali Rushforth]

Soften the suspension all round,

Disconnect anti-roll bars (if fitted).

Tyre pressures are something that cause a lot of confusion, if you run road tyres, keep the pressures the same, or drop slightly.

Spray HT leads with W*4* or similar.

Treat inside of screen with anti-fog,

Treat outside of ALL windows and wing mirrors with Rain-X or similar.

Keep your race clothing as dry as possible (Suit, Boots etc) to stop the windows misting up.

Lines around corners will probably change to a later turn in as the conventional lines will be coated with rubber which becomes slippery when wet.

Test in the wet as often as possible to gain experience and confidence (might be hard where you live due to lack of rain!!)

[kickstart]

The thing with driving in the wet is to be as smooth as possible. You will need to brake earlier and be alive to locking up wheels, sometimes it helps to go up a gear for corners to avoid wheelspin depending upon the power of the car.

[Tony Crossley]

The anti-fog stuff is fantastic. I ran practice one time without it and could not see a damn thing after about half a lap. Used fog x in the race and it was clear as day (except for the spray obviously). Fabulous stuff and on my 'must' list for any wet race.

you really do have to become much smoother, you also need to read the track carefully. If it is raining hard during the race puddles will form and grow across a lap and a line may need adjusting several times even in a 20 minute race because of this. you also need to watch for sections where a puddle runs right across the track as these will make you aquaplane badly at apeed. You kind of have to plan you direction through it, aim for you exit point and then 'sail' through trying not to adjust the cars throttle, brakes or steering until you feel the car 'land' on the track at the other side.

Spray, even in closed cars can be horrific, I remember chasing a rival for around 15 minutes in the soaking wet at Silverstone and althouigh I knew he was only around 6 or 7 yards ahead I could nto see his red 'rain' light due to the sheer quantity of water. You really do need to concentrate twice as hard on what you can see ahead and be alert to any flashes of colour or movement. It may well be another car going slow, spinning, etc.

Have said all that, I love racing in the rain. The more awful the better! It's one of the few times when sidesways can be faster.

[Redracer77]

Originally Posted by kickstart

The thing with driving in the wet is to be as smooth as possible. You will need to brake earlier and be alive to locking up wheels, sometimes it helps to go up a gear for corners to avoid wheelspin depending upon the power of the car.

I got pole at a really wet Oulton Park last year after getting some advice from Stuart Gough. He told me to brake at the same braking points that I used in the dry.......

The reason was that I was carrying much less speed onto the straights. Although I don't think I braked at the same points I was not far away and it seemed to work well. But you do have to make sure you dont jump on the brakes!! (heal and toe helps as well)

[zefarelly]

I race a Cortina . . . soften dampers, drive smoothly and don't fall off. I quite like the wet, a great leveller.

I'm thinking about changing the anti roll bar to a small std one next year with a 2nd one clamped on ( ie I can remove it when wet )

can't do much else in a hurry

[Ali Rushforth]

Another thing you could try, time permitting, is give the front end a little bit of toe-out.

It will scrub off a bit of straight line speed, but that isn't vital in the wet, but more importantly it'll give you better turn in.

[GordonG]

Consider avoiding the racing line altogether, especially in heavy braking areas. I once had a frustrating race carving up through a group of about 6 racers, overtaking someone on every corner. Till I got to the front of the group where I promptly fell off and rejoined at the back. That happened 3 times in a 20 minute race. It was only after the race I realised that while I was diving up the inside of people I was off the racing line and was able to brake far later, turn in harder and corner faster. As I got to the front of the pack I reverted to the racing line which was covered in rubber and oil and was like a skid pan. Cue trip to the green stuff....

G

[drbob]

Thanks for the info guys I will put it into operation.The last time I raced in the rain I came off the track and watched the rest of the race from the sidelines One thing I noticed about the V8's( historics)as they came out of the corner with the rear slipping sideways they fed on the power and in effect powered out of the slide maybe with a twitch the other way on some occasions but got it straight pretty quickly Is that the right wayto get out of an oversteer slide in the wet

[Al Weyman]

Yes with V8 Power you have to be very careful, I select a higher gear than I normally would and try to steer on the throttle if you know what I mean but it is a fine line between off and on the black stuff.

[Tony Crossley]

The twitch the other way is because the driver was slow or inaccurate with his straightening of the wheel when the slide ended. So try not to replicate that bit.

[greenamex2]

"select a higher gear than normal"

Ha ha ha.

