First attempt at drag strip

B8 S4
#1

I didn’t do too hot, but it was my first time and I was improving slowly. I did 5 runs in 35 minutes. After that, I decided that it was enough and didn’t want to bother with the bracket racing. I like to sit upright because my arms are a bit short for being 6’2" (6’ wingspan), so I scoot my seat back for leg room and then sit up so I can reach the wheel. This puts my head close to the roof though. I realized that this was an issue when I put my helmet on. I had to lean my seat back and then scoot it up so I could reach the wheel. This caused my knee to almost hit the steering wheel when the clutch was fully released. It was annoying, but doable. I just had to adjust to the slightly different feel of the clutch.

Car: '11 S4 6MT APR stage2v2 w/ pulley, APR exhaust, APR intake, APR CPS.
Gas/Tune: Both 91 octane
Weight: Driver 220,half tank of gas, tools and spare in the car and some other light stuff.

What I remember from each pass.

  1. I let off the gas early and ended up with a slow final speed.
  2. I hit the rev limiter for just a second in one of the gears from shifting a fraction of a second late.
  3. I didn’t rev the engine until the last yellow light blinked out. I did the same in the first two runs.
  4. I started revving the engine early for the start before beginning to release the clutch.
  5. I revved early again, but felt like I feathered the clutch for a second. I didn’t intend do that.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention that I had it in auto for each pull. I completely forgot about putting it in dynamic.

It was only $15 and we got in a lot of practice runs before I left since I wasn’t interested in the bracket races. The track is less than 5 miles from my house, so I might spend a few more Wednesdays there this summer. Unfortunately 91 pump gas is the only thing that’s available to me, so I’ll be sticking with the 91 tune.

Below are my time slips. I’m car 5801. Feel free to criticize as it can only help me to get better if I listen. I got video of runs 1-4 before the gopro died. I can edit it down to the run if anyone’s interested in it.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s220/rev_martin4/Audi/IMG_1979.jpg

-Skid

#2

Video would be great. Thanks for sharing and being honest.

#3

Video of my 4th run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXy26rQ2BPA&hd=1

-Skid

#4

Skid, Glad you went and most importantly sounds like you had fun… Few thoughts… Your 60 ft time is killing you and your trap speed is way low for your mods even on 91… The DA was pretty bad at just over 2,000… Did you turn of ASR/ESP? If not you need to do that along with putting it in dynamic mode, I can’t watch the video now because I am in the office and youtube is blocked but I’ll assume you probably activated the nannies which killed the 60ft time? You may also be letting off to early? Are you sure you are going all the way WOT to the end of the track? To improve your times you will also want to show up with 1/4 tank or less and also remove all the stuff out of your car including the spare and tools, which way about 50lbs… The extra gas and stuff probably added 100lbs to the car which at your times is about .1 off your ET…

A 1.9 60 ft time would have netted you a 12.8-12.9… Take out the weight and get a better DA and you are probably around 12.6ish… Do you have a vagcom cable? If so next time you go log the car as you are making passes… Need to see timing, timing pull, boost, bypass and IAT’s… Did you let the car cool down? Given the bad DA and the car probably being hot your IAT’s were probably horrible… I try to show up an hour early just to let the car cool down…

That is funny you are 5 minutes from the strip as I am about 10-15 minutes from the one I go to as well… LOL Keep at it and you will improve especially with better conditions and more practice… Let me know if I can help in anyway…

#5

First off congrats for breaking your cherry! Intimidating thing to do at first, so good for you for just saying fuk it and lining up. It’s fun as hell once you get down the track the first time.

Good points from Primetime. Things that jumped out to me

  1. 91 octane - this is the biggest performance killer. We saw a 91 GIAC car at the strip with us, and the APR/REVO 93 cars murdered him. 91 is a big killer as far as all out performance goes

  2. Density Altitude. No matter where you were, I can bet it was hot last night. Since you were at Sac, DA is usually solid there since it’s basically at sea level…however it was 90 degrees and humid. DA was 2000 feet plus last night at 6pm there. That means you’re giving up a bunch of horsepower.

