Willow Springs in the wet ... any recommendations
 

I am heading to Willow Springs this weekend and it looks like it might be wet and cold...any recommendations for how to adjust the car , tire pressure, driving differently?...any experiences at Willow Springs? Any here going?

Big willow or streets? if u are doing streets of willow and wet day, you guys should be doing counter clock wise which is a lot safer for the front straight.

If you are going to attend to a big willow event, oh man that high speed track is going to be deadly in the rain. I have never done it in the rain before. Good luck and have fun.

Big Willow....I have only ever done SOWS and only ever in the dry.

The Sunday is a rear/mid-engine coaching clinic with Carl Rydquist...might be good to get instruction in the wet!?!

The only good thing is I just got new tires (R888) and ROW M030 is being installed friday so I guess the car will be as good as it can be...now it just comes down to me.

Relax... Driving in the rain at the track is just like driving in the dry, only slower.

Be smooth, smooth, smooth... ease into the brakes, and ease off them.. same with the gas.. smooth on, and off... look way ahead and slowly build speed.

A good day in the rain will teach you tons, since the limits are lower it is safer to explore them. I love being at the track in the rain, you can learn more in a wet day then 10 in the dry.

Marc

The wrx in the sig is taken at big willow. You better break in your new tires as soon as possible... SOW in the rain is actually fun because you get to drift around and the staffs won't get upset because they wouldn't know you were doing it purposely. big willow in the rain is probably gonna suck IMO... It is all about high speed on that track but you wont be able to push your limit.
drive safe.

http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/...nine_turns.gif
Turn 8 I did 95mph and then I hit 135 in the front straight. I am sure I could go even faster if I was driving my 986S w/ S03 tires since this car is so smooth at high speed.

How do I break the tires in? I won't be getting my hands on the car until Friday with new tires and suspension and will be driving to the track with the track tires on. Is there something I should do to break them in?

Thanks marc...I will take your recommendations and do things slower. Your perspective is good...I might learn a lot more when I am forced to do it smoother and slower.

by the way...dexter is my middle name (saw your link. :) )

Good advice. AWESOME picture of your box in the sig, looks like its gripping hard.

With M030 and R-comp tires it's going to feel like a whole new car. Don't try turn 8 at 120mph :eek: . Just take it easy, pay attention and drive safe. Getting coaching in the rain should be great.

should I run the same tire pressures as on a dry day or lower? I would assume since cornering speeds will be lower that you can run lower tire pressures (less tire roll to worry about). I generally try to run 40 hot (start at 34ish cold) on a dry track.

J,

Ask your instructor. Generally the rule is to run a little higher cold pressure in the rain to prevent hydroplane. Also the tires don't really heat up much so warm tires don't gain a lot of psi over cold. It really depends on how wet it is that day.

Don't over think set up issues... set normal tire pressures and go from there. Putting a pound more or less pressure into the tires isn't going to make a big difference when you are learning. I don't put pressures up or down for the rain at the track, the tenth of a second difference that it might make in my lap times isn't worth it for a DE IMHO.

Marc

thanks guys...I really appreciate the responses.

Put about 50-100miles on them.

sweet...it's 122miles to the track (so gmaps tells me).

you are from Redondo Beach.. nice. reminds me of crab.. i am hungry!

hopefully you meant crab.

http://www.redlinetrackevents.com/BigWillow.mpg

This should help a little.

My MCS w/ light mods vs E36 M3 @ willow spring 2 years ago:

http://racingflix.com/getvideo.asp?v=804

miss those days.

I've been watching this for the last few days...hoping I'll know the line by the time I get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REu6SkTbx6E