Hpde in the rain

Doing an HPDE this weekend. Looks like it will rain both days. Yay.

I guess it's good i still have my conti all seasons on the car.

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Strengthrehab said:

Doing an HPDE this weekend. Looks like it will rain both days. Yay.

I guess it's good i still have my conti all seasons on the car.

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Lemons from lemonade:

Take the opportunity to have a mostly clear track (when all the other pussies are sitting at home!!) and work on your car control skills. Slowly work up to it, but try by the end of the weekend to never actually have the car under complete control... ABS in the braking zones, get your entry speed up to where the car barely starts to push through the turn-in point, slides mid-corner, and is wagging the tail end on exit. Obviously, you want to keep it reined in when there are walls or guard-rails around, but, focus on learning to drive it right on the edge of "out of control."

Next, get a mental snapshot of what that feels like coming through the wheels, pedals and seat. Next time out, go get the same feeling in the dry. I guarantee you will shave SECONDS off your lap times like that!

My first autocross was in the rain, the car wasn't supercharged, and I was running 275/40/18 Conti DWS's all around.
Had a great time, learned a bunch, didn't spin out at all, which surprised me.
I think I left the Advancetrac on in Sport mode most of the runs.

Turn AdvanceTrac off completely.

I ran one session at VIR in a good rain two weeks ago. Sound Guy Dave is on the money. I ran trying to stay on the edge at slower speeds than a dry track.

Two warnings:
1. If it is actively raining, watch for changes in the track from lap to lap.
2. Offline is no place to be if water is puddling. Be careful when making passes.

Have a good time, and use the time to learn all you can.

Sky Render said:

Turn AdvanceTrac off completely.

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That's my plan

Boone said:

I ran one session at VIR in a good rain two weeks ago. Sound Guy Dave is on the money. I ran trying to stay on the edge at slower speeds than a dry track.

Two warnings:
1. If it is actively raining, watch for changes in the track from lap to lap.
2. Offline is no place to be if water is puddling. Be careful when making passes.

Have a good time, and use the time to learn all you can.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have no plans to be a hero. Im a little nervous but...

SoundGuyDave said:

Lemons from lemonade:

Take the opportunity to have a mostly clear track (when all the other pussies are sitting at home!!) and work on your car control skills. Slowly work up to it, but try by the end of the weekend to never actually have the car under complete control... ABS in the braking zones, get your entry speed up to where the car barely starts to push through the turn-in point, slides mid-corner, and is wagging the tail end on exit. Obviously, you want to keep it reined in when there are walls or guard-rails around, but, focus on learning to drive it right on the edge of "out of control."

Next, get a mental snapshot of what that feels like coming through the wheels, pedals and seat. Next time out, go get the same feeling in the dry. I guarantee you will shave SECONDS off your lap times like that!

Click to expand...

This is with The Drivers Edge and it is booked up completely (30 cars maybe) so i doubt it will be a clear track.

I'm going to lusten and take it a little slow at first. I have 4 20 min sessions per day in sat and sunday so ill get to learn a lot.

My first time in the fox, i had 4 sessions and i got signed off for solo after 2 sessions. I dont expect that this time.

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Second autocross that I had my rivals, it ended up raining. Best experience I ever had. Never spun, but finding that throttle control was worth it.

The last HPDE weekend I was in, it rained on the first day. At first I took it slow, and slowly upped the speed each lap. After a while, you will realize it isn't that bad, you just have to change your throttle and brake inputs a bit. At first, there were econo cars on All-Seasons passing me (don't let that bother you), but after 5 laps+, I was back to blasting by them.

Both situations I had the AdvanceTrac all the way off. Better to learn the car without the assists so you know what YOU need to do.

Boone said:

I ran one session at VIR in a good rain two weeks ago. Sound Guy Dave is on the money. I ran trying to stay on the edge at slower speeds than a dry track.

