came up in a conversation...

was told that i'm not allow to run my car with Ethylene glycol (antifreeze) at the tracks. I'm supposed to use water only.

i searched S of W's website but couldn't find the answer. Any cognoscenti's here that could illuminate me to the facts would be much appreciated. thanks in advance

 

I think it depends more on the rules of the race/track-day organization than the track itself. NASA mentions it in the CCR for race cars. Not sure about HPDE rules though. Check with the group you plan to run with...

 

You may have heard that it's better to run water only on race cars(?). AFAIK race cars run water only with some additive as lubricant and anti-corrosion. I never heard of any tracks or organizations having such rules for HPDEs.

I have always run the same street water/coolant combo on the track with Water Wetter from Redline. Many people run their street daily drivers on HPDEs, so those cars have the coolant.

 

The issue with Ethylene glycol/antifreeze is one of safety. It is very slippery on the track and hard to clean up. Not the thing you want to be spewed all over the track during a collision or a broken radiator hose...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The issue with Ethylene glycol/antifreeze is one of safety. It is very slippery on the track and hard to clean up. Not the thing you want to be spewed all over the track during a collision or a broken radiator hose...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not knocking that EG isn't slippery, but that it'd seem silly to make a rule against EG whereas oil or any other lubricant on a car is just as slippery and just as hard if not more difficult to clean up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrisw85 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm not knocking that EG isn't slippery, but that it'd seem silly to make a rule against EG whereas oil or any other lubricant on a car is just as slippery and just as hard if not more difficult to clean up.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Completely true, but there is no alternative for oil. It is a lubricant and is slippery by design. Coolant, on the other hand, does not NEED to be slippery. Also, you rarely find oil simply boiling out of an engine on a hot day...

 

And, in the types of collisions you see with sedan racers, popped radiators are the first thing to leak. Grenaded motors are unavoidable...