First track day video (2014 added)

[Beej '86 325es]

I did my first track day at Putnam Park (Indiana) a couple of weeks ago. This is after an incredibly slow, 8 year build of the car. This is going to be an addicting hobby; what a rewarding day after such a long project! The car did amazing. I started off a little slow, but learned to trust the tires and brakes a lot better by the end of the day. It was a smaller group running, so it was a perfect environment for a first timer. And the weather was nothing but perfection.

Here's a 5 minute video edit of my runs from the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fyAj-eMS6o

[FredK]

Sweet!

This is what makes a build worth it!

[kalib0y]

your wheels would look tits with my wheel studs ;)

anyways, im glad you had a great time! the car looks really good.

[E30_Pare]

Nice congrats on first track day!

When it comes down too tires most important thing is management. Really easy to over drive your tires when you go balls out into a corner. First auto X had a friend burn brand new tires to half tread in 10 runs.
You learn more about the car driving on cheap street tires. Then makes it easier too get the full potential out of rcomps later on. Keep it up!

[matthugie]

That's awesome dude!

[ELVA164]

8 years...I give you a ton of credit. That's a long time to wait for the payoff. After participating in a good number of builds, I know how awesome that first race weekend feels. You're going to really enjoy developing your skills, too! More than anything else, don't overextend yourself to try to "save time" on the learning curve. I only know that from personal experience...

[Wh33lhop]

Nice! I'm going to one tomorrow, though I am just riding along :( no cars I feel comfortable tracking at the moment. Tracking is SUPER fun though, can't wait until I get the cars back into tracking shape.

[Beej '86 325es]

Thanks guys. Yeah, 8 years is a long time. I did the build in about 4 years, but then completely rebuilt it again with a rust free chassis and I'd been fighting an engine issue for the last two.

The only issue I ran into on the track was fuel starvation after some long right handers. I'm not sure what to do about that. I've read that the transfer pump could be bad, but that doesn't make sense to me if the external fuel pump is still going to be pulling.

[JRKOUPE]

congrats..


...Ive read alot of your posts about all your issues w/ the car.

She looks good.

I cant imagine 8 yrs....

I was tracking down a HG/warpage issue for like 18 mos and I was going nuts missing all the track time...

that bbk looks tiny under those wheels.....is that the street kit?.,......I have that one.... but under 15's..

[Beej '86 325es]

Thanks!

Yeah, I finally got the issue sorted out. After replacing a multitude of parts that were already new or near-new, I finally found the issue. However, I had to send it down to Atlanta to a Technica Motorsports to resolve it. It turned out that whatever jackass I bought the stage 3 head from had used a couple of random valves and springs and so a couple of valves weren't completely closing. But Technica got me fixed and dyno tuned really quickly.

The brakes do look on the small side under the 17's. But believe it or not, it's the 300mm sport kit. I went with the the thinner rotors though since I drive my car on the street a some.

[TrackjunkiE30]

Welcome to the track pipe addiction!

[Beej '86 325es]

Here's a video from the BMWCCA Rites O' June this year...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T9L7QzkwGw

And the Hoosier BMW chapter's first autocross since 2010 shot last weekend...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxPTAxaDtGE

I'm still planning on doing another HPDE this year, probably with the Porsche club in September.

[JRKOUPE]

nice open clean safe tack..very cool.

music was nice in and of itself...but I no like when viewing a vid such as this.,..rather hear the car..or the wind.


Id love to see an in the car vid......i kinda get bored when the POV is not in the car , I like to see the drivers hands/st wheel..

did I sound like a drip?....sorry.......I liked the vid.


just ran on Tues w/ PCA..last run group was 1 hr!!!!..used a buddys SOLO.....that alone helped me shave over .4 off a lap..gotta get one!

[Beej '86 325es]

Yeah, Putnam Park is great for that, it's very open and forgiving if you were to go off and do some farming. I had one off early in first day...just grass. :)

Ha - I agree with you and actually wish I had a place to mount a GoPro inside so you could hear more, but I haven't done a roll bar yet. Outside the car all you can hear is wind, thus the catchy tunes!

I just looked up the SOLO lap timer...That's friggin' cool! "It's a lap timer...a real bitchen one."