How do you resist the temptation?

[ps]

I finally received my RS4 this week and I'm totally smitten :rs4kiss: . I have worked from home for the past three years and rarely drive more than 5K KM/yr but now I find myself looking for any and every excuse to get out of the house. My wife loves it, I'm now her errand boy and gladly pick up groceries - often one item at a time and/or each item from a different store.

While there is no need to resist the temptation to drive such a wonderful car, for those of us that don't live in a country with an autobaun there is often the need to resist the urge to drive too fast. Any yet, with so much power, I can only go so long before I can no longer resist slamming my foot down for the 3 - 5 seconds that it takes to propel me well beyond legal speed limits.

I'm not a kid anymore (I'm 37) and I'm not roaming the streets looking for races (although I do fancy the prospect of getting it out on a track some time) but this is my first real sports car and I'm not used to having so much power at my fingertips. I don't particularly fear for my safety (perhaps I'm naive) but I do worry about the prospect of getting speeding tickets or losing my license.

Sure it can be driven like any other car but it takes so little to go so fast, how does everyone else resist the tempation? Mind you, does anyone else resist?

Thanks / Regards,

ps.

[Tony Lam]

how lucky u are:wo: .....enjoy it!!
btw, would u show us some pictures please?

[PetrolDave]

Sure it can be driven like any other car but it takes so little to go so fast, how does everyone else resist the tempation? Mind you, does anyone else resist?
For me that's the really great thing about the RS4, especially the Avant like I have - it's a fast "sports" car but it's also a family car and a practical wagon.

We toured France recently, enjoyed every moment of the performance and the sound, and visited many independent wine producers buying a box here and a box there. What other car with the performance of the RS4 can carry 5 dozen bottles of wine?

[OzRS4]

Hi PS, Congrats on owning one of the finest piece of automotive engineering on earth.

Personally, I can shamefully admit there hasn't been a drive (even short trip) that I drive under legal street limit at all times(responsibly of course! hehe). That's why I try to do track days as often as I can because that's where you can really appreciate the power and handling potential of the RS4 (out of the box). Having said that, it is still so smooth and comfortable crusing along at low speed in 4th or even 5th gear.
Temptation is not meant to be resisted! Enjoy it my friend. :rs4addict

[ps]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to post some pictures shortly but it pretty much looks like Dave's from the front - it's a black sedan.

Meanwhile, I'm slowly learning some patience. Recognizing that it drives best once the engine is warm anyway, I'm learning to get more out of the car at low speeds. I've actually found it to be a real pleasure to drive at 4 - 5K RPM's, the sound is great and the power is always there.

With that said, after watching Le Mans this weekend (yeah team Audi!), I'm looking forward to getting out to Mosport (about an hour away)next year for a few laps. Mind you, I love my RS4 but if anyone knows how I can get my hands on a LMP2, please let me know!

[MR USER]

Mind you, I love my RS4 but if anyone knows how I can get my hands on a LMP2, please let me know!

That is easy!!! Just go to the track when the teams are there... bring with you a duffel bag filled with cash (at least 25/30k) and fix a date!

Else you can contact one team and do the same... in motorsport you can do anything as long as your pockets are deep enough!

E.g. For few m$ you can buy the F1 car of Shumacher and drive it with a full ferrari team sopporting you all the way with mechanics engeneers and full telemetry!

Is all in the power of $...

If you want some serious thrills I would not try such a car... start from a small formula... without experience and skills you will not use more than 30% of the potential of a LM prototype... with a small formula you might get close to 60% if you are good!

I had the chance to drive a FIA GT car (GT3 class)... it took several laps just to understand how to modulate the gas and how to use the carbon brakes without generating large cluds of smoke... Finally I got to understand it a bit and the lap times were decent... still there was an abyss beteen me and the pros... and that is considered an easy car to drive!!!

If you would like to slowly approach the world of motorsports you could try with this: http://www.fun-cup.com/

[ps]

I was (er, mostly) kidding about the LMP2. The pro's make it look so easy and the video from the driver's perspective going around the track at 180MPH is intoxicating. I'd like to try out a small formula car (there are some tracks nearby where you can drive them) but I'm enjoying learning how to drive the RS4 properly - mind you, I'm not getting a whole lot of work done these days.

I've booked my first track day in September, can't wait! In the meantime I'm always finding new ways to enjoy the car even at slow speeds. For example, I've found that there's not much sweeter than the sound / feel of the engine at 6K RPM, in second gear with Sport mode on. It's not exactly slow, mind you - somewhere around 90 - 100 KM/h but it sure is sweet and completely responsive. I've found that 6K RPM in first gear isn't quite as nice - anyone else find that? Perhaps that it seems to handle differently, it seems to resist more but then I'm the first to admit that I don't reallly know all that much about cars. I've been trying to capture the sound / feel of (dare I say) a Ferrari 355 that I rented a few years ago. All in all I enjoy the RS4 much more but there's something really nice about the growl of a Ferrari at low speeds and, so far, I just haven't been able to reproduce that experience with the exception of 6K in 2nd gear in sport mode (again, not exactly slow).

Any knowledge / experience regarding this wonderful car is certainly appreciated.

Regards,

ps.

[Ricoloco]

You can always try a Milltek exhaust system... :mech: :thumb:

[BigRick]

I've found one nice way of getting a great sound

S mode ON
back seats down
full throttle in third gear(4000rpm and up)

This really produces a nice growl in the cabin! :rs4kiss:

BTW one of the very first thing to learn is the "slow in" / "fast out" technic. You sacrifice some speed entering the curve and you step on the gas as soon as you hit the apex (gently steering out of the curve). Stepping on the gas doesn't mean floor it (unless you really know what you're doing)

So the basics at the track would be (the "basics" I know there's more than what I describe... the experts here don't need to flame me :thumb: )
1) As fast as possible in straight line (heading outside of the upcoming curve)
2) As late and as hard as possible on the breaks + downshift (but before you start turning the wheels, that's the tricky part)
3) Steer for the apex (somewhere in the middle of the curve on the inside), while keeping neutral balance, (no breaking, no accel)
4) Wait for the apex and step on the gas (again not full throttle before you've learn how much you can handle. Contrary to many people's saying the tail of that car can get loose and unless you know what to do to correct you can get in trouble)
You should now be back to step 1 heading for the next curve.

Keep in mind
1) To use as much of the tarmac as possible (outside of the curve to the inside at the apex back to the outside while going out of the curve)
2) Your breaks will get really hot and you'll lose some breaking power after a couple of laps... start breaking a bit earlier or you could... (I think you get the idea)

[ps]

Thanks Ricoloco, the Miltek exhaust sounds great. Have you looked at any others? I've seen a few videos for Magnaflow which also sounds pretty cool.

Thanks for the tips Rick, I believe there is some instruction along with the track day - I will probably need some more immediate feedback while going around the track (too much to try and remember). Have you driven at the Tremblant track? Historically I've always hated the drive from YYZ to YUL but somehow the idea of driving for 6 hours just got a whole lot more enticing.

Thanks / Regards,

ps.

[BigRick]

I never had the chance to drive at Tremblant. There's always something that gets in the way... Again this year I won't be able to be there :( Maybe next year

But some friends did and they really enjoyed it. Tremblant is also quite nice on its own bring the familly and stay there for two/three days you'll surely enjoy your stay. And 6 hours in an RS4 that's just pure pleasure :)