So I got some baseline quarter mile runs on my RS4 this morning....

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

And the good news is that I never ran slower than 13.XX seconds, but I also never cracked 12s (not even close). Here is some info.

Car: 2007 Audi RS4
Mileage: 34,400
Modifications: Milltek non-resonated/non-valved exhaust, Stasis MS suspension
Maintenance: Oil hasn’t been changed since like Sep of last year. I’ve probably put 3K miles on it since. Air filter hasn’t been changed in a year, probably about 6K miles on it. Fuel filter and sparkplugs have never been changed. Carbon clean has never been performed.
Weight: I don’t have the numbers handy from my corner weighting, but it is basically stock. I weigh about 175 lbs, 1/2 tank of Shell 93 octane, and a ~40lb Infinity Basslink in the trunk.

It was about 65 degrees out when I ran, somewhat humid out. I got 13 runs in within 1.5 hours, but never appeared to experience heatsoak.

Some additional info / learnings:

  1. Launching at between 3000 and 3200 rpm seemed to work best for me. Higher resulted in wheel hop.
  2. I had the traction control off (blinking) and sport mode on (yeah, I know it doesn’t make you any faster)
  3. I wish the RS4 had a slightly taller 3rd gear. Shifting right at the end of the 1/4 definitely slowed me down
  4. I missed 4th gear several times. Argh.
  5. I generally shifted at ~7500 rpm in gears 1 and 2…closer to 8000 in 3rd

Results:
Best run was 13.36 at 104.28 mph. Obviously not that happy, but at the same time I now have a baseline to work from. My 60 ft times were pretty consistently in the 1.9x range, so I feel like I was launching reasonably well. The mph concerns me a bit…seems low. And the ET is not all that pretty. I ran faster in my '02 ///M Coupe and '01 ///M3.

So, take a look at my timeslips and try and diagnose this for me. What should I work on? And is my mph concerning?

BTW, the reason for the baseline was that I plan on doing a CC in the next couple weeks along with some other mods (intake mani spacers, P&P manifold) and maintenance (fresh plugs, air filter, and fuel filter).

Top 2 run slips below.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2da35b3127cceff8890e1e93100000030O00AYt2zlo4aOWgPbz4Y/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/

#2

what track?

p.s. I’d skip the p+p

edit great lakes

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procgtaserv/47a2da35b3127cce98548a77996300000035100AYt2zlo4aOWgg

#3

LOL, obviously I don’t know how to link pictures well from shutterfly. In any case, track was Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, WI.

Oh, and I already have a spare P&P and deflapped manifold. I got it for not much more than I should be able to sell my stock manifold for.

#4

da was 1271 feet…not ideal

#5

http://www.dragtimes.com/da-density-altitude-calculator.php?temperature=64.0&rh=65&altset=29.92&elevation=626&track=226&month=4&day=14&year=2012&time=11:53%20AM

corrected to 0 da its 13.1 @ 105

need to launch a bit harder…shift quicker…and you’ll be in he 12s on a nice cool dry day

#6

Not sure how much quicker I can shift but I suppose I could try and get my 60-ft times closer to 1.8.

But I guess regardless, this will serve as a good baseline for post CC and maintenance. And then later in the summer for piggies and tune.

#7

yes launching at 3800-4000 should be a bit better if you can stomach it.

thatt’d get you a 12.9 in good density altitude with good shifts.

#8

Full on dump at that RPM or a little bit of slip?

#9

Also you might have a little carbon monster in there. Still when you look at it. Your times are not bad. Some people can’t do that even with a good list of mods hahahahaha

#10

I’d suggest turning the ESP fully off (if it’s blinking it is still a nanny interference.) Hold it down for 5+ seconds. The ESP light should be solid lit at this point.

#11

I had a few with stage 1 off and a few with stage 2 off. Similar results although on a couple where I spun hard, it felt like it stepped in on one run.

But stage 1 isn’t too bad NY07RS4.

