Any issues with running at 110mph for 50 minutes?

[rob-2]

There isn't much greater danger of a tire failure at 110, than there is at 65mph. Remember that even though you might be traveling at 110mph, where the rubber meets the road the relative velocity is still zero.

 

Inspect the tires frequently for damage to the sidewalls or any debris/punctures, and you should be fine. The tire itself is structurally sound to it's speed rating.

 

Running sealant isn't going to prevent a blow-out.

 

Have you run at 110 mph and had a tire fail on you while at speed?

[rob-2]

100-110 doesnt seem that wild.

 

If you were trying to go 150 for an hour...

 

At that speed I would be concerned about the heads.

 

Staying at 150 will require boost.

[BAC5.2]

Have you run at 110 mph and had a tire fail on you while at speed?

 

I've had a tire fail at 90, yes. Right rear one.

 

Not very dramatic, to be honest.

[GTTuner]

I say do it and see what happens. I bet the car does 110 all day without breaking a sweat.

[rob-2]

I've had a tire fail at 90, yes. Right rear one.

 

Not very dramatic, to be honest.

 

My concern is more about the tire shredding and coming off the rim. Heat isn't linear.

 

Since there is ZERO harm in sealant I will be running it to reduce the risk of a flat at speed.

 

I also do these types of runs a lot so the value to me might exceed the average.

[seabass07]

Are you guys serious? 110 isn't that big of a deal. 120 or 130 I'd be concerned. Why not do some logging to monitor temps? Your revs will not be that high unless you stay in 4th. You should be using manual mode anyway, so shift.

[BAC5.2]

I say do it and see what happens. I bet the car does 110 all day without breaking a sweat.

 

I agree. Car will be fine.

 

Remember we are talking about the company that, in 1989, ran a car 100,000km at an average speed (including pit stops) of 138.78mph.

[rob-2]

Are you guys serious? 110 isn't that big of a deal. 120 or 130 I'd be concerned. Why not do some logging to monitor temps? Your revs will not be that high unless you stay in 4th. You should be using manual mode anyway, so shift.

 

Why 120?

 

I cannot personally feel a difference in the car between 110-120. The stock suspension gets floaty above ~100.

[BAC5.2]

My concern is more about the tire shredding and coming off the rim. Heat isn't linear.

 

Since there is ZERO harm in sealant I will be running it to reduce the risk of a flat at speed.

 

I also do these types of runs a lot so the value to me might exceed the average.

 

A tire in good condition is unlikely to fail so catastrophically. It'll lose pressure, but retain shape. Centripetal force at high speed is fairly substantial.

 

You can run sealant if it makes you feel better, but it's not going to prevent a blow out.

[seabass07]

Why 120?

 

I cannot personally feel a difference in the car between 110-120. The stock suspension gets floaty above ~100.

 

I don't think there would be problems there either. But revs would be higher as well as temps.

[.Catalyst.]

The stock suspension gets floaty above ~100.

If I was doing this event, better believe I'd have ditched that stock suspension prior to attempting a road course like this. I did suspension mods first and foremost, I didn't like it even for DD duties.

[rob-2]

A tire in good condition is unlikely to fail so catastrophically. It'll lose pressure, but retain shape. Centripetal force at high speed is fairly substantial.

 

You can run sealant if it makes you feel better, but it's not going to prevent a blow out.

 

I agree regarding a good tire.

 

I do however feel like going a tad bit further to reduce the risks of such speed on these roads down here.

[rob-2]

If I was doing this event, better believe I'd have ditched that stock suspension prior to attempting a road course like this. I did suspension mods first and foremost, I didn't like it even for DD duties.

 

I hear ya. For me I could see changing stock out if you were going to start to push 130+. Keep in mind, even if you change the suspension the car isn't able to safely stop with stock brakes or tire width. So a whole lot needs changing to make the car more comfortable at speed, not excluding final drive changes to lower RPMs.

[Gex]

I ran my car at 110+ for over 30 mins on a deserted section of Canadian roadway in the wee morning hours with absolutely no issues. You'll be fine.

[boxkita]

OP - congrats to you. This has been a bucket list item since the first one ran.

