Racing / auto crossing TDIs

3L3M3NT

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Sturgeon Bay, WI
TDI
04 Jetta GLS TDI, 04 RTDI
When the parking lots are full of snow, we build our tracks on the ice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyfvYgFHWn0
Looks like an amazing time out there.:eek:
If my car wasn't get a roll cage welded in...it would be a blast to come join in on the studded tire madness out on the ice!:D
Hopefully next year is just as good as this year for the amount of ice out on the lakes and bays.:cool:
 

Petra's cousin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Location
Calgary
TDI
Mk VI TDI Golf Wagon
Took our 2011 TDI wagon out to our local club's ice cross today. Lets just say that I was only 50 seconds off the FTD (combined best morning and afternoon runs, I came in just under 300 seconds total), but then they had AWD and studs where I was playing with a FWD with just normal blizzaks.

No issues getting the car to rotate with a GTI rear bar installed, just lift and turn in a little farther than you expect and the back end would do its thing. Unwind the steering wheel just a little and the back end would immediately come back into line, very well balanced.

Lots of trouble getting traction for any of the tighter corners bigger than 90 degrees (i.e. my brain said I should be able to go faster, but the ice definitely had other ideas), and I'm sure that the stability control was interfering with the throttle lots on the bigger corners (usually right near the end of the corner). I'm going to try to disable it for next weekend and see if its any better - I did press and hold the traction button, but I think that the stability system will still override throttle if you are out of control for too long.

I was definitely worried as I drove across the lake to the corner where we were setting up - there was drifting snow, and while not deep, it had a crust and was like sugar underneath, so if I slowed down at all, traction disappeared quite quickly. The organizers ran the AWD/RWD studded groups first, so by the time I ran the course was quite well cleared.

John
 

3L3M3NT

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Location
Sturgeon Bay, WI
TDI
04 Jetta GLS TDI, 04 RTDI
Sounds like a fun time out there. Next year you'll have to get yourself a set of studded tires to up the fun factor even more.;)
 

Petra's cousin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Location
Calgary
TDI
Mk VI TDI Golf Wagon
Sounds like a fun time out there. Next year you'll have to get yourself a set of studded tires to up the fun factor even more.;)
Its in the plan when finances allow it - I have a set of cheap wheels off an audi ready and waiting.

This was my first timed event, last year I took a winter driving school out on the ice and in the afternoon we basically had free lapping on a 5 mile course. It was both fun and frustrating with just regular snow tires - you can rotate the car through the slow corners, you just can't seize the exit when it comes. I found I was faster rotating on the inside of the corners so I could traction up on the snow that was still there instead of on the ice where everyone was drifting the snow off the outside of the corners.

John
 

Petra's cousin

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Location
Calgary
TDI
Mk VI TDI Golf Wagon
Took our 2011 TDI wagon out to our local club's ice cross today. Lets just say that I was only 50 seconds off the FTD (combined best morning and afternoon runs, I came in just under 300 seconds total), but then they had AWD and studs where I was playing with a FWD with just normal blizzaks.
No issues getting the car to rotate with a GTI rear bar installed, just lift and turn in a little farther than you expect and the back end would do its thing. Unwind the steering wheel just a little and the back end would immediately come back into line, very well balanced.
Lots of trouble getting traction for any of the tighter corners bigger than 90 degrees (i.e. my brain said I should be able to go faster, but the ice definitely had other ideas), and I'm sure that the stability control was interfering with the throttle lots on the bigger corners (usually right near the end of the corner). I'm going to try to disable it for next weekend and see if its any better - I did press and hold the traction button, but I think that the stability system will still override throttle if you are out of control for too long.
I was definitely worried as I drove across the lake to the corner where we were setting up - there was drifting snow, and while not deep, it had a crust and was like sugar underneath, so if I slowed down at all, traction disappeared quite quickly. The organizers ran the AWD/RWD studded groups first, so by the time I ran the course was quite well cleared.
John
Went to another event today and had a blast in the morning, more of the same from last week in the afternoon - they decided to run the 2WD guys first today and while I was nervous about getting stuck as we 'cleared' the track, I was actually competitive with the other 2WD guys (who mostly had studs vs. my plain-jane blizzacks) due to the traction with the snow. In the afternoon, after the AWD guys ran in the morning, it was back to a mostly clear ice track with big berms on the outsides of the corners.
Oddly, my fastest morning time (which felt faster due to the snow traction) was actually slower than my fastest afternoon time by a couple of seconds (even though it felt slower because I couldn't rip through the harder corners, I had to pick my way through them carefully). The guys I could keep up with in the morning dropped me in the afternoon when their studs became an advantage.
I also dug out my VCDS cable and shut off ESP yesterday to see what difference there was. Turns out that ESP has been giving me a false sense of security by letting the tail step out lightly, then dragging it back under control when I straightened out. Today I got full sideways coming too fast out of a snowy sweeper onto an icy swept straight. But, it also meant that ESP didn't try to shut down my throttle as I drifted too far to the outside of some of the corners.
Lastly, nothing better then setting up an oversteer drift at the entry to a large sweeper, then getting the car to continue the drift with just the right amount of throttle input (a very tiny amount of throttle, but still), then flicking the car the other way to use the car's momentum to jog through the next cone.
John
 

zanzabar

Vendor
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Location
Petaluma, CA
TDI
2004 Jetta BEW 5spd (dual duty track car and daily driver beater)
I'm going to get a LeMons team together in the NorthBay area pretty soon. Will be looking for a junker NewBeetle to set up for hopefully Dec Sonoma and maybe Sept Buttonwillow races.
I ended up building a Lancia Scorpion for LeMons and am still running that one. It's awesome! Next race end of March.

But I recently acquired my old Jetta TDI (BEW) and will be prepping that for LeMons/Chump/Champ/Lucky Dog this summer. If anyone in the NorthBay CA area want's to join in on this project let me know!
 

CNGVW

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Location
Bob Mann Auto, 111 High St, Pembroke MA 02359
TDI
Many TDI Jettas and a Beetle Race car run 2010 jetta tdi cup car build roadrace
I ended up building a Lancia Scorpion for LeMons and am still running that one. It's awesome! Next race end of March.
But I recently acquired my old Jetta TDI (BEW) and will be prepping that for LeMons/Chump/Champ/Lucky Dog this summer. If anyone in the NorthBay CA area wants's to join in on this project let me know!
Glad someone is stepping to keep the TDI going in Chump/Lemon as the builder and owner of the fastest VW TDI Beetle in the USA on the road course!!
Set up right they can be in the top 5 and could win!!

I got a lot of parts up for sale and how to setups. We are not running it anymore are doing an Audi TT AWD for this year may install a CR 2 and DSG later this year.
www.DRVOLKS.com
 
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