I would love to stick the people that make quotes like this in my car, I have the opportunity to use one gear and ONE GEAR ONLY for any given speed or my car won't accelerate.

One thing that I have considered is a different map for the wet, worth considering if you have a very peaky engine.

One thing that hasn't been covered is the condition of your wet weather tyres. I run on normal road tyres and used to just look at the amount of tread left and thought they are OK. After an abysmal wet weather performance on my wets that looked OK I whipped out my Durometer. The rubber on them was HARDER than on my 4-5 race old dry tyres, the wets were 4-5 years old and had probably only been used 5/6 times. The moral of the story is, change your wet weather tyres regularly even if you don't use them.

[Al Weyman]

Maybe Dennis you have a wee bit too much cam, it is often not the quickest route. Gerry Cain goes really well in the wet in his big Rover (witness Snet last year it dont get no wetter!) and I know for a fact he runs milder cams in than what are available and I think that is one of the cars assets. I noticed in wet practice at Pembrey last year I was pleasantly surprised how well my old tub went in fact I qualified in the same position as I did in the dry and in the past this car has been lethal in the wet, so lethal in fact I have actually pulled off in the past. It may of course been the narrower Dunlop rubber but I think a much milder cam that is currently in the engine helped as well as it gives a really broad power band. Maybe remapping for the wet if you can do that (I can't) would be a very good idea.

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Maybe Dennis you have a wee bit too much cam

I have got just enough cam to beat a properly built XR2/1.6 205 in the dry. Any less cam and I won't beat them in the dry OR the wet! I have been racing the same car against the same competition with numerous cam profiles for 13 years, this is the only one that I can beat them with.

My problem is my car has too much weight meaning I need more cam to compete with the slow old eight valve cars that are 10-15% lighter!

Or I need dry sump so I can rev the engine properly and have a wider power band.

Or I need a six speed box!

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Maybe remapping for the wet if you can do that (I can't) would be a very good idea.

I am going to see how the car goes in the first wet race on decent new wet tyres and then decide. If the power still comes in too abruptly (ie 20-30% increase in a couple of hundred RPM) then I feel a trip to the rollers coming on.

[Al Weyman]

Would a dry sump set up get you revving any higher Dennis? I have a well sorted wet sump system in my black car and I am adding a Accusump as I want to run on stickier rubber but I am not sure drysumping would actually make the car rev any better.

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Would a dry sump set up get you revving any higher Dennis? I have a well sorted wet sump system in my black car and I am adding a Accusump as I want to run on stickier rubber but I am not sure drysumping would actually make the car rev any better.

My engine is currently artificially limited to 9000-9500RPM (soft cut starting at 9000RPM) due to the oil system being unable to cope. With dry sump I could just have a hard cut set at 9500-9700RPM, broadening the power band.

Also at these RPM's crank oil build, internal pressure etc become serious power leaches.

And if I run my car on slicks/track day tyres it WILL blow up despite the accusump and baffled etc sump etc.

[Al Weyman]

Have you concidered a crankcase evacutor kit which will give you a degree of negative crankcase pressure, Real Steel sell the weld in oneway valves very cheaply couple that with an Accusump and it should cope. Will 200rpm really make that much difference anyhow?

[greenamex2]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Have you concidered a crankcase evacutor kit which will give you a degree of negative crankcase pressure, Real Steel sell the weld in oneway valves very cheaply couple that with an Accusump and it should cope. Will 200rpm really make that much difference anyhow?

Got any details of the evacuator kit, sounds interesting (and Real Steel are just around the corner to where I work)?

200RPM on top of a 1500RPM power band (+13%), yes it would. Coupled with not losing power DELIBERATELY for 500RPM, my life would be a lot easier.

There are times when a seriously regret not buying that Callaway twin turbo Corvette!

[Al Weyman]

You just weld a small threaded angled pipe just south of the collectors and screw on a one way valve to which is attached a 5/8" hose which goes up to your Rocker cover (cam box) via an oil separator. The actual vaccuum achieved is quite extraodinary and has to be seen to be believed it has the added advantage of helping to stop oil leaks, look in Vizard's journals, he is a great advocate of them. Nother idea I have seen used is to run a manual fuel pump off the block and use that as a negative pressure pump.

[greenamex2]

Al, cunning. If I have finally managed to stop my cylinder head and then catch tank/oil seperator filling with oil after 3 laps I am going to give that one some serious thought!