PsYkHoTiK

Last weekend, the local Audi club chapter held the last track session of the year at Portland International Raceway. Last year, this was my first ever track event. This year I returned as "Intermediate Solo" and had a blast.

First day was pouring rain and the track was slick as hell. Second day, mr Sun decided to come out (a rarity for November in Pacific Northwest) and the track was dry.

There were a large number of B8 S4s that showed up. There were 7-8 of us hanging out in camp "B8 S4" and a few others that were too cool to hang out...

After my last track event that I melted my StopTech street performance pads, I decided to go all out and have StopTech ST-60 355mm BBK installed in the front and Carbotech XP12/10 race pads installed on the car. The culmination of this was my ability to "violently" slow down and to "Go Deep". I tested the capability of the brakes to it's absolute limit once. On the main straight, after hitting 135MPH, I braked as hard as I could (threshold braking) and slowed down to 50MPH in just over 300ft for a hard right corner into a chicane. It was VERY interesting as the car lost traction at those speeds (tires independently lost and regained traction). I fought hard at the wheel to keep the car straight and ASR kicked in as well.

The end result? I went through a full set of XP12 and my rotors bear the mark of good track usage.





A few of the cars:





And without further adieu, videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkKj2w5oV7A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0kTO3aE_rg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UucXoH-Ceqw

BartJanssen

I only saw the first 2 min of the last movie but what I immediately noticed is that you drive in auto on a track? When I drive on the Nurburgring, I drive in manual, use the flaps and my gear is already in place when I exit the corner...

Nice open and forgiving track though! A shame that we don't have those in Belgium Nice car too btw

PsYkHoTiK

Thanks. It was mix and match of both actually. I did a lot of experimenting.

I didn't use it in the wet because it was super slick so I just focused on the lines. But on some session on Sunday, I did just do downshifts only but I found myself having to short shift (up) as the car was getting twitchy in the corners.

I also ran into the issue of the car getting very thirsty too. I went through half a tank of gas per 30 min session... :\

NWS4Guy

I'd love to see if there is ANY carbon on your valves. I'm betting very little with the track days keeping temps up so high.

Kilgore Trout

After four runs, about an hour of track time, at Road America, I was a bit shocked that I had went through 3/4 of a tank myself.

On the fourth go around with my stock brakes, I had to really back off, and the car started to feel unstable and the ASR went off when I tried to push it too much. Looking to get a brake upgrade for next year -will be asking for your recommendation!

chestlock

Scott just needs more manual dexterity and co-ordination to use the paddles

Just so you know, paddles or not, he's an absolute animal around the track, the fastest in Camp B8S4 for sure!

I'll have my videos up soon too - I used the paddles on both days, and can concur that especially on the wet Saturday the track was really greasy, and the car would get twitchy coming out of some of the corners (and on the back straight too) - in some places I just shifted between 5k and 6k to settle the car down

chestlock

Some pics :-)





Leo running away from a GT3


PsYkHoTiK




Leo


And Mellow


















"Camp S4"






Scott's PS2 - sticky!






Got smoked with goose poop


And after a mega-wash once I got home, I SAW A RAINBOW!





Thanks to 425 Motorsports and ACHTUN!NG for all their help this weekend!!!!

clochner

Wow - looks like you guys had a blast! Great pics and vids - very jealous. I plan on attending several of these events next year, and I may be looking to invest in a set of dedicated track tires as well as a brake upgrade. All of this info is very helpful. Thnx for posting!

chestlock

Thanks for the comments cloch, it was A.W.E.S.O.M.E dude - fantastic weekend. I cant wait for the next event!

Running OEM brake setup is dicey if you wanna go fast, and you'll have to take it easy. The bare minimum I'd recommend is to upgrade to SS lines and MotulRBF600 fluid. This is what Leo and I were running (Thanks ACHTUN!NG!!!!), and at the end of the day you could tell even that fluid was getting frothy as the pedal would go right to the floor until it cooled right after you parked. It was fine on the track though, with all the airflow.

Reason I'm saying this: There was a guy there with an RS6 running stock setup and he boiled his brake fluid coming down the back straight. Fluid was everywhere. His pedal went to the floor, probably at over 100mph (can't remember how fast he said he was going, but I know I was hitting 120mph there in the wet). Somehow he managed to navigate 2 corners and exit off at the pit lane, blowing through the parking lot around "Camp S4", his only means of slowing down was through downshifting - in a slushbox!!!! He was extremely lucky.

Leo and I were both gonna get the tune&pulley next, but after this weekend, we both came to the conclusion that brakes are gonna come first without a doubt. Slowing down safely is waaaaaaaaay more important than going faster.

Leo's pics should be up soon - those are gonna be awesome! Should seen the sweet lens he had!

clochner

Great points. That RS6 story is the exact type of scenario I fear. I did one track event this year, but I didn't push the car too hard b/c it was my first time on a track. Will definitely upgrade brake lines, fluid, and pads. Still indecisive, though, whether I want to drop a few thousand on the Stoptech BBK. I'm sure it would be worth it, but damn that's a lot of dough (esp. if I buy a set of dedicated track tires).