ChadCapece

Adrian, thanks for the helpful words of wisdom

Quick question...is grapesoda the highest traction softdrink? If you could choose between every flavor/type, what kind would you get? I've checked the labels and grapesoda does have the most sugar, but does it have the most syrup?

thanks
chad

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

It really doesn't matter that much. Just go for the nasty cheap store brand stuff you used to love when you were a kid.

The Reedy Race at the Tamiya track uses pancake syrup from a restaurant supply company to spray the track. I think they pour one gallon of syrup into a 5 gal sprayer and have at it. Note that this is NOT maple syrup. Pancake syrup is mostly flavored corn syrup....very sticky!

Either way don't overdo spaying of the track it will get greasy. If your tires are sticky and gummy when you take your car off the track you have sprayed too much. Tires should come off the track dry and clean.

ChadCapece

Should we try to get the turns to where it feels like your shoe is kinda sticking to the track? Or is that too much?

imprsme

iTrader: (91)

With Soda thats to much...

With the sprayers all you need to do is MIST the track.

At no time should you have soda standing in pools/puddles.

greencactus3

in which splashing coke all over your steel bits isnt a good idea.

BigDogRacing

iTrader: (12)

Adrian, that's great insight on the sealer. We are looking into sealing the parking lot surface where we race currently. Normally, I would abandon the idea after reading your post, but there are some considerations that might allow sealer to still be an option for us. I'll list those points and maybe you can give a little feedback...

1- our current surface is older asphalt and the rocks are much higher than the tarmac, but they are polished so the traction is pretty low. Even if the sealer did wear down to low traction we would simply be right back where we started.

2- our track is temporary and the layout chages almost every race. This means the racing line will obviously be different and that pretty much takes the issue of wearing down the sealer on the racing line out of the equasion.

3- we use methanol/VHT mixture to spray the track and if I'm not mistaken the VHT reduces the sealer wearing down quite a bit.

4- our plans are to actually seal it twice; first a mixture with the silica sand in it to not only create a texture but to fill in where the tarmac is worn below the rocks, then another coat to make it smoother and lock in the silica sand so it doesn't come loose from the sealer. According to one of our club members that owns his own asphalt company this will make it smooth and the sand won't have a lot of effect on the texture but it will still give a little bit of texture. The main idea is to fill in where the tires won't just wear the sealer off the tops of the rocks and be right back where we were- just as you stated. In fact, James said he likes to use large squeegies to apply the sealer to get it to fill in. He said we might even have to do 3 coats just to get it built up and smooth.

Thanks Adrian, and tell PW I said hi!!!

John Malin

The best traction I have seen on asphalt in Florida was done with plain old sugar and water. The key is to use hot water so all the sugar melts and tu use a pump and recirculate the water/sugar mix until all of the sugar crystals have disolved. You should spray the sugar water in a fairly strong myst. When you have done enough your racing surface will almost take on a brown hue. For sure it will be darker than any surrounding pavement. Dont be afraid to put more than one coat on. Just make sure that you put it on in an even myst and to let each coating dry before the next layer is applied. Usually 2 layers is more than enough. We are not trying to get a theater floor effect. If you get that then you have too much sugar on. Oh yeah 5lb bag to 10 gallons of water.

john

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

Big Dog - If your surface is really bad sealer may be an OK option. The main thing is the sand in the mix will always wear away no matter what you do and the sealer itself will oxidize and wear away. You will have to reseal at least once per year to maintain traction. If that is an acceptable expense for the track then it will certainly be better than what you are racing on now.

dizzy1

iTrader: (29)

I race at SRS and it was sealed a while back, traction is okay but it is very smooth surface. If any dust kicks up the traction is gone due to this smooth surface, plus side is you don't eat up tires as fast compared to a more aggressive surface. I believe Scott throws down cheap orange soda in a sprayer for traction(I think he likes to sniff the orange flavor over grape )

edseb

Adrian:
Thanks for the heads up on the sealer. Our track is getting very old and has cracks as well. We've been using grape soda after we hose down the track and it dries. Only, now the asphault is so old that it is really rough in spots and has cracks which we are filling with a rubber based crack repair. We are hoping to reseal it this weekend with a rubber based sealer and let it sit for a couple of days. I'm scared about the possible problems, but I think it will be better in the long run since we can't really afford to reasphault it.

BigDogRacing

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Adrian, I think you're right and it will be worth the expense. Actually with our asphalt guy's price on sealer it won't be that bad. Resealing isn't a problem if the traction is worth the labor. As far as the sand coming up, I think the second coat will stop that to a point and if we reseal before it gets too bad then won't have to worry about it too much.

edseb- if you didn't read my earlier post, my asphalt guy says that doing 2 thin to medium coats with a squeegee will fill the imperfections better than one thick coat. Plus the thin coats will dry faster than one thick coat, so it takes about the same amount of time for the overall process.

edseb

Thanks Big Dog. Will keep that in mind when laying down the sealer.

ChadCapece

Roughly, how much would it cost to seal a 100x75ft track?