Joined
·
23 Posts
Hi all,
I have been following the forum and always get good advice and learn from others experiences. However, most of the track experience posts here are related to the QV. So, I found it would be useful to share my first experience tracking my Giulia TI Sport Q4, with performance package. This car was a special order (Alfa Romeo of St Louis Park) and came exactly as I wanted: Q4, 19" Sport package, Misano Blue with black interior, no moonroof and with the PP (active suspension and mechanic LSD). So far, the car has been a blast as a daily driver, so I decided to take it to the BMWCCA Windy City chapter HPDE at the Autobahn Country Club South Track. I have driven this track several times with my Mini Cooper and it is a good and safe track to have Giulia stretching her legs for the first time. The car is completely stock, with the terrible all-season Cinturatos (UTGQ 500) and stock brake fluid and pads. We all know that our cars are beautiful and I was impressed on how many people came to just give a thumbs up and/or asking questions about the car. The sport seats were a must!
I put the car in Dynamic mode with harder damper setting and automatic mode, as I was trying to focus first on the line and always had good information about how the automatic transmission works. The car was doing fine: some understeer and lots of intrusion of the ECS, sometimes cutting almost all the power when I was being more aggressive with the throttle exiting turns. This, itself was a little bit annoying but, as the car drives really well, I was being able to manage by being more smooth. The problem came after 7-8 laps: I got a message to "Check AWD system" and the car was put automatically in Natural mode, meaning that I had earlier upshifts and the damper settings were now soft. It was not a "limp mode" and the car was still driveable, but it frustrated me a lot as I was in 7th gear on the straight (not really "sporty") and had to learn a little bit more about weight transfer... In the second session, I had the same experience: however, this time, I started using the paddles to downshift for turns and it helped a little, but, nonetheless, things were not going well.
My instructor (Thanks John!) had me using the manual mode then, not only to downshift, but to have full control of the car. And this CHANGED THE EXPERIENCE COMPLETELY! After two extra full sessions, I could push the car harder and had no AWD messages. Moreover, this car is great to use in manual mode as, differently from other brands, I could bounce the rev limiter if I wanted to and the car would not upshift automatically. The change in the experience was so dramatic that it appeared that I had a different car, so different that I was now picking up the pace and being only slower than some M3/4s and race prepped cars. The ECS basically worked on the background and made its work imperceptible and I had one or two moments of slight oversteer, what I found remarkable for an AWD car (maybe the LSD helped?). I have a video link below and, despite the crappy tires and crappy driving :surprise:, I could keep a good rhythm with a Blue M3 (race prepped and with a VERY good driver) and close the gap to a silver M5.
In the end of the 5th and 6th sessions, I had a message about "Overheated brakes" and the pedal was starting to feel soft. This was expected due to the pace I was having and the stock brakes. I cannot wait to take her again with proper brake fluid, pads and summer performance tires. And, in the end, I could drive my 3 hours back home and still get 36mpg. I am more in love with my Giulia!
Here is the video (sorry for all the wind noise and for the lack of OBD data, I am still working on that in my desktop computer):
https://youtu.be/hW7Q9KteSGg
I have been following the forum and always get good advice and learn from others experiences. However, most of the track experience posts here are related to the QV. So, I found it would be useful to share my first experience tracking my Giulia TI Sport Q4, with performance package. This car was a special order (Alfa Romeo of St Louis Park) and came exactly as I wanted: Q4, 19" Sport package, Misano Blue with black interior, no moonroof and with the PP (active suspension and mechanic LSD). So far, the car has been a blast as a daily driver, so I decided to take it to the BMWCCA Windy City chapter HPDE at the Autobahn Country Club South Track. I have driven this track several times with my Mini Cooper and it is a good and safe track to have Giulia stretching her legs for the first time. The car is completely stock, with the terrible all-season Cinturatos (UTGQ 500) and stock brake fluid and pads. We all know that our cars are beautiful and I was impressed on how many people came to just give a thumbs up and/or asking questions about the car. The sport seats were a must!
I put the car in Dynamic mode with harder damper setting and automatic mode, as I was trying to focus first on the line and always had good information about how the automatic transmission works. The car was doing fine: some understeer and lots of intrusion of the ECS, sometimes cutting almost all the power when I was being more aggressive with the throttle exiting turns. This, itself was a little bit annoying but, as the car drives really well, I was being able to manage by being more smooth. The problem came after 7-8 laps: I got a message to "Check AWD system" and the car was put automatically in Natural mode, meaning that I had earlier upshifts and the damper settings were now soft. It was not a "limp mode" and the car was still driveable, but it frustrated me a lot as I was in 7th gear on the straight (not really "sporty") and had to learn a little bit more about weight transfer... In the second session, I had the same experience: however, this time, I started using the paddles to downshift for turns and it helped a little, but, nonetheless, things were not going well.
My instructor (Thanks John!) had me using the manual mode then, not only to downshift, but to have full control of the car. And this CHANGED THE EXPERIENCE COMPLETELY! After two extra full sessions, I could push the car harder and had no AWD messages. Moreover, this car is great to use in manual mode as, differently from other brands, I could bounce the rev limiter if I wanted to and the car would not upshift automatically. The change in the experience was so dramatic that it appeared that I had a different car, so different that I was now picking up the pace and being only slower than some M3/4s and race prepped cars. The ECS basically worked on the background and made its work imperceptible and I had one or two moments of slight oversteer, what I found remarkable for an AWD car (maybe the LSD helped?). I have a video link below and, despite the crappy tires and crappy driving :surprise:, I could keep a good rhythm with a Blue M3 (race prepped and with a VERY good driver) and close the gap to a silver M5.
In the end of the 5th and 6th sessions, I had a message about "Overheated brakes" and the pedal was starting to feel soft. This was expected due to the pace I was having and the stock brakes. I cannot wait to take her again with proper brake fluid, pads and summer performance tires. And, in the end, I could drive my 3 hours back home and still get 36mpg. I am more in love with my Giulia!
Here is the video (sorry for all the wind noise and for the lack of OBD data, I am still working on that in my desktop computer):
https://youtu.be/hW7Q9KteSGg
Attachments
-
290.9 KB Views: 352
-
145.1 KB Views: 338