westwest888

BMW CCA put on a great 2 day event at Mazda Laguna Seca raceway in Monterey, CA, about 2 hours south of SF. If you are ever thinking of doing a "mod" to your car, do a mod to yourself first and learn how to drive your car the right way. You'd be surprised what they'll teach you.

I learned that at my experience level stock pads were a pad idea. I got promoted to the "B" group and got signed off to ride solo. I went home with one scored rotor. Need to look into some track pads for this car, and new front rotors

I can't say enough good things about how this S4 handles. It can be coaxed around any corner with perfect rotation. The factory alignment is perfect. The engine stayed exactly at center on the temp dial (240 degrees?). The front brakes are easily overwhelmed, which I knew going into this. The factory Dunlops are holding up extremely well and I will likely replace them with the same brand and model when they wear out. The grip is tremendous.

mhs525

BMW CCA is well established and puts on great driving events.

Almost any street car's brakes will be overwhelmed after a few hot laps (BMW M cars included). Track pads, rotors, lighter track wheels are all standard mods for track work until you make the big step up to a BBK.

Good track times are as much about strong braking ability as raw horse power.

forza1976

Awesome. I love that track. Nice shots, my last time out there was in 1997 and I am so jealous!!!!

clochner

This x1000!! Straight-line speed is one thing - learning how to drive on a road course is another thing altogether (and, IMO, MUCH more fun).

Great pics, and thnx for posting!! Looks like u had a great time. Looking forward to the track season starting this spring!

LeoR604

Wow, I am jealous. Laguna Seca is a bucket list track for sure!

Congrats on getting signed off for solo - just you and the car.

My experience with the S4 mirrors yours exactly. Easy to rotate, stable temps, Dunlops are great (they are also fantastic in the wet) and BBK is a necessity for anything more than about 10 to 15 minutes.

How did you and the S4 fare against the Bimmers?

westwest888

Oddly, the car that gave me the most trouble was an X5 ///M. It has something obscene like 550 ft/lb of torque - and it can corner! I laid waste to a lot of M3 and M5 but that was more the drivers than the car. The point is, the S4 can hang in some tough company. The M1 really impressed me too, though I feel the S4 is a slightly better car than even a modded M1.

westwest888

The steering is also spot on in terms of communication. There's things that in some cars I can feel in the seat but not the in wheel, like when the car is losing grip. Though the Audi uses servotronic and a lot of gadgetry, I knew exactly what the car was doing with a tiny nip of the wheel induced by my thumb and middle finger on either hand. I really didn't find out how good it was until the track got soaking wet with standing water. It's hard to know what the edge of grip feels like in the dry with quattro.