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Northstar Motorsports BLOG
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(10 Apr 2007) Driver Cooling and Hydration If you have ever driven a race car in the summer with ambient temperatures in the 90 degree F range, you no doubt know how uncomfortable it gets. In this environment the temperature inside the race car can easily approach 120-140 degrees F. And if you happen to race a car with fixed side windows, like a Porsche GT3 Cup car, the temperature could even get higher. No matter how good your physical conditioning, you are going to get very, very hot and probably dehydrated in a short period of time unless you take precautionary steps. Fortunately, there are several solutions to these problems. First, there are several new Nomex drivers suits which are extremely light weight and very breathable. Examples of these are the X-Light HC by Sparco, the Tecnica Light by OMP and the GP Tech by Alpinestars. All of these suits are 3 layers and weigh only 300 grams/ square meter. These are the lightest weight drivers suits on the market today. A cool suit system is the perfect compliment to an ultra-lightweight drivers suit. These systems consist of a large cooler (16 Qt.) which has a built-in submersible pump. The cooler is filled with water to cover the pump and then topped-up with ice. The ice water is pumped from the cooler via insulated tubes to a T-shirt which the driver wears under the drivers suit. The T-shirt has small tubes stitched to the outside thru which the ice water flows. After the water has circulated thru the tubes it is returned to the cooler via a return tube. The system is completed with a rheostat which controls the pump operation. If the driver gets too cold the pump can be adjusted to cycle on and off at different rates rather than to run continuously. This system allows the drivers core temperature to remain cooler and thus allow the driver to function at peak performance levels even in very high temperatures inside the race car. Hydration is another key element in helping a driver to perform for extended periods in high heat conditions. At Northstar we have developed a hydration system which consists of a dry-break connector fitted to the outside of the helmet and a piece of surgical tubing which extends inside the helmet functioning as a “drink tube”. We utilize an insulated Camelbak drink container which is typically tie-wrapped to the roll cage behind the driver’s seat. The container holds 72 ounces of water (or performance drink) and the opening is large enough to allow ice cubes to be used to keep the liquid cold. Our system then uses a tube to connect the container with an in-line check valve and another dry-break connector on the end. That way when the driver gets into the car all that is necessary is to plug the two dry-break connectors together and “voila” the driver can drink cold water while driving. One last item that is available is a fresh air blower system which utilizes the same cooler as the cool suit system but heat exchangers are included along with the pump. Outside “clean air” is blown thru the cooler’s heat exchangers and into the drivers helmet providing a supply of cool clean air to aid breathing on those sweltering hot summer days. At Northstar Motorsports we carry all of these ultra-lightweight suits. The Sparco X-Light HC is $1,525; the OMP Tecnica Light and the Alpinestars GP Tech are both $1,399. The cool suit systems begin at $398 and go up to $1,095 complete with the air and water system. Northstar’s proprietary Professional Endurance Racing Hydration system is $90 for the helmet conversion and $30 for the Camelbak drink bottle. Tech Tips Archive
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