Intro: So this is my secret sauce, no punches pulled. I've worked with fellow enthusiasts for a few years to develop my car into the best handling machine I could (power too, but that is well documented in this forum so I just listed it at the bottom.)
Just finished another testing day and I gotta say the car was the best it's ever been. Also, I was the most prepared to explore it. I want it to be predictable, repeatable, bulletproof, grippy and darest I say it, fast. I still want a car that appears mostly stock from the outside, mostly.
I am including my track setup for this post but my street setup only swaps in wheel/tire/brake pad. Below is the list of parts and settings I am using and why.
Wheels and Tires Overall Goals: reduce un-sprung weight, tough as nails, large selection of tires, increase grip, increase acceleration
18x9 CCW C14 - strong, light, basically cost effective, fits over 370mm 6 piston kit. ET 39 front, ET 42 rear. Yeah, slight reverse stagger to bulldog the front into a place that steers well in the twisty stuff
Toyo R888 255/35/18 - 94y. This is the only Rcomp(ish) tire I can find in this size that meets our weight requirements. 100 UTQG, decent life for what it is - I've had as many as 5 days on a set. When I say days I mean +/- 4 hours of actual on-track time. I run cold pressure 39-40 hot pressure 45-47 - I know that sounds high but I get good wear across the face and they don't feel kooky - Google it, lots of people are figuring out this secret on these tires. These tires are considerably wider than stock while being a smaller diameter circle, soft rubbery Lincoln Logs. Wide is straightforward, the smaller circle is easier to push and biases acceleration.
Suspension Overall Goals: flat ride that does not sacrifice grip for comfort, grip for days, predictable weight transfer, bias car towards neutral to oversteer balance
Ohlin Motorsport coilovers - mulit-trac oil flow allows more compliance on soft hits and tighter handling on the big stuff. Adjustable, although once I found my sweet spot I never adjust. In retrospect I think I would like the SLs a lot as they are stiff and have no clickers to mess with but that is merely an afterthought based on how I use the system, the MSs rule. Currently 24.5 inches ground to fender.
Swift Metric Springs - 14k F, 22k R Sick, just sick. Seemingly more compliant on the soft stuff and stiffer on the nastys. Lighter and more predictable than hyperco/ eibach.
Brakes Overall Goals: Big stopping power with the ability to execute over and over with minimal loss or fade. This is the single fastest change I made to the car, meaning I shaved multiple seconds off times with proper brakes.
Alcon 6 piston calipers with 370mm rotors - great metallurgy, light weight for the monsters they are, monoblock caliper for strength. Super easy to swap pads in and out of.
Carbotech XP 10, XP8 - good modulation, great bite, seem to take heat like a champ and not create undue heat which can stress the surrounding hardware. PLAYS WELL WITH MY STREET COMPOUND - this is the thing everyone seems to overlook when setting up a double duty system. Supporting: Stainless steel lines and RBF 600.
Driveline Overall Goals: More grip, lay down more power, better rotation.
Squiddy made Torsen LSD - simply awesome. I do notice it on the street, not like it clicks or skips into parking spots, but it firms up the rear end and makes the rear `a thing' where it just wasn't before. Like now you are aware of the rear end; before it was just along for the ride. Didn't want to mess with a clutch type that requires maintenance and rebuilding. A great piece that transforms the car.
Anti-Roll Devices Overall Goals: Flatten ride in the twisty stuff, predictable weight transfer, preferred vehicle balance
HSport 29mm Rear Sway on the soft setting. Yeah, for me rear only. This is a personal choice but this suits my system and style. I love to steer sweepers and high speed turns with the throttle.
Stern Adjustable endlinks - Strong enough to handle the RSB and the only way you are going to get a real corner balance is with adjustables, period.
Locking nuts for the sway bar mount - so I don't rip it off the car...again, again, again
Supporting Mods
Stern Adjustable Upper Control arms - not only are they adjustable and give you the ability to set camber and caster, but they offer more positive and crisp steering and clean up/transmit the inputs from the turning bits.
Alignment - -2.3 camber, 5.75 caster, 0 toe front and -1.5 camber, 0 toe rear. This nails the car to the ground, allows for much higher speed turning control, stiffens up the steering wheel, raises tire lifespan, puts power to the ground out back and generally kicks total ass.
Power B7 S4 V8 - I have a JHM tune, 2.5 inch fullthrough catless exhaust. CAI = NO! I would entertain the JHM IM for top-end oomph. I will not even go into power adders or builds. The basic formula works. I just want enough power to dig out of corners and hold my own on the straights, my hot zones are in the turns.
Weight Loss: Can be huge, but this isn't my car for that. The effects are not to be underestimated, though as this (like tires) makes all the other parts of the system work better.
Epilogue: I hope this can help just one person - it is the outcome of the experience of many many folks I'm proud to call my friends.
Feel free to ask me questions via PM and good luck with your mods! The B7 is a super fun platform, it can be nailed to the ground in the turns and holds its own in the straights.
I'm running out of stuff to play with, short of a monoball conversion and stiffer drivetrain mounts. I'm at the end of the road with the S4 development and have begun building a track only toy to bring all my car and road racing knolege and skill to bear.
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