Fuel starvation on track

[Postal Bob]

I have the same issue at Charlotte Roval. I just make sure Im at 3/4 or more before each session. Bringing fuel jugs and adding after each session makes it a little easier to deal with in my opinion and is a must if there is no on site fuel available.

How did the cars at the GT350 track attack racing school. not run into this problem? I realize they may not be going as fast as someone driving the course on their own, but they do 3-20 minute sessions, and then the instructor ride along at the end. And I never saw them refuel the cars when I was there.

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[Tomster]

Not sure what you mean. But for hpde beginner a prius is fine too..
The more you raise the bar of your performance the more you will need to address issues brought by faster speeds.
So it is important to share the solutions.
And then of course
You dont need a fuel surge tank if you do 1 event per year with street tires.
But if you do 8-12 events and Especially if your home track has long left sweepers.. then you need a solution. And a surge tank is the one.
Unless you want to have always the tank full. And running not more than 15min.
And last...Keep in mind that fuel starving at 7500rpm is never good.

This is almost comical. I run the car has hard as you can and all I have to do is fill the tank before each session.

 

[72&18]

Hey all,

My home track is Nashville Superspeedway, which is a counterclockwise roval. I've found that I consistently run into fuel starvation issues due to the extended left-hand Gs pulled. Coming from the pit road onto the main banking I barely make it to the start/finish line before suffering fuel starvation if I start a session below 3/4 tank. This seems an excessive amount to have to have in the tank to avoid fuel starvation, has anyone else encountered this on long left-handers?

To try and avoid this, is there anything different about the pump and baffling setup in the GT500 that I may be able to adapt for the GT350 that would help or am I stuck looking for aftermarket help (or running with a heavy fuel load)?

I'm linking a non-starvation fast lap so you can see the long left in question (it's at the beginning and end of the video).

Nice lap Chip. I want spring to get here so bad.....

 

[Hack]

How did the cars at the GT350 track attack racing school. not run into this problem? I realize they may not be going as fast as someone driving the course on their own, but they do 3-20 minute sessions, and then the instructor ride along at the end. And I never saw them refuel the cars when I was there.

They just fill them up prior to the track time. It's easy enough to do like @Tomster said a few times in this thread.

And if you don't have a long left turn as shown, you won't have the problem. The track I go to the most, BIR in Brainerd MN, the fast turns are right handers. I had my GT350 down to 30 miles to empty on that track without any issues. However, once I realized how much fuel I was going through, I just filled the tank between each session like Tomster said. Then I had no worries about low fuel levels or running out.

Super easy solution and it has the side benefit of letting your car cool a little more between sessions. Driving a short distance to fill up is better for it than shutting it down immediately - even if you took it super easy on the cool down lap.

 

[Biggsy]

So for conversation….

More fuel means more weight. So if one was running Time trials and needed to make weight or cut down their weight they could do so by running less fuel. Using a surge tank will allow you to do so without issues. If time or weight isn’t important then of course just fill before every session. That is my thinking but I think we all can agree just fill up before every session

 

[Egparson202]

So for conversation….

More fuel means more weight. So if one was running Time trials and needed to make weight or cut down their weight they could do so by running less fuel. Using a surge tank will allow you to do so without issues. If time or weight isn’t important then of course just fill before every session. That is my thinking but I think we all can agree just fill up before every session

Conversation sounds good, thanks. I don’t think we should be surprised that this comes down to the same set of criteria we often see:

How do you use the car?
What’s your attitude toward mods?

And, so there’s not just one correct answer. I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t experienced this kind of starvation, but if I do I won’t hesitate to fix the root cause. It’s a shortcoming I wouldn’t want to live with.

OTOH I’m not going to throw stones at anyone who decides just to fuel up. Your car, your choice.

Hey @ChipG. You got that surge tank on order yet?

 

[Tomster]

So for conversation….

More fuel means more weight. So if one was running Time trials and needed to make weight or cut down their weight they could do so by running less fuel. Using a surge tank will allow you to do so without issues. If time or weight isn’t important then of course just fill before every session. That is my thinking but I think we all can agree just fill up before every session

That's true. But for most, the 1/4 tank (28 pounds) isn't going to amount to much of a difference.

