YIKES! I came over the hill and saw the Miata headed straight toward you or the tires and didn't know where he was going to end up so I decided to take the cross-country route. hahaha
The takeaway is plan for airflow across the driver even if temp is down in 80s (especially if humidity is high). If temp is in the 90s airflow is critical at all speeds but think through keeping it through all the yellow flag low-speed laps especially - when the car slows down it can get very hot VERY fast inside. And a COOL shirt system is a very smart investment for summer racing (many teams did homemade versions but I think most ended up with problems with leaking or no circulation).
Thanks for the reply. 83 doesn't sound so bad, but mid/upper 90's doesn't sound so good, what was the general consensus, was it absolutely miserable, bearable? I see you came back the next year so I guess you weren't detered, huh?
It all depends on the car and how well you plan for airflow through the cockpit. The first summer VIR run was in a car that had good circulation at most speeds. We also had a cool shirt system which helps very well for about 20-30 minutes. In other words, the driver baking in the car doesn't even start until the cool system runs out which is pretty good on 2 hour stints. The air flow was not good at all in the RX7 and heat built up inside and was not as comfortable even though temp was lower.
YIKES! I came over the hill and saw the Miata headed straight toward you or the tires and didn't know where he was going to end up so I decided to take the cross-country route. hahaha
The takeaway is plan for airflow across the driver even if temp is down in 80s (especially if humidity is high). If temp is in the 90s airflow is critical at all speeds but think through keeping it through all the yellow flag low-speed laps especially - when the car slows down it can get very hot VERY fast inside. And a COOL shirt system is a very smart investment for summer racing (many teams did homemade versions but I think most ended up with problems with leaking or no circulation).
Thanks for the reply. 83 doesn't sound so bad, but mid/upper 90's doesn't sound so good, what was the general consensus, was it absolutely miserable, bearable? I see you came back the next year so I guess you weren't detered, huh?
It all depends on the car and how well you plan for airflow through the cockpit. The first summer VIR run was in a car that had good circulation at most speeds. We also had a cool shirt system which helps very well for about 20-30 minutes. In other words, the driver baking in the car doesn't even start until the cool system runs out which is pretty good on 2 hour stints. The air flow was not good at all in the RX7 and heat built up inside and was not as comfortable even though temp was lower.
Great vid ! ...and what a track!
What was the hi/lo temperature at this race? Thanks
Thanks for not hitting car #173 in the esses. That was me!
if this is the #63 owned by Mike Edwards I drove it a few weeks later in Sebring
hi 83 lo 69 humidity 97% per wunderground data
prior year seemed mid/upper 90s and humidity was high as well.