3. Launch technique - this is what is the biggest factor that you can control. Launching a B8 S4 is somewhat tricky, but I have done it a few times with reasonably good results.
i. turn off all traction systems (might need to hold the button for 6 seconds)
ii. clutch all the way in
iii. hold RPMs at 3600 RPM for a second or so (not too long)
iv. get right off the clutch in a swift instant
v. hold on for dear life and don’t forget to shift to 2nd gear

This will net you a 1.8-1.9 sixty foot time on a track with reasonable traction. The tires should spin for a fraction of a second, the car should move, then quattro gets it sorted and sends you on your way. If the tires spin too much, try it from 3400 RPM.

  1. Weight - get the gas down to 1/4 tank, and ditch the excess (tools, jack , spare). Keep it an Audi, but just eliminate some of the dead weight.

The only other thing I can think of is your staging technique. You seem to be worrying about the lights a lot. Forget about them. I don’t know why B8 guys are always talking about yellow lights etc. The time doesn’t start until the back of your front tire passes the second staging beam…so forget about them. For bracket racing, reaction time matters. For us, it doesn’t.

Google ‘shallow staging’ and you will learn all you need to know about how to stage for the best possible ET (ignoring RT).

#6

I believe I had ASR/ESP off. I hit the button and it said it was turned off, but I held it until it said something like reduce stability. Maybe I needed to hold it longer. I was kind of bummed when I realized halfway home that I had forgotten to put it in dynamic mode each time. I was stressing too much about all the other things to remember. I need to write a list of prep and stick it to the dash.

I know I let off too early on my first run, but I don’t think I did in the others. Next time, I’ll make sure I overshoot by a long ways.

I’ll also clean out the car and remove the spare and tools next Wednesday. I commute in my car, but now I’ll just try to keep the tank around 1/4 full and visit the gas station more often so that it’s ready come next week.

I’ll practice loggin the car this weekend so that i’m ready to easily do it at the track next week. I didn’t let the car cool down between runs this time because I was trying to get as many runs in as possible. I was doing one every 7 minutes. I didn’t turn the car off between the first 3, but I did for a few minutes before 4 and 5. How long do you let the car cool down between runs?

-Skid

#7

Thanks! I had a good time.

I went and looked at the 1/4 mile thread on AZ and the top is dominated by 100 octane, the middle by 93 and the bottom by 91 with very few outliars. I think it’s pretty telling for how octane effects performance.

I noticed that it felt pretty humid compared to normal. Although it had been around 100 for the week prior, so at least the temperature had dropped. It’s stupposed to still be around the low 90s next week. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ll give this technique a shot when I go back. Thanks.

I’ll make sure all this stuff is removed next time.

I’ll make the lights an after thought next time and focus on revving the engine properly for a good launch.

I’ll go read up on this and try to incorporate it.

Thanks,
-Skid

#8

I have a list of things in my phone to remember before I go $40 cash, pen, helmet, baseball cap etc. and then a list of a few tips I’ve had from guys over the years that I review before I start running the car. Line up super straight, ESP off, radio fully off, etc. Nothing huge but little things so that you don’t waste a pass.

I like to let the car do 2-3 runs, then I let it sit for 45 minutes or so to cool down. On a hot summer night it’s tough to cool down much at all.

Shallow staging is pretty big. It’s probably worth 1-3 tenths depending on how deep you staged last night vs. barely staging (shallow staging).

