Facelift Trackday setup - Camber & Toe

[Veivtappen]

Hi, I am new to this fourm and seeking advice on trackday setup.

My car is an RS3 FL Sedan, Stage 2 setup with 3,5" DP & Hperformance cooler + SW, KW Clubsport (3way) suspesion , running square 265/35-18 semi slicks setup. Front camber adjustable through top mounts and rear through custom arms.

I will be attending 5 trackdays in one week, during our annual trip to Europe (Belgium and Germany) and target a medium track oriented setup. Brakes are setup with girodiscs (full float) and DS1.11 pads front and RS7 type rotors rear with DS 2500 pads.

Any recommendation on camber/toe settings? Before on similar type suspensions I have used 2,5-3 deg negative front and 1,7-2 deg negative rear. Neutral toe front and 1 mm toe in rear. No experience with Audi setup, so any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks Jarle

 

[Ellski]

Out of interest, what wheels are you running? Are they extremely close to the front calipers being 18"?

 

[Veivtappen]

I have been running Motec Ultralight 18" x 9" ET 35. Clearance to caliper is about 5-6 mm, both towards wheel spokes and drum side. Back in the rear there is 3 mm clearance towards wheel drum. You will need to add camber to make it fit with the 265`s

 

[Veivtappen]

Fine tuned, ready for 6 full track events over the next 10 days. Anyone else visiting Zolder, Hockenhein or Nurburgring the next week?

 

[Veivtappen]

Last week I completed our yearly trackday journey attending the following track days:

- Full day Zolder Belgium 23.05
- Full day Hockenheim Germany 25.05
- Two days tourist driving - Nurburgring 26-27.05
- Two day closed trackday - Nurburgring 28-29.05

The car has been pushed extremely hard during these events, with oil temp working betweek 117c - 128c. Total of 4800 kms driven on the same engine oil. Power levels are in the range 520-530 hp / 700 nm, and the car out performs the 2018 GT3 in a straigh line (when exceeing 180 kmt)

Car balance is close to neutral, with minor understeer when pushed into coners. From all the historical reviews and forums I was impressed with the overall handling of the car. The level of understeer is very little and car performs very well on track. High speed stability (nurburgring) may be improved, expecially over Schewdencreutz where we enter at 265kmt. I changed the brake bias to the rear by adding DCT60 pads in the rear, which made great impact on stability. The overall bias seems to be too much in front, and for future events I will add even more brakes in the rear, type DCT70 or equivalent. Upgrade of rear sway bar is also on the list to further neutralize behaviour and increase stability. Did 7:45 and 7:47 on the two last laps BTG with traffic, and very pleased with the results. Clean lap and upgrades as above will make this a 7:30 BTG, daily driver car.
On the long straight (Nurburgring trackday) we saw 300kmt.

The car has been very close to perfect. Not a single issue to report from engine/drivetrain, however the front brakes quickly gets over heated resulting in sacrifies of 3 sets of endurance pads during the events. Rotors are Girodisc, which performed very good by the way, however temperature and ultimately airflow needs attention. Changing bias to the rear should also help the fronts.

My fist Audi, and very please with performance!

 

[D0C]

Last week I completed our yearly trackday journey attending the following track days:

- Full day Zolder Belgium 23.05
- Full day Hockenheim Germany 25.05
- Two days tourist driving - Nurburgring 26-27.05
- Two day closed trackday - Nurburgring 28-29.05

The car has been pushed extremely hard during these events, with oil temp working betweek 117c - 128c. Total of 4800 kms driven on the same engine oil. Power levels are in the range 520-530 hp / 700 nm, and the car out performs the 2018 GT3 in a straigh line (when exceeing 180 kmt)

Car balance is close to neutral, with minor understeer when pushed into coners. From all the historical reviews and forums I was impressed with the overall handling of the car. The level of understeer is very little and car performs very well on track. High speed stability (nurburgring) may be improved, expecially over Schewdencreutz where we enter at 265kmt. I changed the brake bias to the rear by adding DCT60 pads in the rear, which made great impact on stability. The overall bias seems to be too much in front, and for future events I will add even more brakes in the rear, type DCT70 or equivalent. Upgrade of rear sway bar is also on the list to further neutralize behaviour and increase stability. Did 7:45 and 7:47 on the two last laps BTG with traffic, and very pleased with the results. Clean lap and upgrades as above will make this a 7:30 BTG, daily driver car.
On the long straight (Nurburgring trackday) we saw 300kmt.

The car has been very close to perfect. Not a single issue to report from engine/drivetrain, however the front brakes quickly gets over heated resulting in sacrifies of 3 sets of endurance pads during the events. Rotors are Girodisc, which performed very good by the way, however temperature and ultimately airflow needs attention. Changing bias to the rear should also help the fronts.

My fist Audi, and very please with performance!

Superb report. Keen to hear any other thoughts you have on the car and engine. What modifications have you made to achieve 520-530hp?

 

[Veivtappen]

Summary on tires and wheel alignment.

Tires: Michelin Pilot Cup 2
Size: 265/35-18
Pressure: 35psi (warm)
Camber front: 2,4 deg
Camber rear: 2,4 deg
Toe in front_ 0,04 deg
Toe in rear: 0,07 deg

Front grip and wear
Started with Nankang NS2R`s, which provide decent traction and lots of wear ressistance. The down size was severe noice and poor high speed stability. Changed to Michelins after Hockenheim. I gained more grip, high speed stability and the tyre noise dissapeared.
Grip remained good for several laps and the wear was evenly distributed over the surface of the tyres. The tire sidewall has an area of scrubbing below where the pattern ends, which I belive is from a particular turn where the car suffered from understeer. Overall I may add another 0,3-0,5 deg camber to the front leaving a total of 2,7-3,0 deg as a starting point for next trackday. Very little total wear on tires, fronts measure just under 5mm depth left after use.

Rear
Due to wheel offset, the rear camber was set at 2,4 deg. Expected this to be too much, however grip and tyrewear in the rear was uniform and grip area was visible almost down to where the patterns meet sidewall (2-3 mm above). Starting point for next trackday will be to decrerase the rear camber down to 2 deg.

Will also add a little more toe in front and rear to see if it helps on high speed stability.

 

[Veivtappen]

Superb report. Keen to hear any other thoughts you have on the car and engine. What modifications have you made to achieve 520-530hp?

The car has a stage 2 setup, including DP, IC and intake/pipe mods. Larger turbo intake pipe and larger boost pipe on the outlet. Running 1,8 bar/1,55 bar on stock internals/turbo. The software tune is provided by MTR through Hperformance, and maintain stock drivability combined with a massive midrange and top. The latest software utillizes the smaller injectors in conjuntion with the large onces which provides a very smooth power delivery in all parts of the rev range.

I cut the oilfilter during the oil change after the trip to look for any metal shavings/debris, but it was clean. Based on the abuse the engine has seen on the trackdays, I am convinced that Audi has put in a real reliable beast in the FL versions.

Have been considering a turbo upgrade, but with the performance the engine now offer I am not sure. . .