Fury or Phoenix - driving in the wet?

[shivars]

Hi,

I'm on the lookout for something for racing; looking at a bike engined Fury or a Sylva Phoenix I think at the moment (well, ok so undecided as yet but ho hum)

Anyhoo, I also want to use whatever I end up with as a track day car, and on the road for days of fun!

Question is...they mostly don't seem to have a roof or any kind of canvas thingy, or any kind of windscreen.

Now that's fine by me - I don't mind getting wet. But how are they in the wet? anything I need to be careful of generally or is it just loads of silicone sealant all over the electrics?

(similarly, can I wear my track helmet on the road as well to keep my noggin safe and dry?)

any help appreciated,

cheers

Shane

[Jon Ison]

Yup, helmet no problem

In the wet ? A handful, I have done nothing in particular with the electrics to make them water proof as such, all the relays etc are under the dash so out of harms way, the engine loom is all off the bike and stays drier under the bonnet than it would on a bike, as for lights n such well they get wet on anything ?

[robcollingridge]

All of the bits that could get damaged by water are generally out of sight and protected. The dash is under the front bulkhead and bodywork so it should be alright in the rain. You can get these cars with a windscreen as it is one of the options. You can get a Fury with doors too. I'm also pretty sure I've seen a roof on my brother's Fury at some point (soft top).

Rob
http://www.robcollingridge.com/FuryR1/

[sam919]

I used to put silicon grease on the connections for relays etc just put a little on and when the crimp is home the silicon is pushed to the end of the connection making it more water resistant. Most of the components where behind the steering wheel above the column so pretty dry. You can wrap up wiring looms and potential water holding areas with self amalgamating tape, the stuff you get from 3M.

An area that got water in it was the recifier as it was mounted verticaly with the connections to the top, should have noticed but only found out when it went.

Handling wise if youve got some good tyres on, R888's for example, and have the correct pressures 20 or so hot, then there not too bad. Its a good way to have some fun in the car at relatively low speeds instead of when its dry and you traction is increased.

[rdjohn]

When I first bought my ex Class C BEC race car, I towed it on the Autoroute after a snow storm and the salty spray definately messed up all the switches and contacts. If the weather looks bad now, I tape things over with duck tape as an added precaution.

My Yoko 032s are great on a damp track but at my last day out when it was about 3degC with flowing water on the track, I could not get the tyres hot enough to work on track and so would be sceptical about safe road use.

[hugh_]

I've got AO48's on the rear and R888 on the front of mine (which is, incidentally, for sale). Seems to handle the wet fine as long as you are careful with it, the opportunity for fun in other ways presents itself at speeds which wont kill you/the car instantly if it all went pear shaped

[shivars]

fantastic thanks all - the more I think about it the more this sounds exactly the kinda thing I want.

Actually even the lack of grip in the wet sounds good; I like a challenge, and it can only improve my driving

[FlatPack]

I've done nothing special to protect the electrics in my Striker from the rain and it seems to work fine... Sat in a traffic jam on the way back from a (damp) trackday at Anglesey in November in the pouring rain wondering what was going to conk out, but everything still worked. I've got Yoko A048s on mine too and they're fine in the damp / wet, but things can get exciting the minute you hit standing water... Light weight, relatively wide tyres (195s) for the weight and a tyre that's not exactly known for clearing water isn't the best combination. Will be ok if you're sensible and it doesn't catch you unawares though

Oh and if you've only got an aeroscreen you'll want to wear a helmet all the time anyway!