Track Day in the Rain

lavmugen · 09-30-2010, 05:35 PM

so i just did my first track day this past monday. it was around 15 deg Celsius or 60 deg Farenheit. it was wet and raining so i lef the nannies on all day (as suggested by the organizers), and they had to modify the driving line for 2~3 corners because of the wet surface + fallen leaves.

my car is stock 2011 N55 with 6mt. only mods are E93 M3 front sway and 225/255 Hankook V12 Evos.

1st session: I was running on my dry auto-x tire pressure 40 psi front cold and 38 psi rear cold. could not put any power down. DTC/DSC flashing as soon as i throttle on. Very frustrating session. Couldnt keep up with anyone.

2nd session: lowered rear psi to 36 hot. (dropped 5 psi in total) much, much better grip on corners exit.

3rd session: lowered rear psi to 35 hot. (dropped another 1 psi) rain picked up, no traction at all, almost spin out on a long straight from 2nd to 3rd shift. it was really scary, but the e-nannies bailed me out again. Had to short shift coming out of every corner otherwise tail would start to kick out sideways.

4th session: reduced trail braking as my rear end would constantly want to kick out sideways on corner entries. i guess i was loading the front up too much and the rear didnt have enough weight on them so they would just kick out every time.

Overall it was a frustrating day for me. Running in the intermediate group for the first time. I've only managed to overtake 3 cars while getting passed 5~6 times (twice by a 2009 Ferrari 16M Scuderia!!)

Ideally i would like to stay stock if i could (thinking about running in D-stock for next auto-x season). but i would also like to get more grip or overall better experience driving wet track days. i know i have a lot to improve on in terms of my driving, but is there anything else i can do to help with the traction? adjust psi? dump the hankooks? thanks!

pixelblue · 09-30-2010, 06:39 PM

well at least you got the hard part out and next time you will have a blast driving in dry conditions. my first planned track event last march turned out to be a soaker so I postponed and got credit for the following event. didn't want to worry about slipping and sliding on my first track event. wish I could give you some advise regarding your questions but fortunately I haven't had to track in wet yet. I can believe how frustrating that must have been.

vanbmw · 10-01-2010, 05:33 PM

Were you out at Mission raceway? Don't feel too bad. That track is all about braking, and cornering and less about power. You said you left all the nannies on. Did you leave the traction control on completly or did you put it on the middle setting? That would be my choice for the 135 on a wet track. It will let you get wheelspin but it won't let it get out of hand. The full on setting stops all wheel spin and chokes the power back too much. You want to be the one controlling the wheels spin. If you can feather the power to control wheel spin you are better off then the computer cutting power completely. I was helping at a track day and did some laps in a Ferrari F430 on Pacific Raceway (Seattle) in the pooring rain. There is a "wet" (or "rain" I can't remember which) setting for the traction control and it was amazing how good the computer did at keeping that car going fast. The guy driving was not a particulaly good driver, but the car did it all for him. He just put the pedal to the floor and the car did a great job.

lavmugen · 10-01-2010, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanbmw

Were you out at Mission raceway? Don't feel too bad. That track is all about braking, and cornering and less about power. You said you left all the nannies on. Did you leave the traction control on completly or did you put it on the middle setting? That would be my choice for the 135 on a wet track. It will let you get wheelspin but it won't let it get out of hand. The full on setting stops all wheel spin and chokes the power back too much. You want to be the one controlling the wheels spin. If you can feather the power to control wheel spin you are better off then the computer cutting power completely. I was helping at a track day and did some laps in a Ferrari F430 on Pacific Raceway (Seattle) in the pooring rain. There is a "wet" (or "rain" I can't remember which) setting for the traction control and it was amazing how good the computer did at keeping that car going fast. The guy driving was not a particulaly good driver, but the car did it all for him. He just put the pedal to the floor and the car did a great job.

thanks for the input. i have never put the traction control in the middle setting before. I either left it on for daily driving, or completely off at auto-x or track days. and yes, i was at mission that day. it was so frustrating!

i'll give that a try next time. Last time the track was too slippery and the organizer warned us repeatedly, and insist we leave traction control on.

