project ron burgundy

[somedude]

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t31.0-8/10368986_10204423281210907_5838601811199557044_o.j pg

I purchased this car cheap engough that I am going to slowly turn it into a track car. I ordered lowering springs, bilstine shocks, 18X8 rims with R comps to follow shortly. For anyone that remembers fuzzyfish's "super beater" 89 taurus SHO that was stripped to the bone this car takes inspiration from that. It is getting the full gutt treatment. I hope to have a race weight in the 3300-3400lbs with 255 R comp rubber. The car already has 13" brakes and 310 hp, and if it shares any of the tail happy traits of my W12 it should be a lot of fun on the road course.

edit. before the car sees track duty it will be getting a engine oil cooler upgrade as well as a massive trans cooler. I am hopefull that the reduced race weight will make allow the fresh transmission to hold up longer than it otherwise would. This is a project I have been wanting to do for a long time. I guess I will finally find out how light you can get a D2 A8

edit:2: If anyone needs interior bits let me know everything is for sale other than the cluster.

[fR3ZNO]

Subscribed because of thread title. and to see an A8 track car. haha

http://themoviescore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/You-Stay-Classy-San-Diego.gif

[somedude]

Destruction started today. I have most of the car's interior removed. I have to say that the build quality on this car is outstanding! I honestly understand why they cost so much now. The interior is a work of art on this thing. It is a shame that most of it is hidden from view. I will take some pics tomorrow.

The front seats are obnoxiously heavy. I look forward to being able to yank those out and get racing seats. Same with the steering column. At some point in the future I need to adapt a manual adjust wheel in here. It is very very heavy for that it is. I am working to have it ready for a rally cross event at the end of the month.

[Dan McBoost]

Please email me which event you are going to. I am in central NY and would love to shoot the event for ya, plus I have a bunch of friends into RallyX (see mcboost.com).

BTW, AWESOME.

[somedude]

Round 2 of the Finger Lakes Region SCCA RallyCross Championship.

DATE CHANGE :: July 27th, a rare sunday event.

There's a lot of work being done to smooth out the field and it's looking awesome. Come down slide around and have some four wheeled fun.

Our simplified SCCA classing is back, 2WD U4WD O4WD and OPEN(Anything turbo or Rally Prepped)

Entry Fees
SCCA members: $35.00
Non-Members $45.00

REGISTRATION OPENS AT 9:00 AM Closes at 9:40

FIRST CAR OFF AT 10:00 AM

Lunch included with entry

This is a rallyX, be prepared for any type of weather. we run in the rain if it's not terrible, we run in snow which for this event won't be applicable.(hopefully)

Helmet and minimum 40PSI in your tires mandatory. Loaner helmets available.

Event Held at Perry's Park
4538 Caledonia Rd
Leichester NY

Positions on the RallyX board are available, safety stewards always needed, course designers, registration and timing stewards, marketing, you name it we need help in it. Contact Tony Zanni for more information.

Any other questions please email [email protected]

I am going to try like hell to be there

[Dan McBoost]

Can you email me when you are sure?

danATmcboostDOTcom

TIA

[somedude]

yes I will

[somedude]

car is now stripped out. The car stands substaintially taller than it did from the factory. Also if anyone ever wonders 2005 audi A8 W12 wheels with 275/35/20 fit on this car. It is a snug fit but fucking A it looks amazing.


http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33155&d=1405233166
http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33156&d=1405233226
http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33157&d=1405233254
http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=33158&d=1405233281

[PashaS4]

Keep this updated man! I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[somedude]

I will not be able to make the rally cross event

[somedude]

taking votes on how to procede with exhaust upgrades. Remember this is a track only vehicle. I am either going to have a new alum exhaust made for it or completely remove the exhaust and see if the manifolds are semetrical so I can flip them from left to right so thye point forward. This will allow me to dump them through the fender just in front of the front tires. The goal here is to minimize weight and cost for the change. neither setup will not have any mufflers or emission.

vote 1 for alum exhaust

vote 2 for flipped manifolds and fender dumped exhaust

[halik]

