[S4to335]

Well...I got back at 10pm last night..and I am bushed...I drove 294 miles from Fernley to San Jose in 3 hr 45 minutes..yes, I was haulin. I am getting a CD with a ton of track shots of me on track from my buddy at Motorsports Visions Photography...I will post when I get them.

Short report here...longer one in a couple of days when I have time to fully document my findings...here are the high points though:

Location: Fernley Nevada
Elevation: approximately 4200 ft.

Conditions First Day:
Partly Cloudy AM, showers in early PM, clearing in late PM.
Temperature: Low of 38 to a high of 55 degress

Conditions Second Day:
Sprinkling AM, Snow mid day..yes, snow, clearing in PM
Temperature: Low of 38 most of day...up to 50 degrees at about 4pm

Overall Impressions:

The good:

1) Car hauls butt down the straights - I hit 125 on the main straight on a couple of sessions...mostly about 123. And, I wasnt late braking at all..actually braking too early...since the esses afterwards were kinda hairy at 120 mph with the ZSP suspension. As a comparison...brand new 997 turbo was hitting 143 mph in the same section...and he has like 450 bhp.

2) Car brakes worked very well...no fade...no surprises...only two places on track with what I would consider hard braking..and it handled them just fine. I am most impressed with these stock brakes. All I would do to change them for the next year would be to get some Porterfield R4S pads for street use (lower dust) and get some dedicated track pads.

The not so good:

1) Run flat tires stink for grip on the track...pure and simple. I was trying to hang with a half dozen Stage 3 B5 S4 Audis on track...most with Rcompound tires..and some even on Hoosiers and Stasis Motorsport suspension and brakes. That was a mistake. I could hang decently with some of them on the straight..but in the corners...no way.

2) Car understeers...Yes, I can officially say this car does not rotate well in stock form. This car needs a bigger sway bar in rear to get some rotation.....I would make mincemeat out of a spec miata friend of mine in the straight..and by the end of turn 2 he was on my butt...not good. I was a good 1/8 to 1/6 of a mile ahead of him at the end of the straight.

The Audi crowd seemed very impressed with the 335i on the track...and since they knew my car was brand new and stock...they were even more impressed.

Anyway, more detailed impressions when I get a chance..and when I get my images from the photographer.

BTW, the Reno/Fernley track is 4.7 miles long in the last configuration we drove...pretty long.