V2R Heat Management for the Peeps in the Car...

[AlumCJ]

120+ Degree Race Car at V2R.....what do people do besides hydrate....

Cool Shirts?
Refrigerated Pumpers?
Man up?

I don't want to be too miserable...the firesuit is more like a snowmobile suit....friggin hot.

[MY56CJ6]

Piss on yourself, the wind will help cool you......

I am actually asking the same question. I am shooting for my FIRST race in my Jeepspeed this summer and want to see how I can stay cooler as well.

[DSI]

Well, Since I live in this desert we're racing in, I just start spending alot of time outdoors acclimating. But you never really get used to it.

[Gunmetalcruz]

Heat shields on exhaust helps a ton. Last year it was 110-112 at tech in the casino parking lot and maybe a bit cooler when the ultra 4's left the line. The wind chill factor helps. Hopefully it's not to hot this year.

[BigBlue&Goldie]

We dump ice in the driver/co dog's water resevoir at every pit stop that permits it..................as for the guys in the pit, we drink cold beer.

[Vu14TJ]

Well since we can cross off the dry ice idea hahaha, this looks good (a few dollars and some space).....

http://shop.coolshirt.com/products/p...asSNZDco.email

Anyone running this system or at least the cool shirt and have an opinion? Paging Doug Bigelow......

[TCARP1]

Man up

[Arya Ebrahimi]

When reading about V2R and other races where heat is such a big factor, I've often wondered if the complications and parasitic loss of a small AC system would not be far outweighed by the benefits of less driver fatigue.

It seems to me like getting the car to live in an endurance race is as much about driver acuity as it is about prepping the car properly. I'm not talking about an AC system to cool the world, but I would think a system piped into the pumper and/or the firesuit would make a world of difference for the driver/codriver.

Just my non desert racer ramblings. Carry on.

[laproscopic]

cardio.
go run or cycle outside in the heat.
if you are fat-eat less

you could also go buy a real cheap and thin fire suit and risk burning to death

[EasyXJ]

When my brother and I were racing road courses with nasa, we used the coolshirts. Amazing how well they did at cooling your ass down inside those freakin' ovens. That ice doesn't last very long though. If you go this route, make sure your crew can dump the cooler and refill it quickly.

[DOUG38S]

Porticool II Shirt ran off of CO2

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...535&highlight=

How many of us have Powertanks? or access to CO2?

I'll have this at the Badlands ready to use. I havent used it yet other than testing it out around the shop. Frankly it hasnt been that hot out yet. If you want to see it stop by and say hi.

[Vu14TJ]

Thanks for chiming in Doug, I will come check it out in Attica.

[jpizol]

tight underarmour keeps the water in good in my experience just unzip top couple inches of fire suit in pit and dump cool not COLD water down works good for me

[jimmysc13]

You don't want to wear underarmor or anything that is similar material when you could be burned... I've seen the results of that and it's horrible. It melts, on to your burnt flesh...


The cool suit systems work awesome. But they have limited time span( limited by the size of the ice chest you use), but if some one dumps Ice in at each stop that solves that problem.

There are some professional and home brewed electric coolers out too. They don't get as cold as the ice but they last forever, iirc the water stays about ~70 degrees.

[Bigburlynakedguy]

Originally Posted by BigBlue&Goldie

We dump ice in the driver/co dog's water resevoir at every pit stop that permits it..................as for the guys in the pit, we drink cold beer.

We always start with a 1 gallon drinking system full of ice and water, then fill it at the fuel pits with a remote filler on the opposite side of the fuel filler.

My crew does not drink alcohol whatsoever until the driver of the car can do the same. Too much risk vs. reward for us.


I have a 3 layer suit, am a large individual and sweat more than the average person. Remember that V2R starts in Beaty and is 10-15 degrees cooler than Vegas and you go north and up in elevation from there. It get's cooler as you go. I have never had a problem overheating in this race. You must start hydrating 2-3 days before the race and limit dieretics like alcohol and caffeine a few days prior.

[miniwally]

Originally Posted by jpizol

tight underarmour keeps the water in good in my experience just unzip top couple inches of fire suit in pit and dump cool not COLD water down works good for me

This works well but is honestly a recipe for disaster if you actually had a situation that you needed to depend on your fire suit.

Un zipped and wet are not good.

Man up, over hydrate prior to and get it done.

[AlumCJ]

man up it is....the doug suit is expensive.

[KacksterK5]

http://www.roadtrucker.com/koolatron...-quart-d24.htm

What about modifying something like this get cool air in the helmet at least. Use it like a heat exchanger, I could see it working with some ice packs or frozen bottles of water or something. Just spitballin.

could also use it as a heat exhanger for liquid capillary style coolshirt.

[jpizol]

Originally Posted by jimmysc13

You don't want to wear underarmor or anything that is similar material when you could be burned... I've seen the results of that and it's horrible. It melts, on to your burnt flesh...


