Warming Up...

Here’s a cruel racing driver joke. Take a lighter, light it, bob it up and down from left to right in front of you and ask somebody, “What’s this?” Answer, “Niki Lauda jogging at the Nurburgring.”

The method to my madness is of course, that Mr. Lauda, besides being a three time F1 champion (you might say he was on fire…I crack me up…) is one of the few pro’s whose advise on warming up a race car, from his 1975 text ‘The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving’ is substantial. Obviously I’m not going to quote all three pages here, but a few highlights are in order.

“At first we only give just enough gas to avoid letting the oil pressure exceed 10kp per square centimetre, otherwise the cold (and hence viscous) oil might cause damage to the various oil pipes or the oil filter.”

Now I had known not to rev the engine at start-up, daily driver or race car, primarily to avoid spinning stuff up while the oil that is supposed to keep the stuff spinning is sitting in the oil pan. This was the first time I’d heard about the oil’s thickness under pressure mucking up oil filters and the like. Granted a Mazda GT is not nearly as exotic as an F1 car, even a thirty-five year old F1 car. But the major point remains true for both cars. Don’t rev the engine on start-up. Wait for 180 degrees of oil temp before touching the throttle.

One of the next interesting bits goes…

“Once the oil and water have reached about 60 degrees Centigrade we slowly push up the revs and begin doing what we Austrians call melken - blipping the throttle, to open or close the throttle slide in rapid succession either using the accelerator pedal or applying one finger direct to the engine. The reason for this blipping the throttle is to prevent the spark plugs from oiling up as they otherwise might when the engine is running at constant revs on an enriched mixture”

In a Mazda GT this is something we do not do. Why I’m not sure, I’ve simply been doing what everybody else does. The fact is that the 12A Peripheral Port does run very rich at low RPM. It is very important not to put a large load on the motor at low RPM. The reason is that the peripheral port sacrifices drivability at low RPM for performance at peak RPM. It’s tuned to deliver above seven thousand RPM. Hit the throttle hard with the engine too low, while in gear and loaded, and the engine can be seriously damaged, at any temperature. The verdict on ‘Melken’ is that it’s unnecessary for us since I haven’t seen a whole lot of fouled plugs.

One part of the warm-up that Mr. Lauda missed, doubtless because he had a huge crew looking out for his car, was to look for fluids under the car as it is getting its first warm-up of the day. Remember that the fluids, if they are leaking, are going to be under the car, so get on your knees. I forgot to check exactly once, but thankfully Leroy happened to be there as I was backing out and stopped me, otherwise I might have destroyed an engine. Trust me, no matter how big the puddle you won’t see it once you’re strapped in.

The money quote, from “Art & Science” my favorite and timeless…

“The first laps of a practice day are in any case only used for instrument checks and never for great acts of courage : so we keep a close watch on the oil and water temperatures and return to the pits if they are not right – we can regulate them in any direction we want by putting on or taking off strips of sticky tape on the radiators”

Seat time is so precious, and the wait for an amateur driver like me so long between race weekends, that the overwhelming temptation is to take the car up to speed as soon as I’m out of the pit lane. That’s what I’m here for after all, to go really fast. I have to remind myself that just taking off, even once the car is warm, is still a very bad idea. Besides even if the motor is warm the transmission may be like ice. Go slow, work the car and driver up to speed in recognition that both will continue to get faster as the weekend progresses.

When you get into an actual fight, at race time, you’ll have less time for the gauges than during the morning warm-up. So use it:

• Insure that your EGT’s aren’t splitting up dramatically (you’llprobably
only read one during the race, if it’s a proxy for both then make sure they’re
saying the same thing)
• Have you lost an EGT gauge? (Blank, or impossible readings like -10 degrees.) Is it just the sensor or something more serious?
• Note the difference between oil and water temp. How much tape is on which radiator?
• What is the lowest RPM where you can get acceleration without
the engine stumbling?
• What are your EGT readings in fourth at peak RPM? Do you need to get the car rejetted? Is it too lean (High EGT) or too rich? (Stumbles)
• Trailing smoke? Greasy feel from the rear tires? You might have an oil leak.
• Check water and oil a couple times a lap. Are they steady? Do you need more tape, less? Are you exceeding 220? Dropping below 180?
• Any harmonic or “different” engine vibrations, don’t question it, trust your
feelings, shut it down and I mean right now and wait for the tow truck.
• Vibrations from the brake rotors? They can warp between weekends or crack if you catch a stone between a rotor and caliper. If you’re pushing the pedal and it keeps pushing back, head to the pits. Can you tell if its front or back? Which side? Leroy will thank you if you can tell him the right one.
• Try some threshold braking. Are the rears or fronts going to lock first?
• Leave the transmission fan off until the fun begins, or you can feel some heat in the
transmission.
• Strong gas smell, you can bleed fuel straight into the cockpit, bring it back in. The gas can also ruin your windscreen, wipe it down when you get back or it’ll look awful before too long.

Above all, when you get back to the pits and are asked, “How’s the car running” have something to say. Know the EGT readings, oil and water temperatures, pressures, either good or bad.

Otherwise they’ll think you aren’t paying attention. And they’ll be right.