I was about to put my summer tires back on the Volvo today, but when I pulled the wheels out of the closet, I realized how dirty they are. I used the rain as an excuse to spend some time getting off some of the grime that had built up over the last 11 years and 150,000 miles!
Last fall, when I put the snow tires on, I tried to scrub down the inside of the wheel, and got a bunch of stuff off, but it still looked horrible:
So I made a quick run to a Pepboys down the road and picked up some Meguiar’s Hot Rim cleaning spray. It says to just spray on and rinse off. That’s a blatant lie. I effectively destroyed a sponge scrubbing all the crap off the surface. The spray really did help break down the baked on brake dust, and after rinsing everything off, that wheel now looks like this:
Much better! Not bad for about 10 minutes worth of scrubbing… hahaha. However, not perfect because quite a few of those black spots aren’t dirt, but damage to the surface of the wheel.
So why do this? Well, obviously it look nicer now. More practically, cleaning stuff off the surface prevents oxidation from occuring, and if there is too much dirt and grime, the balance of the wheel can be thrown off, requiring the wheel to be rebalanced to reduce vibration at high speeds.
I came across some intruiging information earlier on the Nissan GT-R. While this may be old news to some of you, the gist of it is that Nissan is not honoring the warranty if the transmission fails after doing launches with the VDC off, and launch control on.
The GT-R has an interesting transmission, a computer controlled dual clutch sequential. So this means that Nissan has intentionally included a feature in their car that would void the warranty when used for anything other than getting the car unstuck from mud or snow. While this can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, it brings up an interesting, although blindingly obvious point to me.
Cars break.
The real question then is why do they break? For the average person, it’s likely due to improper maintainance, or simply normal wear and tear that takes out a component that may or may not be critical to the operation of the vehicle.
However, for people like Charles and I, and most likely you as well, we drive our cars hard. We expect the engineers who designed it to allow the car to be driven at full power and aggressively by including headroom in the strength and durability of critical components. But of course, even with that, there are things that you do that wear down parts, and will eventually break them.
Luckily, things are designed so that cheaper parts that are easy to replace take the brunt of the damage, protecting the more expensive components.
Aggressive turning will wear down suspension bushings, and tires a bunch. Hard shifting is hard on the clutch and engine mounts. Rough roads are also tough on the suspension bushings, and the dampers, and sometimes rattles the interior apart.
However, it’s not too hard to exceed the limits of some of these safety components and break something more important. For example, launching the car by dumping the clutch with the engine at a high rpm is very hard on the transmission, driveshafts, differentials, axles, and related bushings. It’s not uncommon for someone to break a differential gear or axle spindle when doing hard launches like so.
Something else transmission related that is hard to avoid is synchro wear. Synchros allow you to change between gears easily, and without rev-matching. In most modern manual gearboxes, the gears are always meshed together, but spin freely on a shaft. The gear is selected by engaging a ring, which then prevents the gear from rotating, and transfers the torque into the shaft. When engaging this ring, it needs to be spinning close to the same speed as the gear, or else there will be an awesome grinding noise and you won’t be able to select the gear. It is the synchro’s job to make sure everything is spinning at the right speed. However, the synchros wear out with use. Each gear shift puts a little more wear and heat into it. If you’re using the synchros a lot to make shifts that involve large RPM changes, they overheat and warp, creating a spot that rubs more than the rest, getting hotter and wearing faster, etc. So when downshifting, try to double-clutch whenever possible to reduce wear on those synchros! I know that was an awkward and cumbersome explaination, so I’m sorry, I’ll make a dedicated transmission post someday to explain it in more detail. However, we have made a video a while back on how to double-clutch if you’re not familiar with it:
In addition to that, there are plenty of other things. Keep the interior and exterior clean to avoid rust and damage to the finish. Don’t run into stationary solid objects. All those things that you generally can’t avoid when rallying, hahaha.
Internal combustion engines are not cold (funny, since the acronym is ICE) and when cold they do not work very well. Oil is thicker and more viscous and that puts more strain on the engine. So while this is normal in every day operation (unless you’re a truck driver and never shuts the engine off), this is when the engine is most vulnerable so there are some things you can do to help.
Drive like a grandma - Full throttle isn’t a great idea for a few a reaons. First it should be avoided until the car’s oil and water is up to normal operating temperatures (it will get there) as wear is increased. Second, the colder the weather the worse the traction. Rubber gets brittle(r) and grips thing worse, not to mention ice and snow. That means stopping distances are increased and turns cannot be taken as fast. Bonus for driving like a grandma: better gas mileage. Because of my shenanigans in the snow my gas mileage for that week was about 13mpg (well below my 30mpg highway and 22 or so city).
Expect the worst - in traction at least. Just the other day I was turning left from a stop and WEEEEEEEEEEE, the car suddenly loses the back end. Ice was in the middle of an intersection. Sometimes you cannot see ice/sand/marbles/oil slicks from james bond/etc… so expect the worst for traction.
