Video: AutoClub Speedway in the S4

[vwong]

Haven't been to this track for a while, and yesterday's weather condition was perfect. So I took that S4 out to AutoClub Speedway here in Fontana, CA. I was put into High-Intermediate group (I normally run in Advance with another organization), where there were many Caddy CTS-V's, MB AMG cars, a few M3's, and one GTR. This car is a beast even in stock form. I was the 4th quickest after my 1st session, then 2nd quickest after the 2nd session. In the drivers' download meeting, I overheard couple Caddy drivers saying "damn, that Audi was quick!" [:D]

Anyway, I improved roughly 1.4 seconds from the last time I was on this track (which was when the car was just after the break-in period). Here's the video of that fast lap.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dPDtRNLT0A

[akim_hobo]

nice lap! The 100 mph+ chicane looked scary

[shinamura]

nice! that was awesome to see, it felt like forza motorsport all over again, except in real life!

[petrashevsky]

Thank you very much for posting these videos.
Its great to see what our cars can do on the track.
Also feels good to know that S4 can lap faster than many cars that are supposed to be quicker, but you obviously know what you are doing on the track.

[Blue Sky]

Looks great! What is the iphone apps that you were using?

[wcoyne]

That is a great video. I watched it twice.

[marty was here]

thats incredible driving. and i gotta say, that looked like a lap where it was mostly driver, good job

ps, are you ads or sport diff? car had some serious dives.

[vwong]

Thanks for the comments, guys. The app is the Harry's LapTimer Pro from iPhone. It records the lap times, the G's, the speed, and plot out the track. Good app for about $20 now (when I bought it, it was $16).

And I don't have the full ADS. I only have rear sport diff. All nannies were off.

[PsYkHoTiK]

Nice driving! Can't wait to go for a track day again!

[Lazy Dog]

Nice work man!!! I just did my first track day at Buttonwillow last Saturday and I'm completely hooked now.

[B8 S FOR]

Nice driving TEX! Awesome!!! Enjoyed the vid! Way to push her through the turns!!! Yeeeehaaaaaaa!!!!

[socfan12]

Impressive driving! Great vid![up]

[PSI]

Awesome vid!

I'm thinking about making the leap to a S4 here soon from a 335i. Before tracking, the BMW needed (minimally) brake pads, suspension, factory oil cooler and for best results... meth injection. What kind of items fail first on track with the S4? Obviously brake pads, but how about coolant temps or tranny temps with the DSG?

[PsYkHoTiK]

Awesome vid!

I'm thinking about making the leap to a S4 here soon from a 335i. Before tracking, the BMW needed (minimally) brake pads, suspension, factory oil cooler and for best results... meth injection. What kind of items fail first on track with the S4? Obviously brake pads, but how about coolant temps or tranny temps with the DSG?
I'd say pads, fluid, and stainless steel lines if you're going to track it. The B8 S4 is a lot of fun on the track. [:)]

[ilspazzaneve]

Nice driving vw. The 100 mph entrance to the banking and the 100 mph chicane makes me think that it isn't so damn bad in this case that the S4 is a squealing, understeering pig.

[ChrisF1]

vwong: congrats. That's a pretty respectable time in a stock S4. How did it hold up throughout the day? Did you fade the brakes? Any other issues? I want to track mine a couple of times but already realize I need pads/lines/fluid at a bare minimum.

[Retrospect]

Freakin awesome. Thanks for the vids OP!

[AUDI A5]

That was awesome! Great vid and nice driving. I would love to do that some day.

[Tweakophyte]

Cool video. I like hearing you hit the gas coming out of those corners.

[vwong]

vwong: congrats. That's a pretty respectable time in a stock S4. How did it hold up throughout the day? Did you fade the brakes? Any other issues? I want to track mine a couple of times but already realize I need pads/lines/fluid at a bare minimum.

Well, back in 2009 when the car just passed the break-in period (this means OEM tires and stock brakes), I drove it on this same track. The brake faded pretty badly after couple of laps. The pedal got really "long" as well, and I had to cut the sessions short. This time around, the brakes didn't fade. Thanks to the Carbotech pads (more on it below). However, the brake pedal did get "long" after couple of laps. This was most likely due to the OEM brake lines getting hot from the fluid, and possibly causing more expansion under braking.

The clutch pedal appeared to stick a little toward the end of the 25-minute run sessions. It felt like the pedal didn't come up immediately after I let go of my foot. Hope this doesn't cause too much excessive wear on the clutch.

Other than these 2 issues, the car held up pretty well.

About the Carbotech pads, I've heard that these wear very quickly. I first had these on my E92, and the wear rate wasn't too bad. (BTW, I'm only talking about the front XP12 pads because the rear XP10s still have plenty of material left in both my E92 and B8.) But then I didn't take the E92 to tracks that have multiple 100-40mph brake zones. In the S4 combined with this track (multiple 100-40mph brake zones), it eats the front brake pads extremely quick. I had to cut the day short because I needed some pad materials to drive home. From the performance standpoint, these pads are freaking awesome....gave me confidence every time I stepped on the brakes (even with the "long" pedal). [up]

[vwong]

Awesome vid!

I'm thinking about making the leap to a S4 here soon from a 335i. Before tracking, the BMW needed (minimally) brake pads, suspension, factory oil cooler and for best results... meth injection. What kind of items fail first on track with the S4? Obviously brake pads, but how about coolant temps or tranny temps with the DSG?

