Data posted for an Audi S4 Avant

[billy]

1:49 and change, nice lap. Video with data will be posted tomorrow hopefully.

http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Barber_Motorsports_Park

[billy]

Video posted also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkG17TuZEW8

[gantmaniac]

Thanks for your help with the data logger and the video Billy!

[jstecher]

Gotta say man that is one wicked track and car! The more I watch the video the more I am amazed at the quick elevation changes they engineered in as well as the fact that almost none of the turns are traditional.

Glad you had fun Gantmaniac. :D

[gantmaniac]

I had a ball. I've gotta say that spending 150+ laps on rFactor made a HUGE difference when I got to the track. I was up to speed on the second lap, knowing the track as well as I had. Of the other instructors that were there, only 6 had been to the track before.

As for the track, let me first start with the facilities: AMAZING! Every attention to detail had been thought out from the drive up to the track, going past the incredible Barber museum, the iron work on the gates, the mature trees there were brought in, the shrubs, the tiered paddock area that had perfect views of 90% of the track, and of course the control tower with 2 classrooms overlooking the track. As I had described to my Dad on Saturday night...this is equal to Augusta, Pebble Beach or St. Andrews for a golfer.

The track itself was in prestine condition. The surface was very smooth, the track is nice and wide, and the elevation changes are very quick, allowing the car to get light a couple of times. The track reminded me a lot of Mid Ohio but had a very different flow to it, as well as some components from Sears Point and Laguna Seca too. There was almost no where to rest as the straights are reletively short.

My 3,800 lb car was a pig on this track but thanks to the gracery getting rear end, it had very nice weight distribution to help rotate the car in some of the longer corners. Next year I hope to have a much lighter car at my disposal and can't wait to head to this gem in the South again!

Andrew

[jstecher]

You're pretty much echoing what I have heard from everyone else in that area as well. To bad none of the facilities around here are nearly as nice as that baby. :D

Glad you had such a fun time man. How big were your run groups? Looked like nearly no one in them.

[gantmaniac]

Glad you had such a fun time man. How big were your run groups? Looked like nearly no one in them.
We were limited to 21 cars per run group. By the end of my session that I had logged, I had caught up to a larger group of cars. Fortunately we had plenty of room for passing.

[jstecher]

21 cars together in a group isn't damn bad at all...I wish the ones around here were that small. I believe (Brett can correct me if I am wrong) all the PCA events here are more than 40 in each group. Granted BIR/RA are huge.

[billy]

So
I posted the video on rennlist and 'Velocraptor' indicated he could improve gants driving if he was instructing. I then said, ok, give a list of improvements then. Here is his response. Comments:


Hahaha! No wisdom, but Bnewport sent me a PM asking me to offer any suggestions, so here goes. This commentary is based on what I see the car doing, what I see the driver doing, and what I see the data doing, primarily the longitudinal & lateral G graphic.

-T1: way late on the power, IMO. The G meter shows you are not on the power until you are at the apex. T1 is VERY fast & very grippy; as soon as you turn in, even with a heavy AWD pig like the Audi, get back to solid power immediately; it will really launch you down the hill much better & stabilize the car sooner to complete the corner as it goes from camber to flat; your turn in point is very good; use a little bit of the apex curb (ALL the curbs at Barber are extremely grippy) to slightly grap the LF tire & help rotate the car

-T2/T3: with that heavy understeering pig & all that power, you need to go deeper into there & make a later, more distinct apex & a straighter exit from T3, so you are pointed much more straight as you begin going uphill; right now, you are turning in way too early & understeering your way through, really killing your exit speed & overheating your front tires--square off the corner & be faster at mid corner & exit

-T5 entry: you are off the gas before the 3 marker & not on the brakes until the 2 marker; while I applaud your braking at the 2, you need to stay on the power until you hit the brakes; coasting is not going to help your lap time

-T5 exit: I like the tight, almost double apex line there that you are attempting, but you can't do that in a heavy understeer car like yours; what you end up doing is making the first apex and then rounding off the corner & losing exit speed; I suggest you go in deeper, turn in later, and make a single late apex, and focus on exit speed & straightness; you want to be opening your hands much sooner

-T6/7/8: you are off the gas & on the brakes nicely there; however, you stay on the brakes WAY too long after 6; as soon as you lean the car to the right into the Corkscrew off the straight, get back to some throttle to settle the car & get a small burst straightaway; you had good use of the curb on the left in the entry down the hill; turn in a lot more crisply & use more of the curb on the final right at the bottom, which has quite a bit of camber in it so the car should generate a lot of grip there

T9/10: very nice entry, but you are off the gas at 10 for a relatively long time; just do a feather lift if you need to in order to set the fronts & then get back to gas HARD (especially with AWD) in order to get a strong launch down that second straightaway there; you are losing a lot of time there due to weak exit speeds

T11: OK entry braking, but then you only go to maintenance throttle until your 2nd brake application; do the first braking a little earlier & a little less, & then back to aggressive gas; you can cary a lot of speed across the apex here.

T12: your turn in is WAY too early for such a heavy car; after braking after the T11 apex, pause a split second longer before turning in & aim for a much later apex of 12 at that nice wide curb; use a couple inches of that curb to grab the RF tire & aid rotation; by entering deeper & apexing later, you will get a much stronger, straighter, SAFER launch up that hill all the way to T14; most folks lose the most time in this section, and you are no exception

T13: excellent use of the flat curb there, and a very solid exit; my only comment is that you are using maintenance throttle all across that apex; if you get the proper set as you come down the hill, you should be able to use more gas there; maybe not WOT, but a lot more than you are using (but work up GRADUALLY here, as it is very dangerous)

-T14a & 14: IMO, you are entering too far left by about 3'; I would not go all the way to track left for entry, but stay maybe 1/2 a car width away; in addition, it appears that there is very little distinction between your turning attitude in the brake zone & your turning attitude into 14; if you are slightly displaced from track left, however, you have a longer brake zone, and you have the time to briefly straighten your wheel before making the hard right into 14; this is key to stabilize the car in order to have more grip & stability thru 14; your line in 14 & exit from it are good, but you are sacrificing way too much speed there, as you are not really able to get back to gas until at or after the T14 apex, whereas you really want to get back to gas as soon as you turn in to launch you down that hill

-T15: not bad, but if you had been better set up entering & thus exiting 14, you'd be able to carry mnore speed down the hill, apex slightly later in 15, and get a slightly better launch onto the main straight

Your car does not like to corner. It is heavy & understeers, and has a lot of motor. So, in order ot get out of it what you want (faster, smoother, more stable laps), you need to rethink what you put into it.

Give the car what it wants, and it will give you want you want. And what your car wants is what it excels at: using its motor on the straights, and exiting corners hard using motor & AWD. So, you need to give it measured entries, later apexes, and much stronger straighter exits.

JMHO...


Any comments from Skeen or Jameson, the resident pros?

[gantmaniac]

I think that he has some very valid points and observations throughout his assessment. I was doing a lot of what he was talking about in previous sessions however 1.) I had my Dad in the right seat and was leaving a bit on the table as this was his first day at the track and 2.) my tires were shot. Thanks for getting the feedback Billy...even instructor's like me like hear ways to improve our driving. ;)