markbradford

Here's a report of my first track event, the BMW Performance Driving Event, hosted by the Bluenose Chapter of the BMW Car Club at Atlantic Motorsports Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada (less than ½ hour from where most of your cars first set foot on North American soil)

First Impressions:

CARS: Upon arrival I noted that I was among some very serious iron: One 2000 Viper, a gorgeous Santorin Blue--like colour 2000 M5 (my personal favourite), a ton of Porsche 911s from the 80's to 2000, a couple 928 S4s, an M coupe (which would become my nemesis for the entire event), and other assorted Bimmers. Only one other Audi was present, a 2000 A6 4.2. There were some cars that were obviously out of their element: An old (88?) Civic hatchbach DX, unmodded, a Lincoln LS, a Subary Legacy wagon, etc. You had to give credit to these drivers for struggling to learn proper performance driving techniques in handicapped cars.

TRACK: Atlantic Motorsports Park is located in the middle of nowhere in Nova Scotia. It boasts the most elevation variance of any track in Canada. This is something that I grew to really appreciate as the day went on , making the course much more exciting (kind of like golfing on varied terrain - it adds a different dimension to the fun). On the first day the track also happened to be soaked - this tickled my fancy quite a bit, as only the A6 4.2, a Porsche 911 Turbo, two 928 S4s, and my car had AWD. Needless to say the BMW owners were hoping for sun the next day. ;-) The combination of these two factors made for some interesting cornering experiences, especially on corners at the crests of hills, as the tail ends of some of the cars tended to get light and invoke oversteer.

INSTRUCTION: One word: AMAZING! I can't believe how much I learned at this school!!! I had always considered myself someone who drove fast properly...... WRONG!!! The first few laps were a humbling experience to say the least, a sentiment generally agreed upon by all the novices. Gradually, with the knowledge gained in the classroom sessions and the experience of the exercises and hot laps I gained speed, smoothness, and consistency. This enabled me to be MUCH more comfortable with the limits of traction.

DAY ONE: POURING RAIN ON AND OFF ALL DAY!!! I had hoped for a few drops of rain at some point in the weekend to show the BMW guys what they were missing. Well we got a few drops and then some! It poured all day, and my instructor continously praised the A4 for it's ability to gain ground coming out of the turns (he loved the ability to simply floor it at the apex, even in the rain). Before the event, I had asked him what he thought of the A4 and he answered, "It's an interesting car" with a bit of attitude in his voice. He was obviously impressed after the first few laps.

There was a guy from Maine who brought an M Coupe to the event. He would prove to be my only competition in my group (Novice Green group) The novice group consisted of a few E36 325s and 328s, a Z3, the M coupe, an M3, the POS Civic, a behemoth 750IL, and me in my slightly modded 99.5 1.8TQMS. All day I ran away from everybody, although we were not allowed to pass on the first day, we could pull into pit lane to gain space. As the day went on, the track dried up a bit in the last few hours and the M Coupe became a bit more competitive. Also, as the track dried up, I had a chance to really test the limits of the suspension a bit, and was pretty impressed. However, I was just focussing on my lines and using the first day as prep for the dry day to follow.

DAY 1.5: There was a social gathering at Moosehead Brewery that night, where we sat around and drank beer and talked about European cars (tell me again there's no such thing as Heaven!!) I hung out with the guy with the M coupe and we talked about the track, our cars, our instructors, and our expectations of the next day. We both agreed that he should run circles around me tomorrow, because he has a weight, power, and handling advantage.

DAY 2: Our expectations did not come to fruition. Even in the dry, the advantage of Quattro was evident. I was simply better able to put the power to the road coming out of a turn. I ran with the M coupe all day, pulling away out of the turns, losing ground in the straights. As there is no way this should have happened, I figure the learning curve on the A4 is much different than the M coupe. Either that or I have bigger juevos. Or both. ;-)

Anyway, but the end of the second day I was flying through the track infinitely faster than when I started, carrying obscene speeds through some pretty tricky turns. I had completely learned the balance of the car (which, IMHO, is the most important thing) and how to make to subtle changes to effect the correct outcome.

SOME THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT THE CAR:

NEW BRAKES: Although I just got new pads and rotors a week before the event, I realised I AT LEAST need aftermarket pads (EBC Reds?) and probably a full big brake kit (BIRA?). The stock brakes exhibited some serious fade the second day, when I wanted to come into the turns much hotter but worried about braking ability.

TIRES: The Bridgestone RE730s are a fantastic street tire that can hang out at the track occasionally too. They were absolutely amazing in the wet and good in the dry the next day as well. Barely a sign of wear either, despite some serious abuse.

