Fast-forward to 1998 when I was driving Audi #2, a hibiscus-red A4 with a 1.8-liter turbocharged engine. I joined the Audi Quattro Club and participated in a driving class at the Watkins Glen racetrack. I had an aftermarket ECU installed before the event to increase the power by 30%. I was excited to be driving on the track so many greats of racing have raced on over the years. I always envisioned myself as a racecar driver in my dreams, but I am glad I kept my day-job, as the saying goes. Lying in bed with eyes closed I re-lived driving on the track many times after that weekend, listening to the tires sing and the wind rushing by the open window.
After some deliberation and vacillation taking almost three years the decision was finally made to take our much-beloved 2011 Audi S4 to an outing of the Audi Quattro Club to the world-famous racing track in Watkins Glen, New York.
Since it’s been almost a decade since my last event at this venue with an Audi A6 2.7T they wanted to “prove myself” in front of an instructor. The instructor’s name was George and he drove an older Corvette. He accompanied me on my first stint which was a little foreign and I was acting a little apprehensive, sometimes over-revving the engine on downshifts. Wearing a helmet in the car was absolutely foreign and I had to adjust the seat many times until I found a position of the headrest that I could live with. At the end of that stint, I felt much more comfortable and was lapping at a much faster pace. He pointed out other improvements I could make which made the driving experience even more enjoyable.
He told me that I applied the brakes smooth enough but release of the pedal was too sudden, upsetting the balance of the car. After trying his solution, I had to admit that he was right, and the lap times decreased, and the comfort level increased with each lap.
George invited me to ride along with him, which I eagerly accepted. I now have new-found respect for Corvettes. He made me realize how much braking power can reside in a car and until I got used to the pace, he even managed to scare me a little. I kept sliding down the seat, so I had to adjust it so my feet were firmly placed on the floor to support myself while he was braking. It was a thrilling ride for which I thanked him repeatedly.
Driving the S4 was equally thrilling. It felt perfectly planted at all times, which, I guess, means that I wasn’t driving fast enough. I absolutely fell in love with the electronic rear differential, whose function is difficult to explain but I will try. When you enter a curve at speed the car’s nose is pointing in a different direction than the one you should travel in. In a left turn it is pointing to the right and in a right turn it is pointing left. The front tires are working overtime to try and point it into the curve but that isn’t accomplished until the road is straight again. During the turn at neutral or decelerating speeds the front tires are scrubbing off speed due to friction. If you give it too much throttle the car will experience over-steer and the rear tires will lose traction and you will spin out. The advantage of the electronic rear differential is that if you accelerate as soon as you enter the curve it will transfer power to the outside tire and the effect is magical: It seems to “hang out” the rear of the car, effectively pointing the nose into the curve for as long as power is applied. Before you know it, you have “whooshed” around the curve going faster than you ever thought you could.
But back to the beginning. I had a battle plan: put extra air in the tires and don’t start the day with too much gas in the tank, as that would slow you down. This plan did not work. I put way too much air in the tires, and I was sliding all over the place and I was out of gas by lunch. I quickly drove downtown and filled up and let a bunch of air out of the tires, pretty much settling on what was in them in the morning. At the end of the day, I glanced at my dash to see that the car was getting 8.9 miles to the gallon!
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