Well, it actually started off with Kayaking down the Cartecay River on Fri. but ON TO THE FAST STUFF!<p>Anyway, my wife and I showed up 8:00 am on Sat. morn and registered. Sat. was my wife's turn to drive and since she had never been on a track before, we signed her up for "Touring" which was a lead/follow situation but we quickly found a way around that.......<p>Personally, the whole touring thing was somewhat a waste for those who have never been on a track before. They give you some very basic instructions but then just let you go out and follow around without any feedback after the session was over. People were all over the track without a clue as to the proper line. My wife and I made sure we were last in the group and held back aways and then sped up (better to enjoy the capabilities of the car) while I showed her the line till we caught up with the group and then did it over again.<p>On one session, we had a Moostang 5.0 with a chromed up engine get behind us and was being somewhat of jerk, tailing us and just being obnoxious (its touring laps for gods sake!) but we held back a bit and waited for turn 12, my wife's favorite corner. It's an intimidating, long, downhill, right-hand sweeper onto the front straight, and given enough guts and the proper line, you will carry 95 MPH through the corner (that's what we got in our 1.8T QMS anyway) onto over 100 till you brake for the next turn. ANYWAY, I just told my wife to keep her foot in it and head for the apex and we quickly did away with that tarty Moostang. he he. A4 great car. Doing away with faster cars at this corner became a reoccuring theme throughout the weekend.<p>My wife greatly enjoyed her day, and I think she has some potential! I will need an extra driver for those enduro's when I get the Integra prepped for ITA. Hmmmmmmm.......<p>Well, onto SUDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!!!<p>Sunday was my turn and since I've been around Road Atlanta a few times (RA Racing School and a lapping day, as well as working for a local SCCA team) I had signed up for the advanced group. After a little instruction we hit the track for 3 hours of track time in 30 min. sessions.<p>Now before I go any farther let me tell you about some of the metal that was in my group. Lots of Porches!!! 993 Turbo, 993 GT-2 car, 996 CARRERA CUP CAR (damn fast too!) a few regular 996s and 993s, as well as a Viper running slicks and some lesser vehicles: prepared mustangs, a prepped gen. III RX-7 with NOS (this is a roadcourse not a dragway!) and other forgetables. In fact, I was greatly over powered with only an ITC A1 Rabbit and ITA first gen. CRX having less HP than I. But as you know, the driver can make a difference and a few of the faster cars did see my taillights.<p>In the excitement of being on a track after a long hiatus, I ended up cooking the brakes fairly early, but I never had the peddle go to the floor, just had a little mush after that. It was hard to preserve them though, with having to slow from 105 MPH down to 35 or so now that Panoz, the current owner, replaced "the dip" (which was still there when I did the school, 120 mph in worn out 300Zs SCARY!) with a tight left-right kink. I'm thinking S4 brake kit now............<p>I was consistenly catching up with a 993 in the corners and the driver later came up and asked how I liked the Quattro. He also mentioned that he was happy to have the extra 100+ HP to at least get away from me on the straights. In turn 12 (my wife's favorite, remember?) I would often get such a run that I would catch up with faster cars along the front straight. What a feeling! I think I surprised a few people when they looked up to see a four-door sedan bearing down on them. I also passed a 996 who was a little slow in the corners. BTW, so not to be misleading: we could only pass on the straights and we had to get a wave by from the car ahead.<p>Best part of the day (for me at least) was when a 996 went off and lightly tapped a concrete wall (which now lines pretty much all of the track. A FIA mandate that's supposed to be "safer" Oh well, when did a FIA mandate make anything BETTER) Not good for the poor soul in the Porche, but it shortened our session, and lengthened the next session to 45 min. to catch up. This would be the longest continuous drive I've spent on a track. A great way to get into a rythem and really good way to get a feel for the car.<p>One aspect of the car that I found incredibly entertaining was the ability to get consistent trail braking oversteer. In turn 3, which is a sweeping left then a kick to the right then sweeping back to the left, I would drive into the kink, continue to brake while turning the wheel right and bring the rear around to end up in a nice controllable 4 wheel drift exiting the kink and get back on the gas. WOO HOO! I was able to do it again and again! What fun! An instructor came up afterwards and said that he was at turn 3. I said jokingly "oh, you got to see my patented Germant Touring Car move!" He said it looked like fun but referred to it as the "Slide for Life" The car was so completely controllable though that moves like this weren't scary at all. Just good fun, if not the nicest thing to do to your tires. BTW the stock Dunlop SP 8000Es already had over 12,000 street miles on them and they held up very well despite the abuse. I ran 45 PSI up front with 35 in the rear and I still have tread, although the outside edges are pretty much toast. ANYWAY, I used the trailbraking oversteer to good use in the kink too. Turned in a little early to begin rotating (I had to scrub off speed in this corner anyway so it wasn't costing me time) By the time the rear was around I was set up for a late apex and ready for the right hander that led to turn 12.<p>The only drawback to the 45 min. session was that I began to realize how underpowered my car was in comparison when I began seeing some of the REALLY fast cars lap me. The only cars that I was on a more level playing field with were the aforementioned IT cars. I saw the CRX beginning to catch up to me and I thought I'd turn up the wick a little and see if I could stay out in front. Remember, the CRX had race rubber, prepped suspension, gutted interior, and minor engine mods. I was please to find out that I could stay out in front, leaving him in the straights and kept the same pace in the corners. BUT, I really did have to abuse the car to keep up that sort of pace. I proved my point so I waved him by after a while I caught up with the ITC Wabbit who I had no problem with in the straights and was able to stay on his butt in the corners. He eventually waved me by. These two cars were the most fun to play with, everybody else was either a blockade in the corners or I was waving them by. (Lots of big $ fast cars, my arm was sore from waving! :)<p>The A4 is a great track car. Unfortunately, this past weekend was its first and most probably last track event. It's my wife's daily driver and we plan to keep it for a loooong time. In fact, the A4 was so easy to drive, that I think I would actually like to have a track car that challenged me a little more. This is not my ego talking! The A4 is such a capable vehicle, but it doesn't require much from the driver to maximize those capabilities. The CAR is just that good! So I want a car that will involve me a little more..... my Alfa Romeo GTV-6 will do nicely.<p>Well I need to swap my tires side to side, and get a good brake bleed (they are rumbling a little now under moderate braking......Hmmmmm.) and I used a whole tank of gas on the track but the car seems none the worse for wear. WOW!<p>Enzo<p>The "A" List:<p>My wonderful Wife's -- 98.5 A4 1.8T QMS (the car is wonderful too)<br>Mine -- 84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6<br>Dog's -- 90 Acura Integra<p>