As it has been getting hotter, my tires have been starting to get greasy towards my 3rd and 4th runs. My first or second runs are usually my fastest runs. For those who don't know I'm running a 2000 Honda Civic Si with Koni Yellows, 350f/400r GC springs, stock sway bars, strut bars all around (except front lower), 15x7" Kosei K1 wheels with 3mm spacers in the rear (to prevent the wheel from rubbing the upper control arm), and about 1/4 tank of gas. The tires have about 5000 miles on them, 2 track days, 30-40 laps around the Carlisle Road course, and about 15 autocrosses (4-8 runs at each autocross). Toe is 0 all around, and camber is 1.5 front and 2.2 rear.

Tire temperatures were even on the fronts with 38-39psi and I keep the rears around 34-35psi to get some rotation.

Well this past Sunday I brought along. We're running on a very dusty lot that day so after every run I would wipe off all the dust and dirt. Then before my last run I gave a good misting to all four tires with my water bottle. The result? The car stuck great - no greasy feeling and my times dropped by .6 seconds. See here: http://www.scca-susq.com/Results2002-07-14.htm

I'll have to let you guys know again this coming weekend and I will try it again.

I know some of you might say that after 3 runs you should go faster since you know the course, but I will try to get more results for you guys.

 

Yep, a waterbottle is your Azenis' best friend when it is hot out. Especially on concrete surfaces that generate a lot of grip.

 

that's pretty cool, it makes sense too. thanks for the good info

 

what does the water do? other than evaporate.

 

It cools the tire.

 

seriously, you cant possibly try to convince me that a bit of water sprayed on the tire helps traction throughout a whole track session.

 

It's like sweat/perspiration on your skin. Now on muggy days your body thinks that to cool your body you should sweat more, but with humid days you can't evaporate your sweat since the air is saturated - and you could eventually get a heat stroke.

Spraying water on your tires does basically the same thing that perspiration is for. To take heat as the water evaporates keeping the tire cooler.

 

Well that's why I'm going to try to back it up again this coming weekend. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, but I like to experiment Hell that's why I graudated college with a science degree

I'm not the only who has tried this, and I didn't get this idea myself.

 

i understand the thermodynamic properties of energy transfer of latent heat during the phase shift of water from liquid to gas as it evaporates, and it probably does cool the tires down in the pits, but they will get right up to temperature on the track and any water sprayed prior to the first 100yards of travel is irrelevent. what else am i missing here?

 

Nothing you have to all right Mr. Scientist But on the average it takes my car about 1-2 runs to get up to temp. The 3rd run overheats them and my 3rd and 4th runs are usually greasy. My first two runs are always the best/fastest, so figure it's the tires... Just testing the waters here. No need to get overly in depth about it.

Some people rub rabbit's foots, some others do funky saiances (sp?) before their runs

 

I think there is a bit of confusion going on here. He is talking about auto-x runs, not track sessions.

Warren

 

(azenis get greasy on autox? mine only got greasy after 20 mins on a REAL track, hardly 60 seconds)

 

Michael, glad to hear you mention this b/c I've been wondering if this might be an effective way to combat the greasy tendency of these tires during the summer weather in Hotlanta, or if it would cause snickers and jeers from other nearby Solo IIers who would say, "look at that poor sap, he's wetting down his street tires. Bwaahahahaha!"

Incidentally, I'm still trying to sort out tire pressures for my Azenis (only have 4 events on them). I tried a 4psi differential from front to rear (40f and 36r) half way through my runs on Sunday, and the difference was incredible (had been trying 40f 38r just before, and other two PSI differentials before that). I have never had that kind of rotation from my car before. Feeling the car turn itself is a very good thing... :D

 

Yeah someone asked me what's in the bottle. And I said "Water and Ginsing" He laughed.

Oh yeah I get much more oversteer/rotation with just dropping to 33 in the rears. It goes from neutral to more rotation than I like

 

You should've told him that since rubber is from trees, you're trying to grow some of your tread back

 

one of the guys in my region has a different set of azenis for rain tires.

i have been doing the water thing for about 2 events now. it does help some, probably more in an event were there is more time between runs, but it mostly just keeps the times from falling off. however, of interesting note, if you have a lot of tread left on the tires they do not release the heat as quickly. also, spraying the radiator and intake with the water does nothing appreciable to increase power, but it wreaks havok on your competitors mental state, especially when you're already 1 second faster.

 

civicsiracer, less rear camber!!!!!!!!!!

 

You can get tires up to temp by the 3rd run at an auto-x. Gotta remember, when you're barreling down the straights on a track, it gives the tire a lot of chance to cool off.

And yes, I've gotta tires greasy by the 3rd and 4th run on heavier cars on hot days.

Warren

 

I've made my RE92s go from ambient temp to greasy in one run. They're allergic to high temperatures. I had a whole lot of people laughing at me spraying my all-season street tires after every run at a test and tune, but that was before they realized I was whooping their race-tire'd asses. Then they suspected I was spraying the tires with VHT. I took a sip of my water to prove that it wasn't.

Note- water coming out of your garden sprayer tastes like plastic. Don't take a sip of it.

 

I wish I could afford to Although I've been keeping an eye on my tread depth and wear and I have LOADS of tread left

 

Back in February when I ran the HPDE school with you guys at VIR my instructor asked if I was on race tires - when I told him I was on the Azenis he flipped

But I didn't experience any greasy-ness there cause the ambient air temp was in the 50-60s. When the tires get to 120 degrees that's when they start slipping.

 

YUM!

I'm actually top 5 in PAX and maybe 5th fastest car ON STREET TIRES!

 

no, not less rear camber for wear issues, but less rear camber for handling! $80 or so will buy a nice set of turn-buckle style rear camber kits. highly recommended.

 

and $5 or so will buy you a nice set of washers and long bolts

 

the ease of adjustability and accuracy justify the $80 for me, but if money is tight, and when isn't it when you're racing, the washer trick will work just as well.