[Hellcat TTU]

Hi all!

first chance to introduce my 2021 Frostbite Blue Redeye Charger Widebody with Brass Monkey rims.

I’ll be taking her to the track (Road Course) this Sunday at MSR Raceway in Houston. I wanted to ask for any advice for a completely stock setup (summer tires). This will be my first time at MSR so any advice for that track would be appreciated as well!
Ive seen advice on road course setups but they were aftermarket focused. All other track setups seem to be drag focused.

Also, is there any chance of damaging the rims taking hard turns if you decrease tire pressure (ie rolling onto the rim?)Apologies if that’s a dumb question, trying to protect the new purchase.

 

[dragrcr]

Hi all!

first chance to introduce my 2021 Frostbite Blue Redeye Charger Widebody with Brass Monkey rims.

I’ll be taking her to the track (Road Course) this Sunday at MSR Raceway in Houston. I wanted to ask for any advice for a completely stock setup (summer tires). This will be my first time at MSR so any advice for that track would be appreciated as well!
Ive seen advice on road course setups but they were aftermarket focused. All other track setups seem to be drag focused.

Also, is there any chance of damaging the rims taking hard turns if you decrease tire pressure (ie rolling onto the rim?)Apologies if that’s a dumb question, trying to protect the new purchase.

View attachment 578764

Zero chance you will hurt your rims. But I would not reduce tire pressure. I would start out at the pressure on the doorjamb sticker. Then as the tires heat up if I was making laps all day I might bleed to maintain that pressure, if the traction goes away. I do not road race but I do not think lowering pressure much is advisable and that is not because of the rims.

 

[dragrcr]

@DGatzby

 

[Blickie]

@dragrcr is correct. Run your tires at the cold pressure on the door sticker, which is probably 32 PSI. The pic shows why! Under/overinflated tires lose traction while overheating the sidewalls from excessive flexing. Proper inflation provides maximum contact and traction and does not overheat the sidewalls.

 

[Bradsredeye]

The road course is hard on a car. Agree about tire pressures. Your brakes will get a work-out. If they're soft and spongey at the end of the weekend, bleeding them using new fluid should restore most of the firmness to the pedal. Check your oil before before each session and bring a quart of oil with you. Add as necessary. If the oil is black at the end of the event, change it when you get home or as soon as you can. Make sure your helmet is compliant. If your instructor is a dick, request another one. Finally, have your oil temp and pressure pulled up on Performance pages. Set a limit in your mind as to just how hot you'll tolerate letting your oil temp get. Make sure you run at least one cool down lap for your car after every session.

 

[Blickie]

For me, a Road Course is not about driving so hard, so quick that I'm always in the brakes and overheating them. Plus, few know how to use brakes properly, tend to ride/overuse the brakes and overheat them. Brakes are supposed to be applied quickly and released quickly so they cool, but again I would use the trans and engine and throttle.

Put the Trans in either Sport or Track Mode and let the engine do some/most of the braking along with feathering the throttle to negotiate turns and corners. This will also keep the engine torque up and the throttle more responsive due to higher RPMs.

You may want to try either Sport or Track Suspension Mode to dampen body roll.

As @Bradsredeye suggested, keep your temp gauges up and do the cool down lap while watching your gauges.

 

[baabootoo]

So why are you lowering the tire pressure????? The manual also discusses this too. Just use TRACK mode until you get used to your car. Oh yeah, make sure to read the 1874 posts in the "What works on a Road Course" thread too (as of yesterday).

 

[hc797]

For me, a Road Course is not about driving so hard, so quick that I'm always in the brakes and overheating them. Plus, few know how to use brakes properly, tend to ride/overuse the brakes and overheat them. Brakes are supposed to be applied quickly and released quickly so they cool, but again I would use the trans and engine and throttle.

Put the Trans in either Sport or Track Mode and let the engine do some/most of the braking along with feathering the throttle to negotiate turns and corners. This will also keep the engine torque up and the throttle more responsive due to higher RPMs.

You may want to try either Sport or Track Suspension Mode to dampen body roll.

As @Bradsredeye suggested, keep your temp gauges up and do the cool down lap while watching your gauges.

