[scathing]

Well, I was out at a hillclimb as well today. It was in Huntley down at Dapto, which is just south of Wollongong.

I'd already been noticing through the week that the tyres were a little slippery, but didn't think anything of it. I just assumed that it was a heat cycle thing, and once I got rolling it would be fine. Unfortunately not. Had the tail kick out on me changing into third (not the best on such a narrow road) and so I couldn't trust the car going into the corners. The road was quite rough as well, so quite often the suspension would unload and cause the rear to break away on me.

The hillclimb itself was fun. The hill is very steep, which I figured would suit a car with a nice spread of torque like the 350Z. There was a great mix of cars there, from the NSCC contingent of 200SX's to guys in old V8 Commodores, to an immaculate Datsun 240Z with an RB25DET, and some custom twin-Mini-engined cars.

The threshold time for my class was 30 seconds, and I didn't manage to drop below 29.1. There were plenty of guys in the 200SX's running in the 28's. There was a straight long enough to accelerate in third, which lead into a deceptively near-flat right hander.

While you could do it even throttle to flat, because the turn-in point is blind you can't see it until you're almost at turn-in, so the novice will back off whereas the guys used to the track will just keep it pinned.

They'll be running more events next year, so I'll post up dates. You need to be a L2S license holder in a CAMS affiliated club, though.

Photos to come.

 

[davidm]

I don't think I've heard of "Huntley Hillclimb" before ... probably because it's in NSW. Did you guys run only up the hill, or down as well? Also how many runs did you get?

 

[scathing]

Its run by the Wollongong car club.

Its only uphill. I'd hate to drive my Z down that hill...I'd probably bake the brakes after 2-3 runs, and there wouldn't be enough run-off to slow down the keener drivers.

 

[scathing]

Now with added photos.

http://my350zis.fucken.1337.as/gallery/album28

 

[lionking]

Originally posted by scathing@Nov 7 2004, 04:06 AM

I'd already been noticing through the week that the tyres were a little slippery, but didn't think anything of it. I just assumed that it was a heat cycle thing, and once I got rolling it would be fine. Unfortunately not. Had the tail kick out on me changing into third (not the best on such a narrow road) and so I couldn't trust the car going into the corners. The road was quite rough as well, so quite often the suspension would unload and cause the rear to break away on me.

Hey Scathing,
Are you on the 040's? I know a lot of people don't like them - say they are ****. Some because of noise, some because of grip. (did I just make a rhyme?).

I don't think they are that bad grip-wise. However, they must be heated up first. When I leave my street on cold tires the car is always goin sideway like it's on ice. But after they're heated up I really struggle to break traction. I really noticed this at the track - the hotter they got the more they gripped. When really hot there was NO breaking traction at all.

One of my main concerns at Morwell was that there was no way to warm the tires before running. I wonder if this might have been part of your slippery delima?

And other people who say they are slippery, have you taken notice of how hot they are at the time?

 

[scathing]

Yes, I did it on the RE040's.

The problem I have with them is that they go off after one hot/cold cycle, and need a lot of heat to start gripping again. And, since they are street tyres, putting too much heat into them just causes tread block squirm. So you get a period where they work well, but they're bad on your cold lap and bad after a few hard laps.

When you first drive them, they provide a certain amount of grip. You take them for a bit of a hoon (like an extended country road session, or a track day) and, afterwards, that grip level when cold just drops like a stone.

With the other tyres I've driven on, its been a gradual fade in cold weather grip as you put them through hot/cold cycles. With the RE040's, the first time is the last time. And the grip just gets lower and lower the more cycles you put them through.

As for heating them up, we were allowed to do burnouts before our runs, which helped a little. Even with a big burnout, I'd still make the rear squirm when changing hard.

If you look at it that way, they're not bad for street high speed cruising. Once you get some temperature into them they start working well, but if you track hammer them then they will go off. On the various cruises I take my car on, the RE040's have worked reasonably and I've been able to full-throttle exit turns in third gear without slip.

I'd still prefer a much more plateaued grip / temperature ratio, though, to suit the nature of the car. Its no Type-R / Elise.