How hard is the Glen on tires?

G

gran racing

Super Moderator
Here's the deal, I drive a FWD car and it is a bit hard on the front tires. I'm considering doing a 2 hour Enduro (will be using the short track). How does this track compare with say LRP on tire wear?

I know there are a lot of factors here, but just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks!
 
Well, I've mostly driven it in the rain, so I'll just take an educated guess. Others like Joeg and Bill Weaver will chime in I'm sure.

The first turn is downhill and can grind the lf a bit. But in my car, (and presumably yours, we're about the same, right?) the "esses" are non events. I drive them trying to not scrub speed. So no wear there. Then there is the bus-stop chicane...heavy braking coming into the first right jog, then you will be hard on the throttle coming out (another right) and into a looong cambered right. A straight into the only real left, then another right onto the front straight. Lap times are a lot longer than LRP, and there is more straight driving, so they will cool a bit better.

I would say that you might be ok, (what tires do you run?) but having a spare lf would be a good bet.

(As an aside, I did the enduro at NHIS and the rf felt very bad just after 2 hours. After the race I checked and, when the light was right, I could see the inside of the rim through the tread. Ok, stetching it a bit there, but I did go through 5 plies in many spots, and had a 1" bulge. Not pretty. I run Hoosiers, and had a few heat cycles on them going in.))

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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]
 
Originally posted by gran racing:
Here's the deal, I drive a FWD car and it is a bit hard on the front tires. I'm considering doing a 2 hour Enduro (will be using the short track). How does this track compare with say LRP on tire wear?

I know there are a lot of factors here, but just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Dave I find the Glen to be quite easy on tires, although the pavement varies in quality quite a bit, it doesn't have that hard jerking forces that LR does. Keep in mind that the chicane really is faster than you think especially in an fwd. The short coarse is a lot of fun, and the short straight is really fast if you get the sweeper out of the chicane right. Just snug up the belts a bit and keep your foot in it.


Too bad the knee isn't done, or I'd be beggin a ride in than enduro.
 
We ran an Audi Club driver's education event at Watkins Glen two weeks ago, getting in about 3 hours' track time (long course). We were running Hoosiers, with a one-race pair on the front and a three-race pair in back.

We hardly dented the tires and never rotated them. I suspect they would have lasted for at least another three hours, especially if we rotated them.

Greg
 
That is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Oh, you want me to drive one of your Audis for you?

Well, I'm still happy to hear your tire report anyways.
 
Tires last pretty long there. Last year ran the 3 hr enduro on new shaved Kumhos and the next day used the same tires for quaifying in the dry and sprint in the wet. Yeah ran on shaved tires in the wet for my only win to date.
smile.gif
FWD is great in the rain.

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Crazy Joe
#7 ITS pilot
 
Last year we ran the 3hr enduro at watkins Glenn with one of the Audi's... We had never run their before with one of the Audi's so we set up the camber/toe, etc. similar to Lime Rock. We had shaved kumo's that we ran for the 1 hour of practice and the entire enduro... (short Course)

All drivers ran consistant times that were .5-1.5 seconds of the class track record so needless to say we were not being gentle (My Brother, My Father, and Myself drove and all wanted to have the fastest lap time... some sort of familr rivelry).

Anyway tires looked new at the end of the race!!!

This year we will be running both cars with Hoosiers, and we do not planning on changing tires.

Raymond "pit stops are for fuel and driver changes only" Blethen
 
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