Remove Ice and Snow buildup - I cringe everytime i see people with huge sheets of snow on the roof of their car driving around. Not only have I been hit by chunks of snowice when driving behind someone (they suddenly go air born at 40-50mph), but if they slam on their brakes what is to stop all that from coming right down onto their windshield. My rule of thumb is just that, more than a thumb width on the top and I remove it. Brooms are really useful for the removal process, especially on a miniva… *ahem* tow vehicle.
So driving like a grandmother really does sum it up. Be nicer to your car while it warms up, it’ll repay you with many many more miles of like-new driving. Also be careful out there, statistically speaking if you’re between age 15 and 24 cars and other motor vehicles are the biggest risk of death.
Since I’ve been doing quite a bit of driving in the snow I figured some of you might have too. I have some tips but today’s tip is: the right most pedal is your friend.
Brakes are nice but if your car is oversteering hitting the brakes will most likely bring your car into a full spin (weight transfers to front wheels). Keeping on the gas will cause your car to straighten, as the weight transfers from the front to the back wheels. This of course assumes your front wheels are pointed where you want to go.
I’ve seen a few people in the past week slide unexpectedly and continue going in a straight line, only to hit the brakes (instinctual, I empathize) and go off the road. If only they calmly pressed on the gas a bit and steered where they wanted to go.
There is an exception: really powerful cars that are RWD/AWD. Really powerful cars have the tendency to lose traction in the loose stuff because of the right most pedal. However, coming off of the gas completely will cause more harm than good stability-wise, so you should learn to left foot brake. But that’s for another post. Good luck out there and keep safe.
Failing to sleep has a number of effects on the body that can cause you to lose it on your race day. For one thing it slows your reactions (eventually). However most importantly, at least in Rally, it makes focusing (not optically but mentally) that much harder.
Rally is an endurance race for both the cars and drivers. Physical demands aside, staying mentally sharp all day requires sleep. The focus this sport requires can be witnessed in such a silly way as the number of times a driver blinks. WRC Drivers are known for their few and far between blinks (Mikko Hirvonen anyone?). They blink about ten times less often than normal (while driving of course). That requires so much focus (on the road). Not sleeping will make you lose that edge way sooner in the day.
So rest up for you, your co-driver’s (they need rest too), your car’s and your wallet’s sake.
Having encountered food poisoning this weekend, you cannot be too careful about the food you eat before a rally. Why let something you eat end your race weekend?
Things to watch out for:
Uncooked Eggs - They are more prevalent than you think. Some examples include Caesar Salad and Hollandaise sauce. Uncooked eggs can get quite dangerous.
Room Temperature Meat - Meat is delicious and bacteria also think it is delicious. Room temperature meats go bad much faster than refridgerated meat (unless they’re cured…beef jerky for example).
Unwashed Fruit - Certain pesticides can cause some major intenstinal drama. There is a simple solution to this one though: wash the fruit!
Names You Cannot Pronounce - Exotic foods, especially ones you’ve never had, have a much better chance of not being prepared correctly and causing some pain to you.
By the time you’re of age to race you should know what sits well with you in general, so you may not want to stray far from the list of foods you know. But there are some good rules to follow: eat only hot foods and wash fruit yourself… maybe then you won’t end up sick on race day.
Watch this and look at how thin the tires/wheels are. Link for RSS.
In most cases the wider the tire the more traction is achievable. However in really snowy enviroments (ie Rally Sweden) thin tires can get more traction than wide ones. How? This works because the thin tire is putting a much higher pressure (PSI) onto the snow surface compared to the wide tire. This makes the snow compress and the tire/wheel sink down into the snow. Wouldn’t this just slow you down? Going straight…sure, but the problem in snow is stopping and turning, not going fast in a straight line. Snow builds up around the outside of the wheel and infront of it, so when the car needs to corner/stop it pushes against the snow. This increases the possible traction. This is the same concept as using ruts in motocross or with your car in mud. You can apply much greater cornering forces without losing traction.
There is yet another reason they use thin snow tires. The snowy rallies in the WRC are in areas that also develop a nice layer of ice under the snow. They use this ice to increase traction, mostly for straight line acceleration, and when I use acceleration that means in both directions (hint braking and throttle+). They use the ice by putting metal studs into the tire. The studs work just like cleats for grass sports. They dig into the ice (again because there is a ton of pressure applied to them thanks to the mass of the car) and allow force to be transmitted through them. But in order for the studs to get close to the ice the tire has to dig through the snow, and so that’s yet another reason thin snow tires are used in the WRC.
Helmets are so varied in design and cost, so how do we know what helmets are good and what are not? A lot goes into that assessment but I hope I can shed some light on the topic.
Why Wear a Helmet?
Helmets are easy to use items that can save your life in a crash (seatbelts are more important though!) so you might as well get one for spirited driving. It does not take much force (ie, acceleration) to damage your brain. We perceive the world through that wonderous organ, so damaging it will affect how we live in most every way. It could affect your life so much as to end it! So keeping your head safe is a good idea. Side note: I wear helmets in pretty much every sport I do…lacrosse, snowboarding, auto racing, cycling to name a few. I’ve worn helmets often enough that I feel naked without them when doing those activities.
