Hey everyone,

Last month I took my bone stock 2007 a6 coupe to Raceway Park (Englishtown, NJ) to do a few 1/4 mile runs. It was my first time on a track and I wanted to see how the car would do. It was about 90 degrees and humid. I wanted to know what I could do to improve the times. (Besides improve on the 60ft) It just feels like the car should be faster. (High 12s?) Somewhere on the forums I believe there was a mention of how S mode was good for launches but in higher gears the car does better in D..
*Car had TC off S On. Front tires 34psi hot. Rear tires 26psi hot.
I had 3 passes
1. 2. 3.
R.T .847 R.T .642 R.T .180
60ft 2.3 60ft 2.2 60ft 2.5
1/4 13.7 1/4 13.5 1/4 13.8
Mph: 107 Mph: 106 Mph 106

 

The 3 most important things to improve times, are practice, practice, and then more practice.

There are changes to the car that can help and changes to the conditions (weather - track prep) that will make a difference too.

By practicing, you can learn to compensate for, or take advantage of, track prep. The weather is out of your control, but you can chose when to go and when it's not good.

The heat was most likely the cause of the lower than normal MPH. Your 60' times indicate spinning on run 1 and 3. Try rolling into the pedal, rather than a quick stab. The track prep will determine how quickly you can get to WOT.

Don't make changes on the car until you can drive it with consistancy. You'll need cooler temps to be consistant too.

Did I mention practice?

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm looking to head back to the track this Sunday (hopefully), and get a few more runs in. It's supposed to be a lot cooler as well. Low 70's high 60's. Would you suggest power braking with the RPMs slightly up and rolling on the throttle or just go from idle?

 

Also outside temp and elevation make the most difference in the world. The colder it is and the closer you are to sea level the faster the car

 

@slingingdirt
Would the change in weather and humidity create a small difference (few 10ths) or have a greater effect (.5sec+) ? A few other cars seemed to be running slower too. There was a c5 z06 running about 13 w a 107 trap, and a gs convertible 12.9 which also seems a bit slower than normal.

 

When the IAT (inlet air temp) exceeds 86* the computer starts pulling timing. Even on a 70* day, your IAT can be high due to underhood temps. Without scanning the runs, you have no way to determine how much timing affected your ET. Therefore, you can get some pretty wild swings from timeslip to timeslip and one day to the next.

Once the ambiant temps are lower, you'll see more weather related consistancy and variations that can be mathematically corrected.

Power braking or off-idle launches are areas of individual experimentation and depend a lot on the track prep. That's why practice and experience is important. Once you learn how to adjust to conditions, then you can start to modify the car and you'll know how to compensate for the additional power.

 

A bit of a noob question but is this why people normally leave their hoods open while waiting in the lane? (To decrease underhood temperature and inlet temp?)

 

Exactly!

Keep asking questions, watching others, and practicing the launch. It will all come together soon. Talk to others at the track who seem to do well, as most are willing to help. Have fun too.

 

YES ! I always open my hood, and run the fan w/the motor OFF... I make every effort to have my engine temp at 150 -160 when I pull up to the starting line...

ALSO "THINK" look around and learn from other's mistakes.. "example" I see 4 or 5 guys working around a turbo charged Honda.. they are pushing it in the staging lanes (I assume to keep it cool) "OK GOOD IDEA" BUT just at they get close to the wall at Englishtown, the driver starts the car, and starts revving it upppppp.... & downnnnn... to about 3000-4000 RPM "Wahhhh.... Whaaaa...about 6 or 7 times...

So tell me what happened to all the work done by the poor slobs who were his "Pit Crew" now his engine is "HOT" and all the pushing was useless maybe they were doing it for "Show" ???/

When I'm in the staging lane my engine is OFF & I just run my electric fan and get my temp to 150 deg... when the cars in-front of me start to pull forward, I just sit there until there are 5-6 spaces... THEN I'll start it put it in gear, hit the gas a tiny bit, & INSTANTLY shut it off & "COAST" the 4- or 5 cars lengths with my motor OFF.. so it only ran 5 sec... & did not get any hotter...

I do this until I'm under the tower & my ENGINE IS STILL OFF... then when the starter waves me forward, I'll start it and pull into the water box, and do my burnout... and "AFTER" the burnout my engine temp is still only 160 as I pull up to the line...

