Audi at Bonneville Salt Flats

[BobP]

Bonneville Speedweek was August 13-August 20, 2004

We left Los Angeles on the morning of the 13th, picked up our motorhome and misc. tools at the shop in Reno, NV, and arrived at the Bonneville Speedway 7AM Saturday (14th) morning.

Tech inspection had run all day Friday, and was again underway, as it would be every day during Speedweek. I attended the drivers' meeting at 11AM and rookie orientation at 11:30AM. Safety is the number one concern at this event.

We continued car prep until closing on Saturday. Sunday was more prep and finally, at 3:30PM, I towed the 2001 S4 to the tech inspection tent. After microscopic examination, it was agreed that my car complied with Southern California Timing Association-Bonneville Nationals Inc (www.scta-bni.org) rules and requirements for engine class 'F' (2001-3000cc), chassis class 'PS' (Production Supercharged).

The car-mounted safety equipment included: 6-point Safety Devices bolt-in rollcage with touring side bars; a Pyrotect full driver's door opening net; a Kirky aluminum racing seat with headrest support from the rollcage; 5-point Sabelt camlock safety harness; a single Simpson parachute; a Firecharger 4.6L AFFF fire system; a 360-degree steel clutch/flywheel shield fabricated from .25"x4" steel stock; a driveline loop; an external battery kill switch; and an ATL 12 gal well-cell. Additional safety equipment included a Bell M3 helmet, Deist 2-piece SFI-20 suit, SFI-15 boots and gloves, a balaclava and neck collar.

The car is a 2001 Audi S4 sedan, with the following modification: complete RS4 body panels/doors and RS4 front bumper & belly pan installation, as in SWC Audi S4 Competition cars of Galati and Bell; AMS race prepped Bosch Motronic, running on 100 octane; RS4 turbos and plumbing/ RS4 intake and injectors/ MAS/ throttlebody; MTM headers; MTM Stage 3 race cats and exhaust; Stasis coilover Koni suspension; and Porsche 993TT calipers/ rotors, front and rear. The following wheel/ tire combos are used: Kinesis K18R 17x9 with 255/40x17 Bridgestone S02; BBS CH 18x8.5 with 245/40x18 Hoosiers; stock 17" AVUS with 27" tall, narrower racing tires.

The track closed for the day as I completed tech on Sunday, our first day of racing would be Monday. With over 400 entants, the line to make a run was about 4 hours long.

On Monday, our first two runs, with the Kinesis/Bridgestone shoes, were licensing passes, required to first be between 125 and 149MPH, on the short (3mile) course. Two miles to accelerate, and the 3rd mile is timed (both the first 1/4 mi and the full mile of the 3rd mile). I accelerated to 145mph before the 1 mi marker, slowed to 135, and set the cruise control, with the A/C 'on', and completed that license. My second licensing pass was for the 150-174MPH license, and was completed at 165 indicated. It was now too late for another pass, so we returned to the pits and secured for the day.

Tuesday on the first run, for our 175-199 license and the move to the long (5 mile) course, we had an EGR sensor malfunction, and the run was in 'limp' mode, completed at 140MPH. After clearing the EGR code, the second run was at 169MPH. We cleared all codes with VAG-COM, performed throttle adaptation, and switched to the BBS/Hoosier package. The rain came as we finished the tire swap, and the event was called for the day, due to standing water on the course.

Wednesday, and competitors were thinning out. We might be able to squeeze in three runs! Run 1 was completed at 172, but acceleration was down. I switched off traction control (ESP) for the 2nd run, and completed the flying mile with the speedo constant on 180MPH. The crew told me that I had a huge rooster tail on this run. I picked up my time slip, and my 'constant 180' was clocked at 129MPH through the 1/4 mile and a 158MPH average for the full mile. Without ESP, I had been spinning the tires and slowly moving faster as the tires spun. They never hooked up completely on the salt surface that was still wet from the prior day's rain. I returned to the line for my last run, and a heavy rain hit the start line before I could run, and the course as shut down for the day.

We had business commitments back in CA, so this was our last day at the track. We packed up in the rain, said our 'good-byes' to friends, new and old, and headed West, through 3-4" of standing water on the salt.

What had we learned in our first run on the Salt Flats?

1. Wet/damp salt is slower that dry salt.
2. Audi's Traction Control is a great help on slippery surfaces.
3. We have the potential to do 195-200 if the weather holds for the next event, in October.
4. Front and rear lift have to be quantified and eliminated.

**HELP IS NEEDED IN IDENTIFYING ACTUAL FRONT AND REAR AERODYNAMIC LIFT ON A 2001 S4 SEDAN AND A 2002 RS4 AVANT**

The production supercharged class requires that no non-production/non-factory body parts be used. My options are dropping the nose 2" and installing a Audi production rear spoiler, adding 100s of pounds of lead to hold the Audi down, changing uprights to clear taller tires, and upgrading the AMS engine management to exceed 500HP.

Thanks on this effort go to:
Advanced Motorsport Solutions, Carson, CA for engine management setup, dyno time and shoptime to complete final drivetrain race preparation. Thank you, Marc!
Griffin Motorwerke, Berkeley, CA for final suspension and brake preparations and race fluids. Thank you, Terry!
Bones Fabrication, Camarillo, CA for expert welding and fabrication on a long laundry list of items, large and small.
Stasis Engineering, Sonoma, CA for the fantastic coil-over suspension.
Achtuning, Redmond, WA for being there with Euro parts.

FINAL RESULTS: Six runs, short course-

8/16 1236hrs 76.0F 43%Rel Hum 1/4M-134.511, 1M-134.572
8/16 1600hrs 80.9F 33%Rel Hum 1/4M-164.661, 1M-164.916
8/17 0941hrs 72.0F 42%Rel Hum 1/4M-140.572, 1M-140.764
8/17 1311hrs 76.3F 37%Rel Hum 1/4M-166.829, 1M-169.494
8/18 1230hrs 71.8F 57%Rel Hum 1/4M-169.805, 1M-172.053
8/18 1433hrs 74.2F 49%Rel Hum 1/4M-129.360, 1M-158.533

More results, and information on Land Speed Racing is available at http://www.scta-bni.org/Bonneville/Spee ... esults.htm and at http://www.landracing.com/events/speedweek/speed.htm

The next event is September 12, 2004 at El Mirage Dry Lakebed, near Adelanto (Victorville), CA followed by the World Finals at Bonneville in October.