How Should It Fit?
Helmets should be snug, especially at first as they will only get looser. The helmet should not rotate/move freely on your head. However, it should not squeeze you so tight that it will cause pain and eventually headaches (I’ve had that happen before I knew better!).
For an autoracing helmet moving the helmet should move your head if you’re not resisting the movement. So if you leave it in a certain position on your head it should stay there. Other sports have other requirements for helmets, for example Lacrosse helmets are strapped to your head quite snugly as they are expected to be struck…often.
Ratings?
There are various certifications for helmets, the most famous of which are the ratings produced by Snell. Snell is a not for profit organization that tests all sorts of helmets. If you’re curious about how they test helmets YouTube does not fail in that regard! There can be various ratings so check your sanctioning body for acceptable ratings.
But why does it matter? For a few reasons: 1) you will never be allowed to race in any respectable sanctioning body without a certified helmet and 2) the certification guarantees a certain level of protection.
Weight?
Weight, believe it or not, affects the safety of the helmet. Weight added to your head means more momentum above your neck. That means a larger force applied to your neck in the event of a crash (this is also why the HANS device was invented). So a really massive helmet will injure you in a crash where no helmet would not.
Fatigue matters, especially in Rally! Extra weight that your neck has to carry will speed up how fast you fatigue. So the lightest helmet possible, with the same protection level, is preferred. However in order to keep it as safe at the same weight, special materials need to be used. Unfortunately for all of us this drives the cost up, but I think it is something worth spending money on.
Full Face vs Open Face
Rally is a motorsport which commonly uses open face helmets, while most of the other motorsports use full face helmets. If you’re curious to the difference visually, here is me wearing a full face helmet and mark wearing an open face helmet(facebook links do NOT require login). There are pros and cons to each of them:
Full face helmets provide a lot more protection to your face (teeth and nose) but come with the downside of trapping more heat and adding weight. While open face helmets provide less protection to the front of your head but cut down on weight and heat. But there is one unique thing in Rally that makes open face helmets dominant: Co-Drivers.
Rarely will a Rally co-driver wear a full face helmet. Why? Because they need to scream at the driver and a piece infront of the mouth muffles the critical sounds that much more. So it almost makes more sense for the driver to be wearing a full face (Sebastian Loeb) while the co-driver dons the open face.
Rallycross is tough on your car, and right after the racing you should check some things to make sure your car wont die on the way home. Here they are:
Check Your Airfilter - Dust in an engine will kill it and fast. Check to make sure your air filter isnt clogged or compromised. If it is compromised, you should check the inside of your intake system and engine.
Check Your Suspension - Something you should have done before the rallycross because now you have something to compare it to visually. Make sure your suspension arms aren’t bent and all the bolts all still there. Even with a suspension failure you might not notice it in the heat of racing. I once ripped a rear wheel off of a VW and we thought we only had a flat.
Check Your Oil - Let your hot car sit for 10 minutes post race and check your oil. Make sure your oil is at a good level. If the oil is gone check your oil pan. You might have a puncture and leaking oil.
Check Your Tire Pressure - Just like with your suspension, you might not notice low pressures or flats. Its easier to change your tire surrounded by rally crossers with all sorts of tools, rather than on the side of a highway.
Listen to Your Car On The Way Back - New sounds in your car could indicate something gone awry. So listen, your car will tell you things if you listen to it.
What do you do after a rallycross? Making checklists and bringing them with you will help you if you get nervous at races (I do to begin with). They allow you to focus on something other than whats racing through your mind. So keep your car well kept, it will repay you by not breaking as often.
Motor sports are a lot like most sports in that they require training to be good at. One part of race training is conditioning your body. Exercise like weightlifting, running, biking and swimming are great ways to get in shape for raceday. However, training like mad in the days preceeding a race can have its downside. One of which is DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
Being sore is a good sign in the day or two after weightlifting or a new workout. It means you were tearing your muscle fibers (small tears, dont worry), and your body will respond by growing more (psst…you’re getting stronger). But those sore muscles wont react the same way your ‘fresh’ muscles would.
In order to be well rested and relaxed for raceday (or weekend) you should start tapering your exercise down during the week before the race. The beginning of the week may start out just like normal, but you should be stepping the intensity of your workouts down daily. So by the day before the race your exercise is light. Light enough just to keep the blood flowing to your muscles nicely (this actually helps recover you). Not much tearing should be happening then.
Why taper for motor sports? You should taper so that when it comes down to the races your body will do what you want it to. Tired and sore triceps will make turning laborsome and this will fatigue you faster. Fatigue is what your workouts are, hopefully, aimed at combatting. Because it is one of the largest reasons for slower than normal performances and more notably crashes.
Much of race engineering is aimed at reducing the annoyances for the driver(s). One of the annoyances you can easily eliminate from raceday are sore muscles. So please, for your time’s sake, taper your workouts. If you aren’t exercising, also for your time’s sake, you should start.
