ex-a8drifter

tell PaulW his A8 is slow. I have never met or seen PaulW's car, but I'm sure that many people on this forum that know him could probably vouch.

ryoung

Truth

Mat Indukts Lambos

buy a trans, center shaft, rear dif, clutch assembly, linkage, shifter assembly, clutch, flywheel, & a few other things. Recode the ECU & cluster for manual trans, & that should do it. Maybe a custom 1-off DTS too.

IMO though, for the money, there's plenty of other cars that'll give you much less of a headache when it comes to working on them & modifying for the track.

CLeonard

I expected to get blasted for this, but an S8 really isn't a TRUE sports car; it's a sports version of a sport-tourer. Pit a S8 or souped up A8 v. a 911 turbo, or Viper, or Corvette, or any of the newer rice rally cars (EVO, etc). They all have the same power but weight 1000lbs less, some weigh less and have even more power. All have better weight distribution, most have bigger tires... they are cars designed to race first, comfort the driver second. If you want to push what you've got (an A8) to the limit, mod it, take it to the track, and have fun. But if you want a competitive race car, there are better platforms more suited for that purpose.

Colby

fusilier

I said to strip an A8. If it weighs 3000lbs it'll do just fine at the track. Like it or not, the 97 A8s are coming down in price and the aluminum frame (the whole point of my post) makes an interesting discussion about its weight and suitability as a dedicated track car. There are many people who take 3800-4000lbs cars on the track. M5s, S8s, Cayennes, Some heavier Italian sportcars which will go unnamed.

And... Before people make comments about sports cars.. Lets not forget the RS6 which would absolutely best the corvettes and porsches this year in Speed GT if it could run large tires AND have mad boost of lastyear. It weighs how much again?

fusilier

You'll see a souped up A6 tackle some Vettes, Vipers and Porsches. Last I recall, it was doing pretty good :-)

911s, Vettes and Vipers are street cars. They aren't dedicated race cars as you say. They don't have open wheels and carbon monocoques. In the extreme of a race vehicles to the extreme of luxury cars, they are closer to luxury cars than pure race cars. Once the cars are stripped down, whether its an A6, A8, Corvette, etc. They are closer in performance.

Souped up S8/A8 should be even faster than an A6 cause the frame weighs and the CG is lower. It would do just fine against 911s, Vipers and Vettes

fusilier

My point is that the A8 shell being aluminum might weigh the same as a steel sports car body. With aluminum skin panels as well its further "lightened". It really depends on the weight of the extras in the car which people think might be between 1000 to 750 lbs. I think its more like 1000lbs myself. And we've all kinda agreed that the A8 shell weighs less than the A6 shell. So the RS6 makes a good comparison on what potential performance is there.

I look at my Quattro, which is built to A2 spec. Audi had a hell of a time getting it to 1200kg. 2640 lbs. Most of that weight was in the steel unibody that they couldn't do anything about. Its group B competitors got to 900kgs(2000lbs) by using a steel tube frame and lightweight panels. My point is that its difficult for any car made from a steel unibody to break into the low 2000s unless its a tiny machine like a Miata. But vettes and vipers are similar to my Quattro in size and weight if equally prepared with lightweight everything.

ryoung

Like NASCAR, the rules are designed to equalize the cars. The RS6 was allowed to widen it's track 4" and has a turbo motor racing against naturally aspirated. Last but not least, whenever a car wins, it's required to carry additional ballast so it'll be slower at the next race.

<img src="http://www.championracing.net/Audi_RS6/multimedia/walls/LRPrain2a.jpg">

fusilier

I think the RS6's motor potential is way beyond the Vette and Viper. And if the those other cars had more HP they would have problems getting it to the ground in all situations. Its the same issues that were brought up in the Unfair advantage video. AWD in the race is a huge advantage. To some degree its overcoming the weight disadvantage of the RS6. The RS6 is already at a power to weight disadvantage over the Vipers and Vettes and that only gets worse since its on the same tires and gets hit with the extra weight. The track width brings the RS6 on par with the wider lower "sport car" competition. The IMSA and TransAM cars had this same problem since they were narrow street cars. How much reward weight has the Viper got this year?

I'm specifically avoiding other AWD cars cause I think Audi looses that advantage against WRXs adn Evos. But against RWD cars its a bring it on situation on the track, as long as the weight is remotely close or even in favor of the competition. As PROVEN in IMSA, TransAM, and now SpeedGT, heavier turbo Audis can beat lighter RWD "Sports cars". Beat them like a dead horse.

ryoung

More tire!

At a minimum, add fender flares that will let you run 285/45-18 on 10" wheels front and rear. For a no limits car, the 335/30-18 on 12" wheels. This will go a long way helping to compensate for any weight penalty.