Track day driving gloves...
Discussion
OK, about to do a track day in my own car for the first time. Now, I've seen plenty of videos of the 'Ring etc where the driver is wearing gloves, my question is will they actually make any difference?
Cycling analogy, is it the same as me eating buckets of curry and gallons of beer and then spending cash on a carbon fibre bottle cage (utterly pointless), or going for a long ride and not bothering with decent proper shorts (utterly mad not to?)
Cycling analogy, is it the same as me eating buckets of curry and gallons of beer and then spending cash on a carbon fibre bottle cage (utterly pointless), or going for a long ride and not bothering with decent proper shorts (utterly mad not to?)
, and nobody wants that on a track day! 
joe_90 said:
What is the steering wheel covered in?
Shiny 90000 mile leather. (Boxster)Make no mistake, I'm just going to drive round smoothly and within my abilities, I don't anticipate big "dabs of oppo" on every corner, however I did wonder if I was "missing" something not having any. As has been pointed out, I can actually see the possibility of sweaty palms in all the excitement.
TBH the car is pretty much my daily, and if it's a remotely pleasant day, I tend to drive roof down, winter days and summer nights included. So if they've got a degree of warmth, they'd probably get use as on-road winter driving gloves (so I'd go for something black and subtle)
Gloves will likely give much less grip on a smooth leather steering wheel than your bare hands, racing gloves are designed to be used with alcantara or suede covered wheels which are not smooth at all.
If you end up having a 'moment' and your hands slip at all while wearing gloves it might turn a recovery into a disaster. I changed the wheel on my car from a smooth leather to an alcantara covered one for this very reason.
If you end up having a 'moment' and your hands slip at all while wearing gloves it might turn a recovery into a disaster. I changed the wheel on my car from a smooth leather to an alcantara covered one for this very reason.
I tried my karting gloves for my first track day, similar to the ones posted by the OP and found them to be useless with a leather steering wheel. I imagine with an alacantara wheel it would be fine. The combination was too slippery to be comfortable with, although I guess it also depends what you're used to/comfortable driving with.
BeMo said:
I tried my karting gloves for my first track day, similar to the ones posted by the OP and found them to be useless with a leather steering wheel. I imagine with an alacantara wheel it would be fine. The combination was too slippery to be comfortable with, although I guess it also depends what you're used to/comfortable driving with.
Right. Well thanks a bloody bunch for your reply. I'd done the man maths, worked out which colour I liked, and which T shirt would look good with them. I'd even worked out what I was going to say to my passenger..."apparently it's a bit gnarly round Beckett's today, if we want to stay glued to that Huracan/P1/918/Atom V8 (delete as appropriate) I'd better put these on". I'd also practiced putting on a pair of gloves so that a) it didn't look like I was about to strangle someone, b) it didn't look like I was about to search someone for drugs rectally, and c) I didn't even need to use my teeth. (To help put the gloves on, not search for drugs, that is.)I had repeated the mantra "helmet on first, helmet on first, helmet on first" 50 times to avoid any "maaaaaaaaaate, can you just do my helmet strap up please" embarassement and was just about to practice that whole "throw gloves in through window so they land perfectly on dashboard, logo side up, while the car ticks itself cool" trick. I'd even thought about buying white ones, and perfecting my "well, after the show got cancelled, the BBC took the rest of the suit back, but somehow they forgot about the gloves, so, yeah (chuckle and simultaneously raise right eyebrow 4mm), you could say they are a bit of a memento of some happy years" story.
But then you come along, with your real world experience, your common sense, your been there done that information, and RUIN yes RUIN everything. So no, I won't be "buying it now" or "ordering with one click" and it's all YOUR fault.
I'm off to sulk now. Thankyou SO much.
I don't wear gloves, do have a shiny leather steering wheel (though I hook my thumbs over for extra grip).
On a track day I am fairly on the pace and yes, my hands do get sweaty.
This is partly because I am working fairly hard at cornering as fast as possible, but also because it does get hot in the car thanks to:
a) the rules about keeping the windows almost shut,
b) my car not having aircon, and
c) my car having a big V8 heater next to my left knee.
However, even though my hands get sweaty, I don't seem to lose grip on the steering wheel, even when the car is misbehaving (note, not a driver malfunction or lack of talent).
On a track day I am fairly on the pace and yes, my hands do get sweaty.
This is partly because I am working fairly hard at cornering as fast as possible, but also because it does get hot in the car thanks to:
a) the rules about keeping the windows almost shut,
b) my car not having aircon, and
c) my car having a big V8 heater next to my left knee.
However, even though my hands get sweaty, I don't seem to lose grip on the steering wheel, even when the car is misbehaving (note, not a driver malfunction or lack of talent).
Krikkit said:
Thermobaric said:
High adrenaline situations like that tend to make your hands pretty sweaty. Better off with some decent gloves for grip.
I think if your heart is doing 200bpm and you're sweating buckets you've got the track day thing wrong...I wear no gloves at all, ultimate feel of the steering and my hands don't sweat up, probably because they don't have gloves on.
gizlaroc said:
You do realise the leather goes shiny and hard through the years of grease applied to it.
2 minutes with one of these will get it looking matte and new again, no sliding around on it.
To quote myself, I was being serious about the above. 2 minutes with one of these will get it looking matte and new again, no sliding around on it.
It will get your steering wheel looking factory fresh again.
Tesco £5, click and collect as well. Amazing results.
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