Last weekend @ Buttonwillow with NASA
 

It was HOT last weekend. 109 + deg and 139 deg. inside the car. All the gauges were getting a work out. At the end the oil temp started
bouncing 10 deg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik2A2THuluU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik2A2THuluU

I could only imagine! It gets hot out there.

It was so hot, even my lap top and video cam didn't want to work. Almost didn't get the cam ready for the race. it wouldn't down load the last session or charge. Till I put a fan blowing on it to cool it.

Nice! What tires were you running?

Traction was clearly limited, feel bad for the leader and nice work hanging on in the heat :icon_tup:

Didn't seem crowded at all, is the racing doing OK in your region? Or possibly the heat was too much for the majority.

Thanks, yeah I think the heat limited the turn out. But we (the PT group) were also put in with the STU and R guys. Normally we would be with all the Spec classes.
But also I know my car wouldn't pull very well in 5th. Also talking to Mike (the guy in the yellow car) and he said the same thing. On top of that because of the heat. I was taking it really easy. We would normally be up with the PTD cars.

We had a good group of drivers in E. But the Miata guys got pissed at a few rules and started their own series and took 4 to 5 cars with them. But like you said. That heat was not fun.

@ Mahjik : I'm running Hankook 225 45 13s on a 13 x 9 rim

As usual, i enjoyed watching your videos John. Thanks for sharing.

Nice job man! I know too well how bad the weather can get there. Had a bad experience on a 110 degree day and left early.

Ive never really driven Buttonwillow CCW or in any configuration other than the main CW. Still looked fun and the car seems properly balanced. More powerful cars do seem to have a bigger advantage at buttonwillow vs streets of willow.

Thanks! I'm curious how well they work. I just got in a set of C51's and C71's to try out.

Nice video! Love to see the 1st gens out on track!!!! Natural habitat...............

the C51 are great for the track. C71 for Autocross. But read the break in processes on the Hankook site

Welcome to Hankook Tire

The tires last so much longer if you follow this.

Thanks everyone!

I'm doing time trials so C71's are an option (and are the same points as C51's). Hoosier A6/A7's are the tire of choice for TT's (unless it's extremely hot out), but I'm trying to find something which is close to the Hoosier but a little cheaper and possibly more heat cycles since I'm not competing nationally.

So, how'd they work?

I didn't run the C71's, but the C51's worked a lot better than I thought they would. The slip angles were very similar to Hoosiers, but they still require a little more tidier driving than Hoosiers from what I experienced (not a bad thing). The C51's are fairly comparable to the R6's, just slightly slower. Since they are supposed to take more heat cycles (and they are cheaper), that little bit of performance could be offset with some bigger balls. ;) Overall I really did like the C51 and I think that it will be one of my main tires going forward. I'm not nationally competitive so running the expensive tires (A6's) doesn't do much but burn large holes in my credit cards.

I'm hoping to run the C71's next month as I'm taking this month off.

That's pretty much what I've found. even if I win and get the get the free tires with Hoosier. It's still less money in the long run. Hoosier did just come out with the "7" compound. It's suppose to last longer. But they don't have all the sizes yet.

Looks like with NASA's current points assessment for the A7's, those won't be an option for me. :( I already have to downsize 3 available sizes to get the points to run A6's. I would assume they'll re-assess them after/when Hoosier stops making the A6's which may make them an option for me at that point. R7's when made available, will be the same points as the current A6's which I could do if they are worth it (i.e. if I could get two competitive events out of them).

I suppose if I was very liberal with using "warm-up" and "mess around" tires, I could make R6's last a little while longer than a weekend (and be competitive) currently. I just lack a lot of time at the track to do any setup work with my other NASA duties. Oh well, I'm so far pleased with the Hankooks and look forward to running them the rest of the season. ;)

Talking to the Hankook guys. They say that 32 psi is optimum. You do get tire squirm, but if you can live with it. They are faster that way.
I was running them @ 36 before that. And yes they are about 1/2 sec a lap for me.
:egrin: