Car did great at VIR this weekend. I did loose a tire going 140+ though. Had a belt break.

Still not sure which weekend or track I want to try...

10/1/2012 10:59:01 PM

^ wow @ losing a tire

I'd shit my pants

Although I did have one break going ~100 once

[Edited on October 1, 2012 at 11:16 PM. Reason : ]

10/1/2012 11:16:18 PM

Quote :

"I'd hate to have to show you all up."

So does that mean you're in?

10/2/2012 10:10:13 AM

lol, I have to put the GD thing back together before I even think about it

And I would seriously be the worst driver there.

[Edited on October 2, 2012 at 5:50 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2012 5:50:11 PM

^Better on the track than on the street, amirite?

But seriously. Go have fun and learn. Who cares if you are the worst. It's not about that.

[Edited on October 2, 2012 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

10/2/2012 10:36:01 PM

http://www.hookedondriving.com/event-details/Carolina_Motorsports_Park_Oct._19,_$179_Offer!

anyone interested in this offer? $240 each with the offer.

10/5/2012 11:38:46 AM

I have to ask. Why pay $240 for one day there, when there's an event at that track the very next weekend that is $290 for TWO days?

10/5/2012 2:19:49 PM

Can we use this thread for Auto-X events too? Is anybody going to the THSCC event at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville on the 21st?

10/5/2012 2:58:51 PM

Did my 1st track day (HPDE) in my M3 earlier today at CMP. It was a lot of fun, I'm an idiot for not doing these for the last few years.

Had a few mechanical issues so I sat out the last 2 sessions. Front left tire was rubbing the fender badly (255 square tires and camber/caster is seriously messed up in the front), especially through the kink, and the right rear brake pad wore down to nothing while all the other pads stayed about the same. I honestly think it was a different compound than the front pads, since the left rear was going pretty fast too.

Overall a really fun day though

12/29/2012 1:58:06 AM

awesome. What kind of M3? If E36 you can swap the strut mounts for some easy neg camber. I ran 255s all around like that with no trouble.

One corner showing a ton of pad wear, points to a sticky caliper to me. I'd rebuild 'em all at that age for good measure.

12/29/2012 2:46:25 PM

^ Yeah, it's an E36. I thought about swapping the hats, but they're totally worn out anyways, I should have replaced them but didn't. Now I'm just looking at getting a coil-over setup with Vorshlag camber plates so I can adjust as I please, so there's not much point in messing with them for the time being.

What kind of springs and dampers were you running with 255's?

That's probably a good point about a sticky caliper, I hadn't thought much about rebuilding them. It wouldn't hurt, they're definitely rusty and old

/Add to mile-long list of tasks on my beater M3 hah

12/29/2012 10:57:53 PM

what kind of highway mileage do you get out of an e36? the 540i is starting to show its age I have a 30mi 1-way commute each day. If I can find a clean sedan under 8k I'd consider it for a dd that I could do the occasional 4wheel track day with. I'd rather not put a ton of cash into a car given how utilitarian my 4 wheel vehicle use is.

12/30/2012 9:02:01 AM

^^ Look into just buying remans (and turning yours in as cores if needed). You might not save enough money with rebuilding them yourself to make it worth it.

12/30/2012 10:45:44 AM

^^ My mileage is pretty terrible (mid 20's) but I think that could partially be because of the tune the previous owner put on the car, which seems to be running really rich.

I don't think M3's do all that well on the highway regardless though. The US M3 is a 5 speed instead of the European 6 speed, so I'm cruising at about 3000 RPMs to maintain 70mph. That seems pretty high to me. If I were you, I'd look into a clean 325 sedan instead of an M3. They're not much slower, and probably more utilitarian for your needs. An M3 sedan won't be very clean for under 8k. Mine (coupe) was 5k, but it's definitely a "because race car" kind of vehicle, not very clean.

^ Good call Duke, Turner has remans for $50 each side for front and $80 each side for rear (plus a core charge), seems pretty reasonable considering the amount of effort an actual rebuild would take.

