ClearWaterMS

Last fall i picked up a 2018 Daytona Grey S4 as my every day car. The car is great, I got the premium plus /w navigation, leather and the sport setup (diff, red calipers, etc) Since purchasing the car, I have not driven my corvette. Yesterday for the first time since last fall I took my 2008 Corvette out for a drive and was disappointed. The steering is heavy, the top squeaks, etc. So here is my question. Last year I did a handful of autocross events in the vette and am planning on doing 1-2 track night in america events. How will the S4 fair in autocross, track days, etc. I am not competitive just looking to go out and have a good time.

Because this is the internet, pictures or it didn't happen...
2018 S4


2008 Corvette C6

mplsbrian

Congrats on your purchase!

For non-competitive weekend fun, you should do the following:

• Swap in a high performance brake fluid. Motul RBF600 or RBF660 are popular choices, these have boiling points of 594 and 622 degrees F respectively when new. I don't know what they put in the car stock but I am told this fluid is quite a bit higher grade.
• Be prepared to cook your brake pads. The S4 is a competent braker with those massive calipers, but it is also a heavy pig and you will experience brake fade and premature life even with good fluid. There is really nothing you can do about this except upgrade to a better pad once you get to that point. Take it easy and allow for cooldown laps. Nothing wrong with this, it's part of track lyfe
• Looks like you're on the Conti SC6 tires -- great tire. Just make sure you are running the appropriate pressures. The pressure listed in your door jamb is wayyyyyyyy too high even for the street, and you certainly don't want to be running that at the track. You will experience cold tears on your tire and rip huge chunks of meat off of them in corners, and tires for this car are $800+ a set so that will probably make you cry. Talk to others at the event and bring a pressure guage + IR temp gauge to try and dial it in before you push too hard. If there is a tire rep talk to them, they may know a thing or two. Keep in mind this car does not like square pressures, it prefers more pressure in the front tires.

At the track day:

• Play around with the drive select settings. Some critics have said that in track scenarios, full-dynamic provides too much oversteer and they instead prefer that on cars with the Sport Diff like yours, Individual drive select mode with diff set to Auto and everything else set to Dynamic provides a better feel. Your experience may vary.
• Take a warm up lap. Continuously monitor your brakes and tires. Watch your oil temp and oil levels.
• Don't drive with the exhaust tips closed (exhaust sound = comfort). Doing that is bad for the car in track driving/extended full throttle scenarios...says so right in the manual if I recall correctly.

After the track day:

• Don't even think about waiting 10,000 miles for an oil change. Now that you've tracked the car that guidance is no longer intended for you.
• Don't wait 2 years for a brake fluid change either. I'd change at the start of every season and again halfway through if I were tracking. Boiling brakes = congrats you died
• Transmission and diff flushes will be something to think about. They are not lifetime units if you are tracking. You will need to flush them eventually if you are driving the car to its limit often so plan accordingly.

ClearWaterMS

thank you for the tips

A few follow up questions
1. What aftermarket brake pads are available? In past cars I have used either Hawk or Akebono but neither appear to offer pads for the B9 S4 yet. When its time to replace the pads should I budget for replacement rotors as well? Are brake pads DIY like most cars on this vehicle? I.E. is there any step that requires special tools?

2. Is the factory brake fluid okay for Autocross? Is the fluid swap the same as other cars (start at the wheel furthest away and bleed until you see the fresh fluid)

3. Is it fun? I mean the car is great; but is it fun? Will I miss the Corvette? Last year I only did 3 autocross days and will be trying the track for the first time this year.

mplsbrian

I don't really know the answers to the latest round of questions because I'm still on original brakes, have never driven a C6 Corvette, and only looked into tracking this car hence how I found out about the need to swap brake fluid. I have a background in tracking sportbikes (still own a track-tuned ZX6R with an obnoxious GP exhaust on it) and so I also understand general concepts around circuit motorsports.

I think you would likely be fine in autocross but for track, where you are putting heat into the system over a longer period of time vs. autocross, I would definitely swap fluids at least especially on a true speed circuit like COTA or Road America or Laguna Seca.