The cool suit systems work awesome. But they have limited time span( limited by the size of the ice chest you use), but if some one dumps Ice in at each stop that solves that problem.

There are some professional and home brewed electric coolers out too. They don't get as cold as the ice but they last forever, iirc the water stays about ~70 degrees.

if the fire gets through my 2layer fire suit before i get extinguished i think i am guna have more problems then the underarmour melting to my skin... and you never ever want to dump ice onto somebody especially when they are hot it can send them straight into shock.

[BigWoodyWag]

Originally Posted by jpizol

if the fire gets through my 2layer fire suit before i get extinguished i think i am guna have more problems then the underarmour melting to my skin... and you never ever want to dump ice onto somebody especially when they are hot it can send them straight into shock.

fire wont have to get through your suit. With as much sweat as a suit ends up holding, if it gets on fire it will turn that liguid to steam and melt the underarmour, you actually end up with a steam burn well before you ever end up with an flame burn. Its still burn none the less.
This works the same if you wear a tshirt with silkscreened logo's on it under your suit, if you end up on fire you'll actually end up blistering your skin in the shape of that logo becuase the sweat hasnt been wicked away from the skin well in that area. food for thought.

I have been told, wear nothing at all or 100% pure cotton or 100% nomex under your suit, no LOGO's anywhere.


Will Carter at Crandon a few weeks ago.


















Read this article from the road race circuit
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...fighting-fire/
"Note: In particular, nothing is worn underneath the suit that can melt or is flammable. "
This car and this suit, 7 hours into a 25 hour race.




"At Turn 8, the car started filling up with smoke and fumes. “Okay, no big deal,” I thought, “I’ve been through this numerous times.” I put down my visor and called the crew to tell them there was a problem with the car. I was just a few seconds away from corner station 9, where there was help.
Then, in an instant, a fireball erupted in the car. I thought to myself, “Wow, this sucks!” as I reached for the fire system’s pull handle, easily within reach on the left-side A-pillar. (Thank you, Jules.)
The flames were soon gone, the heat dissipated, and as I slowed down for the station I hit the kill switch. I was still thinking that the situation wasn’t a problem, as there was still manageable hope we could fix it and finish the race.
As I slowed down to leave the track and head for the corner station, my right hand reached for the belt release. At that same moment, BOOM, there was a big explosion.
In an instant there was intense, searing bright light, lots of heat, and amazingly dead silence. My eyes were forced closed, but I could still tell that it was incredibly bright in the car. The heat was so intense it was unbearable.
Houston, we now have a problem—a big problem.
I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, and I am not embarrassed to say that at this point I was scared. For the first time ever in a race car, I knew without a doubt that I had to get out now in order to survive—right now!—or I was going to die. The heat started to hurt really, really bad—excruciatingly bad.
Learned instincts started to play out. I dropped the window net, but as I tried to get up I couldn’t, realizing I never undid the belts. I must have picked up my arm as the fire erupted from the middle of the car.
I released the belt with my right hand while I opened the door with my left. As I jumped out, I pulled myself out by grabbing the roll cage. At that moment, I had a profound thought: “Wow, that cage is hot.”
I was still in flames as I ran from the car, so I did the stop, drop and roll routine. (Thank you, Dick Van Dyke.) As I was sprayed with cool, refreshing water, I could finally start breathing again. (Thank you, safety workers.) I got a helicopter ride to the hospital, where I was treated for second-degree burns on both hands and my right arm. A few weeks of healing, and I’d be as good as new, ready for Daytona. I am one lucky duck! (Thank you, everyone involved in my care.)"

[512motorsports]

Cool suits are nice but I cant stress enough how important it is to drink water, lots of water! Get some catheters and start chugging it down the whole race.

[BRB]

Originally Posted by BigWoodyWag

if you wear a tshirt with silkscreened logo's on it under your suit, if you end up on fire you'll actually end up blistering your skin in the shape of that logo

Truth.
I only wear Affliction or Metal Mulisha shirts while racing. IF i get in a vehicle fire at least the permanent skinburn logo's will look badass.

[jpizol]

its one's own way of doing things, i have used those cooling vests and they are uncomfortable as hell to me ,its all by comfort and opinion.

[howyadoin]

Hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate...we mount a couple Camelbacks each for hot races. I agree that Underarmour is absolutely the worst thing you could possible wear as well. Oakley makes some really cool "under shirts and pants" that are completely fire resistant and absolutely will not melt...small investment imho, and after burning a car to the ground three years ago in Silverstate, these things are always at the forefront of my team's minds at all times. .02
http://www.saferacer.com/auto-racing...FQF7hwodVmKkiA

[maxyedor]

Get the big Camelback and fill it with either half gatorade and half water, or use those little gatorade packets and mix with double the water they recommend.

Mount it so that you can either swap bladders in the pits, or easily refill it, then tell your crew chief to yell at you if it's not empty on every pit-stop.

Carbon underwear helps too, stays cooler than Nomex, not as good as Underarmor, but also not going to be a sticky mess stuck to you after a fire.