 

I have a few questions:

1. have you ever done a high-speed event of any kind (track day, street race, long-haul commuting in a speedlimit-less state) ?

2. Are you signed up for the rookie driving school?

3. Have you ever run your car at 80+ for more than few minutes?

4. have you done the math to figure out the sustained speeds you'll need to make up for the slow corners? It's higher than 1% faster than your target speed.

5. Have you done anything to your suspension?

6. Other than brake pads (which ones?), have you made any changes to your braking system?

7. are you willing to make body mods (adding a front air dam?)

8. What tires are you running? How many miles on them? Have you ever used them before?

9. What's your safety equipment?

 

All this comes from running my wagon on the track and a twice yearly excursion to eastern Oregon. Read or don't. Regardless, good luck and report when you finish. Preferably with video.

 

I've done 145 indicated in my wagon on a track, and 100+ elsewhere for long periods of time. The experience is tiring and the mental drain is very high. You'll be driving for approximately an hour flatout with the car reacting to every bump & dip in the road. You don't say where you live, but you might want to do some practicing on some poorly paved highways to get practice on how the car is going to react.

 

Cornering at high speeds is a whole different ballgame than highway speeds (70-80), especially on a 2-lane road. A 2 lane road will be cambered with the highest part in the middle. The edges will likely have transition strips and/or be frayed/crumbling. You'll need to decide where you want to drive (center, left, right) and practice driving on roads like that. For the turns you'll want to start on the outside of the turn and cross over the center line towards the apex and ending up back on the same side as you started. Depending on the degree of camber, you may only be able to use part of the road as the transition over the middle will unsettle your car.

 

Your suspension, if OEM, is going to be a limiting factor. A wagon can be made to take a "set" at speed in a sweeper, however, it reacts poorly to being unsettled. Dips or changes in the road will unsettle the car causing it to get loose. The set comes from the car sitting on the bump stops. If the car becomes unsettled, you'll find the front end loosens up first then the back, and a soft touch is required to bring it back. For sweepers, you'll find its pretty decent. For tighter turns, you'll need to slow as the front end will push badly and at the speeds you're going there's not enough power for throttle over steer.

 

Safety equipment/Driver safety:

Get a sa2010 rated helmet, as light as you can find. You'll be paying 600-800. A CF helmet is overkill, unless you're loaded, in which case, get a better car. :-)

Get a 2-layer fire suit with nomex everything. Wear silk long johns underneath soak up moisture.

Find some comfortable driving shoes with a lot of support thru the arch. Pushing the pedal for so long will tire out your instep and they will cramp.

Be sure you have a way to drink fluids on the run, as you'll be sweating alot. A long tube tied into a cooler full of water will help.

You can't run a/c (pull the fuze), so you'll need get airflow into the car to cool you off. You can crack the driver side window a hair and the rear passenger a hair to get crossflow. If you need more cooling on the motor (watch your temp gauge), you should leave the heater set on max with face vents fully open (I aim them all to the right and close the left most vent).

Inside the car, lay all the seats down and pull all the headrests off. With the headrests off, the passenger seat will lay flat. Tape the rear center belt in the ceiling to the ceiling, as a good bump will cause it to fall out. The other reason for laying everything down is ease of exit if you need to get out. :-(

Seatbelts - look into the schroth system - you get pretty close to full belt system without cutting a hole in your carseat. And it will work without a rollbar.

Seat - if you can find/borrow an upgraded seat, do so. You want something that is made for road use, not race. Unless you have a rollbar, you want the seat to give a little. The LGT seats suck for high-G cornering situations. You might also look for an upper body belt - search the motorsports thread for more info - maybe whitetiger or stoplightassasin have one. The upper body belt will help keep you in place, especially in braking & cornering.

Make a copy of your driver license, health card, contact list (ranked by pri), allergies, and your entry info. Put in your driving suit pocket. You'll never need it.

Fire extinguisher: be sure you can reach it and know how to use it. It's to be used for letting you get out of the car safely. If you want to protect your car, look into a better system - pegasusracing.com has a good selection.

