[Nikos335i]

Originally Posted by jgalaxy

It's incredible how much confidence and actual traction you get with AWD. Something I miss at mid corner and in the wet. Push the go pedal and it sticks.

Did you make and updates/changes to the Audi?

Not really but will very shortly. I have changed brake fluid (RBF660) and pads (Carbotech XP10's & 8's) for the track event.

Sitting in my garage I have an AWE exhaust and downpipes, Alu Kreuz stabilizer bar, H&R springs and on the fence for a tune since Audi has been a little to proactive in finding ecu tunes!

Originally Posted by montreal red

lol..... you were passing everyone! quattro definitely has its perks in the wet.

If you watch the whole footage I believe I pass 7-8 cars per morning sessions.

[montreal red]

Yep. Saw the video. Quattro definitely has its advantages. I went on nice back road drive to New Hampshire with my buddy in an M3. It rained all weekend unfortunately. I brought along the Sti. he always had to be gentle with the car through the corners. But i was mashing the throttle everywhere. No sliding at all. I can definitely see the fun in AWD.

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by montreal red

Yep. Saw the video. Quattro definitely has its advantages. I went on nice back road drive to New Hampshire with my buddy in an M3. It rained all weekend unfortunately. I brought along the Sti. he always had to be gentle with the car through the corners. But i was mashing the throttle everywhere. No sliding at all. I can definitely see the fun in AWD.

It's the perfect cheaters toy. My initial spin outs in the M3 attest to that.

[jgalaxy]

We arrived at VIR, unloaded the truck a prepared for the tech inspection. Beautiful facility. Ran into a wee snag that I hope I can clear up in the AM. The sky has finally cleared and we were treated with a lovely sunset.

The road side all the way down was littered with dead dear and mangled road signs. Some pretty big advertising signs got clobbered too.

[kenneth]

Have fun the three amigos, musketeers or whatever you call youselves

zoom zoom!

[jgalaxy]

VIR was a blast and NJ PCA was a very tame group. Antoine and Chris reeked havoc tearing up the field and terrorizing the cadre. I'm sure we'll be posting videos soon.

[kenneth]

So, how did it work, since none of you drove that track before. Did you have instructors or was it follow the leader format?

[Tonybest]

We were in intermediate group... solo. Took 3-4 laps to learn the basics.
Then it was a cake walk. I gave 4 or 5 point byes throughout the whole 3 day event. 3 of them to Joel.
We were much faster than our fellow white group participants.

Not sure it would be the same in the advanced group. I guess I would be middle of the pack.

This track is awesome. I love it. I will come back for sure.

[kenneth]

sounds like fun!

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by kenneth

So, how did it work, since none of you drove that track before. Did you have instructors or was it follow the leader format?

Solo. The organizer asked for a show of hands of who hadn’t been there before, and there was a little more than half that raised their hands. Oh so true. There were two cars especially in our group that even to the end, were struggling to remember where to aim their car. They also removed the cones mid last day. Scary how many people were lost.

First session out was to figure out bearings, traction areas, nasty spots, etc. Second session out, shake out the bugs and test out the traction spots at the edge. For me the track was pretty easy to learn.

Great facility and the track is in great shape. Yup, I'll be back next year.

[kenneth]

Looks like a fun track, with very high speeds at some places. How were the esses? Swaying left and right looks fun on video. Seems more fun than Calabogie for sure, since it doesn't break your rhythm.

[jgalaxy]

I toyed around with my bad Unix video editor software and cut up a 35 minute session to 9 minutes or so. This is day two if I recall. Chris, Antoine and I did a three day stint with NJ Porsche Club at VIR. Lots of fun and many lovely Porsches. It was an awesome opportunity to drive this course and a perfect way to cap the end of the season. I even clocked in a decent lap or two when there wasn’t any traffic to drive through. Looking forward to next season. The video starts off with some drama and end with some.

[jgalaxy]

Chris was nice enough to let me pass (I think this was turn 3).

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by kenneth

Looks like a fun track, with very high speeds at some places. How were the esses? Swaying left and right looks fun on video. Seems more fun than Calabogie for sure, since it doesn't break your rhythm.

The track is much more fun than CMP. It is also a lot more technical. CMP is a little longer (~15 seconds) There are few more places at VIR where if you get it wrong there is greater peril. The runoff is all grass with an abrupt tire wall or barrier. The uphill esses are hugely fun and are an instant test of balls (and skill) factor. A misplaced zig when you should have zagged will end it for you in a blink. TonyBest I believe experienced a little twitch in that area of the track.

A must for avid track fans.

[kenneth]

Tks for sharing Joel! You and your car seem to be flying and quite smooth....

Wheels off incidents will surely happen one time or another, otherwise you are not pushing it!

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by kenneth

Tks for sharing Joel! You and your car seem to be flying and quite smooth....

Wheels off incidents will surely happen one time or another, otherwise you are not pushing it!

It was a pretty good 3 day event. The off track was a miscalculation as I just glanced at my initial turn in, grabbing the visual queues, setting my steering, and pressing to go pedal as I was already looking up field for my next corner. I usually look 1 to 2 turns ahead when I can so I can set up for my corners in advance. A sharp track guru told me one time, to be fast it's all about setting up where you need to be next, not where you are now.

I'm looking forward to next year.

[kenneth]

Originally Posted by jgalaxy

It was a pretty good 3 day event. The off track was a miscalculation as I just glanced at my initial turn in, grabbing the visual queues, setting my steering, and pressing to go pedal as I was already looking up field for my next corner. I usually look 1 to 2 turns ahead when I can so I can set up for my corners in advance. A sharp track guru told me one time, to be fast it's all about setting up where you need to be next, not where you are now.

I'm looking forward to next year.

Just like Wayne Gretzky saying you need to pass the puck to where your teammate will be, not where he is now, kinda similar

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by kenneth

Just like Wayne Gretzky saying you need to pass the puck to where your teammate will be, not where he is now, kinda similar

Yup. I'll need to pay a little more attention at that corner next time. Depending where you go off at that turn, there could be as much as a 9cm drop into the dirt and would be a bitch if you tried coming back up. I was out on the grass with two and elected to straighten out the wheel to ride it out instead of fighting to get back on the track where I was worried of a snap spin. I'm sure I could have saved it, but not worth the experiment.

[Tonybest]

Nice video jgalaxy. I like seeing my car side step in the fast uphill esses. Scary moment which was greatly felt in the seat on my pants. I was flustered after my wide outing at turn 2, and maybe wasn't settled in my mind at the moment.

We learn something ever so often.

[Tonybest]

I am still working on editing my video using my old Commodore64. The videos should be uploaded in a couple of months.

[Tonybest]

PhoenixCMR (Joe) has sent us an email about date changes for next year. The first event at The Glen will be a Monday/Tuesday in late June. The second event will be Sept 11 and 12th.

jgalaxy and I have responded that we wouldn't be going in September since those days are mid week (Wed and Thur), but we remain interested in the June event.

[kenneth]

I will venture to Mosport or WGI next year (or both), which club is the best to do this with? BMW CCA? PCA etc?

Here are my constraints: Not available for 1 month, say starting 2nd week of July though first week of August (tentatively).

Next year the plan is:

1 event at Mosport (intermediate group)
1 event at WGI (intermediate group)
2-3 events at LCMT (Advanced - mainly 1 day events with BMW QC and/or Viper)
1 event at Calabogie (Advanced - but I may pass on this we"ll see)