View Full Version : Track Day with the RS6
NeverFollow
December 18th, 2006, 17:27
I had the great fortune to drive my RS6 at the MSR Houston road course yesterday. My friend is the director of track operations. Although it is a private club and I am not a member, my brother (he has an '03 E55) and I were allowed to drive with other guests as part of 'member appreciation' day. We drove in four 30 minute sessions.
Some of the other guest cars there were several Exiges and Elises, a couple of M3s, some modified new and old Mustangs, three WRX STis, some 911s, and many others. My brother and I ran absolutely ran away from the other cars. But the real highlight was in running down a Ferrari 360 Stradale.
What a great day. Driving to work will never be the same...
4491
Ruergard
December 18th, 2006, 18:12
Sounds like a great day and a real opportunity to have some seriys fun!
Nice collection of cars to!.
Erik
December 18th, 2006, 18:58
I'm so happy to see that, the RS6 is such a great car.
dab
December 18th, 2006, 20:26
so I have to ask how does your rs compare to the e55? Do you have any mods?
NeverFollow
December 18th, 2006, 20:48
My RS is stock with the 'performance' exhaust option. My brother's e55 is also stock. Both have about 35k miles and relatively new tires.
The two cars match up quite well. The e55 pulls away on the straights, but the RS seemed quicker through tight turns. The extra 50 hp and torque in the e55 translates to about 4 - 8 mph faster topspeed on the straights than the RS, but the RS seemed to make up the difference through the turns. My brother's a better driver than I am, so after about 30 minutes he's usually about 8 - 10 seconds ahead of me. With evenly matched drivers, I think it would be an extremely tight race either car could win. The first car into turn one could probably hold the other off a whole 30-minute run.
As fast as it is, I don't think the e55 is a coherent sports car. It's a luxury sedan with a big motor. The RS just feels like it was designed from the ground up to be driven hard on the track. For example, my brother had a lot of trouble with his suspension. After one session, the car was sagging at the right rear tire. That seemed to correct itself. But in the last 30 minute session, both pneumatics in front went out and the car dropped down almost on top of the tires. He was barely able to drive it home from the track. He also had various warnings pop up during the sessions. The RS, by comparison, never seemed to break a sweat. Of course, some of it could just be these two particular cars.
bbigman2000
December 19th, 2006, 00:53
awesome stuf my man, bet that was fun.
SpinEcho
December 20th, 2006, 02:42
Glad to hear you had fun! But I had to laugh when you said the RS6 felt like it had been designed to be driven on the track - let's be serious: it's a nose-heavy road barge! But that won't stop me either - I'm looking forward to taking mine back on the track when winter is over!
Out of curiosity, how did your brakes fare?
Radiation Joe
December 20th, 2006, 06:03
it's a nose-heavy road barge!
Yes it is. But a fun one.
NeverFollow
December 20th, 2006, 14:12
Glad to hear you had fun! But I had to laugh when you said the RS6 felt like it had been designed to be driven on the track - let's be serious: it's a nose-heavy road barge! But that won't stop me either - I'm looking forward to taking mine back on the track when winter is over!
Out of curiosity, how did your brakes fare?
I think you misunderstood me. I was talking about 2-ton sedans. Of course I'd rather go round the track in a GT3 or DB9R.
The brakes were exceptional, although admittedly I had new rotors and pads put on about 2500 miles ago.
ott
December 22nd, 2006, 20:06
Out of curiosity I participated to one track day with my RS6. Not that bad, but I would say, that new S8 was even better, although it's bigger car. First I used trans in S mode, but after few laps tranny almoust refused to downshift, when accelerating out from corners. Fortunately there was no problems, when shifting manually.
moldowan
December 31st, 2006, 05:48
But the real highlight was in running down a Ferrari 360 Stradale.
4491:lovl:
send me some of that stuff your smokin!
JAXRS6
December 31st, 2006, 07:28
:lovl:
send me some of that stuff your smokin!
Driver talent can make a huge difference at a track. This I learned several years ago at an Audi driver's school in Michigan, when I saw a modified van -- yes, one of those tall steel boxes with four wheels -- pass almost everyone, including tuned Audis and some Porsches.:MTM:
moldowan
December 31st, 2006, 08:48
somehow i doubt that apply's here, but never the less your correct.