QClub Heartland Park Report

[Kaklikian, Gary]

I just returned from the Quattro Club event at Heartland Park in Topeka,
Kansas.   The lure of driving on a track at (near -) sea level, meeting
other listers, and seeing modified Audi's was too much to resist.   

The track did not disappoint, and surpassed anything we have in Colorado in
every respect.   It is somewhat unique in that it can be configured several
different ways, though we used the full 2.5 mile 16-turn course the entire
weekend.  It is known as a "discipline" circuit; if you blow one corner,
then it really affects you for next few turns that follow very closely.
There is a long front straight (the dragstrip),  abruptly terminated  by a
narrow 90 degree right, then a 90 degree left, a 180-degree carousel
followed by three more near-90 degree turns,  a fast uphill sweeper leading
to the first of  two back straights separated by a chicane, then a very fast
left turn, followed by four close tight turns and then onto the front
straight. The distinguishing feature of the front straight is the special
surface that covers the first couple hundred yards that aids traction for
the dragsters, but is slicker than snot in the wet (plus the concrete wall
alongside).
 
The weather was variable -- cool and overcast Friday, dry and mild Saturday,
and rainy Sunday morning.  When the rain came, the entrance and first one
quarter of the front straight became incredibly slick, even for a Quattro. I
had to feather the throttle until the surface changed to concrete and
witnessed a M3 spin  and nearly hit the wall behind me. 
On Saturday, in the dry a Viper coupe spun directly in front of me just as I
closed on him in the tight turns before the front straight.  On the subject
of mishaps, also on Saturday a 930 turbo went sideways into a wall and an
Impreza was totaled going into turn 1.

My 4000 turbo ran great without incident throughout the weekend.The first
things I noticed, even before getting to the track on Friday, was that the
lower elevation had increased the maximum boost by 3 psi  (without touching
the Profec) and the engine was detonating on boost ramp-up.  All the tuning
we've done to the ECU,  boost levels,   MF2 injector driver, etc has been
optimized for 6000ft, so I'm not surpised.  The A/F gauge showed I was still
getting plenty of fuel under boost and EGT's were fine, so rather than
tinker with the MF2, I took the easy way out -- more octane.  Premium in
Kansas is only 91 octane, the same as in Colorado. What works at 6000ft
obviously is insufficient at 900ft. Fortunately, Sunoco 104 was available at
the track, so a 1/3 mix of this juice with pump gas cured the detonation.
Back to a safe 17psi boost, but with noticeably quicker spool-up than at
6000ft.

This combination was good enough that I was able to stay with a new Carrera
4S, a Mitsu 3000VR4, a Mustang Cobra R, 944 turbo, etc on the straights, and
outpull many 911's, a  Boxster S, Carrera RS America, M3 Lightweight.  
Notice I didn't mention any Audi's ....

Well, the big disappointment of the whole event was the dearth of Audi's in
general and older Audi's in particular.  I haven't checked the numbers yet,
but I'd be surprised if even 20% of the cars were Audi's. There were plenty
of Bimmers and Porsches and a few Mustangs, Vipers, and Corvettes.  At one
point on the grid, I looked around and saw only one another Audi in my run
group.  And the Audi's that were there were almost all of the newer A4/S4/A6
variety, some with suspension and ECU mods, but that's about it.   I counted
one other 4000, one  5000, one 200 and one UrS.  Not one UrQ  if you can
belive it!
And, other than Darin Nederhoff, the S-car webmaster who was there to
photograph the event, I didn't meet any other listers.  (btw Darin, that's
one pristine coupe you have!)

The only special preparation on my 4000 for the event was swapping in some
PF race pads in the front calipers. It was even  relegated to my normal
street Pirellis the whole weekend, so naturally I couldn't stay with many of
the Porsches and BMW's with their R-compound tires in the turns. The few
others I encountered with street tires, I was able to outcorner, but I would
guess the slicks were worth 5 secs a lap.  When the rain came on Sunday, it
was a different story, as I pulled away easily from my whole run group,
including a A6tt.  

The only problem my 4000 had was a rumbling noise from the front right on
righthand turns (center diff locked the whole time)  This has been occurring
for a while even on the street with the center diff unlocked. CV's, wheel
bearings, etc have been replaced to no avail, so I suspect the front/center
diff is shot. (Fortunately,  thanks to Robert Braunschweig, I have a new
transmission coming from Germany.)

All in all, the weekend was a lot of fun and I met many Audi enthusiasts.
Hopefully, next year more Audi's will participate. Where were all the UrS's
?  Kirk Kiloh and the Kansas City Quattro Club put on a fine event, and
Heartland Park is a great track!  It was well worth the 7.5 hour trip
(one-way), though my return was prolonged by three hours due to converging
darkness and snowfall inside the Colorado border.  Even a Quattro is no fun
in these conditions when it has a stiff suspension and sticky summer tires
that double as track tires.

Gary Kaklikian
86 4ktq
92 S4