[s-cars] UrS as a Purpose Built Track Car?

[John Cody Forbes]

Noble. Consider looking for a used M12 to lower cost.

-Cody (mobile)

On Nov 20, 2010, at 1:09 AM, "Calvin Craig" <calvinlc at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Wow, you guys have been busy on this thread while I was away on a trip.  Let
> me put this in perspective a bit:
> 
> I am looking for a fun track car, but I do want that thing to be pretty
> fast, as well.  Let me calibrate you guys.  I am already faster than the
> spec miatas with my '01 S4 on Hankook summer tires.  I basically run the
> same speed as a well prepped supercharged miata driven by somebody of
> similar skill, or an M3 with all sorts of suspension mods and R-compound
> tires driven by a gal that is unbelievably smooth.  So I do want the new car
> to be at least that fast.  Here is a video I posted of me at High Plains
> Raceway in the S4.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmLm5qubWnA
> 
> Second pertinent piece of information is that the car is pretty ragged out
> on the interior carpet and seats, all the plastic molding on the outside is
> missing,  the paint is way faded Tornado Red, the lower part of the front
> bumper is in pretty horrible shape, and the car has 200k+ miles - so the
> best I am going to do is to pull about $1,500 out of the car.
> 
> Let's say I have a budget of $8-$10k and am willing to do 95+% of the work
> myself.  I would be planning on stripping weight, putting on big brakes,
> coilover suspension, an engine rebuild - after all 200k miles is not a track
> worthy engine on a 2.5 mile track - probably stroking the engine and going
> for a 3071 during the rebuild.
> 
> Basically what I am trading here is the following - I should have said this
> in the beginning:
> 
> Option 1: Go to a full up Stage 3+ on my '01 S4 and run that as my street
> and track car with dedicated r-compounds for the track - costs about $8k-10k
> to upgrade from where I am at right now - turbos and fueling kit plus
> installation.
> Pros - mods are quick and easy to do and it would be fast as hell on the
> track and I would get to enjoy the mods on the street as well.
> Cons - it beats the snot out of my daily driver, I have to swap pads and
> re-bed all the time or run the Stoptech pads I am running now and live with
> replacing pads every 200 or so track miles, and consumable costs (tires and
> brakes) are high.
> 
> Option 2: Buy a late C4 Corvette or early C5 Corvette and go racing - costs
> about 6-12k for initial investment plus mods.
> Pros - mods are easily available, I love the idea of V-8s that I have built
> many times before, generally accepted as a good track car
> Cons - not a quattro, consumable prices of tires and brakes certainly did
> not go down, probably went up, and the $ spent are starting to get pricey
> once we get done with the mods
> 
> Option 3: Buy an Audi 90 or Quattro Coupe and put the I5 in from the UrS -
> probably costs about 1k to 2k more than the UrS option itself to acquire the
> car
> Pros - still a quattro, much lighter than the UrS, consumable prices a
> little lower due to weight reduction
> Cons - cramming that T-charged engine into that bay will not make for
> something that is easy to work on, will the rest of the drivetrain hold up
> to the power of the engine (clutch, rear diff, etc), headache of the initial
> conversion
> 
> Oprion 4: Swap the 455 out of my '72 Firebird and put in a modern injected
> LS series engine and 6 speed tranny and change the suspension and brakes
> drastically - costs about $12k or so
> Pros - I already have the car, it would be way different than most stuff out
> there, way easy to work on and pretty light even with a full interior -
> weighs 3550 with the 455, probably 33xx with the LS series engine, not bad
> on consumables
> Cons - I have the numbers matching 400 engine on a stand and it has the
> numbers matching 4 speed in the car (one of 1490 made in 1972 - it was a
> strike year) and it would be a shame to tear it apart and at high speed
> those cars tend to be floaty due to aerodynamics - kind of scary braking
> from 120mph
> 
> Option 5: Sell the '72 Firebird and get a Noble GTO-3R - Net outlay of about
> $20k (40k for Noble minus 20k for Firebird sale)
> Pros - It's a Noble and comes way faster than any of the other options out
> of the box - basically already built for the track, not too bad on
> consumables due to the lightweight and pretty easy to work on
> Cons - Having to sell the Firebird *sniff sniff* and the higher cost
> compared to the other options
> 
> Option 6: Sell the Firebird and get a RadicalSport SR3 - net outlay of about
> 15k
> Pros - fastest option of them all and has the lowest consumable cost due to
> light weight and small tires and brakes
> Cons - not easily driven on the street with no windshield, and cash outlay,
> and would have to take up another spot in the garage vs. sit on my concrete
> pad like the Urs and Audi 90 options under a car cover through the winter.
> 
> Thanks for all the input guys.
> 
> --Calvin
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of qshipq at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 9:34 AM
> To: tmullane at gmail.com
> Cc: S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] UrS as a Purpose Built Track Car?
> 
> 
> 
> Let's not forget the original post Tom.  Calvin has a S4 that he already
> owns.  Can it be cheap to drive at the track without spending much?  You
> bet, and given he already owns it, "far better choices" would be relative to
> the exchange costs.  With prices at ~$2k for a running S4, with tons of
> cheap spares available, an S4 sure could make even a miata seem expensive.
> 
> I see this as the 'other' side to the Hapersize model.  You can put 675hp to
> the wheels, and blow away a lot of more expensive machines with a 4 door
> family sedan - laughing your butt off.  You can also take a well worn
> D2/44/C4, strip it down, and blow away a lot of more expensive machines at
> the track with a 4 door family sedan.  Far better choices?  I like quattros
> at the track, especially in the rain.  And knowing first hand what can be
> done with a 44tq sedan with 12psi of boost, sure makes me argue that "far
> better" is very relative.
> 
> I also sat in Petar's Coupe Q track car at the track just this past summer,
> the day after he put exactly 138hp at the wheels down at the Dyno.  He was
> in the fastest run group, pulling down lotus exiges, porsches and many 'far
> better choices' with ease.  No doubt in my mind, that unless you've given a
> miss piggy-q a diet and a romp, it's hard to grasp the concept.
> 
> I say Calvin goes for it, as it's not only possible, it's damn fun, which
> puts all the better choices in perspective.
> 
> Scott J
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Mullane <tmullane at gmail.com>
> To: qshipq at aol.com <qshipq at aol.com>
> Cc: p.schulz at verizon.net <p.schulz at verizon.net>; S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> <S-CAR-List at audifans.com>
> Sent: Wed, Nov 17, 2010 9:34 am
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] UrS as a Purpose Built Track Car?
> 
> 
> Yeah, the Miata is an ok track car too.  Just add a roll bar, no other mods
> required. Use the money you save on cheaper consumables for more track time.
> 
> 
> Scott, no one is saying that a quattro can't be fun on the track, but if you
> are going to spend some money and effort to have something that is cheap,
> reliable and fun, there are far better choices.
> 
> 
> Tom
> 
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