Ha there's nothing i don't like about this project! subscribed

[somedude]

finally dug into the front suspension today. I have the new springs, shocks, and all 8 control arms installed and ready to go. I removed the old rack and quickly realized 2 problems. 1. The rack i got is the wrong one and 2. the servotronic unit is a massive ball of corrosion on the old rack. No big deal I will just buy a new one... then I found the price... I guess I will start chipping away at the corrosion to get that thing out of the old rack. I don't even care to have variable steering but I need the unit in there to plug the 2 holes that fluid will squirt out from if there is nothing bolted in place. So once again I am on hold waiting for parts.

On a side note. I decided on a brake combo I want to try. OEM rotors with hawk HT-10 pads fron and hawk blue in the rear. I had HT-10 pads on my track SHO's in the past and the power they were able to provie was mind bending on that platform so I will try them here and see how the ballance is. Also I was playing out the weight ballance in my head on this car and I think it is going to be a extremely tail happy car to drive. I have a suspecion that it will be very unstable under heavy braking... only time will tell

[EErie B6]

If its legal for your type of racing, i say flip the manifolds and dump them through the fender... Because it looks awesome, and because this car is all about being taboo.

[icrashcars]

Are you goig to weld in any support braces or Roll Cage?

[somedude]

Are you goig to weld in any support braces or Roll Cage?

going to run it with no additional bracing first and see how well it does. This car has a very stiff frame out of the box. for example it is sitting in my driveway right now with one jack stand on the right front of the subframe and all the doors open perfectly with no visual twisting. I really need to get the car to a track and see how it does before I go crazy with it.

[Need4Speed]

This looks like its ganna be a fun build.

[Crispy222]

in for results. I'm in CNY also. I have a 01' S8 that I'm swapping the trans to a manual in. Hope to be back on the road this winter.

[Okan509]

subbed cause ridiculous. haha

[somedude]

in for results. I'm in CNY also. I have a 01' S8 that I'm swapping the trans to a manual in. Hope to be back on the road this winter.

If I ever swap this to manual it will be accompanied by a LS engine. There is no affordable way to get decent power from any existing audi engine. power to weight being my main concern. 300-400whp is where I would like this to me. I don't need monster power in this for road course so pretty much any LS engine with a good set of heads and a big cam that can run to 7K and I am happy as a clam. My buddy has a LS7 that I may end up with and that got the gears turning... I will wait for the transmission in ron to die first though. Hopefully I get at least one season out of it so I can learn how this thing handles with no weight in the back.

[Crispy222]

There is affordable long tube headers now. I don't want to post any links due to conflicts with forum sponsors. I will be getting a set for my S when the time comes, as well as dual 3" exhaust.

[somedude]

Who sells them jhm?

[Crispy222]

PM sent!

Someone is looking to TT their A8 track car in WV...
http://www.motorgeek.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48486

[PashaS4]

Update?

[Need4Speed]

In for updates !

[somedude]

I have been working in south carolinia for the last three weeks. I am coming home today a actually and i have 2 days off so if the rain holds out i will get that rack installed and cut the exhaust off so it is properly loud. And go terrorize the neighborhood. I am going tk try and get it out to either mid ohio or gingerman before the year is over

[somedude]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NcGyOt05A24/VFCaFAr6U1I/AAAAAAAACF0/kLXFz3Wpp44/w1419-h798-no/20141028_175455.jpg

no the car is not on jack stands. I put eibach springs on the front but I didn't change the rears out yet so they are still stock. The back end is obnoxious. The car has a new rack, new inner and outter tie rods, 8 new control arms, new front rotors with hawk BLUE pads. I didn't drive the car on the street but just screwing around in my driveway the brakes are strong enough to lock up the fronts at 15mph on cold pads. I still need to change the rear springs out, change the valve cover gaskets, and the serp belt because it is badly cracked... oh and change the oil. I can't wait to pound on this thing.

[BrianC72gt]

8 "J" tubes... straight up... through the hood 4 and 4...

[PashaS4]

Updates?

