Spokane Raceway Park, August 2000
Greg Johnson - System 2 on a 1991 200q Avant
Vehicle Specs:
1991 200-20v Turbo Quattro Avant. Intended Acceleration Stage III (about 270hp and 290 ft.lbs of torque) for go; BIRA brackets, Porsche monobloc calipers, A8 Rotors, and Kerr Friction track pads for woah; OEM S6 Avus-style 16 in wheels with 225x50 ZR 16 Dunlop 2000s, Boge Turbo Gas shocks and H&R springs for handling.
Summary
I recently completed two days of testing at Spokane Raceway Park (“SRP”). The BIRA brakes provided as much braking as I wanted, whenever I wanted it, all my foot had to do was ask. No muss, no fuss, no fade! I was eventually pushing the brake pedal hard enough that the ABS kicked back at me a few times. In sum: amazing brakes! And, despite what other allegedly knowledgeable people have claimed, my A8 rotors did not warp.
Conditions
I’ve participated in PCA sponsored driver education events at Watkins Glen, Lime Rock Park and Seattle International Raceway. At the PCA events, about 90% of the cars were Porsches. At this BMW Club sponsored event, about a third of the cars were BMW’s (lots of M3s, other 3 and 5 series cars and several Z3s), another third were Porsches (older 911s and 944Ts or S2s), and about a third were various other cars - Vettes (a ZR1 and Mallett C5) a neu S4bt, an ’87 4000Q, a new Mustang, a Firebird WS1, a tweaked Supra Turbo, a Prelude, a new Bug and even a Subaru sedan. Both days were sunny, with a few scattered clouds, and in the low 70s.
Previous to SRP, I had tracked a rear-weighted chassis (911) and a balanced chassis (944). I had never tracked a heavy (3,726 lbs) front-weighted (57/43%) wagon, nor had I driven at SRP. Also, my last drivers education event was about a decade ago (got married, had kids). I was placed in an intermediate run group.
Driving SRP
SRP is a 2.5 mile road course that’s about 2,200 feet above sea level. There are a few elevation changes at the back (northeast part) of the track (turns 2 and 3) but the rest of it is fairly level.
Turn 1. SRP's front straight is a mile long drag strip. The strip ends with a right hand kink (turn 1) that quickly leads into turn 2's braking zone. Turn 1 offers two choices: you can either limit your straightaway speed to your turn 1 speed and not brake until 2, or you can go full bore down the straight and then lightly tap your brakes before turn 1 and then steady throttle through it. Either way, you do not want to brake or lift in the turn. You also need to steer further over to the right than you initially think.
Turn 2. Major braking from around 115-120 mph to your turn in speed. I don't know what that was because I never looked at my speedo, but it was mid-range, third gear, so I’m guessing around 55 mph. There's a little bump just before turn 2's braking zone and just after it, I began braking. The BIRA setup provided as much deceleration as I requested time and time again. It also provided a large measure of confidence, because you know the brakes are there - no muss, no fuss, no fade. Turn 2 is a patience corner that requires a smooth turn in and a steady throttle as you steer through a constant radius turn. I was taking a set that had my left wheels following the center pavement seam and it pretty much pulled me down to the apex. I was able to get back into the gas as the hill started, but before the apex. As you clip the apex you begin to unwind to the right. It's a little disconcerting at first, because you're running blind until you crest the hill. There is a little dip bump there to greet you and when the car settled, I was shifting into fourth.
Turn 2A. Isn't much of a turn. Essentially, it's a mild chicane that can be turned into a straight by driving through the apexes.
Turn 3. As you move through 2A, you cannot really see turn 3's apex, so you head for its turn worker stand. Once you've arrived, it's a gradual turn-in to the apex and then you move back out to about half track; still accelerating.
Turn 4. Braking from around 100 mph to about 45 or 50 mph with a downshift to third. It's fun because you can use the very first part of the turn to straight line brake. The BIRA brakes are equally at home here. How much deceleration do you want? No problem!
Turn 4A . A patience corner, because you can't see the apex until you are well into the turn so there's a real tendency to turn in too early. You exit mid-track and then move right to set up for 5 (a left hand kink).
Turn 5. In a word, deceptive. Most of the turns up to 5 are quick third gear (turns 2 and 4) or fourth gear (turns 2A and 3). Turn 5 requires lots of brake (straight line) and second gear. Given the speed you've previously carried, there’s a tendency to try and continue at the same pace. You cannot, and if you do, it's understeer city. Turn 5 must be taken slowly, with a late turn in, and you use all of the track as you accelerate and exit.
Turn 6. Slowly in second gear as well. It’s a hard jab of the brakes, another late turn in and all of the track as you accelerate and exit. You run out of second gear quickly, so you're shifting into third and then moving towards the right edge of the track so you can apex 7.
Turn 7. No brakes needed. You are on the right edge of the track, you apex the left edge and then move back to the right edge to set up for 8. It's third gear acceleration the whole way.
Turn 8. Requires a good stab of the brakes to take you from high revs, third gear to about 1/3 revs third gear. You apex, accelerate and exit mid-track.
Turn 9. No brakes; you just feather a bit; I was dropping my right wheels off onto the paved shoulder here. You exit far right and you need to stay out far right to set up for 10.
Turn 10. Hugging the track’s right side for turn 10 right is hard to do at first because you are looking at barriers and a large dirt mound. After you take your set (it's a constant radius turn) you will get a glance at the apex and then you get back on the gas, clip the apex, and unwind to the right edge, which is also hard at first, because there are big NJ barriers lining the track'. I ran out of third just beyond here and was into fourth at the first part of the straightaway (the drag strip). Then it’s gas, a mirrors and gauges check and an eventual move to the left to set up for the turn 1 kink. I sometimes stayed in fourth down the straight; other times I snicked into fifth and then tapped the brakes just before the kink. I still haven't decided which I prefer.
Many thanks to Ned Ritche for the go; to Greg Amy/BIRA for the woah; to Boge and H&R for the handling; to the BMW club for a great event, and to Audi for a truly amazing car. I can’t believe it’s a wagon.
For more information about SRP see www.spokaneracewaypark.com