80qt vs Lotus @ trackday

[dclose@tcadvertising.com]

Hi Dan. Any chance of forwarding this to the list? Thanks.

Hi Audi Folks,

Last weekend I was invited to bring the '88 80q turbo to a track day event with
the Lotus Club at Thunderhill Park Raceway in California. I ran with the
intermediate group...lots of Europas, Elans, Sevens, Turbo Esprits and a nice
little Ferrari 355. One guy in the advanced group brought an Elise...not U.S.
legal but he drove it to the track! This was the first time I've really driven a
Quattro at the limit for extended periods of time and I was really impressed.
The car had perfect balance that could be shifted with tire pressures and shock
adjustments. I dialed in a slight oversteer. Even lifting off the throttle in
mid corner didn't upset the car too much (I wouldn't try that in my Europa
without a lot of run-off area). Extremely predictable handling in tight corners
AND long sweepers.

The car was really quick once I learned the track. It felt pretty good getting
past a lot of the cars in my group. Especially getting past Turbo Esprits! I was
feeling pretty full of myself until the Turbo Esprit S4S blew past me on the
straight at about 130 MPH. I could stay with him through the next series of
turns (including the "Corkscrew") but he lost me on any straight section. Same
with the Ferrari. (The S4S was quicker than the Ferrari BTW....car or driver? I
don't know.) I didn't get to go head to head with any of the Cosworth
Europas....Probably a good thing for my ego. A 1500 lb. mid engined car with 230
hp would be pretty quick. I figure the Audi will need another 100 hp to make it
more interesting.

No technical probIems except I did manage to blow a hole in my Michelin Man
hose. 12 lbs. of boost for 20 min. sessions was too much for it. We duct taped
and plastic tied it for the remainder of the day...held O.K. until it blew a
hole in another part of the hose. I had ordered some carbon brake pads from GPR
but they shipped me the wrong ones. I ended up running Metal Masters with Motul
fluid....brakes worked well all day. Only had one or two corners where they
didn't feel right. (I was being careful with them though...I could have faded
them if I really dove deeper into the turns.)

All in all, a great day with a great group of enthusiasts.

Dave Close
'88 80q Turbo...lots of mods.




-- 
Dan Simoes
dans@audifans.com/dans@vwfans.com
www.audifans.com/www.vwfans.com