Rain in Fontana?

[Steve O]

Hey guys, some may think this is a silly question, but, for those of you who have been and go to the west competition, how likely is it to rain in Fontana during the competition? Is it worth the $500 and use of our spare rims? Any teams that "risk" it out there and don't bring a set of rains? Is hoosier/goodyear on site if a day does look threatening?

The issue for our team doesn't really lie in buying rain tires that probably won't be used, it is that we would rather have spare tires on our extra set of rims in case we get a flat, although I guess if hoosier/goodyear are there and can do mounting then it's a non issue.

Thanks in advance for the insight/info. We are new to the west comp. so don't really know what to expect when we get there relative to Michigan.

Steve

[Composites Guy]

Why don't you call Hoosier and see if they are bringing tires you can buy. If my memory serves correct they had a truck at Fontana last year. You might be able to bring your spare rims along and watch the weather... it takes time to mount tires and you don't want to loose track time, but I imagine purchasing and mounting tires if it looks like it might rain would be ok. (Man... Hoosier would be pissed if everyone did this though...)

[Kurt Bilinski]

Don't bother. The weather is always hot, sometimes really hot, but always annoyingly hot. That's pretty much it. It's not worth lugging around $500 worth of rain tires when you can buy them at the track. And don't forget the space that they consume.

[exFSAE]

I would think that if you come to competition without rain tires, it will probably rain.

If you go with rain tires, it will likely be dry.

Murphy's Law. Its real, yknow.

[GSXR05K]

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USCA0384?month=1

And when I checked this last year, there was less than 10% chance of rain per day.

[Composites Guy]

Bring shelter from the sun... like a pavilion tent roof thing for your pits, but make sure its good for the unrelenting wind. Bring suntan lotion, and prepare to drink a couple gallons of water a day... if ye be a dweller of the lush cool green countryside like me. Its brutal to be outside in Fontana.

[A Richards]

I remember saying at the start of 2007 that there is no way that it would rain at FSAE-A. Fire and wind storms maybe, but not rain.

Hummmm.....

http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa249/deakinracetechnologies/Picture045-1.jpg

If you cant get wet tires at the comp i wouldnt risk it. You cant afford to risk a years work on the weather in my opinion

[John Grego]

The problem comes up when you go through tech because I believe you have to tech your rain tires. Last year we teched our slicks as our rain tires in Cali. We didn't bother to buy any rains.

[js10coastr]

for the 25 years I've lived in So Cal, I can remember two days of rain between the start of June and start of September.

[Biggy72]

we run a 4*100 bolt pattern so we just got an old set of honda civic wheels and tires for tech. Kind of a waste of space and we got some criticism for the tires barely having enough tread on them, but we were fine. It is very hot down there. I wouldn't worry about the rain. I think we'll probably take the same set of wheels and tires again this year.

[Prohet][]

Last year, when we were talking about what we would do if it rained I was all
"Its summer you idiots, it doesn't rain in summer in Australia. Your all crazy!!"
I was like that for the whole year. In Melbourne, it not only rained, it flooded.

[Hot Rod JayRad]

You dont have to be very scientific about it. If its going to rain in LA, the weather system will generate itself about a week away. Plus rain in LA is so rare anytime between march and november that ANY chance of rain becomes a big deal on the weather reports.

watch the weather a week before comp. I would think it would be safe to assume no rain.

[MalcolmG]

Originally posted by Prohet][:
Last year, when we were talking about what we would do if it rained I was all
"Its summer you idiots, it doesn't rain in summer in Australia. Your all crazy!!"
I was like that for the whole year. In Melbourne, it not only rained, it flooded.

^^^ we were exactly the same. We had a set of Yokohama road tyres we'd bought for competing in a local hill climb, and told ourselves it wasn't going to rain in Aussie so they would be fine to take as our wets. As everyone can see in Ashley's picture, it freaking bucketted down.

Bet big on there being no rain - it'll rain.

[Charlie]

Don't buy rain tires just for Fontana, it's a waste. Los Angeles is not Melbourne, it's so predictable I think the weather folks get paid waaaay too much money around here. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

The most it has ever rained in June in Los Angeles was about 1" for the entire month, and that was in 1887. And that is for the city, Fontana is in an even dryer area. Typical years, it does not rain in June or July at all, not even a bit. Average rainfall for June in LA is 0.00 or 0.01 inches depending on where you look.

It's the desert folks, it isn't going to rain, and if it did, it will be such a tiny amount that you won't need rain tires anyway (and the rain might not even break through the smog http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif )

Of course, if I had tires would I bring them? You bet! They would make good stools at the least....

[Steve O]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback!

Steve