Why am I faster in the rain?

So, finally got my torque arm conversion fully done (yay!).

Autocross yesterday was almost rained out, but luckily they decided to soldier onward.

In the wet, I was turning quick times (well, for me). I was besting a buddy of mine by 1-2 seconds that I'm usually behind by at least that much.

And then the track started to dry. When that happened, I lost a solid half-second, while everyone else found at least 2.

This is on my foxbody with worn RA1s, so it's not like I have allseasons that were giving me some tremendous advantage in the wet that I lost when things dried out.

I'm just not sure what technique I could be using in the wet that would be costing me time on a higher-grip surface.

Perhaps you are feeling the tires scrub better, and your steering and throttle input is consequently smoother?

ReverendDexter wrote: I'm just not sure what technique I could be using in the wet that would be *costing* me time on a higher-grip surface.

Patience and accuracy? :)

sounds like you were sliding about some in the rain.. which works well, like it does on the dirt in rally. Translate that same technique to dry asphalt, and you are losing momentium through sideways slip.

Because you were one with the rain.

mad_machine wrote: sounds like you were sliding about some in the rain.. which works well, like it does on the dirt in rally. Translate that same technique to dry asphalt, and you are losing momentium through sideways slip.

This makes sense... I've always been more comfortable when I have a slight bit of slip going on (not full-on drift, just a little bit).

Did anyone else make tire pressure changes to accomodate the change, how did your tire temps change from your post wet laps to post dry laps?

Maybe you are a smoother driver, but not quite on the edge yet. Drivers that go banzai, are rarely rewarded in the rain, but can get away with it in the dry. Smoother drivers always do better in the rain. I'm guessing you are smooth, but not quite pushing yourself(or your car) to the limits in the dry.

The cooler damp air is going to have more oxygen per given volume. Damp air also absorbs heat more readily than dry, so your intake will be running cooler as well.

A slight change in horsepower will make almost no difference on an autocross course, especially in the rain where more power will just create more wheelspin. I agree with sachilles answer; smoothness pays big dividends in the rain.

I suggest that the next event that it's legal to do so, ride along with your buddy and have him ride along with you. That way you can observe each other's technique and perhaps offer suggestions for improvement.

sachilles wrote: Maybe you are a smoother driver, but not quite on the edge yet. Drivers that go banzai, are rarely rewarded in the rain, but can get away with it in the dry. Smoother drivers always do better in the rain. I'm guessing you are smooth, but not quite pushing yourself(or your car) to the limits in the dry.

I like this theory as it strokes my ego, lol. I do know that I'm not on the edge nearly as much as I could be which is mostly due to not really trusting the car to behave at the limit in it's prior iterations.

It's just odd that I'd lose time when things started drying out... I'm thinking maybe I was overdriving at that point, "knowing" I should be faster.

Let me ask a question.

How would you characterize yourself?

a) I hit a cone on nearly every run b) I almost never hit a cone c) I might hit a cone on half of my runs.

What would you consider your driving style to be at an autocross. a)I try to set my fastest time on the first run, and every run up to it. b)I try to work my way up to my last run being my fastest run?

I had the same experience at an autocross earlier this year. We had two dry laps, then a massive downpour (complete w/tornado warnings) then two more laps when the course was extremely wet. I actually picked up time with each of the last two laps. Part of it was I was learning the track, but a bigger part is that I think my most successful personal driving style is to consciously focus on being smooth, almost to the extent of not worrying about the time. If I try the "drive it like you stole it" style, I always end up over-driving it and usually end up slower. A wet track heavily rewards those whose style leans towards smooth, seamless weight transfer and smooth throttle and brake imputs, and it punishes hoons (often in an amusing fashion).

A dry track is still going to rewards smoothness, but, in my opinion at least, to a lessor degree than a rainy track. I'm probably saying the same thing as everyone else above, only in a slightly different manner.

Cliffs: Maybe rain suits your driving style. If so, let it rain!

sachilles wrote: Let me ask a question. How would you characterize yourself? a) I hit a cone on nearly every run b) I almost never hit a cone c) I might hit a cone on half of my runs. What would you consider your driving style to be at an autocross. a)I try to set my fastest time on the first run, and every run up to it. b)I try to work my way up to my last run being my fastest run?

I maybe hit a cone or two every event. I figure if I'm not hitting any, then I'm not pushing hard enough.

For the laps, we get a lot where I run, so I usually take my first run as a throwaway just to get a feel for the flow of the course at 80% speed, then use that to determine where I can push harder, and where I need to keep my speed down, working my way up faster and faster, and usually have my best run second-to-last.

Then I think I'm close to the truth. I'm betting you are a good and smooth driver, just a little bit conservative. This is a very good thing. A VERY good thing. Just as an excercise at your next autocross, do your normal first run at 80%. Then go balls to the wall on all of your following runs. Don't feel bad if you smack a lot of cones, because you will. Give it the whole day. Then see where you are in comparison with folks you normally run similar times against.

ReverendDexter wrote: I maybe hit a cone or two every event. I figure if I'm not hitting *any*, then I'm not pushing hard enough. For the laps, we get a lot where I run, so I usually take my first run as a throwaway just to get a feel for the flow of the course at 80% speed, then use that to determine where I can push harder, and where I need to keep my speed down, working my way up faster and faster, and usually have my best run second-to-last.

That's funny - I'm just the opposite. I push 100% on the first run and use that to figure out where I need to slow down.

Edit: Come to think of it, it's not where I need to slow down, but where I need to hit a later apex for a faster exit speed.

I love rain events. But maybe that's because I drive a WRX and run with BMWCCA against 95% RWD cars :)

Yeah, I prefer racing in the rain, but the group I run with has issues getting enough people to come out when it's wet, so they almost always cancel if there's so much as a hint of rain. This is the first good rain event I've had since I stopped running with RSCC in Humboldt.