Finally took some in-car video of the RS4 at the track...
08-13-2007, 12:23 PM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Finally took some in-car video of the RS4 at the track...
Check it out here: <a href="http://homepage.mac.com/lvelano/iMovieTheater38.html">RS4 @ Blackhawk farms 8/10/07</a>
There was lots of fun to be had at an advanced driver's day this past friday with the local audi club, although you wouldn't think it was the audi club considering the majority of non-audi cars that were on track. The venue was at Blackhawk farms raceway, about 90 minutes northwest of Chicago. It is a narrow, tight, and challenging 1.95 mile road course with some areas lined by trees with foliage looming over the track, which while intimidating, such trees "were not in play". The day was reserved for advanced driver/instructors/instructor-candidates where a limited amount of participants basically had the run of the track the whole day. No run groups, no set sessions, just open lapping and more track time than anyone could ever want. It was awesome! If it wasn't for the fact that it was a searing hot day out (mid 90's), I would've ran longer stints but even with race pads and dot 5 fluid, the brakes needed a breather just as much as I did. There were times that I was tempted to roll-up my windows and put the AC on because I'm a pansy when it comes to hot weather
This was the first time I ran the RE-01R's at the track and I will confirm that they are just phenomenal for a non-R-comp summer tire. The level of grip now matches the extra braking that the race pads have afforded and even when I jump on the brakes too aggresively at the end of a straight, it did not overpower the tires like it did the stock pirellis. But leave it to me to find some way to make even these grippy shoes scream in protest at some turns. Still, very impressive performance when compared to the rossos that I've ran on this same track in the past on both the RS4 and the SLK55. Unfortunately, I cannot back it up with comparative lap times because I did not have a data logger or similar instrument in the past. I did use a GPS device that I normally use for running/biking that has an auto-lap function that was able to measure my lap times to compare in the future. The car is otherwise stock with only a milltek cat-back (no downpipes) to provide some extra aural pleasure.
To cap off the day, I was fortunate to have Mark White drive my car with me riding shotgun for a few laps. Mark is a pro racer with <a href="http://www.accumoto.com/">Accumoto</a> who currently leads the IMSA Lites standing and also does Rolex GT as seen on Speed. No matter how smooth I think my driving has become over the years, it's still amazing how much smoother and faster a pro can be on a car that 1) they're not familiar with, and 2) taking it "easy" without redlining through each gear since it's not their car. Again, I am humbled and reminded why I'm not competing wheel to wheel at ALMS in an R10
. BTW, I also have in-car video footage of Mark driving my RS4 that I might post later if I ever get around to converting it from my camera (that first vid was already a pain in the ***)
<img src="http://homepage.mac.com/lvelano/.Pictures/BHF06/MK2_9981.jpg">
There was lots of fun to be had at an advanced driver's day this past friday with the local audi club, although you wouldn't think it was the audi club considering the majority of non-audi cars that were on track. The venue was at Blackhawk farms raceway, about 90 minutes northwest of Chicago. It is a narrow, tight, and challenging 1.95 mile road course with some areas lined by trees with foliage looming over the track, which while intimidating, such trees "were not in play". The day was reserved for advanced driver/instructors/instructor-candidates where a limited amount of participants basically had the run of the track the whole day. No run groups, no set sessions, just open lapping and more track time than anyone could ever want. It was awesome! If it wasn't for the fact that it was a searing hot day out (mid 90's), I would've ran longer stints but even with race pads and dot 5 fluid, the brakes needed a breather just as much as I did. There were times that I was tempted to roll-up my windows and put the AC on because I'm a pansy when it comes to hot weather
This was the first time I ran the RE-01R's at the track and I will confirm that they are just phenomenal for a non-R-comp summer tire. The level of grip now matches the extra braking that the race pads have afforded and even when I jump on the brakes too aggresively at the end of a straight, it did not overpower the tires like it did the stock pirellis. But leave it to me to find some way to make even these grippy shoes scream in protest at some turns. Still, very impressive performance when compared to the rossos that I've ran on this same track in the past on both the RS4 and the SLK55. Unfortunately, I cannot back it up with comparative lap times because I did not have a data logger or similar instrument in the past. I did use a GPS device that I normally use for running/biking that has an auto-lap function that was able to measure my lap times to compare in the future. The car is otherwise stock with only a milltek cat-back (no downpipes) to provide some extra aural pleasure.
To cap off the day, I was fortunate to have Mark White drive my car with me riding shotgun for a few laps. Mark is a pro racer with <a href="http://www.accumoto.com/">Accumoto</a> who currently leads the IMSA Lites standing and also does Rolex GT as seen on Speed. No matter how smooth I think my driving has become over the years, it's still amazing how much smoother and faster a pro can be on a car that 1) they're not familiar with, and 2) taking it "easy" without redlining through each gear since it's not their car. Again, I am humbled and reminded why I'm not competing wheel to wheel at ALMS in an R10
. BTW, I also have in-car video footage of Mark driving my RS4 that I might post later if I ever get around to converting it from my camera (that first vid was already a pain in the ***) <img src="http://homepage.mac.com/lvelano/.Pictures/BHF06/MK2_9981.jpg">
