ICE RACING 2008

[Jacki&GeneZ16]

Took my Yellow Festy to the Alaska Sports Car Club ice race on Big Lake on 8 March and I had a ball! First time for wheel to wheel racing for me. The Festy held up to the competition.

Only 4 cars in my non-stud class, if you use street stud or super-stud the car has to have a roll cage. RX-7 (1st Gen), Jetta (about 10 years old) and an Audi Quatro (about 10 or 15 years old).

Those skinny 12 tires gave me an advantage in the tightest turns of the 0.4 mile course. Each race was 10 laps. I place 3rd in 3 races with 4 cars, 2nd in 1 race with 3 cars, and my friend drove the Yellow Festy in one race, half way through he got stuck in a snow bank, giving him a lock on 4th place out of a 4 car race.

Too Bad it will likely be the last race of the year. Apparently the warmer temps we been having past weeks is going to end the season early.

I hope to have some photos in the future.

[Icedawg]

Congrats on your first wheel to wheel event! Careful: It's both fun and addictive!
So does the Anchorage club have a website? How long has the club been around?
Here in Alberta we have run ice racing for about 45 years, though warming lately has meant the seasons have not gone as well as they used to.
There are a lot of festiva's running. Most have a B6, BP or B6T.
http://www.nascc.ab.ca/

[25Horseplay]

Thats awesome! Post some pics when you can!

[Jacki&GeneZ16]

Sorry about the delay, here is a link to some pics:

http://www.alaskamotorsports.com/forums/showthread.php?p=479035#post479035

[Jacki&GeneZ16]

So does the Anchorage club have a website? How long has the club been around?

here is the website:

http://www.aksportscarclub.org/TOC.htm

Go to Results and Standings to see our 2009 season. I think the Alaska Sports Car Club has been ice racing since the late 1950s.

BTW, the skinny tire advantage in 2008 did not happen in 2009; we did not have any slushy wet courses.

I really need different tires. I've tried every stock 4 hole pattern steel wheel in 13, 14, and 15 inch wheel for all the junkyards. Could anyone give me a source for a wheel manufacturer who can provide 14 inch wheels that fit my 1991?

My suspension is stock so you know I really need an unusual offset.

[Icedawg]

Last 2 years I used old no-name snow tires 145/80x12, with a tire knife and I siped them, but did not get a noticeable improvement in traction on ice. I race in the studless rubber tire class, most successful ice racers use Bridgestone Blizzack tires. But they are not available in 12s to fit my stock Festiva. I am considering getting adaptors/spacers to use old Mazda RX-7...

Nice to hear from you in a PM Gene. I could not get the reply function to work, so I have placed my reply here.

I have tried several different snow tire types, as have other ice racers here in Edmonton. Nothing compares to the Blizzacks, all advertising notwithstanding! I went from second to last by switching from worn out Blizzacks to a set of healthy Michelin X-ICE. A friend had the same experience switching to Nokian Hakkepelittas (spelling?)

When I bought the Blizzacks they were still selling 13 inch tires. Quite a few Mazda 323 wheels are 13 inch and have the same bolt pattern as the 12 inch Festiva, so they are a direct bolt on swap. But Bridgestone may have discontinued the 13 inch now too. If not, I would go 13, the smaller the tire the higher the pressure and traction. If they are not made anymore than your 14 inch proposal might work. But you will have to check closely for clearance, those are pretty big and you need a lot of travel when ice racing.
Several of the northern US racing clubs do what is called tractionizing. It is supposed to take an ordinary snow tire and make it as good or better than a Blizzack. They describe it on some of their club websites. It uses a tool head with a lot of nails or sharp objects in it and the tire is turned under it to cut up and gouge it out deeply. Tire life is greatly reduced, but performance is greatly enhanced. We have a rule against it here from the dark depths of history, so we have no current experience with it. But it sounds like a cheap way to go, and solves the diameter problem too.

[iceracerdude]

Hey, I've got a quick question on the "tractionizer" why is it's use outlawed in your club?
Also, you're right about the 13" Blizzaks (WS-50's) being gone now, you can still get blizzaks in a 14, but they'll have to be WS-60's. Nokkian does make a great hakka RSI in a 13, which I campained last year to a 2nd place in rubber to ice with my club (MIRA). That Assfire in the pictures.
But I agree with you, I'd rather have the Blizzak WS-50's over the RSI's for sure.
I'm thinking of getting some low profile 14" WS-60's and compare them against my 13" RSI's for the 2010 season...stay tuned, I'll let you know how that works out.

[Jacki&GeneZ16]

Icedawg & iceracerdude,
It looks like the Blizzack WS-50 is certainly going away, I bet production has stopped. Tire Rack is currently having a closeout $38/tire sale on in 155/80R13, apparently they are selling remaining stock. Last Chance! Better get them while you can. I'll look around for 4 bolt 323 wheels.

The "tractionizer" may be the same as what we call "super stud;" in our club only cars with a full roll case can use studded tires or "super studs." Our classes are street studs [IT cars], super studs [tires with sheet metal screws] and rubber to ice [no studs of any kind]. Past 2 season we have not had much interest in drivers using the "super studs" since they are labor intensive and relatively short lived (costly). Even studded tires have not been popular since the rubber to ice class has been improved with the ice tires, particularly the Blizzack.

[Jacki&GeneZ16]

For ice racing, and likely autocrossing, given my Festy is mostly stock, is there really a performance advantage if I did a suspension swap from an Aspire? Should I expect similar performance if I just used adaptor/spacers that allows me to use wheels with a 4 bolt x100 another car?

I rebuilt the stock engine 2 years ago, so I have not added front end weight (for more traction) with a bigger engine.

[TominMO]

I love how the yellow Festy stands out in the pic! Looks like a lot of fun! I'm jealous.
Tire Rack still has the Blizzaks in 155/80x13, according to this:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?search=true&performance=W&width=155%2F&ratio=80&diameter=13&x=9&y=9

Also, how are the Firestone Winterforce tires for your application?