[somedude]

I still need to change the rear springs out, change the valve cover gaskets, and the serp belt because it is badly cracked... oh and change the oil.

I wish. It has been cold and I have not done anything to the car at all. I was wanting to take it out and do some ice racing but I have not had a chance to work on the car. 3 days ago I plugged the HVAC controls in to see if my climate control would function and to my surprise it does. I let the car warm up for about a hour... let be honest it was 6 deg F out side and I forgot it was running. The car has fantastic heat + it is neat to watch all the stuff that you normally dont get to see operate when you play with the switches. I have been working 6 and 7 days a week and I am just exhausted. When I finish helping my buddy today with a head job on a 3.0 timing job I will try to get my W12 into the shop to change a control arm, then alignment, then bumper paint, state inspection, then sell it... THEN!!! I will change the springs out on this beast and get an alignment and see if it can do doughnuts.

Don't worry I have not forgotten about it. I will be racing it this summer for sure as long as it does not blow up.

[v8a6]

Very cool! I'd love to do the same thing with a v8 C5 A6/S6

[somedude]

Very cool! I'd love to do the same thing with a v8 C5 A6/S6

I am curious to see how the weight would compare.

[somedude]

Its official I am registered for a two day track event. I ordered R com tires yesterday. I need to install the trans cooler from my taurus SHO I have laying around and get a alignment and this beast is ready! I can't wait to see how this pig handles.

On a side note I now have a 1.8T laying around. I don't have a transmission for it yet though so I will have to wait and see what comes across my garage but my current mind set is a big turbo 300-400whp 1.8t with a 6 speed should lighten this thing up in all the right places. I would imagine I could loose around 300lbs with that swap.

[somedude]

I installed the rear lowering springs installed, fixed the leaking heater core by bypassing it, then got a alignment so tomorrow I will go to the shop and mount up 8 tires. 1 set of R comp race rubber for the track and 1 set of beat up 18" whatever we have laying around so I can learn how this pig wants to handle near the limit before track day. I put about 80 miles on it today and it always amazes me how much faster a car can bee when yo add lightness. The hawk blue front pads are obnoxious. I can easily lock the fronts on the BS tires that I have now so I am hoping they hold up well with sticky tires and some major heat. Tomorrow I change the the oil in both diffs and check the trans fluid level. There is a shudder at 2K in 2nd and 3rd gear at moderate throttle only. I am hoping it is low oil otherwise I will be pulling the valve body out to have a look at things.

[Pothole]

Sounds like a fun weekend!

I would love to watch this thing slide around a track.

[somedude]

The car got a new exhaust last friday. Both cats were blown out when i removed them and i found most of the driver cat blocking the driver side resinator. The new exhaust consists of 2.25 inch pipe. No mufflers no anything. It is straight pipped and loud as hell. Also found a scrap set of tires 235/60/18 and to my surprise they fit beautifully.

[Crispy222]

Its official I am registered for a two day track event. I ordered R com tires yesterday. I need to install the trans cooler from my taurus SHO I have laying around and get a alignment and this beast is ready! I can't wait to see how this pig handles.

On a side note I now have a 1.8T laying around. I don't have a transmission for it yet though so I will have to wait and see what comes across my garage but my current mind set is a big turbo 300-400whp 1.8t with a 6 speed should lighten this thing up in all the right places. I would imagine I could loose around 300lbs with that swap.
The 1.8T is only about 50lbs lighter than the aluminum V8. Just swapping to an 01E vs the auto will net over a 100lbs loss plus decrease power loss through the manual. Very expensive bolt in setup from Europe or Time consuming DIY swap with UrS4/B5S4/C5A6 parts and some fab.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[mike@vossen]

Subscribed because of thread title. and to see an A8 track car. haha

http://themoviescore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/You-Stay-Classy-San-Diego.gif

Me too lol

[somedude]

The 1.8T is only about 50lbs lighter than the aluminum V8. Just swapping to an 01E vs the auto will net over a 100lbs loss push decrease power loss through the manual. Very expensive bolt in setup from Europe or Time consuming DIY swap with UrS4/B5S4/C5A6 parts and some fab.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I have a 1.8T engine and a complete 2.7T 6 speed A6 that I will be using as a donor car. 50lbs at the nose of the car is significant. If there was a low cost alum 4 cylinder that can make the power I was looking for that would be a easy swap I would be all over it, but the 1.8T fits my needs and I have it so it wins. I would not be surprised if the 01E is more than 100lbs less than the massive 5hp24

[somedude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLlh7qIGNXU

I can promise you this video does not do the car justice for how loud it is in person.