As for the fun factor...again I have never tried, but I think it will have less to do with Corvette vs. Audi S-car and more to do with 2006 technology (and pure age of specific components that degrade in performance with time e.g. maybe your suspension dampers?) vs 2018 technology. This new B9 platform is pretty dialed and has some interesting suspension and chassis tech going on between the active dampers, sport differential, brake-based torque vectoring system, and dedicated chassis ECU which drives the aforementioned based on telemetrics from sensors all over the car. I think that paired with some solid rubber and a competent driver, that could make for a much less raw, but certainly unique track day experience.

ClearWaterMS

Midwest sportbikes? I rode for many years with CLSB (if you're from the Chicago area) and did a handful of NESBA days at places like Autobahn and Putnam. At the time I was riding an SV650. I can still remember the first time I put a knee down on the last right turn before the long straight at Putnam.

There is an autocross day next weekend /w the Miata club; if the weather is nice maybe I spend the day with the S4 out there and decide after that.

SCarGuy

I doubt you would need to swap brake fluid for a typical track day, especially on street tires. Dry boiling temp on stock fluid is fairly high (over 500 F). While the aftermarkets will be marginally higher, it isn't going to give you this massive benefit. Wet boiling temps on the OE and Motul are pretty close too, within about 60F. If you were going to run R Comps, yes, I'd absolutely do fluid. Pads will be pick your poison based on how you drive and the track. If you want to do pads, I'd see if there are Endless S55G, Pagid Orange. Carbotech is another good option, as they can do pads to spec if you like, or they have a very wide product range. I've used all of these on tons of my cars over the years. I could see fluid becoming an issue at a very fast and/or technical track (COTA as mentioned)

I've done one track day with the S4, stock everything at Lime Rock. Same pads, fluids are on the car now, a year later. Oil just was changed a couple months ago. I can't count the number of laps I have at that track, but it's not a brake heavy track for me save for Big Bend and at the Uphill. I had just had the car serviced at 3500 miles prior to the track day. Stayed at my normal intervals after. While I've got tons of experience, have instructed, etc., at your typical event, you simply can't push the car 10 10ths, and recognizing that I also drove the car in and wanted to drive it home lol, I was cautiously aggressive. I was pleasantly surprised at how composed the car was. You definitely feel it's weight, but, it's more a GT in sedan form than track animal. Looking forward to taking the RS3 out next time, as I think that will be a decidedly better car for LRP. I can check my notes for tire pressures, as I playeds with those during the day. Everything was in Dynamic fwiw

ClearWaterMS

Thank you. I appreciate the assistance on how to prepare the car. That being said; the core question for this thread remains unanswered. Is the latest S4 as much fun as the 10 year old Corvette. Is the trouble of keeping a 3rd car worth it or will the S4 be satisfying enough.

SCarGuy

I suspect that’s a question only you can answer. I’m not much of an American car guy...although a C6+ Z06 and Hoosiers is nearly an unbeatable track day car and a ton of fun. They are animals! Cars have changed a lot in 10 years. Construction technique, materials, all have evolved.

I love my S4. It’s a perfect daily driver for me. Quick, fun, ticks the boxes I care about, and flies under the radar. That being said, I’m considering a toy for the summer......now that the weather has turned, I miss a convertible

ClearWaterMS

One thing to note; I live in the suburbs of Chicago. There is NOTHING within an hours drive that is worth while for a back roads romp. Southern Wisconsin has some nice scenic drives; but compared to places like California, Colorado, eastern TN/Southern OH/eastern NC it's not worth the hassle to get there.

That being said; within a few hours of the house we have several small race tracks; Gratten, Gingerman, Putnam, Autobahn, Blackhawk, etc and one large one (road america) along with several active autocross clubs that ensure fun can be had in a more controlled setting.

Being that the Corvette is a 3rd car if something were to happen that it broke down on the track i would still be able to get everywhere I needed to go. If the Corvette were gone; I would be counting on the Audi to get me to work every day and have fun with it. Don't own toys you can't afford to break is probably the life lesson to bear in mind here.