First Track Day (Weekend)

[Glassnpowder98]

So, this past weekend I went out with ACNA (Audi Club North America) to Summit Point in West Virginia for my first track experience. All I have to say, AMAZING! We were running on the Shenandoah Circuit which is supposed to be one of the most technical tracks in the country. There were lots of multiple apex, late apex, corkscrew turns. They even have an exact replica of the "Karussell" from the Nurburgring (the highly banked turn). The straights were somewhat short, so I was only able to get up to 95mph if I came out of the turn perfectly. However, there were some Corvettes and Porsche's there that were getting up to 140mph by the end of the straights. My car did pretty well with minimal understeer. However, it definitely made me wish I had smaller wheels as I was rubbing quite a bit. My right front has some red paint on the sidewall of the tire from rubbing real good coming out of the "Karussell."

Anyways, they put me in the beginner group since it was my first time on the track. I was running with A3's, TT's, B5 S4, B7 S4, Miata, STI, and a Porsche Turbo. I was faster than all but the STI and Porsche Turbo. The Porsche was ridiculously fast and the STI was able to carry a little more speed through turns and was a little faster accelerating out of turns.

They also threw us out on the skid pad to practice getting out of slides and to learn the limits of the car and what it feels like to reach them. It was pretty tough to get the back end out, so the instructor would randomly grab the e-brake to initiate a slide. I found out pretty quickly that with front biased quattro, you can pull out of almost 90 degree slides by jamming the throttle and turning out of the slide. The quattro definitely makes it a little tough to keep a drift going, however I was able to make it a little more than a complete circle around the skid pad (I'll post video later).

To finish my absurdly long post, I highly recommend that everyone tries this. ACNA puts on a very professional school that gives you a lot of track time with quality instructors (my instructor was an SCCA racer) as well as classroom time to teach you the basics about how to get around the track faster.

I had a headrest video camera mount (thanks to Grishbok) and got over an hour of video from the track and the skid pad. Here are videos of the Skidpad and a few laps on the track Sorry if the videos are crappy quality. The combination of compressing and my shitty computer dropping frames might make them a little jumpy...

Skidpad video
http://good-times.webshots.com/video...03514221hFPQNF

Two laps
http://good-times.webshots.com/video...03514221BIBqWD

Full 4 lap video on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlplBkFOTw

Here are some pics I took of the advanced/instructor group.








My instructor was driving the S2000


This thing was badass


Paddock






Backstretch, paddock, and part of the skidpad

[IceMole]

Awesome! Good to see more people getting out on the track! Watch out because this may make you spend even more mod money

[Glassnpowder98]

Yeah, as everyone has said, it's very addicting. I definitely now want to get a BBK as stock brakes/pads are a little sketchy. I thought mods were expensive, but track days get pretty pricey too if you figure in price to go to the track, tires/brake pads after a few track days, and all the other expenditures that you might come across... I definitely need to find a higher paying job if I want to get to the track more than a few times a year...

[Louis J.]

Well done and keep it up! As I'm sure you already know, this gets pretty addictive so start putting away your pennies. How did the brakes hold up? Any fade? No doubt the RS4 sway is good enough but it's at the track where the H-sports could make a huge difference. Here's a clip that convinced me I'd be okay with an A4 coming from a 993:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHexdrm5wpo

[Glassnpowder98]

Nice video... The brakes held up real well, I only experienced minimal fade. However, I was being a little cautious with them and tried to not get on them real heavy every turn. But after a few sessions, I did have some smoke coming off of them when I got back to the paddock.

[IceMole]

What tires did you run?

[Glassnpowder98]

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2's in 245/35/19. They provided pretty good traction with minimal noise. They definitely let me know when I was too close to the edge of their capabilities.

[EMAXX]

Sounds like a really fun time.

I'm hoping that I can get out on the track sometime in the near future. I would love to go to a driving school and learn some skills too.

[A4 S-Line]

I found out pretty quickly that with front biased quattro, you can pull out of almost 90 degree slides by j. . . . . .

Aren't the B7's 50/50?

[Glassnpowder98]

Aren't the B7's 50/50?

You might be right... I know the RS4 is 60/40 rear biased. I thought I heard somewhere that the regular A4's are front biased... Can anyone confirm?

[IceMole]

The standard torsen center differential in the S4 and A4 provides a 2:1 torque distribution capability. This enables the end of the car with traction (generally the rear) to deliver twice the torque being delivered by the least tractive end of the vehicle (generally the front). For high performance street cars, we recommend a bias ratio of 4:1. This is the same bias ratio that Audi has provided in the stock RS4 driveline.

-STASIS

[Glassnpowder98]

Updated with pics...

[Sharkfin]

Yes its 60/40 if I recall correctly. Congrats on your first track day. I'd like to get out there as well. What were you ACNA fees?