[Crispy222]

I think you'll be massively disappointed in the torque of a 1.8t. Even after going to 2.0 or 2.1L, is still does come alive til 3500-4000 rpm with a decent size turbo. I think the 2.7 punched out to 3.0 with gt28s would make the A8 a lot of fun.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[somedude]

I think you'll be massively disappointed in the torque of a 1.8t. Even after going to 2.0 or 2.1L, is still does come alive til 3500-4000 rpm with a decent size turbo. I think the 2.7 punched out to 3.0 with gt28s would make the A8 a lot of fun.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Keep in mind this is a road course car. It will not see under 3 or 4K on track. In a perfect world I would have a NA engine or S/C engine but light weight is my major concern with this car over powoer as backwards as it may sound. A stock 2.7 with stock turbos on 18-20psi makes plenty of power for what I want out of the car but the powertrain is too heavy. A 1.8 making 300-350whp is all I am looking for. Again I want to remind you that the 1.8 is far less expensive to build than a 2.7.

edit: I don't deny the fact that a stroker 3.0 with GT 28's would be a blast but you just threw out a $10,000 build. That sir is not in my budget at all. I am not even close to that if you include the cost of the car, new trailer i bought, all repairs, 2 sets of tires, track fees, projected fuel cost for this weekend, ect, ect.

[somedude]

1 day done at road america and 2 sessions into the second day. The car is doing extremely well. I am shocked with how ballanced the car is. Nice smooth trail brake oversteer and very minimal understeer. Nothing seems to be overheating either other than overheated brake pass. I need less weight or more brakes

[Crispy222]

Not trying to argue that a 2.7t wouldn't be cheap, but the possibilities would be endless down the road. A 350whp 1.8t is a 450chp motor. Thats going to be near 10k build on its own. Sure there are parts you can find cheaper or used, but its still going to be expensive and a narrow power band for a road course.

[R1CH-5100]

1 day done at road america and 2 sessions into the second day. The car is doing extremely well. I am shocked with how ballanced the car is. Nice smooth trail brake oversteer and very minimal understeer. Nothing seems to be overheating either other than overheated brake pass. I need less weight or more brakes

Did you get any pics or vid? I need to see this!

[somedude]

update on this weekends fun. I did 2 days with chin racing at road america over the weekend and did a day with autointerest at mid ohio. I had a absolute blast. This was a outstanding way to break in a new track car. 3 days of racing and 56 gallons of fuel later the A8 performed much better than expected. The 145K 4.2 V8 engine consumed only 1/2 qt of oil which is very un audi like, but ran beautifully the whole time. I was able to touch 130 consistantly and I tried for some deeper braking coming into turn 1 off the long straight and was able to touch 135, but I didn't have enough brake and ended up taking turn 1 at over 90mph which is way way too fast for my car and so I threw the car sideways to scrub speed and got back on the power and let quatro do its thing and pull her back straight. I shit myself a little I am not going to lie.

As the day went on and I got more comfortable with the track and the cars handling I kept pushing harder and harder. I very quickly learned I cannot use full power the entire way down the 2 long straights because The hawk blues just don't have it in them to bring things back to reality. I kept pushing harder and harder in to turn 6 and 7 and I finally decided to try taking turn 7 without lifting. So coming out of 6 I would go WOT and hold it all the way to 8. Prior to this idea I would lift right at turn in to get a bit of rotation and roll back into the power very quickly. Turns out this was a bad idea, and both left tires hit the rumble strip and it upset the suspension enough to bring the car completely sideways, and again being an audi the only way to fix sideways is either to stand on the brakes and take what is coming or to get back on the power and ride it out which I did and I was able to keep it off the grass. The rumble strips at road america are massive unlike any track I have been to. You cannot ride these like at most tracks without upsetting the suspension badly. Other than those 2 incidence I had no issues and the only 2 issues we had on track was a C6 vette going off after 8 and kissing a wall with the RR in the rain and someone dumping coolant a long way near the end of the second day which is when I decided to call it a day, because I had to load up and go straight to Mid Ohio.

