xjaguar

Been around a little here and relatively new with my 1998 Z28 A4 (almost a year) with the Z. I've been very pleased with the performance of the car on the street, highway and on the drag strip (at stock). Recently I added a Magnaflow CB, UMI LCAs and boxed SFC. Last saturday I took it to the track (my first track on a RWD) on an event full of Mk3, MK4 VW platforms (Golfs, Jettas, GTIs) and a couple of EVOs (EVO VIII). Got in the B group (mild turbos or NA); the result: holy ****! Everyone wanted to take over the Z! All cars were pestering me and I couldn't practice good hi-speed lines or take my time to practice corner entrance-apex-etc.

I knew I needed to practice how to corner fast on a RWD so I expected a lot of untersteer slides. (And I also know I need a set of konis, a pair of strano bars, nitto tires) The track was full of corners and a little straight.

Damn! I was afraid of hitting other cars (behind me) on every corner. Of course the Z reigned on the straight, but that was not a friendly setup for me to practice, and I ended a little bit frustrated.

I also ride motorcycles and I'm not bad at all. However, I feel like I suk badly on my great Z :-(

On the last run, I let a friend of mine drive the Z (so then I became a passenger willing to learn how to drift ) The difference was night and day: his entrance on the corners was a little bit slower, but hey, he kept hard on the gas and never did a spin (I did a lot of oversteer spins due to the feeling of coming too fast to reach the apex). Fortunately, those laps may have redeemed the Z as being a slow car on the corners. Need to practice those skills. (Would a 3600 stall help to keep RPMs high and maintain torque to push on the corners? )

Any advice on where or how to practice cornering (taking the Z to its limits)?

Semper91-RS

Donuts. Do alot of donuts. Lets you get a feel for throwing the car about, I feel. On ice or dry pavement, doesn't matter. Either way, it's both fun and usefull to figure out how the car feels when being tossed about, which will help you figure out when to cut the wheel and feather the gas to avoid oversteer.

xjaguar

I'll try that. I'm also getting more convinced of the advantages of our wonderful cars by being (RWD) on these sites:

http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/
http://www.slate.com/id/2081194/
http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter/020619.htm

deuce_454

High stall speed does not belong on a track with turns.. it is like riding the clutch in the turns... i wouldnt go above 2500 rpm stall, and get one with a lockup that can handle WOT... if you need more pull, install lower gears!

You need to sort out your suspension, perhaps get a twist mashine paddle shifter.. and practice!

JD_AMG

The konis should be a high up #1 on your list, they will make all the difference in the world. Balance, control, feel, everything will become super sharpened, it will be a totally different car. No longer will it feel sloppy or snap oversteer.
Search the road race section, if I remember right there is a auto tranny write up on a good tune for road racing.
edit: here it is:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...highlight=auto

ssfast99

iTrader: (3)

get gears as stated above, it will keep you in the powerband longer in the turns so that you can exit quicker.

xjaguar

Thanx! Good info on the gears setup. I guess the next mod to aim will have to be hptuners instead of LTs and a lot of AutoX practice (keep it on 2nd, braking while accelerating to shift the weight and maintain RPMs). The konis should help to get faster on corners, but on stock suspension I should learn better control of the car (thus, getting the most out of my suspension upgrades later on)