If I get lucky and win a few rounds, I wont have as much time to cool it down, but with my fan on "Hi" and the motor OFF it will cool pretty fast... and if I see I'm NOT going to have time to cool it to 150 - 160 deg, I will change my dial in (example) from 12.12 to maybe 12.15 because I'm going to the line at 170 + deg....

I don't know what you go to Englishtown for .. (to run in competition for $$ or just "Time Trials" and a new personal best... whatever you do remember to try to Do the EXACT SAME THING FOR EVERY RUN

Also if you are going to make changes to the car like adding or removing air from the tires, or changing your RPM that you leave the line at....ALWAYS MAKE ONLY ONE CHANGE AT A TIME !! then you will know exactly what change either helped or hurt your run....

Remember KISS "Keep it Simple Stupid" Thats what I do.. & I have either gotten to be a better racer or just gotten more luck

Good luck, & I'll be at E Town for the "Modern Muscle vs Old Iron" (fuel injection vs carberated) in 2 or 3 weeks...

I'll most likely also be there on Wed. for the $500 Bracket race they have on Wed nights... Good Luck

 

Thanks! = )

 

take your foot off the brake........

 

Thanks so much for the advice. I've seen many monster Hondas rolled up to the line then reved up real violently. Maybe an intimidation thing? Lol
Before I attempt my first run next trip , what psi would you recommend for the rear tires? Id like to keep them at a consistant level for all passes.
They are stock goodyears.

 

If you are using "street tires" I wouldn't go less than 20 lb of air... Also I didn't see if you are automatic, or stick shift... if you are a manual shifted car, remember... "If you start to get WHEEL HOP" Push in the clutch, and abort the run "THAT" is how many racers break there rear end.. by trying to "drive through wheel hop" or if you start to spin bad.. the run is not going to be fast, so "Don't take a chance of fishtailing into a wall" ...

You can always make another run, but getting your car fixed after hitting the wall is no fun

And with street tires there is no need for a big burnout.. just do a small burn out to clean the tires off.. & "GO AROUND" the water box....

 

Good advice John.
Except for the part about doing the same thing. If it didn't work, you need to try something else until it does, but only one change at a time.
I think that's what you meant.

 

I think your hitting it too hard off the line. I suggest practicing leaving the line as if there is a policeman across the street....and get off the line as fast as you could without spinning the tires...

You will get your 60 ft down to 2.0 or 1.9 ....

Remember....

Turn the traction control to competition mod....and after leaving the line as fast as you can without spinning the tires as I described squeeze and then....hammer the throttle...

Just keep it in drive. The computers are faster than any human being.

I don't know much about the A6 any more but I think sport if i remember correctly.... has you leaving the line in second gear ...(whatever mode that does that....don't leave in that mode)

After you build a base line ........like I said years back when I used to run the corvette challenge in my 99 corvette....it was this advice to pretend there was a cop across the way during my practice that got my corvette down to 2.0 sixty foots consistently with a stock A4..


that and the 90 degree heat and high humidity are your culprits...Mostly over aggressive leaving off the line keeping you in the 2.3 range which will always kill performance in the 1/4..

If your in the new york region after you get down to 12.4 or 12.6 @ ~ 115mph.......make an appointment with Chuck at COW and have him tune your transmission and go for the cow booster for a few laughs when you are ready to get a little mod..


If you just want a few laughs and two mods...get the cold air box that chuck installs along with the tune and cow booster..

I was able to knock .6 tenths off and add 5 mph back in the early 2000's by doing a tune and cold air...

I found loud exhausts..ie corsa indy's set the knock sensors and slowed the car down when stock until the tune...so don't bother with an after market exhaust ...IMO..

Hope this helps..

.

 

Hey guys,
I made it back to the track today to get a few more runs in.
Weather was 75 F,
rear tires 28psi
AH on TC off S mode

1st Pass
r/t .492
60ft 2.131
1/4 12.958
mph 112.14

2nd Pass
r/t .599
60ft 2.270
1/4 13.079
Mph 112.10

3rd Pass
r/t .815
60ft 2.232
1.4 13.009
mph 112.37

I tried to get the 60ft lower but had trouble spining off the line, even it was just a little...
Quite a difference from the first 3 runs, avg mph was 5-6mph faster

Still learning the ropes..