12/30/2012 10:59:01 AM

^That's not terrible, but a rebuild kit is like $12 a caliper. You can use a bike pump to pop the piston out. Takes like 10min for the first caliper and 3min each for the rest.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/catalog/shopcart/BE36/POR_BE36_BRKhyd_pg2.htm#item6

[Edited on December 30, 2012 at 2:38 PM. Reason : link]

12/30/2012 2:37:23 PM

^^ I get similar mileage in my '00 M Coupe (same S52 I believe). My best tank to date was 27 mpg (out of like 8 total tanks), with an average combined of around 22-23.5.

12/30/2012 4:43:20 PM

i average 21mpg on the 540i..

12/30/2012 4:46:18 PM

also, new subscription structure for nesba track days this year is amazing. I wish I was going to be around for them

12/30/2012 4:52:26 PM

I average 22-23 in my C5Z... Upper 20s on the hwy.

12/31/2012 1:26:25 AM

24.6mpg, average speed of 92mph for a tankful through West Virginia last weekend. 2002 Porsche 911. Also, OMG so much fun!!

12/31/2012 11:48:54 PM

Anyone else thinking about going to CMP with NASA Feb 9-10?

1/4/2013 10:00:48 AM

this thread needs to go back to the top.


Also, any ideas on getting my 7 to the track? I sold my Ram; my '66 pickup is far from done, and I can't tow with a Honda Insight...and I'm sure as hell not going to drive the 7 to the track 250 miles away.

Is there any option other than paying out the ass and by the mile for a U-Haul truck and car hauler? No regular rental company has hitches on their trucks, do they?

4/5/2015 2:08:39 AM

I'm pretty sure enterprise has hitches on their pickups.

4/5/2015 6:31:44 AM

Yeah, I seem to recall doing the enterprise thing, I had to buy my own hitch but the Explorer they had was ready for it...

4/5/2015 10:27:42 PM

Enterprise says that they don't have hitches and don't allow towing.

Their truck division doesn't even allow towing except by commercial customers. WTF.

It's looking like U-Haul pickup and trailer for $230 is gonna be the only way.

4/6/2015 6:11:16 PM

Try Triangle-Rent-A-Car. They had trucks/SUV's with hitches the last time I needed one for towing my bike.

4/7/2015 8:22:35 AM

Quote :

"Looking for Triangle Rent A Car? We noticed you are searching for the Triangle Rent A Car website. Triangle Rent A Car is now Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Enjoy exceptional customer service and the same great variety of vehicles at even more locations around the world."

4/7/2015 9:27:27 AM

^^^ home depot rents trucks with no restriction.
I would bet your insight could tow 1500lbs. I had a friend that would tow 2 bikes and tools with his miata and 91 corolla

4/7/2015 11:39:29 AM

I towed my Waverunner with my Z06 a few times, hahaha.

Towing with the Insight would be...even less appealing than that, by a good bit. <20% of the power, prob 300 lbs less tow vehicle weight, rear drum brakes, little bitty tires, much softer suspension, and WAAAAY less directional stability on the highway. Hell, it wanders on the highway at 80+ mph as-is.

but regardless, while it might tow 1300 lbs of Seven OK, there is no way in hell that I'd tow my 1300 lb car and 1000+ lbs of trailer, along with tools, air compressor, and other stuff needed for a track weekend in the back of the car.

4/7/2015 7:13:44 PM

^^^ wow, just saw that. that's some BS.

4/8/2015 7:48:19 PM

oh, i figured you'd just be dolly towing with tools and such in the backseat/trunk

4/9/2015 1:10:20 AM

*PING*

6/8/2016 11:30:16 AM

Raced in a World Racing League endurance race at Atlanta Motorsports Park last weekend...had lots of fun except that I had my first major on track accident Sunday afternoon I was driving a '99 Kia Sephia LeMons car, and had no brakes at the end of the front straight, which is 95-100mph in this car. There is a downhill hard left hander at the end of the front straight, and unfortunately there was a Miata that had just passed me. There's a wall close on the right hand side of the front straight at AMP, so no room to go right around the Miata, and if I stayed straight I was going to rear end him. I thought maybe I could go left and shoot in front of him before turn in, but didn't make it and ended up t-boning him at about 60mph. Both me and the other driver were fine, but both cars are probably dead...Kia almost certainly is, Miata probably has frame damage too bad to straighten.

