Quote:
Originally Posted by redfish86
That’s a great question…
I ran at Barber in June. Hot
Road Atlanta a couple weekends ago. Hot
Road Atlanta again in a few weeks. Gonna be hot.
No problems so far, but who knows?
I will make sure I have fresh tires, brakes, and fluids; not sure what else I can do to get ready? I’m all ears if you have any suggestions. I’m pretty new at this game. I’m sure there is A LOT I don’t know…
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I believe you have an SS1LE? If so, it will be fine in the heat. ZL1's have a harder time with the heat because of the supercharger.
I recently ran a track day that was 100 degrees. I ran in the advanced group at my home track, running hard for full 20 minute sessions and the car was totally fine. No overheating, no brake fade, oil temp around 270 (no higher than usual). Do make sure your fluids are good (don't have to be fresh, just within the normal maintenance intervals for track use) and enough brake pad thickness left.
For tires, I ran my SC3's since they handle the heat better than the RE71RS's and they were still getting hot and greasy. No damage to the tires or anything, just less grip and about 1sec off normal pace on a 1:20 lap.
The bigger concern is taking care of yourself. Dehydration and heat exhaustion are for real. Drink lots of water and something with electrolytes. I like to alternate Gatorade and water between sessions. Depending on the organization rules, wear lightweight, breathable clothing.
Use Air Conditioning to your advantage. If the track has an air conditioned classroom or shop, go cool down in there for a bit. If not, sitting in the car in the paddock with the AC on to cool yourself down is OK. Also, get to grid 5 minutes early and sit there with the AC on and windows up. Drop the windows and turn off the AC when they send you out on track. Turn the AC back on with windows still open on your cooldown lap and put windows back up once you are off the track making your way back to you paddock spot.
Bring a change of clothes for the ride home.