[S4to335]

Went to Thunderhill for a day with the Northern California Racing Club. I instructed for them..well, actually just ended up coaching a friend with a Stage 3 B5 platform Audi S4 for two sessions. He didnt want any more instruction..and ended up not doing his last session at all. Anyway, more about the 335i and what I experienced.

Let me lay the groundwork..

Temp: 56-75 degrees F
Clear to partly cloudy...clear during the middle part of the day...light wind...actually pretty decent weather all around.
Track : Dry
Configuration: Normal 3.1 mile track...with using the bypass at turn #5 (not going on the corkscrew).
Other participants: I was in the open group..passing anywhere...no pointby's required..so it was mostly race cars (3 BMW M3s, 3-4 Corvettes, one Z28 with total plastic body, 6-8 older porsches, Fiat 128 race car)...two GT3 RS porsches...three Evos (my friends), two Cayman S, and a bunch of other cars in other groups.

Overall Performance: I hung out with my Evo buddies most of the day...and they were really doing well in their cars...For example..the guy in the pic...got a 2.00 flat that day according to the transponder...that is haulin butt. The other gray evo got a 2.04..and the red one got 2.07.9. Me, not sure..didnt rent a transponder..but I was probably in the 2:11 range...but I am guessing. In comparison, my Spec Miata did a 2:14 with the corkscrew so it might have done a 2:13 with the configuration that we had yesterday.

Driveline: Overall the car did ok..the lack of a LSD is definitely felt..where I spun the right rear badly going thru turn #12 on one of every two times I went thru there....even continuing when I did my 3/4 shift in turn #13 right afterwards.

Brakes: The Alcon brakes held up well until the second to the last session..when they got a bit spongy...we ended up bleeding the fronts..but it was still a bit spongy..so I took it back a notch my last session..just in case.

Tires: The Pilot Sport Cup tires did ok..I tried to keep them at about 40 lbs hot...and I did pretty well...the right side tires got up to 46 on one session though..oops. These are not as grippy as I would have liked...I am gonna try to find a better 245-35-18 setup..not sure..maybe a Hoosier...dont get me wrong...the Pilot Sport Cups are an R compound..but I want a grippier R compound.

Traction Control: Even with the DTC button pushed to the second setting I had the car cutting out on me in a few places...so apparently it doesnt totally disengage. It was better than doing just the position one setting though.

Wheels: The car rotates much better with the non staggered setup (235/40/18s on all four corners)..with 18X8.5 SSR - CS wheels...

Suspension: I have the PSS9 coilovers set on 6Front/4rear. I dont think I need a bigger rear sway bar..but I do think that more camber is needed in front. The suspension seemed pretty good..but I need to play with tweakin it.

Engine Cooling: This is where I have some concerns...if you remember I did a 2-day track event back in February in Reno at the Reno/Fernley track..but it was much colder there..and my temps..at that colder event..didnt get over 255...well, yesterday was different...and the harder I pushed..the hotter the oil got. I was doing 255 the first session...260 the second...265 the third...275 the fourth..and got to a lovely 280 on my fifth session...oh...and it actually cooled off during that 5th session..and it was probably down 5 degrees in ambient air temp. I am thinking that me adding a quart of oil a couple of months back..and another yesterday morning before the event..may have diluted the actual oil that the car should be running. I am gonna try to search out a better oil suited to track events...that allows the car to run cooler. I am also seriously lookin into a bigger aftermarket oil cooler...this is important folks..you dont want to blow an engine due to overheating..been there..done that...not again.

So, all in all the car did ok..but I have concerns with running hard at the road racing course when I instruct. I had hoped that I wouldnt see temps over 260..but this was not the case. I am off to another event this next weekend with the Audi Club at Infineon/Sonoma for two days..and am curious if I see the same results. I am definitely gonna get new oil in there before the event, bleeding the brakes, ...and may consider adding water wetter. Wish me luck.

Steve-out.

[leftcoastman]

Yeah - I had the same experience as you with respect to oil temps, but my ambients were 90-100deg and the oil temps were 285-290. Yikes!

Were you running non-race pads in the Alcon BBK? I'm stock on the calipers but running Porterfield R4 pads. God they rattle so bad that it feels like my car is falling apart. But I hear that's normal for race pads since they don't have the in-piston clips.

[S4to335]

I was running track pads in the Alcons...but not race pads...they are something StaSIS Engineering sells with their Alcons. I didnt have any rattle though...I think I also might not have a full compliment of RBF600 fluid in there.

Lastly I hit 125 mph in the main straight...115 in the back straight..and 110 in between turn 9 and 10...this was at Thunderhill.

