If ice racing is awesome.......

If ice racing is awesome and rallycross is awesome, why don't we play around with low grip setups on pavement? I know, fastest time and competition and all that, but nobody is even advocating for the joy of low grip on pavement outside of wet skidpad exercises at some driving schools.

It's the only appeal of drifting to me, you can learn car control, but it doesn't translate to when you want to go fast on a properly set up car.

That's why we need some tarmac rallys/rallysprints.

I think a rallycross on mixed dirt and broken/dirty asphalt would be fun.

Spec space saver spare

In the Gran Toursimo series we did what we called an iceracing series.. Rally cars on the crappiest tires possible.

But if you actually tried to drive fast on terrible rubber instead of just drifting wouldn't that translate to faster driving on better rubber? I suppose that's what is being advocated when people say to autocross on stock rubber for a year before moving up, but nobody seriously talks about any advantages of doing it for anyone but newbs. Certainly nobody suggesting driving on 145 section all seasons, though it sounds like fun.

because we have ice racing and rallycross

EvanB wrote: That's why we need some tarmac rallys/rallysprints. I think a rallycross on mixed dirt and broken/dirty asphalt would be fun.

Our last autocross was in a downpour and there was a section of the track where people were cutting off the track and dragging mud up onto the pavement. The precision drivers in the fast cars were complaining, but quite honestly, it was brilliant. I've been thinking about this since then.

DaveEstey wrote: because we have ice racing and rallycross

Right, but ice melts and rallycross courses get torn all to hell and back. Pavement just hangs around and stays the same all day.

http://clunkbucket.com/skid-plate-racing-rules-the-oval/

mazdeuce wrote: Certainly nobody suggesting driving on 145 section all seasons, though it sounds like fun.

Its a blast, 145r13 6 ply Kei truck tires.

captdownshift wrote: http://clunkbucket.com/skid-plate-racing-rules-the-oval/

Are they moments away from repaving that track or something?

mazdeuce wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: because we have ice racing and rallycross

Right, but ice melts and rallycross courses get torn all to hell and back. Pavement just hangs around and stays the same all day.

If you're slipping and sliding on an AutoX course, you're usually hitting cones, which annoys course workers.

DaveEstey wrote:

mazdeuce wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: because we have ice racing and rallycross

Right, but ice melts and rallycross courses get torn all to hell and back. Pavement just hangs around and stays the same all day.

If you're slipping and sliding on an AutoX course, you're usually hitting cones, which annoys course workers.

Unless you are in an XR4Ti and you have hit EVERY SINGLE cone (Technically it was a RallyX course) Yep I did that and I have witnesses (Joel and Bradley... can I get an AMEN?

DaveEstey wrote:

mazdeuce wrote:

DaveEstey wrote: because we have ice racing and rallycross

Right, but ice melts and rallycross courses get torn all to hell and back. Pavement just hangs around and stays the same all day.

If you're slipping and sliding on an AutoX course, you're usually hitting cones, which annoys course workers.

Right. That's the point, driving well and setting fast times in a low grip (and changing in the case of RX) environment. That's the whole difference between RX and AX and road racing and ice racing. Grip. Maybe that's the answer. I still think it would be fun to have a 165/400 tw class. No other rules. I imagine it would come down to the lightest cars winning and we'd all be combing CL for Metros.

Here you go:

http://youtu.be/HPh90yNX-mY

I'm down. So we find the worst parking lot possible, dump some truck loads of dirt, and hose it down. Or we get s bunch of guys to throw in on a snow machine.

In reply to Slippery:

I think I need to find a matching set of space-savers for my Miata and take it to an autocross like that!

In reply to Woody:

I'd think they're moments away from igniting whatever happens to be leaking from those POS's!

Slippery wrote: Here you go: http://youtu.be/HPh90yNX-mY

I was thinking of this as well. It's too bad there's no such thing as cheap Porsche wheels. I think the 911 would be a riot on skinnies like that Merc.

Yeah, I had the same thought after a very rainy autoX with my 350Z. I spun the car like 4 of 6 runs, but it was awesome. I just wonder how expensive it would be to keep the autox surface damp all day if you had to pay for the water.

Woody wrote:

captdownshift wrote: http://clunkbucket.com/skid-plate-racing-rules-the-oval/

Are they moments away from repaving that track or something?

Look close, there's a steel plate welded to the bottom of the rim, thus no real damage to the track...