Hi all,<p>New to A4's, turbos, 4wd and this type of car in general, yesterday was my first day on a track with my new A4tqs. I must say, I am really excited about how easy it was to be really fast right out the box with that car. Gingerman is a fun track in southeastern Michigan, and it was the first time for me at this track, as well. Not the easiest course to learn, either.<p>I do have some questions for those of you who regularly run track events with your cars.<p>First of all, by the 3rd of 4th 30 minute session, the brakes were obviously over stressed. The rotors seemed to begin to warp and the braking became pretty spongy. I knew this would happe, so it wasn't a surprise to me. The car would benefit from good pads, slotted or drilled rotors and some stainless lines, for sure. Anyone run extra cooling to the fronts for track sessions? Are there any suggestions for brake setups that are street friendly?<p>How about tire pressures on the Dunlops? I settled by the end of the day for 32 front and 45 rear. The car was just neutral enough to drift in fast sweepers, and you could control the rear with a bit of throttle off oversteer. Pushed a bit on entry on some turns. Nice to pull out of that with power, too. That was new to me.<p>Shocks and springs may also help a ton, too. The dive and squat are kind of annoying to me, but I think that is because I am coming from a stiffly sprung VW GTI VR6, that had almost no body roll. I'd like to eliminate the roll in the corners, and the nose diving, while also lowering the stance, but I'm really in love with the ride of the sport package, and I don't want to lose too much of that. I have heard many varying ideas on coil-overs, too. Too stiff, just right, like stock... I don't know who to believe.<p><br>Any ideas?

Brakes: Last time out on track I warped the crap out of my rotors....i had stock pads and rotors. I replaced the rotors with Brembo OE replacements that were cryogenically treated. I bought front pads from Carbotech Engineering (Super Street F compound). The pads are rotor friendly, almost no dust or squeal and stop pretty good. I havent been out on track with the new setup yet but they did fine at an autoX. The compound is supposed to be a decent all around (street, autoX, light track) pad. If anyone ever finds a pad that is great for all of them.....i would like to know about it!! I still run the stock rear setup. I am currently running ATE brake fluid (not the super blue stuff...i think its called SL or Orginal or something).<p>Tire pressure: I have been running 38 psi all around on track but, I have a very different car than you (2.8 with coilovers).....<p>Suspension: As i just mentioned, i have coilovers (from H&R) and i love them. They are pretty firm but not too bad. Absolutely no dive, squat, or roll. My car stays soooo flat and it is pretty darn neutral!! I have driven the car on track with the stock suspension and the coilovers and let me tell you, it made a HUGE difference!!<br>I have driven a 1.8T with coilovers and it felt a bit softer than mine and alot of people say that the 2.8 coilovers are stiffer than those for the 1.8T....that may be why you here all the different opinions.....best way to find out is to find someone with the coilovers and drive their car!!<p>Hope this helps!!<p>David White<br>98 2.8qm

Therefore believe everyone. Audis roll, get used to it. They are designed to have body roll so that the suspension can work. Change springs and shocks before messing with the swaybars unless you only want a quick temporary solution. I would go with coilovers and set them softer in the beginning. You can always put the stock back in if you want. If you just change the springs the shocks will die quickly.<p>Vortrag (a banner advertiser here) has a Koni coilover setup for the A4 that several people seem to like. They can also help you with the brakes, but that can get expensive very quickly.<p>Todd W

Thanks, I had that feeling. I have the Carbotech SuperStreets on the way this week to test out on the car. They recommend installing with new rotors at the same time, so I will be doing that too. I used Mintex Redbox on my GTI VR6 and they worked like stock, only with no (low) dust. I am thinking maybe Brembo rotors or those cryo treated rotors. We'll see.<p>I think this car may see more light track time, but not too much. It is going to be more for the street. I really am interested in the coil-overs for the ride height adjustability and the fact that you don't use swaybars. I am just a little concerned about the ride quality. Roland at H&R is trying to convince us that the ride quality is close to Sport stock. I don't know if we believe him.

Wow, i thought i was the only A4.org'er that had heard of carbotech!<p>Supposedly the cryo-treated rotors will last 2 to 3 times as long as untreated rotors.....it is worth the money (IMO) for the cost of the treatment....also they are supposed to be more resistant to warping....<p>If you get coilovers, have a good (race) shop put them on and corner balance the car....<p>David White<br>98 2.8qm

Ok, David, you bring up a good point about corner balancing. This is definitely important to set up any car with adjustable shocks, but at what corner percentages would you set up an A4? Obviously a left to right balance makes sence (without the driver), or does it? What about front to rear weight? 60/40, 65/35, 55/45? Or do you get it close visually? <p>I am contemplating coil-overs, even though I would like to drive a 1.8tq setup similar before I do take the dive.<p>We'll see.<p><br>-doug

You cannot change the front/rear balance of the car enough to make a difference without major mods (alot more than just coilovers)....<p>corner balancing tries to balance the sum of the opposing corner weights.....left front + right rear compared to right front + left rear.....with coilovers, you can raise or lower each corner to try to balance the corners......this is done with the car on corner scales and can be a very lenghty task.....raise up the car, remove wheel, adjust height, install wheel, lower, check weight....repeat until balanced! They usually start with a target height and go from there... i went with 1.5" lower than stock (non sport), which is in the middle of the range for the H&R's, because the guys at the shop (with tons of racing experience) said that the coilovers would work best if set at or near the middle of the height range.....its pretty low, but not too low....its obvious when i'm parked next to an A4 with the stock(non sport) suspension <p>I can't remember how many hours of labor it was but i can check tonight if you (or anyone) else is really interested.<p>David White<br>98 2.8qm