 

Brakes: you need a better solution. At least get a 600 degrees fluid and upgrade to SS lines. The SS lines help keep the brakes intact under increased heatloads.Be sure the brakes are adjusted so they don't drag. If your rotors have any cracks, replace them - centric premiums are a great option. The brake pads should be bedded in completely (find a place to test them from 80 to 20 - if they judder at all, fix).

 

Tires: regardless of what you bought, have them mounted on the wheels with as little weight as possible. Use the taped on weights that mount to the wheel surface (not the clipons), make sure there is a backing tape overlayed. Tell the shop you will be running these tires in a sustained high-speed event. If the tech gives you a dumb look, leave. Find a shop that does race car prep and have them do it. You need metal valve stem caps with o-rings, this is probably beyond discounttire's ability.

 

Hubs: if you haven't replaced your hubs recently, replace them all. The rolling resistance for new hubs is substantially less than old ones. You'll need every bit of help at high speed.

 

Running the course: find a youtube video of someone else's run, actually, several somebodies. Watch them all until you recognize every place you need to react to something. If you can, pre-drive the course at a slow speed with blinkers on (don't get hit by other pre-runners). The navigator, unless really experienced, isnt going to be much help and adds liability/weight.

 

Hitting your target speed class: Get a smart phone timing app - Harry's seems to be pretty good. Set it for point-to-point. Create a chart of mile markers and time - tape it to your dash (the flip-up cubby cover is good), that shows what time you need to be at by which marker. Especially important for the speed trap marker (max speed anywhere on course is 124mph). Mount the phone in the lower left above the non-functioning vent - you want to be able to see it, but not in your line of vision.

 

Gas: fill it all the way up with the highest octane you can find. VP fuels has 110 leadfree. Tune your car for 93. The extra octane will curtail knock. You'll average 7-10mpg on your trip. You'll have some running time in the pits. Be sure your helper at the other end has gas for you.

 

Radiator: You'll be doing this in the summer, so you won't need antifreeze. Swap out for distilled water and water-wetter (redline, I think). You'll be starting at Ely at 6000+ feet. Temp ranges could be in low 30's, however, as long as the engine is running you wont freeze.

 

Cooling: pulling your foglights and running a tube towards your front brakes will aid in keep the brakes cool. Be sure your undertray is in one piece and fully attached at every point. Add the tranny oil cooler.

 

Exterior: remove your license plates (it may be a sanctioned event, however, your insurance company doesnt need to know you ever did this)

add a front lip, the farther down it goes the better. If you can afford a splitter, even better. The front of your car is going to chewed up, look into a clearbra type cover unless you dont care. Even the dip your car stuff might work (never tried it).

 

Oil: forgot this. Drain whatever you have. Find the a high-grade synthetic 10w-40 oil and fill it up using a new filter & washer. Run it hard for 200+ miles. Get it really hot, let it drain for a long time and refill with the same again. Add a half quart extra before you head out. You'll be running at 4000-5000 rpms for most of the time and will be burning oil.

 

Also of note, if you dont know the various failure noises a subaru engine or suspension makes, start listening on youtube. You want to be able to get the car stopped and safely off the road. If you don't have AAA's RV Premium insurance, its cheap insurance for the tow back to Vegas.

[JmP6889928]

My concern is more about the tire shredding and coming off the rim. Heat isn't linear.

 

Since there is ZERO harm in sealant I will be running it to reduce the risk of a flat at speed.

 

I also do these types of runs a lot so the value to me might exceed the average.

 

Some of the different sealants attack aluminum don't they? Also, sealer is HEAVY. I would rather take the chance of a flat on my mountain bike than run Slime tubes due to the excess weight.

[boxkita]

in many cases, tire sealant is illegal on tracks because it makes a mess when the tire explodes. And it causes the tires to have increased load and less ability to shed heat.

 

I've had a front tire blowout at 80 on a front drive car and still drove it home (at 5mph). It's not hollywood, your car doesnt immediately turn into a flaming cartwheel ejecting your lifeless body into the next lane.

[boxkita]

My concern is more about the tire shredding and coming off the rim. Heat isn't linear.

 

Since there is ZERO harm in sealant I will be running it to reduce the risk of a flat at speed.