 

[Egparson202]

That's true. But for most, the 1/4 tank (28 pounds) isn't going to amount to much of a difference.

Id be curious to know how much fuel has to be in the tank to completely prevent starvation as-is vs with a surge tank. That info would determine how long the session can be and what the weight penalty really is. We need to take the weight of the surge tank into account as well.

I will say I’ve often seen my fast laps to come either on lap 2-3 and then again on laps 10-12 after a lot of fuel has burned off.

 

[Flyhalf]

First and most important. As mentioned 350 has a better system than my GT.
Second depends what track you run.
If you have fast long left sweeper.
Third.what dedication you have.for track usage
4th How fast you go.
Then you can consider it comical or not.

But at the question "how you fix fuel starvation? "

I feel people would like to know what is the next step to " just fill.the tank more" answer. Then everyone will make his own decision.

 

[Biggsy]

First and most important. As mentioned 350 has a better system than my GT.
Second depends what track you run.
If you have fast long left sweeper.
Third.what dedication you have.for track usage
4th How fast you go.
Then you can consider it comical or not.

But at the question "how you fix fuel starvation? "

I feel people would like to know what is the next step to " just fill.the tank more" answer. Then everyone will make his own decision.

Did you have the tank for Daytona?

 

[Biggsy]

Conversation sounds good, thanks. I don’t think we should be surprised that this comes down to the same set of criteria we often see:

How do you use the car?
What’s your attitude toward mods?

And, so there’s not just one correct answer. I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t experienced this kind of starvation, but if I do I won’t hesitate to fix the root cause. It’s a shortcoming I wouldn’t want to live with.

OTOH I’m not going to throw stones at anyone who decides just to fuel up. Your car, your choice.

Hey @ChipG. You got that surge tank on order yet?

Lol I learned the hard way. Ran out of fuel on the track. Never had it happened so all in my head for 10 minutes was that the engine was toast. A trip to the track station cured all worries. Never go more than 2 sessions without refueling now.

 

[Flyhalf]

Did you have the tank for Daytona?

I did. I had too. After fuel starvation at Fontana Autoclub showed me i couldn't be without at Daytona.

 

[Tomster]

Id be curious to know how much fuel has to be in the tank to completely prevent starvation as-is vs with a surge tank. That info would determine how long the session can be and what the weight penalty really is. We need to take the weight of the surge tank into account as well.

I will say I’ve often seen my fast laps to come either on lap 2-3 and then again on laps 10-12 after a lot of fuel has burned off.

I found the 1/4 tank point is where it happens for me. That's running flat out at Daytona. I don't know what track would have more centrifugal forces for longer durations.

So that's my 2 cents. Fill the tank. If you are that far along as a driver, maybe it's time to upgrade the car.

Maybe that was people's point, but it is my humble opinion that an extensive modification is pointless for most divers in this car for most tracks.

 

[Egparson202]

I found the 1/4 tank point is where it happens for me. That's running flat out at Daytona. I don't know what track would have more centrifugal forces for longer durations.

So that's my 2 cents. Fill the tank. If you are that far along as a driver, maybe it's time to upgrade the car.

Maybe that was people's point, but it is my humble opinion that an extensive modification is pointless for most divers in this car for most tracks.

That’s pretty convincing. If it was at the half tank mark, I’d want to fix it but I’m not sure I’m getting under a quarter tank very often.

 

[Flyhalf]

I found the 1/4 tank point is where it happens for me. That's running flat out at Daytona. I don't know what track would have more centrifugal forces for longer durations.

So that's my 2 cents. Fill the tank. If you are that far along as a driver, maybe it's time to upgrade the car.

Maybe that was people's point, but it is my humble opinion that an extensive modification is pointless for most divers in this car for most tracks.

1/4 on the 350 seems about right.
For the GT is more than half unfortunately.
I just noticed this is on the 350 forum.
I got tagged and i assumed it was a GT.
I love daytona. I wish i could leave the car on the eastcoast ..

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