Post mortem diagnosis was that the right rear drum brake exploded internally such that there wasn't enough hydraulic pressure to actuate any of the brakes. We serviced the front disc brakes Saturday but didn't work on the drums at all, and the failure/fatigue was internal so we didn't see it in our inspection.

https://youtu.be/tJYGwT-CftE?t=116

6/21/2016 10:29:52 AM

DAMN.

I'm glad that you and the other driver are okay. I'm very sorry to hear about your cars.

6/21/2016 11:14:40 AM

Glad you're alright. Sucks, but nobody was hurt.

6/21/2016 2:59:52 PM

^^^ glad everyone was ok. what do you think of that track? I've been too weary of pit exit to try it out. no bike orgs will go there for the same reason and the lack of run off

[Edited on June 22, 2016 at 4:41 AM. Reason : ^]

6/22/2016 4:41:11 AM

It was fun, but it's blind everywhere. The first lap out you're like "OMFG where is the track". Tons of elevation changes, which are fun for a difference from CMP etc, but make it hard to learn.

Pit out wasn't bad, but there were only 20 cars on track at most. The race organizer said they cap it at 38 cars at that track, and that would be pretty crowded and pit out would be more intimidating probably.

It's definitely not my favorite. It's comparable to Barber with less run off. I definitely wouldn't do it on a bike, it would be a death trap. I even had the thought that I'd be scared there in my Contour (220hp vs 125hp in the Kia that I was in). I think it's a fun track for a medium-slow car like a SpecE30, Spec Miata, or Lemons car, but wouldn't do much else there. The problem is sometimes even when there is runoff (for example, turn 1 has pretty good runoff for the very situation I was in), the track isn't necessarily designed in a way that lets you get to it. The racing line is the far right side of the front straight to set up for the turn in for turn 1, but there's not enough room to go around a car on the racing line if you lose brakes because there's a wall there. If there were a strip of grass the width of a car there I would have just driven onto the grass and gone right of the Miata. But that strip of grass is less than half a car wide, so no room to get past another car.

6/22/2016 11:05:14 AM

Signed up for VIR Frozen Frenzy.

12/3/2017 2:40:31 PM

I want some, details please!

12/4/2017 7:14:15 PM

http://bfy.tw/FTDD

12/8/2017 3:48:05 PM

I love how your first post in 10 years is to troll. I meant what's he driving, what does he expect, that kinda thing... GOSH

12/9/2017 12:43:30 AM

Anyone know of some track time between now and Feb 1st next year?

Looking to test some changes to my car before the Road Atlanta Race the 1st weekend of Feb.

12/9/2017 7:37:35 PM

turn one at cmp usually has some time every month

12/10/2017 6:22:14 PM

Just my green Honda Civic Hatch. Hope to start getting regular seat time in a platform that has $low-cost consumables. I expect to learn a lot as i develop my driving career. I hope to return home in the same number of pieces I show up in.

12/11/2017 3:14:23 PM

^^^You've got to go south for that. I'm pretty sure Roebling Road has several events between now and February 1st.

12/12/2017 4:44:01 PM

More like auto-x roll call, but fun nonetheless...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ukg6YTRr2Q

8/27/2018 12:23:33 PM

So Enterprise doesn't allow towing, nor does any other car rental company that I can find, but Enterprise Truck does, on 3/4-tons and up. I can rent a 3/4-ton for $91 out the door, tax and all (with 5% military discount). A U-Haul car hauler trailer is about $50/day.

I can live with that to track the 7 a couple of times and then sell it. It's getting to be the best time of year for it, too. I'm thinking NOLA or maybe Barber--probably leaning towards NOLA at least for the first time, since it's wide and flat.

8/28/2018 10:38:50 AM

I'm going to VIR in November if you want to join.

8/29/2018 12:49:31 PM

man i'd love to, but i don't wanna tow that far. I don't get paid vacation with my new job, so taking days off costs a shitload. Also, it would cost a non-insignificant amount to extend the truck/trailer rental for long enough to go up there and back.

8/29/2018 10:06:37 PM

im up for barber

8/30/2018 8:04:09 AM