Great Birthday weekend.

Took friday off and had dinner with my wife at my favorite yet admittedly culinarily unimpressive restaurant in Alameda on my Birthday. Good views, had the salmon, and there was a very cheesy lounge act playing the standards. The lead singer shmoozed with the crowd with his cordless mic, and even made his way to our back corner table. We were clearly affecting indifference and he was kind enough to pick up on our energy and asked us only a few non-annoying questions.

The Perfectline came up for the weekend. I picked him up early Saturday morning and we hit up Laguna Seca on the Monterey peninsula...110 miles in 90 minutes. Speed Ventures were hosting the event. They had a good turnout despite the weather report and it being the Superbowl weekend.

The parking and paddock area had it's typical clique groupings:
1. An entire Radical run group, some 20 cars, mostly SR3's...and unfortunately no SR-8's, the Uber-Radical.
2. A small group of S2000's, NSX's, M3's, and a bunch of Porsche's, including an honest to goodness GT-3 RS...yes, a real one!
3. And ONE 2001.5 S4...yep, my car.

The driver/owner, CJ, good guy, has pretty much done EVERYTHING you can do to his car that you can do on an S4.
- I have KKK04's (big and strong), he has RS-6 Hybrid's...nearly unbreakable and even more expensive.
- We have the same fueling and programming, AWE Tuning Stage III. Even though he can run a boost spike of 26 to a 22 taper, he's running my programming. He did this for reliabilities sake...he's essentially running a peak number thats 20% under max-tolerance. As far as mods, he has everything I have but has the following:
- AWE Tuning Intercoolers with APR hoses: $2500.
- Prototype, custom 2-piece HRE 19' wheels: $5000.
- My tires are actually better, GSD3's vs M Pilots.
- Same H&R coilovers...and we both don't like them.
- Stop Tech's, Front, Rear, and parking break: $6800
- STASIS center diff: $600
- STASIS Rear LSD: $2000
- STASIS tranny with RS4 3rd to 5th gear ratios: $3500
- X-1 carbon intake: $400
- VAST level 10 clutch and fly: $2000
- B&M Shortshifter: $250
- AWE boost gauge: $250
And the crazy thing is HE PAID TO DO ALL THE WORK!!

Anywayz, the perfectline and I were chatting away with nearly anyone that would talk with us. We couldn't stop we were so giddy! I got a ride in the S4, the driver was in the high-intermediate group. MY GOODNESS!...I thought about how I could adaquately communicate the experience in words...but I can't. You simply need to get a ride and experience it yourself. The car is soo fricking fast, soo planted, and able to manage turns at a speed your mind can't accept.

Part of being a passenger for me (and for alot of folks) is that I get sick within 5 laps. If I'm driving, no problemo...perhaps it's due to not being in control. As expected, after 5 laps in the S4, I got a queazy feeling in my stomach and I was dropped off in the hot pits. Checked his lap time: 1:50 on Street tires AND a passenger...that is fast. With just an extra 1/2 degree of neg. camber and R-comp's, 100-tune, and no-traffic, I bet the car can do 1:45 with the same driver.

I made two mental notes about how he treats his car compared to how I treat my car on track: he complete abuses his clutch and tranny. In fact, he destroyed the same clutch I have in my car in less than one week...and I understand why given his near destructive shifting style...another flat shifter! I don't get it! And his downshifts are soo damn abrupt. When I was at the BMW GGC driving school (the best in the business IMHO), I was pulled over for up-shifting too aggressively and not properly rev-matching a down-shift ONCE, yes ONCE. Not only is it too jarring on the drive-train, but it's considered unnecessary, and displays poor clutch control.

I was also chatting with an instructor in the Red run group. He was driving an EXIGE-S...sooo sooo sweet. Simply getting in required some skill in contortionism and it took me a bit of time to get the 5-point restraint on. The car is small BTW, really, really tiny and low. We got into the hot-pit and headed down the pit-lane exit. We were set up behind an M-6....my driver, Ash, commented "Might vs. Light", and we exited at break-neck speed.

Mind you, the S4 accelerates ridiculously, but the execution of the line must be pristine to log a good/fast lap...slow in, fast out, break here, turn out here, etc. This driver however, though an instructor, was completely all over the place. He was pretty much off-line on every turn....and you know what...IT DIDN'T MATTER. His car control skills were soo impressive, and the EXIGE's ability to cope with errors are soo uncanny that no-matter what position he had gotten us in, he was able to counter-steer out of all of it! Ex. going into T2, the insanely slow single apex, Ash (the instructor) was on a different line each time around!...and all of them wrong!...and it didn't matter! The car is soooo poised and sooo able to respond to throttle/brake modulation and steering corrections that you were never in any danger! I love this car...as in, it's my favorite car in the world right now. When I checked his time, 1:45 in traffic with driver 91 octane. He claims he could get it down to 1:42 with a clear track and 100 oct.

Now I've driven on the track and ridden as a passenger many many times. I trully believe Lagana provides the most thrill of the three tracks I've been to...without question. And if I had those "Okay, this is way way way too fast, we're not going to make it!!!" feeling, I can't imagine what a novice would be experiencing.

I can't wait to hit the track again. But it certainly won't be for some time and certainly won't be in my car.

That evening, we gamed at NTT's Brain's home...and we had a full-house! Everyone showed despite the weather. No-shows were: "The Duff" (in Oregon), the "Supertechnician" (in Germany), "the Kawanga Kid" (in the Phillipines), and "Cajun" (In Tennessee). We played L5R and the "Prof." GM'd. We had a great time. BBQ was tasty and I went a little crazy with the rice-eating...mmmmm...carbs.

That's it for now....