The first Driver’s Edge event to be held at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) was run on December 9-11. The track layout was exactly the same as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), except that the front chicane was all cones, rather than curbing.
Vehicle Preparation
This was the first track test of my upgraded chip, suspension, and brakes. I ran with a borrowed set of 225/40-18 S-02 PP tires on 18 x 8.5 BBS RXII wheels. As usual, I ran with everything in my car (spare tire, back seat, etc.). For the record, the car performed flawlessly. I still think I can find more grip with my 245 tires. I will also use race pads up front, rather than the Porterfield street pads, which came with my kit. They worked very well, but one can never have too much braking power.
Track Notebook
Car setup:
engine
MTM Stage 1+ ECU and 3 bar sensor (280 hp)
K&N panel air filter
TAP adjustable aluminum bypass valve
Si lower intercooler hose
vented wheel well for additional air flow over intercooler
suspension
Bilstein Sport shocks
H&R sport springs
BBS RXII alloy wheels (18 x 8.5)
Bridgestone S-02 (225/40-18)
brakes
Porsche/Brembo two-piece, four-piston calipers “Big Reds”
323 x 30 mm Audi Euro-S8 rotor
Porterfield R4S Street (front)
Kerr Friction endurance race pads (rear)
other
disabled top speed limiter
disabled servotronic steering assist
Audi Gods
The Audi Gods struck early and often:
My power steering pump give up the ghost on the Monday before the weekend of the track event. I only got it replaced at 4pm on Friday afternoon, the day before I am supposed to be at the track. This was after a week of trying to find the pump, trying to have it overnighted, having it sent to the wrong place, having it overnighted again, and then not actually getting it until 12:30pm on Friday afternoon. This was just the beginning of my frazzled nerves. All of this cost a fortune, by the way.
My pal Rob Andrews calls me while I am on the way to Dallas and tells me that he blew his head gasket on his supercharged A4 while at the track that day. His weekend is through. The Audi Gods are really taking a piece out of us. While I am on the phone with Rob, I get a little lost in Dallas, I start to hustle a bit too much, improperly negotiate a chicane (uh, I mean entrance ramp), and I run over a small curb. Seems okay, so I press on.
The next morning, while filling the car with gas at 6am, I discover that I have dinged a rim so badly that the tire has unseated and won’t hold air. I call Rob. “Say, your car isn’t going anywhere, right?” I borrow Rob’s wheels and tires, and use them all weekend. So far, all of my track events have been run on Rob’s wheels and tires.
Texas Motor Speedway
Here is a hot lap in my UrS4: I exit pit lane and accelerate over the apron and up onto the 24º banking as quickly as possible. Bam! The transition is quite abrupt and unsettling if you are not prepared for it. I shift up into fourth and accelerate around the banking (Turn 1), keeping fairly low, then I unwind the steering wheel and let the car drift out towards the wall as the car eases off the banking and onto the back stretch (Turn 2). Then I’m on the brakes and down into third for the first turn into the infield (Turn 3). I’m smooth but slow through here. When I get better, I will be able to use second gear. I remain in third gear for the rest of the infield. I accelerate towards (Turn 4), use moderate braking, and take it fairly slowly. When I come out of it, I set up for the back chicane (Turn 5) and take it flat out, hitting the rumble strips as aggressively as possible.
If I have done everything right, I should hit the rev limiter at the end of the back straight in third gear (about 100 mph). There is more heavy braking here and then a long increasing-radius turn (Turn 6). The next turn is the most important on the course, because it leads to the longest straight. I downshift into second for (Turn 7), turn up the banking and floor it. The car is fully in its power band and it just spins right up to the top of the banking on power, with me unwinding the wheel to let it have its head of steam. I pull the car back down to the lower part of the banking and shift into fourth (Turn 8). Yeah, baby! Over 100 mph, you can feel the g’s pushing the car onto the track. It’s about this time that I start to wonder what would happen if something were to break. I was also running very close to the apron. What was it that Rick Schwalenberg told me? “If you drift down onto the apron at speed, your car will turn towards the wall and you will die!” Sounds important, need to remember that. As the banking flows onto the front straight, I again unwind the steering and let the car drift out to the wall. When I pass the flag stand, I’m doing almost 130 mph. Then I am way hard on the Big Reds to slow for the front chicane. I take the chicane in third gear very, very quickly. A drift left and a drift right and I’m through the chicane and onto the banking for another go.
Other Track Notes
This track kills brakes! I don’t think I heard one person who didn’t complain about their brakes. Even upgraded brakes were suffering. Don Istook was having no problems selling Castrol SRF to those who were suffering.
Highlights and Random Notes
- Best Ride: I caught a ride in Rick Schwalenberg’s UrQuattro 20V turbo (AAN). What a blast! I really want a track car now.
- Best Cars: For me, it had to be the two brand new Porsche 911 Turbos. One in silver, the other in a beautiful dark grey. Wow.
- Fastest/loudest: Porsche race car (passed me on the back straight with only a couple of car lengths to go, stinking of brakes and race gas). Honorable mentions: older Ruf Turbo hissing like a snake while screaming down the back straight and the new M5 hustling very quickly around the track and leaving long black ribbons of rubber on every corner exit.
- Best Fun: I had great fun dicing with my pal Oscar in his neuveau S4. I managed to pass him, but I couldn’t pull away from him in two different sessions. He said he liked watching me drift the car through the chicane and said that there was an explosion of brake dust every time I used the brakes. Later, after he blew one of his end-caps off, he claimed that’s why he couldn’t catch me. Sure. I also had fun chasing a GTI that I couldn’t honestly overtake. I could have taken him on the banking, but he was getting through the infield faster, so there was no point. I loved watching him hike his rear wheel into the air and keep it up there for the long, sweeping Turn 6. Hilarious.
- Wake-up Call: About a week after coming home, I decided to change out my brake pads. It turns out the Porterfield R4S street pads had been obliterated by TMS and there was only about 1mm of pad left on the backing plates! My previous track event had been run on endurance racing pads, so there was no appreciable wear after a weekend. So, I had not checked my new pads at all, expecting similar performance, especially because they were brand new pads. This was very careless of me and could have been dangerous. If I had run one more lapping session, I might have completely run through my brakes. Not only could that have been dangerous, but it also would have left me without brakes with which to drive home. I learned my lesson. Always check your pads at the track and always carry a second set of pads to get home. Also, I personally recommend only running race pads at the track.
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