NickZag

So I finally got to take my A4 out to Infineon (Sears Point) which is a road course. Over all, I was very impressed. The handling was almost as good as my C63, and the quattro really was amazing. This is the first AWD car I've taken on a track before and it felt a lot different then the RWD I'm used to. There is always grip, and when it starts to oversteer a bit it's very forgiving. The brakes were good, although I could see myself upgrading those sometime in the future. They were decent though and never faded. Infineon will eat brakes quickly so for them to not fade was impressive. The steering does feel numb, but I got used to it. I noticed this driving around normal steets buts its very obvious on a track. I wonder how it feels in something like an S4 or S5? The only downer (and it wasn't that bad) was the lack of power. I'll be looking into tunes and exhaust after today, probably Stasis as ALL the Audi drivers I spoke to there has Stasis parts (great group by the way). I though my foot might go through the floor on certain uphill sections. With a few minor tweeks, this car is going to be a great track sleeper. I'm SO glad I got the sport suspension, it worked like a champ. If any of you have a track affiliated with NASA I would highly recommend taking your car out and seeing what it can do!

highaltitude

Thanks for this info. My previous M3s and current 335i have seen many days at Willow Springs but I initially had no intention of taking my grocery getter to the track. But with my 335i going to a new home I may have to hook up with the ACNA next time the club puts on a driving school at a local track. I don't expect it to feel as good as the BMWs but so long as I have reasonable expectations I think it will be a fun day.

NickZag

It's hard to give my A4 a fair shake as my other car that I track is a C63 Mercedes but I was impressed, especially with my corner entry speeds. The Quattro system was worth the $. It did a lot better then I expected and I had a blast. Seeing as you've tracked your 335i, you'll know what I'm talking about with the steering and the power. I test drove the M3 and I was very impressed with the steering, it was probably the cars best feature. Mine is my daily driver as well but it did great. I'll be alternating track days between my A4 and C63. The best part is my C63 eats tires like crazy and to my surprise there wasn't really that much wear on my A4's, even with the Pirelli Pzero's.

highaltitude

Yeah no doubt. The C63 is a 450hp tail happy hooligan compared to the A4 with less than ½ the power. With the stability controls turned off the C63 demands respect or you’ll find yourself going through a corner *** backward. Good fun though!

My E46 M3s with M-dif were an absolute blast on track, far better than the 335i. My best track day ever was at Road America in my 2003 M3. What a great high speed track. Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of driving the E90/92 M3 on track but I hear it's even better.

mgm

Chip will do wonders for the track by giving you the power you need to bring the tail around. It won't oversteer, but will decrease understeer. I ran mine at BeaveRun Raceway and the instructor was shocked at how much torque my car had and how well it handled.

Dr.quattro

Hey man,

We were there this weekend! We were in the black B5 S4 (Team Four Rings Racing).

I would consider brakes/suspension/sways first (if your going to track more). Can't over emphasize that balance and grip are far more important than power. Did we chat at all over the weekend (we were over behind the grandstands), had several Audi S4's parked in our group.

NickZag

I think so. Where you the one with the backwards Alpine star hat with his dad? You guys had some really nice tricked out cars. I talked to a few Audi owners there, including someone with a pimped out RS4... damn that was a nice car and the exhaust sounded amazing!

I don't want to get too far into the car as it's my daily driver. I don't want to sacrafice too much of the ride quality. I don't plan on going much higher then the HPDE 3 group. I just enjoy going out every now and then and having fun. I just got moved into HPDE 2 that day so I'm still barely a Novice.

NickZag

I did a TON of research before I got my C63. I looked at the RS4, ISF, and M3 and I was really impressed by the BMW. Both the M3 and C63 have major positives. I got such a good deal on my C63 that I couldn't pass it up, but the M3 is a very nice car. The last time I took my C63 out someone had a new E90 M3 and we were going at it all day, lots of fun!

highaltitude

I don't have any track shots of my Audi yet so I thought I'd share a couple from RA. This was only my second driving school but I remember if I carried enough speed through turn 14 I could get up to an indicated 145mph on the uphill front straight while carrying a grossly overweight instructor! Interestingly, it was a lot more satisfying to nail a corner properly than to go 145 without worry of the CHP but it was still a lot of fun listening to that 3.2L S54 sing at 8,000rpm. Picture #1 is turn 6 and #2 is turn 14.

NickZag

Corners are a blast for sure. Thats why Infineon is great. It's full of corners and elevation changes.