Ice racing tips wanted

I'm going ice racing for the first time this Saturday with 49 other Subarus and a couple forum members here at Georgetown lake, Colorado.

 

Anybody have experience racing against another car? They are putting us on mirror-image courses and it will be single elimination until a champion is determined. I don't think that will be me, but I'd like to not lose my first race and be done.

 

- What tire pressure should I run? I was thinking I'd be airing down to around ~25psi? I'm running 18", 40-series Michelin Alpin Sport about 50% worn.

 

- I've already been advised NOT to use the e-brake.

 

What else?

25 psi is really low... i run 35-38 when i rally

 

if you have adjustable sways put them on the softest setting

 

as far as driving goes... point your front wheels where you want to go and get on the gas... dont be afraid to bounce off the rev limiter a few times... thats what its for :-D

 

what ever you do dont hit the brakes!

 

good luck!

25 psi is really low... i run 35-38 when i rally

 

Alright... I would think I'd want to run lower on ice vs. concrete/asphalt but airing down to 25psi might be too much

 

as far as driving goes... point your front wheels where you want to go and get on the gas... dont be afraid to bounce off the rev limiter a few times... thats what its for :-D

 

what ever you do dont hit the brakes!

 

good luck!

 

Really?!? Bounce the rev-limiter?? No brakes?? You've done this on ice?

Since this is a time trial:

 

1. Try to find and stay on the least bumpy part of the track.

 

2. The extreme edges of a plowed track,usually provide the most traction. That means start on the far left or right of the track, accelerate/slow down on same.

 

3. Be really smoooooth!

 

4. Extremely smooth braking and the latest possible brake points are what win time trials on ice.

 

5. A car going sideways slows down faster than a car going in a straight line. This is something to keep in mind at the end of long straights;)

 

 

Have fun!!!!!

Alright... I would think I'd want to run lower on ice vs. concrete/asphalt but airing down to 25psi might be too much

 

 

 

Really?!? Bounce the rev-limiter?? No brakes?? You've done this on ice?

 

yea atleast 35... sometimes i run 45-48... it makes your sidewalls stronger so this doesnt happen...

That doesn't look like ice.

Here are the things that I picked up from my first ice race a couple of weeks ago.

-I ran my fastest times when I limited my slides. You have to go sideways sometimes, but I ran almost 3 seconds faster by keeping them to a minimum.

-You are thinking right on lowering your tire pressures. I did not do that, and had mine running 35 f 32 r. I was talking to someone after the race who asked me what pressure I was running. I told him and he then said that he lowered his time 2 seconds by dropping his pressure into the low 20's. So I would say if you have something to pump them back up, go ahead and drop them.

-You are going to have a blast, and get as many practice runs as you can. I didn't start getting consistant times until I had run 10-12 times.

THANKS a lot, robin and spartan. Sounds like some great advice.

 

What about vehicle weight, should I make it as heavy as possible? Full tank of gas... could add some more weight too... although probably wouldn't be good to shift the weight distribution to the rear(?)

 

I think I'll go 28/26 with the tires.

 

What about the "launch"? Does it make any sense to start in 2nd to avoid a shift and to avoid high twitchy rpms?

I would assume reducing weight would be best. Less weight = easier braking and acceleration

find someone with one of these

http://www.uniwerks.ca/sac/sactionizer2.htm

 

I wish I could go I missed out on the entry date for that should be fun have a blast!

^^ Wow that thing looks like it would help.. but shorten the life of my snows. Bad-assed, anyhow.

 

With regards to weight, I'm still thinking the heavier the better to increase friction between rubber and ice. But I'm not sure. I'd hate to have a heavy rear-end that finds itself going wide too much/too often.

I would assume reducing weight would be best. Less weight = easier braking and acceleration

 

 

+1, unless you can hide a cement filled spare tire in the trunk!

I don't thing increased weight would give you any advantage. Sure it would help traction a little bit. but it would hurt you more in breaking and accelerating than it would help.

 

As to the sactionizer That would eat the hell out of tires, I can't imagine they'd last long after that.

I think that the weight in the trunk is more a balance thing, and it can be useful on some cars. Especially RWD cars with a very light rear end to get any kind of initial traction.

 

Ice racing is more of a balance thing than a problem of power to weight ratio. Most cars have enough power to ice race, but it takes skill to modulate the power for best result, and you need good balance to take it through the curves as fast as possible.

 

Using the right tires for the track is also important. Ice isn't consistent, but varies wildly with only small changes in temperature. Studded tires aren't as sensitive to ice variations.

More weight just means it takes more power and more breaking to lose traction, it is more of a feel thing, and is in a relative sense.

 

More weight = slower! Lose as much as you can!

Sure, but it's not everything when you are on the ice. If you get the weight distribution wrong it will be like throwing darts backwards.

 

Far too much weight at the front gives too much understeer and to much at the rear gives too much oversteer, so you have to get the balance right. It's the speed through the corner that's important. And sometimes the only way to fix that is to add weight. Unless you want to give the car a complete makeover moving the engine and changing transmission location etc.

Ok, so I want even distribution of weight. Hmmm... probably means having a full tank of gas but then that increases weight...

It may not be that an even distribution of weight is ideal for your car and driving style, you have to test a lot to get it to where you want it.

 

In general when racing on ice you have sufficient power from the engine, it's more a question of having it smooth so you can modulate it easily. So I would say that within reasonable limits weight isn't the worst problem.

can't wait to read about your experiences. sounds like a lot of fun

+1! subscribe for vids/pics

So looks like just 2 other forum members are part of the fun... enthusiast (always takes great pictures) and CGuava. The lake is "open" today and some guys went up (50 minutes up, up, up from Denver) to practice. Damn, hope I race a fellow noob.

I'm a n00b and tried some ice racing today. I had to cut it short because of other plans but it was fun. Running with big sway bars and pretty stiff suspension seemed counterproductive but I really don't want to have to drastically change setup between tarmac and ice when my focus is tarmac performance.