10/23/2010 - Autocross Points Event #8

[hepcatz]

I use shoe polish on new tires or if I've changed alignment, or pressure etc. Otherwise I don't. I start on the outer tread edge and do a line down over the shoulder of the sidewall, looking for where it rubs off or stays. I'm middle ground with spraying. I think most people do it just to do it without the technical aspect of knowing if it really helps under the conditions. Since I run Star Specs which are high performance street tires, it would take a lot of runs to need it (probably 5 in a row like a test and tune) so I never end up spraying. Plus the simple fact that I am not that high caliber where the 1/1,000th of a second difference would matter so I concentrate on the driving.

[ButtDyno]

I dont even spray my r-comps (which heat up MUCH faster than street tires) unless it's scorching out and the pavement can cook an egg. Heck, at the last AI, when I was co-driving Les' car, we didn't even spray his A6's and that was 8 runs (16 total counting morning and afternoon) with very little time between them. I've no idea why folks were spraying their street tires at the last BMW event, the ground was lukewarm at best.

Heavy cars and cars on qualifying tires are the ones that really benefit from spraying their tires. I watched Hoelscher use nearly a whole bottle on his DP MR2 at the Divisionals this year.

At event #7 I sprayed my front right before my last run because it was incredibly hot (mostly left turns). The other three were fine though.

Some car/tire combinations need it. Try co-driving a nose heavy AWD pig on a July day. They get hot! Some hot is good, but too much and you can definitely tell the difference.

[civicexracer]

Lol thanks Sam haha.

I've never used polish myself, I've just messed with tire pressures over the years and go from there. I've pretty much found my ideal tire pressures, in wet and dry so I always run that. As for the sprayer, I don't use it much. I used it more when co-driving my buddies RSX-S on his Kumho XS tires, they really needed the water bad. As for my car, I only use the sprayer on real hot sunny days(mid summer) and usually only spray on my 3rd and/or 4th run. Sometimes I'll just spray the front tires since they tend to get a lot hotter than the rear on my car. BUT, I will admit the effects are usually so minimal it's hardly, if at all, noticeable. It is however noticeable when co-driving a car.

Keep in mind there are some other things to factor in such as brand tire itself, weight of car, fwd/rwd, tire compounds, etc.. I have no real experience with r-comps but I have ran "high-performance" street tires(kumho spt and yokomama s.drives) and man those really needed water after one run. As for the extreme performance tires, like the bstone re-11, they don't fall flat on their face like the others when heat gets to them. So, if you run a true street tire, water might actually help a good bit. If anything better than a true street tire, then you may not really need the water.

[ElGordoFeroz]

. Try co-driving a nose heavy AWD pig on a July day. They get hot! Some hot is good, but too much and you can definitely tell the difference.

Me being an Autocross noob, I doubt anyone will let me codrive anything of theirs until I prove myself!

[Claff]

I spray because it makes people think I know what I'm doing, even when I don't.

Actually I think it might help with consistency. First run you start out with tires that are kinda cool, and you go find out what you've got. Come in and spray em down so they're back to something like the temperature they were at on that first run, and since you know what you've got, you can start there and adjust driving to take advantage of that knowledge. Lather, rinse, repeat.

At least, in theory. We're still noobs so we're allowed to do things that might not make any sense despite how much we're convinced ourselves that they might.

[irish44j]

I volunteer to spray my competitors' tires. They think I'm being nice, but I'm really spraying WD-40

[irish44j]

Me being an Autocross noob, I doubt anyone will let me codrive anything of theirs until I prove myself!

you have a great car for autocross...If Fred Caton had run this entire season in his 07(?) MS3, he'd be leading our class instead of me most likely.

[ElGordoFeroz]

I'm not doubting the car, the car is great. Little Rosita has taken everything I've thrown at her and just smiled, or evil grin as I put it. No, I call myself a noob because this is my first season ever driving in AutoX. I think i still have a few things to learn!

[flohtingPoint]

Get yourself some proper tires Brother. It'll make a ton of difference.

[ElGordoFeroz]

Get yourself some proper tires Brother. It'll make a ton of difference.

Thats the plan for next year with my tax refund, new tires and lightweight rims!

[flohtingPoint]

Thats the plan for next year with my tax refund, new tires and lightweight rims!

Lightweight wheels are nice but not totally necessary if you can fit smaller wheels on your car. My black wheels I use on the Corolla are quite heavy as they're "racing steelies". Side by side with my MR2's Kosei's, they're weight is very clear. Honestly, I'd just get whatever the smallest wheel that can fit on your car and is around 8in wide, toss some used Hoosiers on them and call it a day.

Seriously, scan sccaforums for used tire/wheel combos that may fit your car and drop an offer. Dont look to be too optimal, just look to get some proper used rubber. My tire/wheel combo for BMW is not great at all. Like I said, the wheels I use are fairly heavy and the tires were made in 2005 (for r-comps, this is a VERY long time to dry out and turn to rocks) and are only a 205 width.

[John in VA]

Thats the plan for next year with my tax refund, new tires and lightweight rims!

Why not adjust your W-4 form so you have YOUR money NOW, and not let Uncle Sam have it interest-free for a year?

[ElGordoFeroz]

Why not adjust your W-4 form so you have YOUR money NOW, and not let Uncle Sam have it interest-free for a year?

i have this slight issue of money burning holes in my pockets, it gets so hot...and I have to get rid of the money quickly!

[irish44j]

Lightweight wheels are nice but not totally necessary if you can fit smaller wheels on your car. My black wheels I use on the Corolla are quite heavy as they're "racing steelies". Side by side with my MR2's Kosei's, they're weight is very clear. Honestly, I'd just get whatever the smallest wheel that can fit on your car and is around 8in wide, toss some used Hoosiers on them and call it a day.

Seriously, scan sccaforums for used tire/wheel combos that may fit your car and drop an offer. Dont look to be too optimal, just look to get some proper used rubber. My tire/wheel combo for BMW is not great at all. Like I said, the wheels I use are fairly heavy and the tires were made in 2005 (for r-comps, this is a VERY long time to dry out and turn to rocks) and are only a 205 width.

depends if he plans to run SCCA/AI events as well, in which case he probably doesn't want r-comps, unless he's going to stay in stock class. Because if he's modded at all, the r-comps will put him way up in classes where he'll get completely destroyed, which is never fun. IDK, in my opinion I think it's beneficial for new autocrossers to learn to drive first on "street tires" where there is more gradual breakaway before going to r-comps anyways.....an inexperienced driver can get in some trouble with the cornering speeds that rcomps allow and the relatively quick breakaway at the limit...

thoughts?

btw, his car has pretty good stock tires, I think they're RE070s...Fred Caton in his MS3 was getting easily as much traction with his as I was with RE01Rs on the wrx, from what I could tell.

[ElGordoFeroz]

My stock tires are Dunlop s2020's and they have held up great. Irish is right though, I'm thinking of running SCCA Street Tuned, not street prepared. My car is mostly stock, except for the short ram intake. I really want to talk to an SCCA guy about classing and allowed mods.

(opinions on the Kumho Ecsta XS's?)