Two warnings:
1. If it is actively raining, watch for changes in the track from lap to lap.
2. Offline is no place to be if water is puddling. Be careful when making passes.

3. Have a good time, and use the time to learn all you can.

Click to expand...

Yes to #1 and #3. You can have a really enjoyable time out there. Definitely work on throttle modulation.

Maybe to #2. The wet line is not going to be the same as the dry line due to things like lower rates of pavement surface polishing and rubber depositing giving the water more places to be and less inclined to float you up on top of it. But the wet line does have to consider puddling (avoiding it).

Do watch for streaming water, which doesn't have to be flowing at 90° to any sane (or even possible) driving line.

Just because . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLIz-WQ9CuU

and this, where camera shake starts in the one-teens. Dave would still run away and hide from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6brVFxPSPw


Norm

My first track day was in the rain. I was fucking terrified and basically coasted around the course, waving everyone by. Don't be that guy.

Norm, as a complete novice on the curves, the videos really illustrated the entry/exit points. I can see it on the diagrams but this brought it home.

Do any of these dash cams have the ability to interface with OBD2 to overlay information such as speed, rpm? If not I am thinking if the cameras have a programming interface I could probably get an app written up...

sent from my cell phone...

Yesterday was ok. We had only 1 full speed session out of 4. I made plenty if mistakes in the corners but today is another day. It's going to storm this afternoon too. There is rain all around the track as I type this.

I'm having fun but i also have to relax and have fun. Im thinking way too much and that is messing me up from shift points, shift speed, throttle modulation, etc.

I expect to be better.

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I know that there is a way to combine Harry's Lap Timer data with GoPro video, but I haven't got the slightest idea how to do it (don't have the necessary smart phone).

If you look a little further up the datalogging tree, the right combination of Aim Solo stuff can put video (their camera) together with inertial data (from their box) and quite a variety of car operating data via an OBD pickup.

Same track. The dry line is a little different. I don't get down as tight into turn 2 as many folks do - staying a little wider opens up the entry to turn 3 a little, essentially making a single continuous arc from the entry to 2 to the apex of 3 with almost no unwinding of steering in between, and makes it easier to get through the near-immediate left (T4).

Skip a minute and a half or so into it unless you want to see what waiting in line for your session to begin looks like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCNZ4wYO_DI


Norm

Sky Render said:

My first track day was in the rain. I was fucking terrified and basically coasted around the course, waving everyone by. Don't be that guy.

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There's so much going on in the track environment that it's hard to not be that guy your first time out. The rain element just adds that much more uncertainty.

It's best to prepare yourself by memorizing the track and looking at videos to see what the track looks like from the driver's perspective. If you have a driving game or something that has your track in it, drive it until you know the track by heart. I'm not necessarily talking about things like where your braking points are or any of that -- that'll change based on your car, the conditions, etc. No, I'm talking about always knowing the line and knowing what's coming up next. When you know that, your brain can focus on other things. You'll have more bandwidth to look at corner workers and get that additional awareness of what's going on around you. You'll get comfortable with the environment faster if you know what to expect as you're driving around the track. It can still be overwhelming your first couple of times out, but that's okay -- you'll settle into it with experience on the track and things will get much easier and more comfortable with experience.

It'll eventually get to the point where you're happier and more comfortable in an open track (i.e., passing anywhere on the track) environment than any other kind of track environment.

Do any of these dash cams have the ability to interface with OBD2 to overlay information such as speed, rpm?

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Harry's can do it. I have a OBD2 bluetooth dongle with Harry's Grand Prix Edition. Total investment including the phone mount is around $175. I need to look into whether the fuel level can be swapped for another parameter, and the OBD2 data appears to be about 1 second out of sync with the sound and video. Still a nice little package that gets the point across. Overlayed videos come out like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njXXyApFWss

You can link a GoPro Hero3 or newer with the high dollar Harry's for a picture in picture view. That goes for a whole extra $10 or so.

AWESOME! Thanks for the information on the hardware/software...