For those of you that ran R-comp slicks, how did that work in the rain?

 

If the ground is wet, but there is no standing water, they are still better than street tires. If there is standing water anywhere, even if it's a millimeter or two deep, you're better off on street tires. This only applied to the R-comps like the Kumho V710, Hoosier A3SXX(R3SXX), Avon Tech R's, etc that have no real tread pattern other than tow narrow gooves going around the tread face. Toyo RA-1's, Hoosier wets, Kumho Victoracers, etc. w/ tread for evacuating water are faster than any street tire when there's standing water.

 

super slick! I never had more than 50% throttle and even then my rear end was loose. It doesn't help that we're running in a parking lot were 5 days a week cars sit there dripping oil onto the pavement.

 

I think a combination of ground conditions and cold tires are what gave a lot of people trouble.

I would have loved to do that track layout with warm dry conditions. Would've made for a really competitive day.

Now I see why some of the hardcore auto-x'ers out there have sets of "R" compound tires and tire warmers, etc.

 

^ a lot of guys run on R-comps. Novice class asside; about 60% of cars there are on R-comps (ST class making up about 30% of the field). It's not really being hard core, it's just expected unless your'e running in a Street Tire class. The shiny insulating covers for the wheels that you see are tire blankets, tire warmers are not allowed in grid. They only retain heat generated from the last run (w/ some slight heating from the engine).

I think this past event was probably the last one that would require the tire blankets, but I have a set intended for 350Z sized wheels & tires if anyone would like to borrow them for the next event. When it's cold outside, it's a big help especially if you're running R-comps.

 

Wet out is one thing, but if it's raining, wouldn't you want to run an R-comp that's made for that? I remember Kumho making something like that.

 

Bingo! But... that would mean a 2nd set of dedicated racing wheels and tires and since wet weather R-comps rarely get used (maybe 2 times the whole season) you gotta ask yourself if it's worth the cost.

Kumho has the Victoracers http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ictoRacer+V700 and the Ecsta V700 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....del=Ecsta+V700 both are R-comps and far better in the rain than the V710, but only at full tread depth. They have usable life after the tread is completely gone, but they would not be optimal for wet weather performance.

 

Hankook also has a similar set...it's the same rubber compound as the ones I have, but w/ treads:


Hankook Ventus RSS Z211

 

just got my new seat in!!!!!


here's the pics:

 

Nice!

 

Ah-ha!! I'll be able to run at WWSCC Event #3 - BEAC's Autopilot. I'll be Chief of Teardown for the event and I wasn't planning on running but looks like it will be doable. This'll be my first competitive event since Sept of last year... man it feels like it's been even longer than that. I'm really look'n forward to this!

 

Rule of thumb is, if you can still see the texture/grain of the pavement, slicks are still going to be the fastest. If you cant see the texture /grain of the pavement then rain tires. Unless it is absolutely flooded, slicks are still going to be faster than treaded street tires because the rubber compound in the slicks will heat up faster (ie: provide more grip) than will a treaded street tire.

 

what are you running in? ST class or BSP (IIRC, you no longer have any R-comps, so BSP would be hard to run in...but your new street rubber would work great for ST)?

 

I was thinking TO, or ST2. But, if the registration is light for IA and you need another body in there to meet contingency sponsorship requirements, I'll run in IA to help out. I'm not looking to bring home a trophy, I just wanna be out there for feel of competition again.

 

Registration for WWSCC #3 - BEAC's Autopilot is now open.

 

just signed up

 

wow thats this coming weekend! ok I may sign up for this , should I do my last run as Novice or jump into another class? If I jump in with you Peter and we are the only 2 in it you are guaranteed 1st place LOL

 

If you're looking to make a run for a championship, you can still do so, but you'll need to make it to all 7 of the remaining events to qualify. If not, I'd recommend running your last Novice event at this event. Once you jump into a regular class the game changes. You'd probably wanna run in ST2 cuz to run in IA you'd need R-comps.

 

if you don't care about the little trophies for winning novice class, then run in a ST (street tire) class...you can start to gauge your times against others to see where you stand. (Only problem is that you'll fall into the BSP index b/c of your mods...so you'll have a tough time)

Or just run IA w/ me and have fun - more Z's the better!

 

Hmmm. I'm not really "in the hunt" for any WW trophies, maybe I'll run in the afternoon.

Hmmmmmm....