LYSHOLM

Tracking my car at Limerock motor speedway in CT. Any driving tips or things I should be concerned about?

David

Dr Chill

Please search prior threads regarding this topic. The brakes will overheat very quickly and you must heed the red warnings on the dash when they come up. I pushed the car about 10 minutes after the warning came on and almost lost it on a turn when the brakes went away without any tactile warnings, only the red "Caution!" sign.

Run high tire pressures up front to help the excessive understeer (thanks Tim-Color Change).

Have fun!

tjcMBE55AMG

Just out of curiosity, what is the event?


TJC

ColorChange

David:

If your on the Conti's, start at 40 psi cold up front, maybe 38 rear. Keep a close eye on the tires for roll over. If you remove the front dust covers, the calipers will cool much better (I didn't and should have). I had to drive the car for about 10 minutes after a session to get the calipers below 300F.

Be real careful if you do a session longer than 20 minutes or if it's real hot. Your brakes are the scariest factor. When they go, like Chill said, you get no notice, but you get maybe 50% stopping power. If that would have happened to me on a tight walled turn, I would have bent sheet metal. BE CAREFUL! You can blow off the brake warning light for a while, but not for more than 10 minutes would be my recommendation.

Legal Disclaimer ... I know nothing so don't listen to me!

1115

Keep the ESP on!

LYSHOLM

The event is a sports car driving club @ www.scda1.com

I1 ULOOZ

finish 1st!

ColorChange

Any update David?

LYSHOLM

Well, that was quite an experience! I ran hard against 911 Turbos, Vipers, NSX's and others. Although it was difficult for me to pass them, they could NOT pass me. I ran 53psi/hot/front and 45psi/hot/rear. If the driving line was followed to a tee and the brake and gas was modulated with utter smoothness the car got around the track rather well. However, this was my first time tracking this car and I could not modulate the gas and brakes very well and as far as driving "the line" forget about it. The car plowed into and through every corner and the more i accelerated the more the tires scrubbed.

It is sooooooo neccessary to utilize the cars weight to your advantage. The car must settle into place after every action b4 another action is taken, if not the car will understeer terribly. With traction control off the understeer could be modulated with rear drift but then as colorchange stated you are truly in a four wheel slide. I averaged 5mpg and my brakes never overheated after 20 minute sessions until I reached the paddock and the car sat for a minute or so. On the track the brakes were strong and true and without a mind of their own.

i did not use the slap shift or wheel buttons. I left the tranny in sport mode for the entire time (i don't know if that hurt my times or not) the car always seemed to be in the right gear when I needed it and only downshifted once or twice. My top speed was a consistent 135mph down the front straight and corners coulkd be taken at 50mph plus as long as I didn't underload the front tires with strong acceleration. I had no white residue on the wheels and the car always ran MUCH faster and tighter after the first lap (warm tires). Overall I would not recommend the E55 as a track car although it does do very well and you can drive it to and from the track in utter elegance. I have an 04' NSX which will be my primary track car.

David

Bauer

Really? I hate having the ESP on during track events. But I guess with all the torque going to the rear wheels it would be much easier not to put in to a wall untill you get used to the power.

Cheers,

ColorChange

David: Sounds great. I could not get the understeer out either so just ended up doing 4-wheel drifts with the ESP off just like you said. Did you get black flagged for excessive tire noise? They scream like banshees don't they? Did you remove the dust covers to help the rotor cooling? Are your brakes fried now? Mine are real noisy/rough and I am going to have to bring the car to the dealer. Time for new tires isn’t it?

LYSHOLM

My barkes ARE cooked and they squal and grind at every stop. I only have 9k miles on the car.....will benz do any warranty work to correct it? Would that happen to most cars?

David

ColorChange

I bought new 19's and plan to show up at the dealership with fresh tires and say "Hmm ... the brakes sound a little noisy" and take it from there. Don't drive in with obviously tracked tires.

Bauer

Same thing happens to my breaks after two days at the track. COOKED, I had to have mine replaced after 9k and tires after 14k. Thankfully, Audi has not given me any grief about the included service for 4yr 50k miles. Car is going in on Monday (17k miles) for new breaks and rotors and a few minor items. Well see how they are this time around .

I believe the E55 and RS6 both have the Brembo 8 pot calipers and 14.5 rotors. This break set up has real cooling issues and just eats pads and rotors. They seem to have made the pads and rotors a little softer so that they don't make as much noise on the street. Which is fine and all, but give them a good work out and its back to getting replaced.

Good luck at the track and have fun!!!

LYSHOLM

Am I going to have my brakes serviced EVERY time I track my car (once a month or so)? How lonf should my pads last under normal driving? Would this happen to a Porsche or other high performance vehicle? Aren't these supposed to be race quality brakes on my E55? How expensive are AMG pads? Are there performance pads?

My tires are fine since traction control was left on at all times. The front tires were brand new and since i had very high pressure in them the wear is even and invisible.

Any answers would be great.

David

Bauer

David,

Race pads will chew rotors up and are not good for every day use because it takes some heavy driving to heat them up before they perform the way they are supposed to. They are MUCH better for track days but will not work very well and will make all sorts of unpleasant noises in daily driving.

Also, if you get just race pads for track days and switch them out to the regular pads after, there is a period where the material transfer from the new(stock,old) pads will have to replace the material that was transfered from the race pads. After replacing your race pads you will likely see how chewed up your rotors have gotten (depending on how hard you drive). That is becasue the rotors were desinged for a pad that is softer and the race pad is a much harder material.

Probably want to get race pads and different rotors for the track and then put the stock rotors and pads back after the event.

About half way down the page (posty by Erick) of this link is an RS6 8 piston Brembo and 14.5 Rotor after two days at the Nurburgring. The rotors were stock and the pads were, I believe Pagid Orange(not stock) or someother race pad but they were not stock.

http://www2.rs6.com/forum/showthread...hlight=829+RS6

I hope this helps, good luck and have fun.