Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

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SonicVenum
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Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by SonicVenum »

As a surprise gift for my 40th, Rach got me the Track Discovery Package for the Audi Driving Experience at the only active F1 track in the US, Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Amazing gift, from an amazing wife. As part of this half-day package, I got to thrash around in an RS3 2.5T, and a TT RS, and I got to ride around the track for a lap with a professional driver in an R8. It was an amazing experience, and lots of fun.
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SonicVenum
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by SonicVenum »

Another shot of the track, me in my "racing gear" for the R8 lap, and in the car.
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xbacksideslider
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by xbacksideslider »

Cool. Can I steal Rach?

SonicVenum
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by SonicVenum »

xbacksideslider wrote:
Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:33 pm
Cool. Can I steal Rach?
:angry-boxing:

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Tetge
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by Tetge »

Let's see? You drive a F150, and you like trucks, and you modified your Terminator to go a bit over 1/4 of a mile in as straight a line as possible, but, you go to a F1 track and drive an Audi? It does not add up too well for me, as, like it or not, trucks are still a long way off from F1. In fact, all cages are a long way from F1, but motorcycles are almost F1 like these days.

Still, since you loved the experience, it was a nice gift, which also says nice things about your married life. And, it is also amazing that you are 40 years old. You must have been pretty young back then when you had to be told not to speed through the pits at LACR in your haste to get another run in. I expect that due to your size people were blinded to how young you were!

And, yes, I am messing with you, as I know, based upon past experiences, that you will stop short of hurting me, even if you do know where I live.


PS: I bet that your new giant truck stays outside, in the driveway, as garages are not big enough for such as it........... Mustangs still rule..................

SonicVenum
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by SonicVenum »

I supposed they could use F-150s as support trucks during a race! :lol:

By the way... you're wrong about ALL cages being farther from F1 than a motorcycle. There are a few closed cockpit race cars (aka: cages) faster than Marc Marquez' fastest time at COTA. :naughty:

If my memory serves me, I would've been just around my 24th birthday when we met. :shock: That's a long time in dog years.

I have too many projects up in the air right now, so the truck is most definitely stuck in the driveway, and it probably wouldn't fit with all the tools and other items stored in the garage. As of now, the only vehicles stored in there are the GPz, and our two bicycles. :lol: Once I get the truck sold, and the bike done (and sold or kept), I hope to at least get the Edge back in the garage. I will just have to wash the truck weekly. I really didn't want a black vehicle, but it was such a good deal. At least it looks great for the couple days it stays clean. As for Mustangs, there are still plans for one of those, eventually. It will be our next vehicle purchase for sure, especially since the Audi event gave me the bug to go fast again. An '18+ Mustang seems like a good candidate to go down the road to Fontana for a drag OR autocross event. :-D

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xbacksideslider
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by xbacksideslider »

Yep, lacking groun effects and square feet of contact patch, even bikes’ generally superior power to weight ratios can’t beat the best classes of cars on a road course

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Tetge
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by Tetge »

Obviously there are some very expensive cages that can bring it performance wise, but, for less than $20K out the door, one can get a street legal bike that will hit the voluntary 186 mph speed governor and that has all the electronics that have filtered down from racing as well as good cutting edge tires and massive brakes. The amount of technology is staggering at the price. And, although the fastest cages can certainly get around a fast race course, and possibly any race course, quicker, on the street it is a different story, as bikes still are small and can pass in all sorts of places that only a crazed cage driver might attempt, at a much greater risk, as the elite of motorcycle passing experts are quite fearless as they can stuff their bikes back into line or even split lanes between any oncoming traffic and that that they are passing. This is nothing new, and it does not require much HP, nor even good brakes. In fact, using the brakes at all is not part of the plan.

Back in the good old ton up days, I can remember numerous good old boys mostly on old Brit bikes, doing inspired passing. Naturally, I myself, always wait for a legal passing zone and I always signal and politely pass. But, those others proved that a motorcycle has a huge edge on any cage most places, and now, cutting edge sports motorcycles are also really quick. I also seem to remember that years ago some magazine ran a Viper versus a bike up on the ACH. The Viper was faster, but later the engine caught on fire, and they had a pic of the Viper bellowing smoke. But, if laws are disregarded, and traffic controlled the Nine Mile stretch and the ACH are actually quite fast bits of road and, as noted, high performance cages have a lot of sticky tire contact area.

But, to me, mixing cages and bikes in speed contest is very risky to the bike pilot, and, for the most part, it also is no contest unless you wish to see how you can do in a high speed roll on, which also is not my thing. And, at the end of the day, in urban traffic, a $350,000 super car will sit at a red light heating up, and even a small entry level bike will filter to the head of the line and leave the traffic in its wake. And, neither does well on a rainy day!

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xbacksideslider
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Re: Audi Driving Experience @ COTA

Post by xbacksideslider »

All true. Bikes’ edge is that the road, by virtue of bikes’ narrowness, is wider and the corners, therefore, are straighter.

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