Perspective buyer ?? Wet weather

[Angrypuppy]

Live in the PNW primary tracks are The Ridge and Pacific Raceway. Year round.

How is an open cockpit in the rain? Both tracks require booking far enough in advance I won’t be able to avoid the rain. Am I going to get soaked, will airflow keep rain off my visor, any other issues I have not thought of?

Second. I talked to a prior owner from FL. He said none of the bolts and fasteners were stainless. He laid ~$900 and replaced everything with stainless. I’m wondering if this would be an issue for me in a wet climate.

Thank you

 

[PizzaDude]

There is some video on YouTube of a guy running in the rain. I’m in the Midwest and rain is part of our track days. At mid ohio a few weeks ago and we got some rain the second half of day two. I should be getting my car soon and plan on running in the rain so interested to hear others feedback also.

 

[John H]

He laid ~$900 and replaced everything with stainless. I’m wondering if this would be an issue for me in a wet climate.

Yea, don't do this. Stainless is less than half the strength of the 12.9 bolts used (or 316 is 2/3 but $$$). You could swap out the panel fasteners, but don't go tossing them into the drive line/suspension.

Not sure exactly why they use black oxide over zinc, possibly for defect avoidance?

 

[DrPyro2k]

Down in Houston, none of those black bolts stay black for very long. Happens on all of my cars... just a fact of nature here. As noted, you could swap body panel bolts, but the other drivetrain bolts are specific strength specification. So unless swapping for the same spec, don't do it.

As for running in the rain, i'll do it (unless it is a major downpour). Rain-X on the visor works well to keep it cleaner. As always running in the wet is a great way to learn car control. With no ABS, no TC you may have to be more careful but it can be fun. I loved running in the wet with the Alfa and just tossing and sliding it around.

 

[Angrypuppy]

Down in Houston, none of those black bolts stay black for very long. Happens on all of my cars... just a fact of nature here. As noted, you could swap body panel bolts, but the other drivetrain bolts are specific strength specification. So unless swapping for the same spec, don't do it.

As for running in the rain, i'll do it (unless it is a major downpour). Rain-X on the visor works well to keep it cleaner. As always running in the wet is a great way to learn car control. With no ABS, no TC you may have to be more careful but it can be fun. I loved running in the wet with the Alfa and just tossing and sliding it around.

Thanks. I have probably as many wet days as dry under my belt in my BRZ. Doesn’t even phase me any more, sort of enjoy it now. The no ABS and TC will be a learning curve for sure though.

 

[DrPyro2k]

Frankly, No ABS and no TC is only an issue if you were relying on them in the first place. It took me some time before I would turn it off TC in my Alfa. But soon I realized 2 things... First, if you are setting up the car right for the corners, then you don't really need it . Second, it was actually getting in the way when I was trying to rotate the car a specific way. One thing I did since the wait for the Rush was fairly long, I started working on threshold braking and NOT using the ABS in the Alfa. I'm still not great at it in the Rush, and I do have lockups.. So long as you keep the wheel/car pointed straight, I haven't had the problem with spinning under breaking. I have watched a number of other drivers spin under braking for a number of reasons...

Just remember this with ABS... A Rush car with ABS will brake deeper than a car without ABS. IMHO, the idea of threshold breaking is kinda a myth. In THEORY, you could apply the exact right amount of pressure to get the maximum braking/traction force, BUT, in reality, most of us mortals need to be below that to safely & confidently brake a nonABS car. So when you are learning, use your same brake points and then slowly move them closer to the corner.

I think the biggest transition that most people have to do is get use to the MidEngine weight distribution of the Rush, and what to (and not to do) with that kind of distribution in the corners. The short wheelbase also makes the car rotate VERY quickly when you mess up, so you need to be quick and confident in the corrections.

 

[Fresno Powersports]

Welcome! We are the dealer in California - your closest dealer and the ones with the video of us running in the rain at a NASA race at Autoclub Speedway. Give us a call when you get a chance and we will go over with you all the things necessary to successfully run in the rain. Here is a link to our rain race... we took P1 OVERALL in the rain and ran Hoosier Wets. Car was awesome!

559.760.3138

 

[RushR.Rentals]

being in New England as they say wait 10 minutes and the weather will change. we get rain and lots of it at times !
other than changing your cars setup for wet or intermediate weather saying dry or as dry as you can is a big plus.
I started racing motorcycles at 8 years old and did it until my mid 30's you learn lots from it and some thing cross over to open cockpit cars.
worrying about fasteners it the least of your worries!
for open cockpit cars the 1st is vision! we use double pane pin lock anti fog visors on our helmets with a few of our helmets we were able to cross reference from a motorcycle helmet visor to a auto racing helmets visor. we also use wet weather driving gloves and rain driving suit coveralls.
in our seat bottoms because they fill up like a swimming pool with water I drilled a small hole in the seat bottom to let it drain out.
with my wife and I we have 6 sets of driving gear of each of us so after each run session we change from our wet things to dry things. we also have two of the moose helmet glove and boot dryers to speed up drying out our gear there is nothing worse than being wet and cold all day.

 

[Angrypuppy]

being in New England as they say wait 10 minutes and the weather will change. we get rain and lots of it at times !
other than changing your cars setup for wet or intermediate weather saying dry or as dry as you can is a big plus.
I started racing motorcycles at 8 years old and did it until my mid 30's you learn lots from it and some thing cross over to open cockpit cars.
worrying about fasteners it the least of your worries!
for open cockpit cars the 1st is vision! we use double pane pin lock anti fog visors on our helmets with a few of our helmets we were able to cross reference from a motorcycle helmet visor to a auto racing helmets visor. we also use wet weather driving gloves and rain driving suit coveralls.
in our seat bottoms because they fill up like a swimming pool with water I drilled a small hole in the seat bottom to let it drain out.
with my wife and I we have 6 sets of driving gear of each of us so after each run session we change from our wet things to dry things. we also have two of the moose helmet glove and boot dryers to speed up drying out our gear there is nothing worse than being wet and cold all day.

Thank you. I see your post looking for a visor solution. I wondered about a hole in the seat, as well. I assume the cockpit tub has a route for the water to exit?

 

[RushR.Rentals]

for us on both our girls ( rush cars ) the water drains out at the seam in the floor. if I find I need to drill another 1/4" hole in the low spot of the floor I will do so.