Hot Tuner 2016 8th place: Harding Performance Audi S1

Guy Harding wasn’t kidding when he reckoned his S1 was a bit tricky to launch.

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I had a crack, Newman had a go, as did Tony D, but the best it could manage to 100km/h was 5.77sec, disappointing when we’ve managed 5.68sec in the standard car. So what’s going on, given the extra oomph?

Essentially, the launch control function doesn’t allow you to dial up enough revs to stop it bogging when you dump the clutch and four sticky ContiSportContacts dig in. Harding tells us that since Hot Tuner, his crew managed to find the 4000rpm launch limiter in the lines of code and have replaced it with a 5000rpm ceiling, so it should launch a bit harder in future.

On the racetrack, though, that handicap shrunk to nothing and the S1 was a great plaything even in the miserable conditions. In fact, the gearshift, while not exactly rifle-bolt in its action, was nonetheless stupid-proof. Not that the engine needed much in the way of provocation; it whipped up plenty of torque straight up and never felt like it was going to run out of steam.

Sounded good, too, with a real bark that let you know it was something a bit special. That said, it was never rushy or too urgent; boost builds progressively and the power curve simply rises with it. Predictable, in other words. And when it’s raining cattle-grids, predictable is nice. Can’t wait to try it with the full tune in it, though. And proper fuel. And a dry track.

My biggest complaint would be with the brakes. With a 40.4-metre stop, the Harding Audi S1 is nothing to write home about, and even with a bit of heat in the brakes, that didn’t really look like improving. Harding reckons the car was running what amounted to a weekend track pad, so maybe they need to be REALLY hot to work properly – something that just wasn’t going to happen on the day.

In the end, D’Alberto managed to scoot around the circuit in the S1 in a 1.06:2, pretty sharpish for something that you could put together for under $75,000, including the $50K S1 starting point. And if you were to give it brake pads that worked in arctic conditions and a set of tyres that preferred dry to wet, then the fun quotient could be even bigger.

OVERALL RANKING: 8TH

DISCIPLINE RANKING

8th | Lap time: 1:06.2sec 7th | Lap V-Max: 150.67km/h 7th | Lap V-Max: 98.97km/h 8th | Lap V-Max: 47.12km/h