Road America April 28th and 29th UPDATED with lots of pics!

[Nsquared97]

Figured I would throw this out there incase any of you guys are going. Anywho, Midwest F-body is having a track day event at Road America this weekend. I am tagging along with a friend to check out the track for my first time, take some ride-alongs, and hopefully see some sweet cars and have a great time. Anybody else going to be at the event?

http://roadamerica.mfba.org/

[u3b3rg33k]

I'm going on sunday. I hope I don't run out of gear on the straights with the 4.27 rear end. I hear there's some uphill, so if that's the case it won't be a problem.

M20 Powah!

[Nsquared97]

I'm going on sunday. I hope I don't run out of gear on the straights with the 4.27 rear end. I hear there's some uphill, so if that's the case it won't be a problem.

M20 Powah!

Sweet, going to be there Sunday as well. Buddy I will be with has a 2000 Z28, red, T-tops, SS special edition stripes, etc. Hope to see you out there.

[mrbobian]

Sweet, going to be there Sunday as well. Buddy I will be with has a 2000 Z28, red, T-tops, SS special edition stripes, etc. Hope to see you out there.

Sorry to thread jack here but are you going to be in Houghton this summer? If I can find some events going on around here I'll probably trailer my E21 up here and beat on it... Just don't know if its worth it yet...

[gearheadE30]

I'll be working up in Auburn hills this summer...I'll definitely bring my e30 out if a bunch of people are planning on a track day.

[mrbobian]

I'll be working up in Auburn hills this summer...I'll definitely bring my e30 out if a bunch of people are planning on a track day.

Uhh thats like a 9 hour drive from here... Plus no way in hell my car would ever be allowed on a real track... :(

[u3b3rg33k]

They let me on track...

[Nsquared97]

Sorry to thread jack here but are you going to be in Houghton this summer? If I can find some events going on around here I'll probably trailer my E21 up here and beat on it... Just don't know if its worth it yet...

Hey man haven't seen you/your car in a while. Anywho, no I am unfortunately moving back downstate in the next week. As far as events up here go, about the only thing I know of is the AutoX events they will be doing, check out this link:

http://www.lsrscca.com/SOLO.html

BTW if your still in town and need any parts/spares, I have a lot of crap to get rid of and would rather not throw it away. Get a hold of me and you can stop buy and take just about anything you want for $free.99.

They let me on track...

Haha indeed they did. I will get the pics up later today, I ended up with close to 200 pics AFTER I went through and thinned them out. Got a couple great pics of your car in turn 5 and Canada corner.

[Nsquared97]

Alright, so this proved to be one hell of a weekend for me. First off, keep in mind this was my first ever trip to a track day, Road America, and really the first time I can say I have seen an E30 M3 up close.

Anyway, we got to the track Saturday evening, and immediately got registered and went inside. My friend was looking for where to get his car teched, so we were driving around the paddock. That's when I saw it, a brilliantrot E30 M3. My jaw immediately dropped, the car looked incredible. We circled around the paddock, passed the M3 again, and eventually found tech. I helped unload the car so it could be teched, and then proceeded over to check out the M3. Upon closer inspection it was virtually immaculate, no exterior imperfaections that I could see, very clean interior, and to top it off had a set of Kosei's with R-comps. The owner had started it and was getting belted in. I made the comment that he had a beautiful M3. To this he smiled, and said "Thanks. I had a couple friends that owed me favors, and fortunately one was a body guy, and the other good at interiors." I laughed and explained that I had a '87 325is, to which he said: "Very cool, I'm about to head out, do you want to go for a ride?" I swear my pulse stopped. After I moment I stammered "YES!! Let me go get my helmet!" At which point I sprinted across the paddock to get my helmet.

I was later told by friends they had never seen me run that fast, ever. I knew better than to be running in a paddock, and was half expecting to be yelled at. But I grabbed my helmet and started back, completely breathless by the time I got back to the M3. I jumped in, trying to put on my helmet, get the 4 point harness on, and put the communicator on, so completely thrilled I could hardly focus. Finally we were ready, on pit lane about to head onto the track. We start moving down pit lane, and he tells me through the communicator "Don't worry if you start to feel sick, it's pretty normal. Just let me know" To this I replied "Hey, my dad is a 2 time autocross national Champion, I should be ok." I usually dislike dropping that into conversations, but I figured I would give him a very brief idea of where I come from. His respones? "Oh alright, you'll be just fine then!" And we were off.

At that point we had just entered the front straight, and for the next 10-15 minutes I went into sensory overload. What I didn't know when I jumped into the car was that this wasn't just any E30 M3, but this had been modded. Intake, carbon airbox, cams, exhaust, tune, R-comps, suspension, the works. He told me later he figured about 240whp. Now the other thing I didn't know when we started was that this wasn't your typical BMW owner either. This guy (Scott) is a NASA instructor, that happened to know this track and his car, Ruby, very intimately.

The first thing that hit me was the sound. The S14 just wailed from behind my left shoulder, more than eager to sing right up to redline. The amount of grip the car had, the brakes, everything was awesome. It was very aparent that Scott was a very talented driver, pushing Ruby to her very limit, all the while being very smooth and using up every inch of the track. The first time we hit the long front straight he made the comment the car could use much more power for a long track like Road America, and he urged the car to go faster. From where I was sitting, that S14 was pulling light a freight train, and we were flat out hauling! I think I saw at least 130-135 at the end of the front straight, but it was hard to tell from the passenger seat. We did quite a few laps, and they just flew by. The sounds of that S14 was just raw music to my ears. The smells of rubber, burnt gas, brakes, inundated my nostrils. And even just seeing the track in real life was awesome. I have done hundreds of laps on Road America in Forza, but the real thing is something else. Probably the coolest thing was how passionate Scott was about what he was doing. He told me how much he loved E30's, giving E30 nuts or anybody else rides, had me giving big thumbs up to people as they pointed us by, and even waving at the corner workers on our cool down lap. You could tell that Scoot was one of those very genuine guys that loves to make sure everyone else is having just as much fun as he is at the track. Afterwards it was hours before I could wipe the stupid grin off my face, it's a memory I won't soon forget. And I know he said he's on here every once in a while, so if you see this Scoot, thanks again!!!

But enough of my blabber, on to the pics! First up is Scott's M3:

[Nsquared97]

Full album (~200 pics) Can be found here: http://s613.photobucket.com/albums/t...oad%20America/




















332TI

[Nsquared97]

ub3rg33k

[Nsquared97]

[Nsquared97]

[mrbobian]

Wow nice write-up and awesome pics! Glad you had a great weekend! My dad is the original owner of an all original '88 M3 so I totally know what you mean when you say they are beautiful cars. His is 100% stock though, not as sweet as that one. I'd take it...

As for the IX... it's sitting in the barn downstate. It has some mild t-case problems and some more suspension problems. I pulled the plate and insurance until i find the money and time to fix it properly.

I might have to stop by sometime. You live up behind Hardee's or that general area right? I think i see your car parked up there a lot. Its a bummer you won't be around to help beat the piss outta the '80 this summer but I might have it around in the fall for the rally-x.

Thanks again for the write up pics!

Mike B.

[u3b3rg33k]

Haha indeed they did. I will get the pics up later today, I ended up with close to 200 pics AFTER I went through and thinned them out. Got a couple great pics of your car in turn 5 and Canada corner.

Did you get a picture of me running off in turn 8 with smoke coming off my brakes?