Firstly, I should say that I had an awesome day at Calabogie Motorsports Park … Good education and lots of very nice rides and people… tons of P-cars (incl. a Carrera GT, C4, Turbos, Boxster S and Cayman S). Audi was well represented: B7 A4, three S4’s, an S5, RS4 and R8. The day was a "Race to Beat Cancer" charity event consisting of instruction (both in classroom and in car), autocross as well as lapping segments. At the end of the day, we were invited to ride “shotgun” for a hot lapping session in an instructor’s car (“diapers optional” !).
My group started off in the autocross event and being my first time doing this I was uncertain how to attack the course. Obviously, driving a heavy ass wagon didn’t make things any easier but then again, compared to the Volvo XC90 and bone stock Acura TL in my group, I knew I would do fine. The course started off with a slalom section then into a figure eight and back through the slalom. After driving through the course slowly a few times, it was time to pick up the pace and a stopwatch was used. Although I understood what had to be done, controlling a two ton machine proved to be a challenge. The good news was that my car stayed relatively flat through the course and I was able to post one of the faster times in my group with only a Cayman S beating me. That said, the other groups included several experienced drivers and Porsches so I wasn’t anywhere near the top three times for the day. Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators captain) posted the quickest time in his 911 Turbo. After learning this, I suggested that he could have done even better if he had gone for some weight reduction and pulled the baby seat out of his car !
Alfie:
After spending approx. 30 minutes in a classroom to learn some basics we were off to get on the track for some advanced driving techniques. This consisted of 3 lane changes in succession as well as a separate emergency accident avoidance exercise. With the lane change section we were told to start driving at a comfortable speed (20 mph for the XC90 versus double that for many of us) and then work our way up to a speed where there would be considerable lean when changing lanes. My car did very well at this and I was given the thumbs up each time I ran through this course. I increased my speed each time and the only disappointment was that I had a tough time experiencing much lean (sarcasm!) but more importantly, I never felt I was at the car’s limit. Nice to have a ride that provides confidence and control in that sort of real life situation. The accident avoidance section to this portion of the day consisted of a box marked off by pylons where after entering you had to slow down and exit by veering either right or left and coming to a full stop. A guy with more guts than brains stood in front of you and you would drive directly towards him awaiting his gesture with the flag to determine whether to veer right or left. On my first run through, I was told to start at a speed of 25 mph - the flag guy scared the crap out of me as he provided what felt like very little time to veer prior to taking him out. Thereafter, with the speed increased to 35 mph, I was provided with an even shorter time frame to avoid hitting this obviously stupid man with the flag. Although someone almost did hit him, it was a great accident avoidance exercise that required balls to hold off until told which way to go. Again my car did not disappoint as it provided a no nonsense controlled directional change and stop.
Finally, it was time to get onto the track. To start off, an instructor would drive your car and participants rode as passengers over a half loop of track. It was quite interesting and enjoyable to sit next to an experienced instructor who not only knew what he was doing but was able to vocalize, step by step, how to get around the track efficiently. The fact that it appeared he wasn’t really holding back much while driving my car made it VERY entertaining. It was great to hear his repeated confirmations of how well my car handled. He also suggested my stock brakes worked quite well which helped confirm I can put off that mod … at least for a while ;-). It was then my turn to drive with the instructor riding as passenger. Tracking the car for my first time ever was certainly a learning process; however, after a few laps I was feeling comfortable and was able to find the proper line in most turns, more often than not. Booting it down the straightaway, light tap of the brakes prior to taking a sweeper to the right and then WOT again taking the proper line up and over a rise was an amazing rush ! Since the S4 loves to rev, I truly enjoyed accelerating to redline in 3rd on several areas of the track. Much to my surprise, I was able to go into turns even with a bit too much speed and still feel in complete control. Obviously I could have been running more efficiently and been a bit easier on the tires and brakes. Oh well … S4 with GT Vogts +1, Steve’s driving 0. We then took a 10 minute break prior to going out again and several other participants suggested to me that my car appeared to handle very well. When we were about to head out again, I suggested to my instructor that I had enough for now (as a joke) and then almost had to wrestle with him to see who was getting behind the wheel of my car. I guess he really did enjoy driving my car!
After the next short break, the final driving segment included running the full track without a passenger but behind an instructor in their car with no passing allowed ;-). Initially I was following an older 911 and had to work hard to keep up in the turns due to too much push (and lack of experience) compared to the P-car and driver. We then pulled off for another quick break prior to getting back on this time I was following an R8 for a couple of laps.
After that, my next "leader" was a very stinky but fast Viper (seen in above pic). Interestingly, there were a couple of turns that I chose to use the same line I was initially instructed to use rather than follow the Viper and I ended up having to brake more than required to avoid giving my leader a “push”. Once on the straights though, the gap between us widened considerably.
For the hot lapping segment, my first ride was in an older BMW 3 series track car with race seats, full harness belts and roll cage. The driver was obviously very experienced and the car made it around the full course passing several cars. You could tell this car had a track setup as it handled amazingly well and the only thing it was lacking was more power – the GT3 (yellow one in pic above) was the only car to pass us. The other car I rode in was an older 911 turbo. Although it was very quick and also a fun ride, the driver did not appear to be as experienced as my 1st hot lap driver and sound of the blow off valve took away from the experience for me.
Aside from getting hooked, I learned many things throughout the day:
1) My car is a ton of fun on the track and handles extremely well even though the ride is very compliant in city and highway conditions ! Obviously my instructor’s comments of how well the car handled certainly confirms that my setup can hold its own on the track. Man, am I happy with my coils !
2) The Porsche GT3 is not only HAWT, its fast as hell !
3) My S4 cannot keep up to a Dodge Viper RT 10 in the straights.
4) The Acura TLS handling sucks but at least it bettered the XC90 !
5) In the right hands, the BMW X3 can hold its own on the track. I’m guessing the driver had some experience as he was able to keep on my tail in the turns but then it was Buh-Bye on the straights.
6) My gas consumption is better in city driving compared to the track.
7) Buying gas near the track is VERY costly (over $80. for a fillup!)
I’ll definitely be going back to the track !!
Cheers.
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Originally Posted by 02B6
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