[s-cars] Track impressions & how I got to Sonoma and back to Everboost for the ACNA Nats-long

[CaptMagu at aol.com]

Happy Thanksgiving s-heads

I thought i would share some of my trip to the ACNA Nationals with you all. 
Everything seemed like a whirlwind as I handled all the last minute 
preparations for the trip to California. Of great help were Steve Eiche and Dave Dawson 
and the Autosport Werks guys Dave Jones and Brendan Rudak. It is really cool 
having a very helpful fellow lister in the neighberhood who has a lot of tools 
in his garage. How many of you have your own tire mounting machine and computer 
tire balancer in your garage? Dave Dawson was up late with me Thursday night 
mounting and balancing 2 sets of snows for both my wife's A6 and the s-car. 
Steve Eiche lent a hand rewiring my coil packs as I replaced all 5 as a pretrip 
precaution. Dave Jones and Brendan had to help me with the finishing touches 
on the parking brake system for the Big Red Rear Brakes, ducting for my 
oil-cooler, the mounting set-up for the 3" Sparco harnesses, and a nagging 
boost/vacuum leak. As a result my packing time became jammed and I was just throwing 
stuff in the car. Amazingly there were only a few nonessentials left back in 
Everboost.

   Well, I finally left Everboost late Friday afternoon the 14th. My wife and 
I had a leisurely drive to California while encountering 2 small snowstorms 
enroute. The only glich happened in Wyoming as we approached Little America. 
The car started bucking wildly and then settled into a steady miss. The regular 
nature of the miss was a hint at a PSO problem. A quick call to Dave Jones had 
me trouble shooting the problem with the fuel injector leads. After id
entifyiong the problem was #4 cylinder, I started checking wiring. There at the back 
and leading to one of the PSOs was a bundle laying across the downpipe and 
after investigation showed a shorting line to that pipe. A quick electrical tape 
patch and reroute to a safer area had us going with only 15 minutes lost. We 
arrived in Sacramento Sunday morning and after a great lunch at a favorite 
bistro, I dropped my wife off at the Sacto airport. There I was in sea level CA 
with 5 days ahead with nothin but car stuff save an evening meeting with a 
church in Modesto. Off I went to Brian Billotti's house in Pleasant Hill. While 
feeling out the enhanced boost threshold, I was simply blown away(pun intended). 
My full boost threshold had dropped from 3500 rpm to 3000 rpm. While driving 
around in 6th gear I was also amazed at the quick reaction of the boost needle 
to throttle input.

 It took me a day and a half to get the double snowstorm gunk out and off my 
car. Brian's buddies Tomas Kasan and his dad Frank, who have a very nice shop 
in Walnut Creek were able to get rid of my idiot light and warning for an 
invisible bad bulb. We also mounted my Pagid Orange track pads. In addition there 
was a stream of Audi guys stopping by to see the CO wundercar. Everyone was 
very interested in the Big Red Rear Brake System. Late Tuesday afternoon I 
bedded my pads and headed to Fremont for some dyno time to set my fuel pressure for 
sea level running. After switching to the track tires for traction on the 
dyno and to heat cycle them, we discovered a lean condition at top-end due to the 
dense air. Joining me for the dyno runs was fellow lister Javad Shadzi. I had 
not had this problem at altitude and Dave Jones is already working on an 
enhanced fuel pump and reservoir fix. I switched back to the snows and got to my 
meeting in Modesto Tuesday evening. From Modesto I headed to Sonoma for a late 
check-in. The Sonoma Inn, the headquarters for this event, is a multi-star 
hotel and very classy. 

   I was up early Wednesday morning and got my track tires/rims on. The SSR 
Comps and 255/40-17 Kumho Victoracers turned out to be a fabulous combination 
running at 34 lbs cold. I headed over to Sears Point to get my bearings and 
fill-up with 100 octane to get my ECU reset with some learning time. Wow, did I 
mention how the boost threshold lowered at sea level? How about how my car 
hammers with the 100 octane. I've used it here at altitude and it doesn't come 
close to the difference at sea level. After a little road time it was back to the 
hotel to do the final prep for the concours that evening. Lots of cars. Lots 
of S2 Coupes and urquattros with 20 valve turbo engines. Lots of older cars 
and lots of new ones too including about 4 RS6s. I did win my class in the 
Concours so all the cleaning was worth it.

 I've been to several driving schools and several track days but none in this 
car or with the ACNA. As a result I was relegated to an intermediate run 
group that did include 2 RS6s;-) The biggest problem was losing Thursday morning's 
track time for class and driving skills events. The best part was the braking 
threshold event where Elijah Allen observed my car from outside while it was 
max braking. He noted that it did not dive like the other cars but instead 
nestled down at the front and rear. He also drove my car and had the same 
observation from inside the car. It just didn't dive but settled at both the front 
and rear. There was never a sign of anything unsettled as I was able to 
repeatedly bring the car to full threshold braking in and out of ABS.

 That afternoon I had 2 run sessions and spent them feeling out my car's 
performance and learning the line at this very technical track. Friday I had 4 
sessions and steadily built my speed and explored the performance envelope of 
this car. On the second session I was followed out on the warm-up lap by one of 
the RS6s. Up to this point I had passed and left them with seeming ease. Well, 
after the warm-up lap off we went. I knew something was up as I had this guy 
staying with me for the first half lap. After the realization that a dice was 
on I turned up the heat and was able to leave him. After the session the 
instructor, one of the chief instructors who had sat next to me the night before, 
came looking for me. Pointing at my car he declarted that the Everboost 
Wundercar was some kind of a monster. He recounted how I had been able to out 
accelerate, out corner, and out brake the RS6. Now to be fair, I was running track 
tires and track pads. 

Observations: 

 1) Basically the car felt perfectly neutral all around the track. My new alu
minum billet front upper strut brace felt great. It really helped along with 
the HRSB to stiffen the car. As a result of this event I have decided to go 
with a stiffer and more adjustable suspension set-up. Trevor Frank has been 
working on a front coil-over system and I'm also going with Koni double adjustable 
shocks and single adjustable in the rear. My current Eibach/ Bilstein Sport 
set-up will be available soon.

 2) The brakes performed better than I even hoped for. Given some of the 
list's doubts and being a prudent fellow I started off slowly. By the afternoon of 
the second day I was comfortable with the track and held my braking point 
longer and longer. 

 3) The power of this car is simply awesome. The only problem was with the 
off and part throttle boost surge that Mike Pederson and I have written about 
previously. It tended to unsettle the car at some critical times. I was able to 
mostly overcome this issue by dialing the boost back to 22 psi. At that point 
it was at least manageable. This issue is a minor nuisance on the street but 
more problematic at the track.

 4) This was my first time using harnesses. They really worked well. I was 
locked into my seat with absolutely no movement. I had a ride in Brian 
Billotti's car with his Recaro racing seat and no harnesses. They were awesome but I 
felt that my stock seats with harnesses locked me in better. The ultimate would 
be using both racing seats and harnesses. Gee, maybe my wife could use some 
seats for Christmas. Look what I got you Honey;-)

 5) I had a great time driving out to California and back and at the track. 
My car handled the trip without any problems that I didn't induce. I added the 
XM satelite radio feature to my audio system and it was a true pleasure to 
listen to any sort of music, sports, weather, or news whenever I wanted to.

6) As always it was great to meet some of the CA crazies and put faces to 
ther names. Thanks to Brian for his hospitality.


Hap, feelin the lack of oxygen in Everboost and ready for bed, Maguire