[stressdoc]

I thought that you had a Quaife -- is it not installed yet?

[S4to335]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

I thought that you had a Quaife -- is it not installed yet?

Trying to get it installed...down to two installers...StaSIS and Edge Motorsports...trying to weigh the pluses and minuses of each.

[stressdoc]

OT -- have you thought about blackening out the horizontal trim piece in the lower opening of the front bumper?

[OKG]

Traction Control: Even with the DTC button pushed to the second setting I had the car cutting out on me in a few places...so apparently it doesnt totally disengage. It was better than doing just the position one setting though.

Yeah, on real tight turns, same thing man. We tried all 3 DTC setting between 2 e90's at the track...

[E90ice]

How come you didn't turn DSC completely off? If you get into a turn too fast and it cuts the power off, you lose too much time....

[S4to335]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

OT -- have you thought about blackening out the horizontal trim piece in the lower opening of the front bumper?

Definitely gonna happen...

[S4to335]

I did...but what you dont realize is that it doesnt turn ALL the way off....it still engages in certain situations.

[e92phreak]

You got your car fixed already?

[S4to335]

Dent Free guy did what he could for my car...it is better..but still annoys the crap outta me. Hard to tell from the pics..but it is in the right rear corner. I am guessing the paint repair/body work would be $800 plus.

[leftcoastman]

On the DSC, when does the "cutting out" happen and how does it manifest itself?

I did an autox with my E92 and let me tell you, it will allow you to rotate 180 degrees without intervening at all. On the road course, a tight turn will allow the inner rear tire to spin so badly that it bounces off the rev limiter. I have a video somewhere of an E92 on the skidpad - it was going sideways with zero intervention.

[SineQuaNon]

Sounds like a great day! I'm not familiar w/ Thunderhill, but it sounds like the 335 held its own. You mentioned 6Front/4Rear on the PSS9, but that you were going to do some tweaking. What kind of changes would you make? PSS9 will be my next upgrade and I need a good starting point. I just went to a non-staggered set-up last week (255/35/18 on 8.5" wheels). I was contemplating a rear sway as well, but I think I'm going to see what can be done w/ just coilovers before I do the sway. Thanks!

[S4to335]

You definitely wont need a rear sway bar with 255/35/18s all around. I was gonna go down a bit on the suspension..probably 5F/3R.

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by S4to335

You definitely wont need a rear sway bar with 255/35/18s all around. I was gonna go down a bit on the suspension..probably 5F/3R.

I'm going back to thinking that the M-sport 14mm rear sway is a good option over the much stiffer H&R.

[SineQuaNon]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

I'm going back to thinking that the M-sport 14mm rear sway is a good option over the much stiffer H&R.

What is the advantage of the M-sport rear sway over the stock one? Isn't the stock sway 13mm? Is the M-Sport a different composition that makes it stiffer or adjustable?

[elbert]

Originally Posted by S4to335

Tires: The Pilot Sport Cup tires did ok..I tried to keep them at about 40 lbs hot...and I did pretty well...the right side tires got up to 46 on one session though..oops. These are not as grippy as I would have liked...I am gonna try to find a better 245-35-18 setup..not sure..maybe a Hoosier...dont get me wrong...the Pilot Sport Cups are an R compound..but I want a grippier R compound.

Your tire pressure is too high. Pilot Cups should be at 32-36 psi hot.

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by SineQuaNon

Sounds like a great day! I'm not familiar w/ Thunderhill, but it sounds like the 335 held its own. You mentioned 6Front/4Rear on the PSS9, but that you were going to do some tweaking. What kind of changes would you make? PSS9 will be my next upgrade and I need a good starting point. I just went to a non-staggered set-up last week (255/35/18 on 8.5" wheels). I was contemplating a rear sway as well, but I think I'm going to see what can be done w/ just coilovers before I do the sway. Thanks!

Holy crap, what did you have to do to fit 255s all around? Stock suspension? spacers?

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by SineQuaNon

What is the advantage of the M-sport rear sway over the stock one? Isn't the stock sway 13mm? Is the M-Sport a different composition that makes it stiffer or adjustable?

It's a really big 1mm. Taken to the 4th power, it results in about a 34.5% stiffer sway bar. Installed with stiffer bushings (TMS), it reduces the understeer significantly, but is within the range that the BMW suspension gurus designed.

[03SG///M3]

Originally Posted by elbert

Your tire pressure is too high. Pilot Cups should be at 32-36 psi hot.

That's what i was going to say....agreed

[S4to335]

Well..I will try a bit lower..but 32 hot seems really low folks...I am use to RA1s..that want 39-41 hot.