Track experience - S6 @ Laguna Seca
#1
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Track experience - S6 @ Laguna Seca
Recently joined the Audi community with the purchase of a 17 S6 last Aug. Love the car, it had just over 4,000 miles when I departed this morning. The car is a great high performance luxury sedan, well made, good power, few disappointments (except no ventilation with the diamond stitched seats!). Considered CLS and M550 before buying this car. The car is stock as a rock, 20 in rims are the only noteworthy feature for this review.
I spent about several hours yesterday trying to learn how to lock the trans in a true "manual mode." Answer: If there is a way, it's not easily discoverable. The consensus was basically individual settings in dynamic mode, the S mode on trans stalk + manual shift. I ran tire pressures at stock recommendations, 44F and 39R as a base line.
I have been running various cars in our four Northern California tracks for about 20 years. My current "normal" track car is a Lotus Exige Cup, not a street legal car.
Conditions at Laguna today were wet, it had been raining most of the night, and 50% chance of showers were forecast for the day today. I didn't mess with the traction control. The track has some drainage, water in Turn3 and T9 plus some sandy erosion/runoff at a couple of different spots.
I was the first car out at 9am, the line was not dry -- I figured the Quattro system would be helpful for this session. I have never driven a 4WD car on the track. My group had a sprinkling of American iron, but was mostly comprised of the ubiquitous M3s and high performance Japanese cars.
First lap was peddle around to get a feel for the conditions. Ok not bad. Power delivery was good, nice noises, no real surprises, steering/turn in was really nice, braking (Laguna EATS brakes) was really competent. By Turn4, the top heaviness of the big sedan was weighing on me - tip in steering input and you could feel the roof cant to the outside of the corner, not a big deal just something to adjust to. In the next couple of laps the track was drying and the pace picked up. At this point I notice I'm not a fan of the tranny -- constant upshifting and inability to downshift when I wanted was a distraction. I was manually down shifting to setup for corner exit but was resigned to the upshifts at the car's direction.
The biggest surprise was the four wheel slide in Turn4 on the 4th or 5th lap. No nannies kicked in, no dash lights, no noise. Just hel-loo, you're sliding now. In the car's defense this was after the rivulets running through T3. Opposite lock immediately brought back control, but the limits were pretty quickly reached in these conditions. I did expect some intervention before being out of control
Then there was a little brake fade in 2nd or 3rd session. This could probably be mitigated with some decent brake fluid. I didn't measure the pads but the stock pads probably lost 1/3-1/2 their useful life today -- better pads are a must for a track like this. Considerable travel was added to the brake peddle today commensurate with wearing pads.
To my satisfaction, later sessions disposed of every car in my group. I was fairly impressed with the ability to rein in the M3s nearly at will -- but that is not saying much as driver ability is a big unknown. I think many of those guys were a bit surprised to see the big white S6 running them down. Kudos to the powerplant here. We were able to run 4 sessions before the showers started later in the afternoon.
All in all, the S6 is a fairly competent car on the track, but it will never hang with a dedicated track car without serious mods. The powerplant is the highlight. Anyone going to a track should consider brake fluid and pad upgrades, which are pretty minor in the big scheme of things. Tires are the next consideration but I haven't researched tire/wheel combinations especially in light of getting around the huge brakes. Seats are comfy and supportive, interior is great and visibility is also very good (esp. compared to what I normally drive, ha ha). Being able to lock the trans in gear would really make the experience better in my mind. I probably won't take the car to Laguna again, but it was a fun experience the performance this car can deliver -- one that is closer to conditions this car was designed for. And certainly better than a not-so-legal highway event.
I spent about several hours yesterday trying to learn how to lock the trans in a true "manual mode." Answer: If there is a way, it's not easily discoverable. The consensus was basically individual settings in dynamic mode, the S mode on trans stalk + manual shift. I ran tire pressures at stock recommendations, 44F and 39R as a base line.
I have been running various cars in our four Northern California tracks for about 20 years. My current "normal" track car is a Lotus Exige Cup, not a street legal car.
Conditions at Laguna today were wet, it had been raining most of the night, and 50% chance of showers were forecast for the day today. I didn't mess with the traction control. The track has some drainage, water in Turn3 and T9 plus some sandy erosion/runoff at a couple of different spots.
I was the first car out at 9am, the line was not dry -- I figured the Quattro system would be helpful for this session. I have never driven a 4WD car on the track. My group had a sprinkling of American iron, but was mostly comprised of the ubiquitous M3s and high performance Japanese cars.
First lap was peddle around to get a feel for the conditions. Ok not bad. Power delivery was good, nice noises, no real surprises, steering/turn in was really nice, braking (Laguna EATS brakes) was really competent. By Turn4, the top heaviness of the big sedan was weighing on me - tip in steering input and you could feel the roof cant to the outside of the corner, not a big deal just something to adjust to. In the next couple of laps the track was drying and the pace picked up. At this point I notice I'm not a fan of the tranny -- constant upshifting and inability to downshift when I wanted was a distraction. I was manually down shifting to setup for corner exit but was resigned to the upshifts at the car's direction.
