Audi-Dudi Racing's 1997 autocross effort...

[audidudi@delphi.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

Well, since Dan has decided to talk about his autocross experience this
year, I figure it's time to spill the beans about mine with the Ur-Q...

I'm running my car in the SCCA's G-Stock class and plan to take it to the
National Championships in September ... because I haven't got much
experience with racing AWD cars, that means I'm running every event I can
this season.  So far, I have run the car seven times and am usually in the
top 20-25 cars (out of 120-140) at each event on raw time and in the top 5
on "indexed" time (i.e., using a handicap factor to equalize the different
car's performance potential) ... considering that I'm running in the second
slowest of the SCCA's 25 classes, not to mention the fact that the car
desperately needs new struts and suspension bushings, I've been pleased.
Depending upon the course design, I've been able to run pretty close to the
Mazda MX-6 that finished 3rd last year and since the Nationals courses
historically tend to be more open and faster than our local courses -- I
have actually had to use 3rd gear at past Nationals! -- I'm encouraged about
my prospects...

We -- me and my co-driver -- have confirmed that the car is consistently
.4-.5 seconds quicker on the typical 60-second course with the center diff
locked ... it doesn't turn-in as well (with practice, you can learn how to
drive around that) but it exits corners a LOT harder.  The biggest problem
we've encountered so far is the lack of power off boost and/or turbo lag ...
at the last event, someone was hand-timing splits and said I was as quick
through the first half of the course as any of the 20+ Corvettes there.
Unfortunately, there was an impossibly tight finish -- three 135-degree
corners with perhaps 40' straights between them -- and I ended up cruising
through them in 2nd gear with less than 3000rpm showing ... I might as well
have been coasting!  The fact that I was running without a rear muffler
didn't help matters, either (the car's definitely quicker from 30-70 setup
this way but seems a bit weaker down low).

Setup-wise, I've dialed in 3/8" of toe-out up front and 1/4" of toe-out in
the rear; I'm running 1.25 degrees of negative camber up front and .8
degrees in the rear; 34-35psi in the front tires and 39-42psi in the rear.
I'm presently using 225/50-15 BFG Comp T/A R1s but am considering swtiching
to Hoosier's 225/45-15 radials or possibly even their bias-ply Autocrosser
... if I stay with BFGs, I'm also considering going to the 205/50-15 size
since it's almost 1" shorter, which will not only lower the CG by .4" but
also shorten the gears by over four percent.  This will cost me lateral
traction but should improve transient performance as well as braking and
accelerating ... in racing, everything is a compromise! 

I've recently ordered a complete round of suspension bushings for the car --
every last one and you can guess how much THAT cost! -- and will be
replacing the struts/tie-rods/balljoints/etc. as well before the summer is
over.  For the Nationals, I will also install the set of plastic Sylvania
headlights I used in my 4k way back in '89 ... they save four pounds off the
front end and since I won a trophy that year, I consider them a good luck
charm.  Unfortunately, I can't remove the a/c -- since it came standard on
the car, that's illegal under the Stock-class rules -- but I can remove the
spare tire/jack/sunroof/floormats and run any exhaust I want as long as it
exits behind the driver and mounts to the OEM cat.  I ordered a
concealed-disc Supertrapp since it will allow me to tune backpressure and
look sharp with its brushed SS case but am planning to stick with 2.5" pipe
for the time being since the car already has enough power to be competitive.

If any So-Cal Q-list folks are interested in catching me in action, my
girlfriend and I decided to attend the San Diego Region's Divisional event
over the weekend of May 31st-June 1st as the first stop during in an ever so
brief vacation ... it's being held at Jack Murphy Stadium and promises to be
a lot of fun.  Mine's the '85 Ur-Q in Tornado Red with OEM 8x15 Ronals in
racing trim and pearl-white 8x17 Compomotive MOs for the street.



   

  

   
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    / |      _| o    | \       _| o     Jeffrey Goggin
   /__| | | / | | __ |  | | | / | |     audidudi@delphi.com
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