BALANCE: The A4 wants to push quite a bit, but with proper modulation of the inputs, you can get it to do what you want quite handily. Odd: I found running 45 front and 41 rear to be a good way to provoke oversteer (I have been also told the opposite).

CENTRE CAPS: Take them off. I now only have one left.


SOME HIGHLIGHTS (AND LOWLIGHTS):

High: Watching an old Rabbit Cabrio completely stick to the Viper's *** all day on the second day. The Viper would trounce him on the straights and the Rabbit would completely catch up to him in the turns, rear inside tire 8 inches in the air at all times!!!

High: Finally completing a lap and the instructor telling me that I hit every apex perfectly and was beginning to "get it right."

Low: Next turn (very steep downhill, >180 degrees) Got overconfident and carried too much speed, lifted off the throttle mid-turn (BIG NO-NO) and came very close to some dangerous oversteer and a resulting weed excursion.

Low: In the classroom, when the instructor asked if anyone had a FWD car, the driver of the Z3 2.3 put up her hand!!! We stifled our chuckles.

Low: Passing only on the straights. Civic DX, Z3, and 750IL were rolling roadblocks. I can't wait to get out of the novice group next year.

Low: Porsche 993 going into the bush because he ran bald tires in the rain on the first day. Idiot. Estimated damage in CDN$ ---- $30,000. New front clip, rear driver's siide suspension, back bumper, two wheels, and oil leak. Driver OK, but pride in critical condition.

High: Coming into the pits and having the driver of the M Coupe come over and say, "Nice driving! I simply couldn't catch you."


THE SHORT VERSION: I had more fun than I've ever had with my clothes on at the event. I would recommend it to anyone as the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR CAR'S SAKE (AND YOUR OWN). If I had it to do all over again, I would have done the track event before I even chipped the car. If I had this much fun at a Bimmer event, I can't wait to check out a Quattro club event!

I'll post my pics tomorrow or the next day.

Cheers,<p>Mark
99.5 1.8TQMS>>>APR V3, Eurosports, Ace Lolas, etc.
<a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=1969">
<img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/MBsigpic.JPG"border=0>

Rich L.

Sorry to steer you wrong on the tire pressure. I swear what I told you worked for me. It is really odd how opposite things have the same effect (tires? track? car? style?). Glad you figured it out despite my bumb steer.

Take care,
Rich

P.S. Still haven't done the engine mount.

jbaulsir

Caught the bug too..... I love it.!

RAudi

Dude, awesome write-up. Good work.

audimods

<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=5465">2000 A4 1.8TQMS</a>

Ash

Excellent!

nick n

Represent with the A4

Hope to see you at future Qclub events!

ReyHey

I'm all choked up, that was beautiful! Good work!

Rich L.

I took off from work early and installed the front engine mount. It took 2.5 hours and I had to take the whole front end apart. The cross-pipe to the intercooler bolts to the bumper mounts and has to be loosened enough tilt it forward 3 or 4 inches. Quite a job. SKS posted another method messing with the belting in the performance forum. That might be easier.

Anyway, the shudder on sudden lift is gone. The whole drive train seems sharper and tighter. But at idle the vibration is unpleasant. I'll have to give it a few days to see what I think of the trade-off, but it sure does feel better on the road.

Rich

Pelican Pete

Mark, great writeup ! That school sounds really awesome too.
Last weekend I participated in an EMRA event at the Pocono International Raceway -- a NASCAR course. The "school" was not nearly as in-depth as the BMW school. It was a Time Trials event, and EMRA requires that all drivers be certified before driving on the track alone. So for the first few laps, I had an instructor in my passenger seat, before he would certify me to run alone. I really didn't expect to be driving too fast that day -- I did it for the education more than anything else.

By the end of the day I started to get the hang of it, and had a great time. I can't wait to get some more seat time at the track !

Concerning brake upgrades -- the MOST IMPORTANT upgrade you can possibly do is brake fluid.
Castrol LMA seemed to work quite well in my car.
Braking hard from 90mph resulted in little to no fade whatsoever over the course of the day.
In fact, my Ferodo pads seemed to stick even better when hot. My brakes are stock other than fluid and pads.

If you are still using the stock brake fluid, you were boiling the fluid, causing fade.

When I was at Pocono, the guy parked next to me had a Mustang GT. These cars were never known for their handling nor braking. But after one run, he had NO brakes left. He came out of the straightaway at 110mph, and cooked his fluid.

We also noticed that our rotors turned black and gave off about as much heat as the turbocharger.
And speaking of the turbo, I saw it glowing red, even in broad daylight!!!

Now, everytime I turn a corner on the street, I try to apex the turn -- assuming that there are no cars in the way on the opposite side of the street!

-- Peter