Fun in the rain

[thepoche]

I went for a last track day for this season and I think I had the worst conditions ever!

5-10C temperature (40-50F)
Pooring rain
Slightly worn Nitto NT01
New Track

It was quite an interesting and very instructional day.

Here's a few mistakes I did throughout the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McIfC1HlRgs

And few clean laps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRE5tW5P4bs

[frownonfun]

definitely looks like fun.

also looked like it was clearing up towards the end there in the second video. seemed like you were running a lot better.

[lilredrocket]

Looks like you had some fun sliding around... Haha

[Loren]

Ah, rain. The great equalizer.

[THE ONE]

Damn! You were sliding all the way.. haha

Looks like a lot of fun tho. Hope I could have my Yaris tuned for taking it to the track...

Nice videos!

[Lafiro]

Very nice.

I hate when the back end comes out, its dangerous. I've had that happen twice on the same steep hard turn going to a cousins house, and its NOT fun, because when it rains or snows its VERY BAD.

No grass to slide into, just a sidewalk and a house/railings.

[Loren]

It's a little different on a race track, Lafiro. When you're familiar with a track and know every turn, you know exactly where the back end is likely to come out and exactly how to correct for it (usually) without completely losing control or driving through the grass or into a wall.

If you're finding yourself in that situation on the street... you have far too much confidence for your skill level.

[RacerFreakXXX]

looks like you did have a lot of fun... and no one is perfect, at least you kept the car going.

haha... I'm the opposite I love sliding the rear out, a lot of it is throttle controll and understanding how much angle is needed.

[detroiter]

It looks like your rear end was coming out rather easy, are the tires on your car a big contributor to that? I've admittingly pushed my car pretty hard in an empty parking lot while it was completely wet with rain and puddles, yet I didn't feel my rear end once even begin to try coming around on me. I do have the Tokico, AOE springs and a 23mm rear sway on it so it's definately a bit stiffer than stock. I'm not saying I want it to kick out but just so I know exactly how much it takes because I drove last winter with just a TRD sway bar, this will be the first one I drive with it lowered and obviously quite a bit stiffer with more oversteer than stock.

[Yaris-x]

I know in an auto-x situation I tend to kick the rear end around alot but it is amplified when my rear tire pressures are too high. But I prefer it because it gets me around turns better but too much is never good.

[thepoche]

Originally Posted by Yaris-x

I know in an auto-x situation I tend to kick the rear end around alot but it is amplified when my rear tire pressures are too high. But I prefer it because it gets me around turns better but too much is never good.

For the first session I had my pressure at 30/30psi. That was a mistake
I lowered the pressure throughout the day and ended with 26 in front and 21 in the back. That felt a lot better.

[TLyttle]

I LOVED running in the rain! As Loren says, it is the Great Equaliser: power is of very little value, a well-balanced car is. It turns a wrestling match into ballet...

[minired5stby]

Nice run man, I took my Scion Tc out to Willow Springs one summer and it was the shisnik. It was tight all day untill the hottest point of the day.It made the road kinda slippery and felt like my tires would just melt away which made me slide alot on the long turn but it still was fun. The worst part of the day is having to try and clean the melted rubber off my sideskirts, that sucked.

[Loren]

Originally Posted by minired5stby

The worst part of the day is having to try and clean the melted rubber off my sideskirts, that sucked.

You're not supposed to clean that stuff off! It's a badge of honor, like cone marks from an autocross.

Leave the polish and wax for the car show crowd.

[TLyttle]

Hawww!

Wait a minute. When I ran autocross, we used to get penalised for every pylon we hit, and I prided myself in only hitting about 5 pylons in 10 years of active competition. There were lots of guys with faster cars, making better times, until the cone count was added in......

[Loren]

The object is to not hit the cones, it's true. But, if you don't hit one every now and then, you're probably not getting close enough to them. Similarly, if you don't spin from time to time, you're not pushing the car hard enough.

On the race track, that translates to "if you're not up on the curbing at the apex and touching the grass on track out, you're not on the fastest line". And if you're actually RACING, "if you're not making the occasional controlled pass with two-wheels in the grass, you're not trying hard enough".

Damn, now I'm starting to get a little racing jones again... and not even an autocross for about 3 more weeks!

[kac]

that is fun just watching you... man i need to get on a track in the spring for sure!

[TLyttle]

Heheh... Because we were a bit lazy (picking up cones takes manpower), we were hit with 3sec penalty for each cone. Some guys were sloppy enough to get some pretty outrageous times...

As far as our track was concerned, there WERE no grass verges and few curbs. Anything that wasn't paved was Texas gravel (bloody great boulders) or trees, with the occasional ditch thrown in to keep us honest!

Okay, I'm not trying to go all Monty Python on ya here, just saying how it was.