What is Perfect?
 

What is THE perfect racing weather condition?


After watching cars run on sunday @ Island, what would be the BEST type of weather conditions you can possible get?

i would say 60 degrees with 0% humidity.

I've got about 30 quarter mile passes, so I'm a relative track noob. IMO, low-mid 60*'s for airtemps, no wind, and low humidity. You get decent traction from the warm track surface, but the air itself coming into the motor is cool. Other opinions may vary. I'm sure Craig will post what the air is like when he turns his quickest times.

I have actually heard that something like 55-62 degrees and ~20% humidity makes for the best times (track surface being equal).

- Justin

what justin said...that's probably the best. There should be some wind, too, blowing down the track (tailwind). that'll help you get the quickest times ;)

Atco always has a tailwind, Etown always has a headwind.

g

sun out, cool day, low humidity.
think about those mid spring/early fall days when it is in teh mid 60's to low 70's, partly cloudy/mostly sunny, with 20%ish humidity.
you just need enough sun to keep teh track surface warm.

later
tim

Technically the best conditions for max horsepower are the coldest temp, lowest humidity, and highest barometric pressure.
For the SAE J1349 relative horsepower calculations, the standard reference conditions are: Air temp 77 deg F (25 deg C), 29.235 Inches- Hg (990 mb) actual pressure and 0% relative humidity.
That's how the dyno shops "should" correct for your HP using the above as 100%.
With that being said, right now, even with it being 2 degrees warmer and 60% humidity, I would be making 0.5% more horsepower than at standard reference conditions. The reason is the barometric pressure which right now is 30.02 inHg. Baro has a large effect, temperature is next, humidity last. So whenever the conditions might seem to be good... it might not be depending on the baro. Baro will increase with a cold front so whenever the temperature drops you can almost be sure you've got good pressure, temp, and humidity :) .
Now with traction, who knows what's best. If the sun isn't out do a longer burn-out 8) to increase your traction on a cool track surface.

track surface is a hard thing to figure out what is "perfect". not only do you have to compensate for what teh actual track surface is(concrete, asphalt, how much rubber) but you also have to take into account what kind of earth that bit of pavement is sitting on(clay, sand, packed soil, gravel, bed rock).
different bases will trap moisture at different rates. anyone ever notice that atco seems to dry off after rain fast as hell? that is because the track sits on a fairly soft sand that pulls out moisture right away. maple grove is teh opposite end of teh spectrum sitting on a hard rock surface with a fairly thin layer of soil over it, that place dews up and takes a while to dry off after even a minor shower.
you also have to compensate for how much sun is hitting a particular surface compared to the outside air temp. as teh track surface gets colder the grain of teh pavement will start to close up and traction goes down. if teh surface gets too hot oils will start to leach out of the surface and there goes traction again.

anyone confused yet? lol

later
tim

As long as the track is prepped right and you have real good tires, you will always get your best times in March/April or October/November. The colder the air is, the more oxygen is in it, which makes for better combustion. But then the determining factor will be track temperature. As long as the track is prepped right, it won't be a problem unless you plan on running like mid 7s or better (in the 1/4), or are using a tire that isnt meant for racing.

Also, the quickest track to go to in New Jersey is Atco because of their elevation. I think they also run year round.

....and cause the track is 30 ft short, and downhill.

Yea, they do run pretty much year-round (I think they close for ~3 weeks during X-mas and new years). And no, the track is not short....

- Justin

Atco isn't short at all but it is 3' downhill slope. The actual slope is 0.00227 which is really almost not even measurable. Might be worth a tenth and like .5 mph on a slow car but almost nothing with some decent power to weight ratio's.