Drag racing the RS6
 

Well, I'm not really racing other vehicles; I'm just trying to get close to the published quarter mile times at a local (SE Michigan) drag strip.

First visit got awful times; 14.135 was my best. Second visit I turned off ESP, got down to 13.675 & wrote elsewhere that I wouldn't drag again until getting to a dragway in Bradenton, FL, where my S4 was almost half a second faster than anywhere else. I don't want to drag too often without more input because for my 2000 S4 6-spd, several AWers advised against it. The S4 manual tranny is "not built for drag racing," they said
-- and costs about $10k to replace new. (My S4 tranny and clutch are fine, tho, after about 15 or so drag strip visits averaging about 4 runs each time...not that I set any track records!)

HOWEVER...now that it's turned colder (40s at night) my RS6 turbos seem determined to push me even farther back into my seat & launch seems quicker, too. So I'm thinking about one more visit to Milan Dragway before heading south for the winter, where cold weather will be hard to find (thankfully!).

THE ISSUE: I still want to avoid abusing my car, but I wonder: Does anyone know if the RS6 ZF Tiptronic is better suited to the strain of drag racing than my chipped S4 6-spd?

Also, how much (if any) difference do you think the cold weather will make? Figure temps of low 40s F now compared to upper 50s F before.

Your car is under warranty so don't baby it too much...
 

I'm sure you can get away with a lot as long as you don't totally trash the car. If anything breaks the bill's on Audi.

Tip will lock the converter a lot on manual mode - will wear the locking clutch eventually
 

but as <i>CarbonFibre</i> says, it's under warranty so I shouldn't worry too much.

In my opinion, any Audi with an S or RS designation (or in fact any with the word Sport in it's description) should be capable of being driven in a sporting manner on a regular basis with self-destructing, or it's falsely advertised.

The RS6 tip is strengthened over the standard trans...
 

I doubt you will have a problem. Several cars in Europe have been chipped and drag racing without transmission problems for some time now.

I believe the tranny is from the W12 A8 that was sold in Europe
 

Saw that in an Audi Sales video somewhere. It's more than capable of taking the strain.

Correct. Anyone know the torque that W12 A8 put out?

It's a 5 HP 24 tranny with a W280 torque converter
 

Some time ago, <i>AUJ</i> posted <a href="http://www.sovereign-publications.com/auto-art-2.htm">this link</a> on the A/S6 forum.

The tables in there show some tranny/converter combos. The 5 HP 24 seems to match the published RS 6 gear ratios, and in combination with the W280 converter provides handling of up to 520Nm of torque, which again matches up fairly well.

I believe the RS6 tranny has a number of titanium components that are steel in Audis other cars.

Provides handling of up to 384 lb. ft. of torque? Thought it had more than that...
 

Did I convert wrong or did you make a mistake somewhere? Is this a misunderstanding?

Re: Provides handling of up to 384 lb. ft. of torque? Thought it had more than that...
 

You're converting from the chart that shows 420-520 Nm of maximum engine torque, right?

Just wanted to make sure before I ask: What is the conversion rate for Nm (whatever that means) to lb ft? I have conversion tables for distance, volume, area, weight -- but not torque or anything that looks similar.