I launched once without turning it off at all by accident (there was a delay, so in staging I just turned the car off…then forgot to re-click sport mode and disable ESP)…and that did not go so well lol. Felt like the car was going to flip ass over teakettle it braked so hard.

On the topic of sport mode, it would be interesting to try a couple of runs with it OFF. I once logged the car in 3rd gear both on and off sport mode, and there was really no discernable difference.

#12

Other things to remember to really get the most out of the car

  1. get everything out of the car. I know you like your sub, but if you can, leave it at home for a day. Same with any other weight.
  2. arrive with 1/8th of a tank of gas. If you live far enough to be concerned about getting home bring a 2 gallon jug with you that you can dump in before you go home.
  3. wait for a day when it’s like 40 degrees and limited humidity
  4. get there, and run 2-3x…then let the car cool down for 40 minutes. Bring a tablet with a movie on it or something. Or your phone if you have a nice screen on it. Then run again 2-3x, then let the car cool down. Running while heatsoaked (which you did the entire time from the looks of it) will ensure that you don’t really get the most out of the car.
  5. turn everything off before you run. Heat, seat heaters, radio. Focus on just the track.

There’s another quarter mile tips thread, but these things are what stood out in your OP as things you need to rectify. You went to the track during pretty crap weather for making NA power, with your car weighing probably 100 lbs heavier than it needed to be…then didn’t give it a chance by running it heatsoaked the whole time. 13.3 is just about perfect for that. You can run 12.9 guaranteed.

#13

try a full on dump with holding the clutch 1" below the engagement point so you don’t have too much travel before it grabs. I have 35 passes in my RS4 with 20 being around 2900-3200 and the last 12-13 being at 3800-3900.

you can just let the clutch out slow till it starts to move the car and then rip it too. Slipping is a bit scary because if you get it wrong you can really get it wrong.

First times I went, anything over 3500 I just spun and sat still. So I went off 2900-3100. Last time, first rip I tried 3800-3900 and it spun but grabbed with good speed, so I did it all day. had about half a dozen 1.83-1.84 60’ times and a few more high 1.8. My tires were Toyo Proxes R or something…directional, and didn’t have the channels like my old Continental SportContact2 tires had. I guess maybe this helped? The channels are basically worthless at the dragstrip as you get zero grip from them. Theyre for water. So having a tire without straight channels may help.

#14

Thanks for the tips and feedback. I hope I can get around to the CC and other stuff this weekend. Swamped at work so not sure if I will get to it. Regardless, I’ll hit the track up again shortly after taking care of this stuff. Should be an interesting test.

Also…man, my front tires are so covered in VHT/rubber it isn’t even funny. So much that my driver’s front tire is now rubbing over bumps. Annoying and so hard to remove! :smiley:

#15

That’s awesome

I just did a burnout on pavement to blast it off. On a couple of my runs if I noticed the tires were covered in gravel and crap I’d do a mini burnout just after the waterbox. I posted a pic of it here somewhere.

P.S. Do all the maintenance, then go back with the tips in mind. See what you do. Then carbon clean and go again.

That way you/we can see
a) what your car is capable of
B) what a carbon clean does, performance wise

#16

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your view), I will tackle all the maintenance and CC at once. So, my next runs won’t detect just changes from CC. But, assuming my air filter, plugs, etc. aren’t robbing much power, I am assuming the CC will be by far the biggest difference.

And it will be obvious is my launches improve based on my 60 ft times. So, I am hoping it will be a relatively fair before after comparison. I see plenty of dynos before and after CC but now is the chance to see how it really impacts performance…

#17

Your times will get better with the more runs you make too, seat time is key. Just don’t assume the CC gives you the full difference between your before and after runs. You will get better at launching, shifting, etc. which will all decrease your times, sometimes considerably. I had a buddy in his 06 Z06 shave a whole second of his quarter mile time in one day over the course of about 8 runs. He went from low to mid 13s, down to 12.4, by only doing “driver” mods (or learning how to drive his car at the strip)