 

I also do these types of runs a lot so the value to me might exceed the average.

 

have you met rao?

 

A good tire, properly mounted and maintained, will work as designed very well. Adding stuff to the inside of the tire affects its ability to work as designed. Especially when you are running near its upper limits. If it was designed to have stuff inside, it would come with it already added.

[Gex]

Do not add sealant to a tire! Sealant is designed as a last ditch get you out of trouble type product. Plus why would you want to add to the rotational mass of your wheels? How are you making sure each tire get the exact same amount of sealant to maintain balance?

[rhino6303]

Gas: fill it all the way up with the highest octane you can find. VP fuels has 110 leadfree. Tune your car for 93. The extra octane will curtail knock. You'll average 7-10mpg on your trip. You'll have some running time in the pits. Be sure your helper at the other end has gas for you.

 

Radiator: You'll be doing this in the summer, so you won't need antifreeze. Swap out for distilled water and water-wetter (redline, I think). You'll be starting at Ely at 6000+ feet. Temp ranges could be in low 30's, however, as long as the engine is running you wont freeze.

 

Oil: forgot this. Drain whatever you have. Find the a high-grade synthetic 10w-40 oil and fill it up using a new filter & washer. Run it hard for 200+ miles. Get it really hot, let it drain for a long time and refill with the same again. Add a half quart extra before you head out. You'll be running at 4000-5000 rpms for most of the time and will be burning oil.

 

 

Just wanted to emphasize how important these three will be for the health of your motor. I was only running 92 octane fuel at a track event and pulled a learning view afterwards; I was amazed I didn't pop a ringland with the amount of knock, even being protuned.

 

Also, it doesn't take much for your car to overheat in that weather under any acceleration. Antifreeze is a waste at this point for you as said above.

[Sideways the Seven]

I can't figure out why the suggestion to run tire sealant ever came about.

[boxkita]

I can't figure out why the suggestion to run tire sealant ever came about.

 

rob-2 = rao, as in rob-2 is to tire sealant as rao is to oil.

[Sideways the Seven]

rob-2 = rao, as in rob-2 is to tire sealant as rao is to oil.

 

Ah, gotcha.

[devenh]

Boxkita,

 

I very much appreciate you taking the time to share you knowledge. I'll take your list to my mechanics and review it with them (they track and autocross a bunch).

OP - congrats to you. This has been a bucket list item since the first one ran.

Based on your response, sounds like you have done this!

I have a few questions:

1. have you ever done a high-speed event of any kind (track day, street race, long-haul commuting in a speedlimit-less state) ?

Yes. Many track days (including driving school), autocross.

2. Are you signed up for the rookie driving school?

Yes.

3. Have you ever run your car at 80+ for more than few minutes?

Yes. But plan to do more at 100+. As mentioned earlier, 100 feels good, 110 is floaty.

4. have you done the math to figure out the sustained speeds you'll need to make up for the slow corners? It's higher than 1% faster than your target speed.

Yes, I have a detailed spreadsheet. Finishing close to the target class time would be great, but safety and learning the course are higher priorities.

5. Have you done anything to your suspension?

No.

6. Other than brake pads (which ones?), have you made any changes to your braking system?

Pads and fluids get changed next week. Don't recall the name of the pads, but the mechanics autocross and track a lot.

7. are you willing to make body mods (adding a front air dam?)

No. More willing to drop to a lower speed class.

8. What tires are you running? How many miles on them? Have you ever used them before?

Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS Pole Position 215 45 17 91W

9. What's your safety equipment?

Full face SA2010 helmet

Fire extinguisher within reach

Driving gloves & shoes

Full compliance with rally rule

 

Completely understand the concentration required and the fatigue. I workout a lot.

 

I definitely don't want to push it too much on my first run of the event, so I'll drop to either the 95 or 100mph class. Maybe I can keep the A/C on ?

 

Deven

[PtPixel]

Quote:

5. Have you done anything to your suspension?

No.

 

Everything is stock? Bushings, sways, LCAs? How many miles on them?

 

Do you plan on having anything done for it? Even at 95mph I wouldn't trust all of the stock gear that much