Just commenting on the 335i, the factory oil cooler is a *must* at the minimum. And make sure you keep an eye on that oil temp gauge. When it hits 285°F, begin your cool down lap. Anything in the 290°F range, you're risking it to go to limp mode. And above 300°F....forget it, it's limp mode territory. I'm avoiding all summer events from this year on, so I can run longer sessions without the oil temp goes sky high.

[PsYkHoTiK]

About the Carbotech pads, I've heard that these wear very quickly. I first had these on my E92, and the wear rate wasn't too bad. (BTW, I'm only talking about the front XP12 pads because the rear XP10s still have plenty of material left in both my E92 and B8.) But then I didn't take the E92 to tracks that have multiple 100-40mph brake zones. In the S4 combined with this track (multiple 100-40mph brake zones), it eats the front brake pads extremely quick. I had to cut the day short because I needed some pad materials to drive home. From the performance standpoint, these pads are freaking awesome....gave me confidence every time I stepped on the brakes (even with the "long" pedal). [up]

Yeah mine wore quickly. Lasted two full track days. But it didn't eat into the rotor and my wheel wasn't full of rotor shavings haha! I'm going to try the RP12 compound next. It's an endurance compound that lasts 3-4x longer than the XP12 (as per Mike Puskar Jr @ CT brakes). Bite level is inbetween XP12-10.

[skiracerblah]

What was your top speed on the banked oval?

[ChrisF1]

Well, back in 2009 when the car just passed the break-in period (this means OEM tires and stock brakes), I drove it on this same track. The brake faded pretty badly after couple of laps. The pedal got really "long" as well, and I had to cut the sessions short. This time around, the brakes didn't fade. Thanks to the Carbotech pads (more on it below). However, the brake pedal did get "long" after couple of laps. This was most likely due to the OEM brake lines getting hot from the fluid, and possibly causing more expansion under braking.

The clutch pedal appeared to stick a little toward the end of the 25-minute run sessions. It felt like the pedal didn't come up immediately after I let go of my foot. Hope this doesn't cause too much excessive wear on the clutch.

Other than these 2 issues, the car held up pretty well.

About the Carbotech pads, I've heard that these wear very quickly. I first had these on my E92, and the wear rate wasn't too bad. (BTW, I'm only talking about the front XP12 pads because the rear XP10s still have plenty of material left in both my E92 and B8.) But then I didn't take the E92 to tracks that have multiple 100-40mph brake zones. In the S4 combined with this track (multiple 100-40mph brake zones), it eats the front brake pads extremely quick. I had to cut the day short because I needed some pad materials to drive home. From the performance standpoint, these pads are freaking awesome....gave me confidence every time I stepped on the brakes (even with the "long" pedal). [up]

Not sure if they make them in S4 fitment, but I swear by the Pagid Yellows. I've had them on two track cars and they never seem to wear. Amazing bite and heat resistance. I think the last set I had I tracked 7 times and then sold with more then 60% material still intact. :)

[vwong]

What was your top speed on the banked oval?

It's in the video.

[skiracerblah]

It's in the video.


Oh duh, didn't watch the speedometer in the video. 140 MPHish on the banks Nascar style!

[vwong]

Not sure if they make them in S4 fitment, but I swear by the Pagid Yellows. I've had them on two track cars and they never seem to wear. Amazing bite and heat resistance. I think the last set I had I tracked 7 times and then sold with more then 60% material still intact. :)

What kind of track cars are these? Also what are the weights?

[Pworld]

I need to find out who is throwing these events at california speedway (only speed ventures?), only track i want to go to, because the drive is very short to and from home (45minutes or less). Great video.

[zcd2.7t]

Haven't been to this track for a while, and yesterday's weather condition was perfect. So I took that S4 out to AutoClub Speedway here in Fontana, CA. I was put into High-Intermediate group (I normally run in Advance with another organization), where there were many Caddy CTS-V's, MB AMG cars, a few M3's, and one GTR. This car is a beast even in stock form. I was the 4th quickest after my 1st session, then 2nd quickest after the 2nd session. In the drivers' download meeting, I overheard couple Caddy drivers saying "damn, that Audi was quick!" [:D]

Looks like lots of fun, and nice driving!

Safe to assume that the GT-R was quickest? How did the CTS-Vs do?

[Kano]

[o_o]

Incredible. Yeah, that chicane looked scary. Do you have the sports diff?

[toaster]

kano - yeah, he said he has the sd.

[vwong]

I need to find out who is throwing these events at california speedway (only speed ventures?), only track i want to go to, because the drive is very short to and from home (45minutes or less). Great video.

Other than Speed Ventures, I believe the L.A. Chapter of BMWCCA has events there sometimes.

[vwong]

Looks like lots of fun, and nice driving!

Safe to assume that the GT-R was quickest? How did the CTS-Vs do?

Well, for the GTR and CTS-V's in my run group, the one black CTS-V was quicker, it's modded, has some aero work done, his quickest of the day was 1:55.299 (fastest CTS-V of the day). The GTR is stock, and his quickest time was 1:55.753. So my 1:57.693 wasn't that bad. As a matter of fact, I think I actually did a quicker lap (1:57.4) according to the Harry's app on the phone, but the timing system from SV didn't pick it up. [:(]

[ChrisF1]

What kind of track cars are these? Also what are the weights?

Cayman S and GT3. Both admittedly light(er) cars. Sorry, didn't mean to infer that they would last as long on an S4, but they definitely last longer than other pads I've used on track (Ferrodo DS2500's, Hawk DTC 60's).