How did the car do?

Engine

*Engine consumed 1/2 qt of oil in 3 track days
*I lost electrical and engine power 2 times in the course of a few seconds at Mid Ohio and the problem has not presented itself again yet which bothers me.

Transmission

* horribly slow predictable shifts for 3 days, with mild overheating at Road America near the end of the 30 min sessions and significant overheating at Mid Ohio with 20 min sessions. The over heating brought me in 1 lap early session 6 and I sat out session 7 to let it cool and made a final 8-10 laps during open lapping after it had some time to cool. I also had a issue with the transmission coming out of gear on I think turn 7. It is a off camber left with a major elevation change. I think the oil is being thrown away from the sump in the trans. I might look into adding a baffle of some sort to keep the trans oil from being able to splash up the side of the inside of the transmission.

suspension

LOTS of body roll, springs are way too soft, dampers are too soft for road course even though they are new, but the character of the car is fantastic! nice smooth trail brake oversteer, light oversteer with lift off turn in and a hint or understeer at WOT wich is great for pulling the car straight after getting the car a little loose. The suspension bushings are something that need attention for sure. At mid ohio I didn't notice it as much but when I reach the absolute limit of the tires at high speed Road America turns I get a shudder from the rear, and I believe the soft rubber bushings are collapsing in the control arms. I drove around this by trail braking and getting the weight off the rear a bit so it was not loaded so hard in the corners. This car will lift the inside rear wheel on hard corners!

Brakes

The hawk Blue pads on stock size rotors held up very well for the task they had. They did so well that I don't plan to upgrade them next year. Yes lap times are suffering at big high speed tracks like Road America but at Mid Ohio they had only minor fade. I will instead upgrade the suspension and larger tires so I don't have to slow down as much for the corners. That is how I worked around the under powered brakes on my SHO and it worked great.

[Pothole]

Sounds like an awesome day!


Now where are the videos? [:D]

[somedude]

the only video I have was taken by my buddys C7 ZO6. I will not have access to that video until he returns next week from corvette museum Motorsports park. He said watching me throw that around a track kept a smile on his face the whole time he was behind me.

[drob23]

Curious about your experience at mid Ohio, since I've been there a couple times this summer. Here's my best lap time last weekend


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX7F5z483ss

following a real quick cayman which shows where the AWD excels and where it fails (watch him get around the keyhole)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDt7F4CWRw8

[somedude]

I really wish I would have had a go pro or something to take video with. from watching the video your lines need a bit of tweeking and think you could reduce your brake fade quite a bit if your turn in points were better because you would carry quite a bit more speed. Audi's generally like a fairly late turn in so you can brake deeper and turn in later to get on the power earlier. A late turn in is also safer because the result of a turn in that is too late puts you in the middle of the track rather than the grass.

let me know next time you go I would love to join if I can get the money together. We could always play some lead follow to try each others lines to see what works. I will do a better writeup on Mid Ohio later on when I have some time, but I love the track. It is very rewarding when you get it just right. I was chasing down my buddys supercharged S2k and other than him destroying me in the straights I kept up better than I expected. At the end of the day I had him follow me and I drove a the absolute limit with the max amount of disregard for tires and brakes possible while still being safe and I gave it 3 laps before the brakes and trans were just about cooked. I was sweating my balls off when I got out of the car. It is nerve racking to dance with such a heavy car on the limit for that long. My buddy said I was barely holding him up in the turns at all and other than having to back off in the straight sections he had a blast following my flying tank.