The biggest surprise was the four wheel slide in Turn4 on the 4th or 5th lap. No nannies kicked in, no dash lights, no noise. Just hel-loo, you're sliding now. In the car's defense this was after the rivulets running through T3. Opposite lock immediately brought back control, but the limits were pretty quickly reached in these conditions. I did expect some intervention before being out of control
Then there was a little brake fade in 2nd or 3rd session. This could probably be mitigated with some decent brake fluid. I didn't measure the pads but the stock pads probably lost 1/3-1/2 their useful life today -- better pads are a must for a track like this. Considerable travel was added to the brake peddle today commensurate with wearing pads.
To my satisfaction, later sessions disposed of every car in my group. I was fairly impressed with the ability to rein in the M3s nearly at will -- but that is not saying much as driver ability is a big unknown. I think many of those guys were a bit surprised to see the big white S6 running them down. Kudos to the powerplant here. We were able to run 4 sessions before the showers started later in the afternoon.
All in all, the S6 is a fairly competent car on the track, but it will never hang with a dedicated track car without serious mods. The powerplant is the highlight. Anyone going to a track should consider brake fluid and pad upgrades, which are pretty minor in the big scheme of things. Tires are the next consideration but I haven't researched tire/wheel combinations especially in light of getting around the huge brakes. Seats are comfy and supportive, interior is great and visibility is also very good (esp. compared to what I normally drive, ha ha). Being able to lock the trans in gear would really make the experience better in my mind. I probably won't take the car to Laguna again, but it was a fun experience the performance this car can deliver -- one that is closer to conditions this car was designed for. And certainly better than a not-so-legal highway event.
#2
AudiWorld Senior Member
I tracked my 2013 once at our short, local track. Fun, but you can feel that you're fighting a bunch o' curb-hugging weight. Brakes were indefatigable and, like you, I removed a lot of the life during a single day. I don't even want to talk about mileage (6-7 mpg). The car certainly punches above (or is that below) its weight - many were surprised to see me jonesing for a pass even through the corners. Fantastic car, but tracking it constantly would break the bank.
#3
I haven't tracked (nor will I) my S6, but if I did, I'd definitely do it in manual (S) mode.. but you have to be careful not to go beyond the kickdown switch, which is a bit softer than on my ex-Porsche, or tranny will both up and downshift on its own. Sport mode is better than on the Porsche, since sport is too mild, and sport+ is just for track, with redline-only shifts, so useless outside the track. The S mode on our cars seems to be very well suited, since it changes depending on how aggressive you're driving, but can be annoying sometimes,downshifting when you don't want it to, and starting in second and refusing to go do 1st even when invoking it. But one of the best S modes I've tried. I still like to drive in M most of the time, although there's not enough feedback noise to be effective all the time, so sometimes have to put it in S and put up with the tranny a little bit. Best tranny I've ever sampled is Porsche PDK, without a doubt, but still MUCH prefer this car's DCT to any TQ auto, especially for the glorious downshifts. Glad to know the S6 aquits itself nicely even in fully stock form. I hope dropping mine 17mm via VCDS will be enough to avoid spending even more money on suspension upgrades, especially after spending today $352 to reprogram the damn suspension module after botching the lowering by not setting suspension to 'auto'. So DO NOT forget that crucial step, folks.
#4
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I found that no matter the car, 4 cylinders or 12, forced induction or naturally aspirated, track mileage is about the same.
Consumables are just a cost of doing business, but certainly the sense of a great big E-ticket ride -- LIVING LIFE -- is well worth the price of admission, imho.
Consumables are just a cost of doing business, but certainly the sense of a great big E-ticket ride -- LIVING LIFE -- is well worth the price of admission, imho.
#5
After driving this car back to back with my GT-R, this is almost exactly how i expected the S6 to handle at the track, thanks for sharing your experience. Wicked power (especially with the stage 1 tune, which i'm sure will even further eat brakes), LOTS of body roll (commensurate with the glass smooth ride), lots of grip (tire dependent of course), and quickly chewing up those very large brakes.
I don't think Laguna has any fast left/ right / left transitions, I'd imagine some S turns would be the cars weakness.
Interesting question: how does this compare to the S4 (having never driven one). I'd imagine the S4 would be a little more agile, but also down on power.
I don't think Laguna has any fast left/ right / left transitions, I'd imagine some S turns would be the cars weakness.
Interesting question: how does this compare to the S4 (having never driven one). I'd imagine the S4 would be a little more agile, but also down on power.
#6
AudiWorld Senior Member
One thing I didn't mention is that, while the brakes seem to take everything you can throw at it, the engine will eventually get hot enough that it goes into a reduced power mode. Cut off seems to be about 130C oil temps.
#7
After driving this car back to back with my GT-R, this is almost exactly how i expected the S6 to handle at the track, thanks for sharing your experience. Wicked power (especially with the stage 1 tune, which i'm sure will even further eat brakes), LOTS of body roll (commensurate with the glass smooth ride), lots of grip (tire dependent of course), and quickly chewing up those very large brakes.
I don't think Laguna has any fast left/ right / left transitions, I'd imagine some S turns would be the cars weakness.
Interesting question: how does this compare to the S4 (having never driven one). I'd imagine the S4 would be a little more agile, but also down on power.
I don't think Laguna has any fast left/ right / left transitions, I'd imagine some S turns would be the cars weakness.
Interesting question: how does this compare to the S4 (having never driven one). I'd imagine the S4 would be a little more agile, but also down on power.
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