gfacter

Shaved Ra-1's

Do they work in the wet? If the forecast is calling for rain should I keep my S02's on?

I need to drive on the street on them to get to the circuits also, anywhere from 70 to 250 miles or so.

Last year it rained on just about every Friday it seems

George

cthree

How shaved and how wet? It's more speed dependent than anything. If you drive 5 mph you can drive about anything. I wouldn't push my slick RA1s more than about 45 in light rain. I could feel the planing but it was slow enough I could back off and stay out of trouble.

Slicks are slicks no matter what.

gfacter

4/32s,

And could be pouring down rain too. Last year I only managed one completly dry track day with the car.

Heres the deal, some tracks I want to go to require a overnight stay and a few hundred highway miles. Going 45 aint an option on the highway, so I guess it's S02's if there is a good chance for wet.

George

cthree

If there is 4/32nds of tread then you should be fine. My rain tires for otc only have 6/32nds and that's more than enough. 4/32nds on RA1s doesn't last very long tho.

Strike

If you take your passenger seat out you can fit three wheels/tires in that well. Put garbage bags over them to protect the interior. Add one in the trunk and you can drive your S02's to the track and then swap for RA1's. This is assuming you have two sets of wheels.

Triple-H

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
If you take your passenger seat out you can fit three wheels/tires in that well.

cthree

Any instructor willing to sit in your passenger seat probably isn't worth salt. The right seat of a novice on the track is a nasty place to be. I'm feeling the nausea already.

TubeDriver

uh? Isn't that the job of an instructor? If you don't like running with novices than just race and stop instructing (is it really worth the free track time?) Gfactor has a reasonable amount of track experience with cars and motorcycles, that boy can drive I tell you.

Gfactor, my experince with R compounds with some tread is that they do pretty well in wet conditions with NO standing water at speeds up to 50-60 mph. Granted this is in a WRX which might help a bit. It is when you hit standing water that the problem quickly becomes more critical. No tread + standing water or moderate to heavy rain = trouble but just wet pavement by itself should not be too bad. Just be really careful and if it rains a lot pull over and catch a movie and a cup of coffee till the storm blows by.

gfacter

Thanks Pete,

For the short trip to Summit Point, It sounds like I will be ok with the R-tires. For the overnight ones I will just have to use good judgement. I am hoping for a drought this year vs last.


I have not been signed off for Solo yet (its only a matter or time) so the passenger seat stays.

I for one wouldnt want to be an instructor either, they are a funny bunch at BSR, they all huddle together smoking and looking nervous between sessions.

Cheers,

George





[QUOTE]Originally posted by TubeDriver
uh?

cthree

Actually a lead-follow is much more effective IMHO. My students job is to stay on my bumper. this way I can control their speed and where they are on the track. We do this for about half the session then come in and download. As the day progresses I make more and more demands on the student most specifically about spacial awareness. They are required to memorize landmarks and clues at various places on the track.

In a passenger seat you can do very little but yell instructions which will tend to rattle or confuse them. On the track is not a great place to teach a lesson. You need to do that off track. Learn by doing and by example. Do what I do, pay attention, I will explain why later. By controlling pace I can reassure them that i will keep them out of trouble. They can concentrate on the track. i can speed it up or slow it down depending on how they are doing.