[somedude]

hopefully me posting does not get in the way of the advertising in the A8 section.

http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35483&stc=1
http://www.nyspeed.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35484&stc=1

[Crispy222]

Whats left to gut out?

[somedude]

Heater box, 4 windows, sunroof, lots of wiring, front seats, ac compressor. Some sound insulation if it is not structural. Eventually a manual swap which is significant in weight reduction. I think the trans alone would save over 100 lbs.

[ryanhmusic]

Please keep updating this, I love this thread so much. Would love to see some videos of it in action.

[Pothole]

Think you will get under 3k after the trans swap and pulling the other goodies?

[somedude]

Think you will get under 3k after the trans swap and pulling the other goodies?

My goal is 3200lbs. I am not sure if i will get under 3k. 3200lbs will make this a very competitive track car for stupid cheap money. Keep in mind it will happily fit 275 rubber without issue. Some polly pushings better rubber and a oil cooler and she is ready for a endurance race haha

[UroTuning]

cant wait to see whats ahead. subscribed

[somedude]

sorry guys I didn't have any in car video. My friend has a 2015 Z06 which has on board video so this is all I got. It does not look like I was pushing the car hard at the time he was behind me but it is what it is. Once I got comfortable I was taking the kink after the long carasol at over 100mph. I didn't quite have the balls to take it (the knik) flat out but I would lift just to get the weight to transfer to the front then turn in and smash the throttle.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MxQdtdDoi4

[ryanhmusic]

Video doesn't work for me [emoji53]

[somedude]

Video doesn't work for me [emoji53]

fixed. sorry I didn't realize the video was marked as private

[GIACuser]

subscribed.... good stuff love this project.

[BrianC72gt]

D3 A8 (360mm) brakes or S8 (385 mm) are a great cheap upgrade option and bolt right on. The 360s will just barely fit behind stock fat fives. About $500 all in. Did mine with Zimerman rotors, PartsGeek rebuilt calipers and ate the core charge. Massive improvement.

[somedude]

D3 A8 (360mm) brakes or S8 (385 mm) are a great cheap upgrade option and bolt right on. The 360s will just barely fit behind stock fat fives. About $500 all in. Did mine with Zimerman rotors, PartsGeek rebuilt calipers and ate the core charge. Massive improvement.

I am not ruling anything out and have considered the 385mm W12 brakes but I really don't want to put a pair of 47lb rotors on the front of the car. The brakes work pretty well with track pads. I may contact hawk and see if they will make a set of HT10 pads for me. A major problem with upgrading to larger brakes is the lack of aggressive pad options available for anything other than the brakes I have on the car now. Because this is a budget track car I cannot move to a $2500 brake setup. That money would be better spent on a better trans tune to allow me to over rev the engine a bit to get more engine braking and down shift more aggressively, as well as better suspension bushing to maintain proper alignment when high cornering loads are present and in larger slicks to increase cornering speed. Higher cornering speed puts less demand on the braking system. All of those things coupled with some brake ducts and I think the factory 13" brakes will do just fine.

I could not over cook my brakes at Mid Ohio. I think I was on the edge because I was smearing pad onto the rotor but there are other things I can do to work around that before I swap on a heavier brake setup. Lightweight is the game here with this project.

[GIACuser]

I would agree, with keeping unsprung weight down, especially for handling. Some ducts and better pads. If you were to spend a little coin on the brakes I would encourage you to find some 2 piece rotors as you could save significant weight. Saving rotating unsprung weight can have very positive effects on the track.

[UroTuning]

Updates?

[somedude]

I am going to bring it to the 1/4 mile next weekend to get a idea of where the engine is at health wise.

[somedude]

https://youtu.be/0_sP39xOCvY

I will be uploading a bunch of vids over the next couple days

[somedude]

https://youtu.be/I2Ag3Q4BYuk

[AustinEngy]

Holy fucking thread revival don't tell me your 1/4 mile time was two years... Cool to see another fun D2 project!!

[somedude]

Haha no i never ended up taking the a8 to the 1/4 instead i took my diesel van to the local 1/8 because it was closer. I have some in car video i will get posted later