On a 4500lb street car, instead of using cheap, easily replaceable brake pads to slow down, you would rather put more wear on the engine and transmission for braking - weird?

 

[Hellcat TTU]

Thank you for the helpful replies. As always, this being the internet, I expected the snooty replies. If you refer to the "What Works on a Road Course" thread, many start with a lower PSI 28-30. And as mentioned in my original post, that thread is heavily focused on after market heavy setups. I wanted advice for a purely stock Redeye.

I will definitely keep an eye on temp, and look forward to actually using the chiller feature on the Redeye to help cool down after runs. I have previously used the chalk on the sidewall to help determine tire pressure. I just haven't tried that on tires with such a high profile.

I plan on running in track mode. Will have extra oil on hand and air compressor to adjust tire pressure. Anyone ever run the chiller mode on these things? Was curious how effective it was to cool down after some runs. I have also seen suggestions of running at 500 hp. When I took my 2018 Hellcat on the track, it felt like I was sliding on ice everywhere since the slightest gas on an exit would overcome my traction. The 305's so far on the Redeye feel much better so far though.

 

[Bradsredeye]

On a 4500lb street car, instead of using cheap, easily replaceable brake pads to slow down, you would rather put more wear on the engine and transmission for braking - weird?

No offense to Mr. Blickle, but the brakes are the only way to slow down on a road-course. Rev matching is for keeping the car balanced on corner entry. Down shifting is for having the car in the right gear for the engine's power-band/sweet-spot to maximize corner exit speed. Using the engine to slow down on a road course is not even an option. There is no other way.

 

[TrackDay]

My first question is whether this is your first track day in any car.
If it is, set your tires to their street recommended pressures when cold and don't worry about them. Your stock brake pads and fluid will be fine. Get an instructor to ride with you and show you the best way around that course. Don't focus on setting a record time, just absorb what you can like a sponge. Your car will do fine if you take this attitude.
If, OTOH, you are more experienced and are driving a lot harder, then start with the same tire pressure when cold and after each session look at where your tires are showing contact with the road. Keep your hot pressures at 40 psi or less as a guideline and adjust pressures based on what you see on your tires.
Keep the car in Track mode and let it shift itself.
Try and keep your oil temps at 280F or lower and coolant at 225F or lower. You can go higher but I'm watching it very closely by those temps.
Other than that, go have fun and remember we have excellent straight line cars both in braking and accelerating. With our front weight bias slow in and fast out is a good beginning strategy. Be easy on the throttle at corner exit and focus on how early you can roll on the power where there are any straights.

 

[Hellcat TTU]

Just wanted to share that the Redeye was such a blast to drive on the track. The chiller mode and race cool down were awesome. I was running 3-5 laps no issues while others were struggling with the Texas heat. Cell phone video below. Gotta love that sound 2021 Charger Redeye Widebody at MSR Houston

 

[Nemesis RR]

Just wanted to share that the Redeye was such a blast to drive on the track. The chiller mode and race cool down were awesome. I was running 3-5 laps no issues while others were struggling with the Texas heat. Cell phone video below. Gotta love that sound 2021 Charger Redeye Widebody at MSR Houston

Where was everyone else?

 

[baabootoo]

Here's an odd question for those of you that drive these cars in the snow..... Ever throw it in neutral when stopping and see how much quicker it stops??????? It makes a HUGE difference in stopping distance, because we are not fighting the rear driven wheels, since the fronts do so much of the stopping. What would be good is if when we hit the brake pedal, the switch "unlocks" the converter (or something) so the rears are free wheeling and not under power. If I remember........... I'll give it a try at Road America next Monday.

 

[Bradsredeye]

That makes no sense to me whatsoever. There's got to be some small reduction of velocity caused by the torque of the engine and the transmission downshifting when slowing down. Freewheeling would eliminate that completely. And I sure as hell wouldn't try to put an automatic transmission into neutral while standing on the brakes in a braking zone. A manual car would be downshifted, heal-toe style, to balance the car turning into the corner, and then placed in the appropriate gear to maximize corner exit speed. Going to neutral to enable free-wheeling is not what you want to do. If my student was doing anything of the sort, we'd soon be in the pits having a discussion.