[Glassnpowder98]

The ACNA fees are right around $40 per year. They also have multi year deals and a lifetime deal for around $300 I think. The cost for the track day was right around $350. I think that this is a very good deal since you got two days at the track (10 20-minute sessions), a quality instructor, and a catered dinner at the end of the first day. They definitely know how to do a track day correctly and you can tell that they have experience because everything was scheduled and done to the tee.

[thebikedoctor33]

how do you find out when acna is holding such events? i'm guessing they have a site with all the info?

and congrats on putting the quattro to the test! it gives me an itch to get out on a track for the first time.

[Glassnpowder98]

ACNA is the governing body and they have different chapters all over the country. I found the event through my local chapter. My local chapter doesn't seem to offer too many events. It seems like there are about 3 track days per year and a couple of GTG drives. I'm pretty sure you could go to another chapter's track day if you wanted to and were willing to make the drive. We had people from Ohio and New Jersey attend...

[Glassnpowder98]

Skid pad video is uploaded. I'm trying to compress the track videos enough so that webshots accepts them. They should be up soon!

[Alkemix]

Hey, congrats on your day at the track. I'm wondering when I'll ever get my ass to do this someday. Good job on documentation too. How'd the heel toe work out on the track? I'll bet it helps quite a bit.

[Glassnpowder98]

I got a video with 2 laps to uploaded... ^^ The heel toe worked out real well. Made shifting smoother without unsettling the car. However, it didn't quite save my transmission as I was getting some grinding again shifting into third. You can probably hear it in the video. I think my synchro is going, but it's weird because I only get the grinding when I drive it hard for an extended period of time. It also goes away after a day or two of normal driving... It's at the shop right now and they're supposed to look at it...

[Nico]

Looks like you had a great time and leaned alot as well! I was very impressed with your drift on the skid pan. Now that's sideways!

[agorich]

man, thats tight. ....i'm pretty much jealous and want to do that too.

[alex@4induktion]

I had my 1st track day at Summit this year. Just your basic Friday at the Track event with not club affiliation. I have done so many things in my life but taking a turbo vr6 to summit point left a smile on my face for days. Never passed once the whole day and hitting at least 140 on the straights embarrasing porsches, evo etc.

Next track event after joining Audi Club is VIR in November. It's $350 for 2 days but so worth it. You can rent a room above a garage for like $100 a night but I might just go with the camping thing sicne Im towing there.

Anyone else planning on coming????

[Glassnpowder98]

You weren't at the track day this weekend were you? I'm pretty sure there was someone with a track built E30 from Induktion there on Saturday. I never got to meet the guy who was driving it, but I went up and looked at it. Very nice car!

I would like to go to VIR in November, but I heard it's almost filled up already. I also think I'm going to save my money up. After getting hooked this past weekend, I'm looking into purchasing an 82' 911sc to make into a track car. Hopefully I'll have something built and ready to go by next track season! Shit, I'm hooked and will be poor for the forseable future...

[alexvr6t]

The car you saw was Ed, the owner of Induktion Motorsports. He said your car looked great and you looked even better on the skidpad.

[Glassnpowder98]

Tell him I said thanks and that his car was looking really good too. Ha, I was having a blast on the skidpad. It took me a long time to clean my interior yesterday from all the dirty water that was flying in my window while going sideways, but it was worth it. I actually think I might be leaning more towards an E30 or E36 to start building as a track car due to parts and maintenance being a little cheaper. Once I find one cheap enough, I'll have to take it to induktion and get some advice from Ed....

[Louis J.]

Looks like you had a great weekend. Your lines are pretty decent...keep working on tightening them up, faster exits and upgrading your brakes so you can brake later. I don't know why your bonehead instructor didn't say anything but you're moving your hands way too much, especially as you go into turns. You should have them planted at 3 and 9 o'clock and only move your right hand to shift. You may want to pick up Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley and start learning about line strategies. At this point, I would also spend your money on seat-time rather than building a track car. Hang on...it's a slippery slope.

[Glassnpowder98]

^^ The first day he did say something about keeping my hands more still and not making small fine movements with the wheel that unsettle the car. He said to try accelerating and letting off the gas to make the car move in towards the apex or out. Is this what you are referring to or do you mean that I should not be shuffling my hands on the steering wheel as I turn? In the classroom session they talked about the two different ways to do it (keep your hands in the same place on the wheel or shuffle like I do), but didn't say that one is better than the other. However, I do see how shuffling can upset the car a little bit and put you out of position if your car starts sliding (although that probably won't happen in our A4's). I guess I'll work on both of those next time I get on a track or do some spirited driving...

[Louis J.]

Hand position is key to good car control at speed. Keeping your hands in the 3/9 position or 2/10 position is key. This is the reason race cars now have paddle shifters in the 3/9 position. Some movement is natural, like sliding the hand that pushes when you're in a tight turn but keeping your hands mostly in the 3/9 position is optimal. This is not the best example but you'll get the idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ8nwes6m-g

[alexvr6t]