RimasRS · 10-02-2010, 09:18 AM

Get LSD!!!

lavmugen · 10-02-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RimasRS

Get LSD!!!

i'd love to but i would like to remain stock so i can run D-Stock for auto-x

Evice · 10-09-2010, 04:42 PM

don't trail brake if you are not comfortable in rain. get smoother in transition from braking to throttle, and don't forget you don't have NA engine, turbos will always bring power quite early that will unsettle your car. Overall you will be fine. if you really wanna see rain driving, check out the video below, you will enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93ag4Rp-Gg

09-30-2010, 05:35 PM	#1
lavmugen Private First Class 18 Rep 150 Posts Drives: 2011 Superman 135i Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC iTrader: (0)	Track Day in the Rain so i just did my first track day this past monday. it was around 15 deg Celsius or 60 deg Farenheit. it was wet and raining so i lef the nannies on all day (as suggested by the organizers), and they had to modify the driving line for 2~3 corners because of the wet surface + fallen leaves. my car is stock 2011 N55 with 6mt. only mods are E93 M3 front sway and 225/255 Hankook V12 Evos. 1st session: I was running on my dry auto-x tire pressure 40 psi front cold and 38 psi rear cold. could not put any power down. DTC/DSC flashing as soon as i throttle on. Very frustrating session. Couldnt keep up with anyone. 2nd session: lowered rear psi to 36 hot. (dropped 5 psi in total) much, much better grip on corners exit. 3rd session: lowered rear psi to 35 hot. (dropped another 1 psi) rain picked up, no traction at all, almost spin out on a long straight from 2nd to 3rd shift. it was really scary, but the e-nannies bailed me out again. Had to short shift coming out of every corner otherwise tail would start to kick out sideways. 4th session: reduced trail braking as my rear end would constantly want to kick out sideways on corner entries. i guess i was loading the front up too much and the rear didnt have enough weight on them so they would just kick out every time. Overall it was a frustrating day for me. Running in the intermediate group for the first time. I've only managed to overtake 3 cars while getting passed 5~6 times (twice by a 2009 Ferrari 16M Scuderia!!) Ideally i would like to stay stock if i could (thinking about running in D-stock for next auto-x season). but i would also like to get more grip or overall better experience driving wet track days. i know i have a lot to improve on in terms of my driving, but is there anything else i can do to help with the traction? adjust psi? dump the hankooks? thanks!
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09-30-2010, 06:39 PM	#2
pixelblue Colonel 140 Rep 2,234 Posts Drives: the silver bullet Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: northern virginia iTrader: (2) Garage List 2010 135i [8.90]	well at least you got the hard part out and next time you will have a blast driving in dry conditions. my first planned track event last march turned out to be a soaker so I postponed and got credit for the following event. didn't want to worry about slipping and sliding on my first track event. wish I could give you some advise regarding your questions but fortunately I haven't had to track in wet yet. I can believe how frustrating that must have been. __________________ "I would quote everything pixelblue said, but you've already read it. Take it from someone who's put the 1 through its paces"
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10-01-2010, 05:33 PM	#3
vanbmw Major 130 Rep 1,101 Posts Drives: 2015 Black 335i Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Vancouver iTrader: (0)	Were you out at Mission raceway? Don't feel too bad. That track is all about braking, and cornering and less about power. You said you left all the nannies on. Did you leave the traction control on completly or did you put it on the middle setting? That would be my choice for the 135 on a wet track. It will let you get wheelspin but it won't let it get out of hand. The full on setting stops all wheel spin and chokes the power back too much. You want to be the one controlling the wheels spin. If you can feather the power to control wheel spin you are better off then the computer cutting power completely. I was helping at a track day and did some laps in a Ferrari F430 on Pacific Raceway (Seattle) in the pooring rain. There is a "wet" (or "rain" I can't remember which) setting for the traction control and it was amazing how good the computer did at keeping that car going fast. The guy driving was not a particulaly good driver, but the car did it all for him. He just put the pedal to the floor and the car did a great job.
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10-02-2010, 09:18 AM	#5
RimasRS Colonel 85 Rep 2,438 Posts Drives: BMW X3 SD Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	Get LSD!!!
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10-09-2010, 04:42 PM	#7
Evice Major 194 Rep 1,457 Posts Drives: E92M3 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Somewhere here iTrader: (1)	don't trail brake if you are not comfortable in rain. get smoother in transition from braking to throttle, and don't forget you don't have NA engine, turbos will always bring power quite early that will unsettle your car. Overall you will be fine. if you really wanna see rain driving, check out the video below, you will enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E93ag4Rp-Gg
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