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Thread: Concrete race
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Old 09-27-2007, 08:32 AM
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tfrahm
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Local parking lot races have been held on two locations with concrete surface. One was fairly smooth and the other is more of a broomed texture and is abrasive. Interestingly enough, trusty old Takeoff CS-27's work well on both (standard pre-mounts with medium inserts).. On the abrasive track Sorex 28R and 32R's also work (32R's are nice because they stand up to the surface and don't wear as much)...

All of this is in Midwestern USA heat, but concrete is not as affected by the sun and heat -- on a 100 degree day, the concrete only gets to 120-130 degrees, where asphalt can fry eggs...!

Tire "sauces" aren't used much here, as for these parking lot races, the surface is a bit dusty, and too much "sticky" on the tires makes them pick up crud and really hurts performance -- Simple Green or Orange Clean is used to clean the tires, but that's about it.

One key wildcard in all of this is the texture of the concrete -- surfaces can vary widely (from a slick, almost polished finish to a coarse broomed surface that is like sandpaper). Adjust accordingly -- what will your surface be like?

Another wildcard comes from the joints between concrete sections. One local location was super smooth, with joints that were cut with a saw, so the transitions were smooth and almost invisible to the cars, allowing lower ride height and stiffer setups... The other location has some SIGNIFICANT "bumps" associated with these joints, since the joints were actual boundaries to multiple pours, creating wider gaps and some serious transitions -- cars have to be setup higher and softer for this location. (The track has to be laid our very carefully -- if it makes the cars hit some joints the "wrong-way", the cars get AIRBORNE!)...
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