Some people will mix in would often mix in some 100 octane gas to make quasi 93 octane (3 gallons 91 + 1 gallon 100 = 93)

#9

I’ll definitely let it cool off after the first 2-3 runs next week. I also found a gas station that was reported to be selling 100 octane gas last year. I’m going to check it out this weekend and add 5-6 gallons to my tank. I’ll probably keep it on the 91 map, but it should pull much timing if there’s a mix that’s around 93 octane in the tank. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I had thought about the shallow versus deep staging thing after reading how to pull your car up to the tree prior to going. I just hadn’t read anything specifically comparing the two. I was trying to shallow stage each time. Strangely enough on my 4th run (which was almost as good as my best one), I was deep staged. I had pulled up too quickly and by the time I stopped, the first set of lights had turned out. I didn’t bother to correct it because at the time I didn’t really know what it meant. It was also my only run from the right lane and I didn’t know if it was just something quirky in that lane. If I work on shallow staging and my launch, I should see improvements pretty quickly.

Thanks for the tips.

-Skid

#10

Great first time out!

Definitely massive amounts of fun!

I have to get out this year a few times just such a damn chore to get gas and get out to the track in the afternoon on a work day.

Looking forward to seeing more results!

#11

I’d get the tank as dry as possible if only filling 100 octane, in this weather you should really have your total octane in your tank over 100.

Deep staging past the first beam has it’s place, is a tactic used by some to get a better reaction time and more consistent, albeit slower ET. Basically bracket racing. The timing doesn’t start until you’re out of the second beam, which can be worth a 5 mph head-start if you shallow-stage.

Saki makes fun of me because I spin up my tires before each run past the water box, and in the staging lanes if they are empty. It’s just habit now, and besides, F1 engineers who tell the drivers to do that exactly 4 or 5 times before their launch can’t be wrong.

#12

I don’t make fun if you. I do it too if my tires are covered in gravel and track prep. Doing it on staging and stuff is likely unnecessary.

F1 engineers are advising drivers who don’t have quattro, don’t forget.

#13

^^ I will be trying J’s method as I’m sure the 1-2 hangup on the dsg relates to wheel spin! And even for an MT car worst case you get better traction so it can’t hurt!

#14

or you heat up/glaze your clutch(es) enough that you get shitty grab

:smiley:

Good point about the wheelspin thing on the 1-2 hangup. That’s interesting. Can you turn traction control totally off? On the B6/7 platform (A4/S4/RS4) only the RS4 had this feature. The other cars could turn off ESP or whatever it’s called, but there would still be some form of protection there…just at a higher threshold. The RS4 could turn it all the way off.

#15

I doubt you can really turn it off completely! I’ve reported before that with ESP off I still saw my dash light up in first!

#16

I do think the ASR/ESP shutoff works, but I believe when I had hard enough wheelspin during the shift, maybe on one wheel only, the tranny takes a dump and tells the ECU to shut down the party. There is a “traction” field in the DSG controller, I forget the actual name, if I even have problems again I might log this field.

Mind you, I have since had my Mech replaced due to some speed sensor, so who knows?

#17

I was just trying to go for a mix to get it around 93. That way, if I stayed on the 91 tune, I would eliminate most timing pull (theoretically). I added 2 gallons of 100 and 5 of 91 (fill up light was on, so there was 1-2 gallons of 91 left in it). However, I didn’t make it back to the track on Wednesday and it was in the high 90s when I got off of work with a worse DA than the week before.

I mostly want to mess around with my launch for a better 0-60 ft time and try to log some stuff to see how my engine is performing when there are some better conditions at the track.

-Skid

#18

Ah, got it. If you have the 100-tune, you should give it a try with a tank of 100 - it’s silly how much more power there is, you’ll appreciate your car’s potential even more. I find it hard to justify going to the track on 93 anymore.

#19

Hey Skid, maybe I’ll make a video of me launching a 3.0T MT6 B8 S4 showing you what I was referring to above. (pedals, tach, wheelspin etc.)

I’ll try to get my buddy to let me abuse his car for a few minutes tonight. Actually getting him to do the driving would be good. He has only launched it once.

#20

That would be awesome Saki. I appreciate any help you can provide.

-Skid