Track day at Lime Rock in CT - Photos & Videos included!!

[bigdo26]

Brought the S4 to Lime Rock again the other day. Ran the whole day on stock programming. Other mods are in sig. Day went really well - best lap time was around 1.09 (although my final session did not get recorded, and it felt fastest...)

Got some solid passes on a bunch of "superior" track cars (corvettes, a ferrari (!), couple miatas, Jag XFR) and was able to talk with a couple of the drivers afterwards. Favorite was a guy who had a 2010 vette (base, 435ish hp one) who jumped out of his car as we lined up for the last session of the day to come say hi and see what my car had done to it. He was very impressed that he couldn't keep up with me.

Still lots of room to improve of course, but was my first time going solo and that was a blast! Car was definitely faster - able to hit about 115 in the straight if I hit the downhill turn just right and braked as late as possible. Anyways, enjoy the photos and video clips!!

I'm the S4 with the blue tape on the headlights another B5 was running in my group too (also silver) as seen below










Behind the lambo...


Next lap - ahead of lambo ;)

[bigdo26]

Session 2, Part 1


Session 2, Part 2:


Session 1, Part 1:


Session 1, Part 2:

[Tarmac]

looks like your having a shit load of fun. Stock programming,, any mods to the car Center Diff, Brakes......?

[bigdo26]

looks like your having a shit load of fun. Stock programming,, any mods to the car Center Diff, Brakes......?

Too much fun ;)

Brakes are stock - they'll be upgraded over the winter for next season. Otherwise, mods are in my signature. Have the stock diff as well, but the 20/80 front/rear split would be hugely beneficial...

Clearly need new suspension too (like that body roll??)

[skunkoncrunk]

Nice shot and good videos.

How do you deal with all that body roll?

[*Blue-Angel*]

Too much fun ;)

Brakes are stock - they'll be upgraded over the winter for next season. Otherwise, mods are in my signature. Have the stock diff as well, but the 20/80 front/rear split would be hugely beneficial...

Clearly need new suspension too (like that body roll??)

yeah first thing I noticed was the body roll. But its fun to be on the track no matter what.

[revhards4]

but wait!!!! The S4 is supposed to handle like shit and you're supposed to sell it and track an e36 M3?

[goofyboots]

can you give us a little tire feedback? this might be my DD rubber next spring.

how do they behave at entry, middle, and exit.
overall life session after session.
wet performance.

thanks

[bigdo26]

but wait!!!! The S4 is supposed to handle like shit and you're supposed to sell it and track an e36 M3?

haha I have ridden in an e36 M3 and those are awesome track cars... but the S4 is definitely capable! With good coilovers/sways & brakes, I could keep up with just about anything out there. Next year will finally run the car at more than 8-9 psi boost too ;)

[bigdo26]

can you give us a little tire feedback? this might be my DD rubber next spring.

how do they behave at entry, middle, and exit.
overall life session after session.
wet performance.

thanks

I've had good luck with these tires - bought them after reading good reviews on Tire Rack actually
As DD's - medium noise (compared with my Falken 452's), but wet and dry traction has been good. Treadwear rating of 300, and with about 3.5 hours of track driving plus ~8000 "regular" miles, I've got about 5/32 on the fronts and 6/32 on the rears. I seem to lose about 1.5/32 per track day if I rotate the tires part way through - and I'm fine with that! No apparent wear due to regular driving.

At the track: On hot days they get a little "squishy" (90+ ambient temps), but on cooler days they seem to work great lap after lap. The other day was between 45-65 ambient, and they were grippy all day. They have pretty good turn in, and are very predictable. I've been able to steer the car with my foot during longer corners (transition from understeer to mild oversteer and back) and they give great audible feedback at the limit. No issues at all with blistering, or any other problems. When they were at 9-10/32, they felt a little less crisp - by the time I got to 5-6/32 (last Thursday at the track) they definitely felt better.

Anyways, for ~$100/tire I've been more than happy!!

[NogaroAvant]

Great video and driving. Thanks for sharing... I'd love to get my S4 on the track. What were you seeing for oil temps during the sessions?

[S4_NE]

looks like fun I need to get off my ass one of these days and drive up the raod and play up there,

[bigdo26]

Great video and driving. Thanks for sharing... I'd love to get my S4 on the track. What were you seeing for oil temps during the sessions?

Highest I saw was about 255 for oil temps. Water temps stayed ~90. I was a little disappointed with oil temps as they were nearly the same as before I had my new oil cooler (saw 265, but it was a 90+ degree day back in May - last week was 65 F). However, I haven't been able to mount the new oil cooler low enough yet so it's in the air stream. It is mostly behind the bumper... something to work on.

However, temps were down to 225 within 2 or 3 minutes after the sessions ended, so at least they dropped pretty quickly.

Wish I could make it out on the track every weekend!! It's a blast