97coupechuck

My first real track day in my C8 is scheduled with MVP at COTA , its going to be 25 degrees in morning, high of 42 degrees with no rain. I was going to run the Michelin PS4 summer tires that came with the Z51 for track days until wore out. I bought daily custom wheels and Michelin AS for every day driving.
I've never seen this before here in south texas ever. What is protocol here? Will track even open?
If I dont get to cancel should I go ahead and run it?
Heres my real question, which tires do I run with? All season or PS4's??
Thanks for any help, chuck

DaOtherOne

IMO that is to cold for the PS4's and I would use the all season tires.

"The Pilot Sport 4S is Michelin's Max Performance Summer tire developed in cooperation with some of the most demanding vehicle manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche to utilize key technologies engineered during competition in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was designed for serious drivers looking to maximize the performance potential of their sports cars, performance sedans and powerful luxury vehicles. The Pilot Sport 4S excels in warm dry and wet conditions, so like all Max Performance Summer tires, is not intended to be serviced, stored nor driven in near- and below-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice."

96GS#007

I'd run the all-season. Too cold for the other tires.

Not sure of your experience level. If new or relatively new, you'll still have fun but the car will slip and slide very easily.

PeteC7

I've done mid 40's on MPSS's and it really wasn't too bad at all. But I think their is a big difference between a low of 40 in the morning versus days of a hard freeze and then briefly warming to 40. That track is still going to be frozen.

Tough decision since these are unique weather conditions and COTA has a reputation for eating cars and one of the reasons I've lost interest in running it. If you do it get track insurance and be careful.

TrackAire

My recommendation is skip the first morning session and sit it out. Let the other cars heat up the track for you, knock off any icy spots and put a little rubber down. The difference between the first session and second session will be night and day....and more fun and predictable for you.

X25

+1; PSS, PS4, and all these variants eventually overheat at the track. We such, just take it easy, and perhaps it'd take another lap for them to come alive, but they will. These cars are very powerful and heavy; there's no escaping heating up the tires : )

emptnest

I agree with the above. And even then, start out at 5/10 th’s and build speed slowly over several laps. I’ve seen quite a few experienced drivers struggle in such conditions. It’s almost like their experience gives them exaggerated confidence, right up until reality kicks them in the crotch....

PeteC7

How did it go Friday?

C6psi

Friday was a no go, track was not ready meaning there was snow and ice on areas that would have made it just dangerous to put cars out there. Austin in general was in pretty bad shape Thursday through Saturday AM. Was a challenge to find fuel, bathrooms in service, and some hotels without water. Saturday morning the track was ok with lots of wet areas and cold track but by the middle of the day 85% of the track was fast with the other 15% having areas of melting snow up hill and draining water across the track. Sunday things seemed to get back to normal for everyone.

I ran both my C6 and also my C8. Had MPSS on the C8 and they were fine after 3-4 laps on Saturday morning, IIRC the temps that morning were 21*. I swapped to the C6 with slicks on the second session and they were fine after 4-5 laps, just had to manage the throttle/steering input through/after the wet sections.

97coupechuck

Closed track friday, MVP notified us thursday. I couldnt run sat or sunday, prior commitment, no refund.

Feffman

We drove from St. Louis with the prediction for ice in Tulsa & OKC Wednesday none of which materialized. We stayed in Gainesville, TX Wednesday with a predicted ice storm Wednesday night that, thankfully, never occurred. The drive to Austin hit a snag with a jackknifed semi about 45 miles north of Austin on I-35. Took them about 2 hours to clear it. One truck with salt, not sand, would have corrected this issue on I-35 in ten minutes.

As noted, Friday was a non-starter since COTA didn't have the track cleared of snow. They worked diligently to clear the track and paddock. Saturday, we pushed the start time back and hour to 9:00AM to get more heat on the track and ran an hour later. I was out first session on Saturday AM and it was fine but did get a good fishtail coming out of turn 11. The temps capped just above 60 Saturday. We ran the scheduled four sessions for each group Saturday.

Sunday was warm, ending above 70 degrees. We combined the two advanced and two intermediate run groups to run eight, 1/2 hour sessions for each group effectively squeezing three days of track time into two for Saturday & Sunday drivers.

The struggle was Thursday night for food. We ended up eating hot pockets in the hotel lobby. Friday we ate fast food and Saturday we hit one of our favorite restaurants, Moonshine, in Austin for a good dinner. The hotel had both water and power but there was a boil order so no drinking of local water. The hotel supplied bottled water for brushing teeth, drinking, etc. We rolled out Sunday at 5:15PM and the roads were clear and the crazy Dallas drivers never missed a beat.

Feff

C6psi

Considering the circumstances I feel things turned out the best they could have for those that decided to challenge the drive to get there. Got all the track time I paid for condensed into 2 days. I feel like COTA could have done more to have the track ready by Friday AM but it's their track and safety should be the number 1 concern.