Yeah .... I track my car :sniff:

[M4TW]

Well I'm freshly back from my first track day ever. My M4 has a nasty pull toward a track and wasn't about to be denied, even though the nearest one was 5 hours away.

First time out, I set a track record, handily eclipsing the previous record held by a Porsche GTS Cup car, picked up a sponsor, was interviewed by the local press and left with two hotties in each arm.

Okay, so that was more my mental preparation.

In reality I drove my car off the track once and earned a black flag for driving by myself before being cleared by my instructor. Hey, I didn't know. But I did have a blast and the only harm that came out of it was now I have a nasty track addiction.

True it would have been better to have started this hobby a long time ago on a smaller, less powerful car and learned how to make time by learning to drive the line, instead of masking my lack of skill with a car that can steer its way out of a lot of trouble (but not the laws of physics as I was reminded) and make up for a lot on the straightaways with its gobs of power.

Nonetheless, I had no desire to visit a track before this car came along - this being my first ///M. And the car is actually great to learn on and seems to adapt well to your skill level from full on noob to pro.

Instead of letting life pass you by, get out there and earn a point by.

The car can handle it.

[MaynardZed]

Life is Racing. Everything else is Waiting.

Glad you're having fun. Be careful, the track bug can bite hard!

[SakhirM4]

Why would anyone in their right mind take a $80k luxury car and tear it up on a track?

[M4TW]

Originally Posted by gmcconn535

Why would anyone in their right mind take a $80k luxury car and tear it up on a track?

I think that once you invite a little bit of insanity into your life by even considering one of these cars, some door opens up in your mind and more outrageous forms of insanity is allowed to seep in.

[FTS]

Nice story, well done! Welcome to the addiction

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by FTS

Nice story, well done! Welcome to the addiction

No kidding! It begins with HPDE 1/2, then you make your way to 3, and then 4, and then time trials, and then you start wondering how you can afford a full race car for on of the race series, and where are you going to park the race car, and the trailer, and the truck to pull the trailer......

[robbo mcs]

Originally Posted by MaynardZed

Life is Racing. Everything else is Waiting.

Glad you're having fun. Be careful, the track bug can bite hard!

I saw that on the back of a race car trailer a little while ago

in big letters "Life is racing. Everything else is waiting"
in small letters underneath "unfortunately I do a lot of waiting"

[M3 Esq]

Nicley done! This is how it begins. At first you'll think small, like high temp brake fluid and stainless steel brake lines. Then you'll start looking at track wheels and tires, then coilovers, cage, seats and harnesses. You start looking for the apex in turns on the street, and using the whole road to track out. I never really understood drug addiction until I started tracking. It's a slippery slope...

[consolidated]

Originally Posted by robbo mcs

I saw that on the back of a race car trailer a little while ago

in big letters "Life is racing. Everything else is waiting"
in small letters underneath "unfortunately I do a lot of waiting"

Here's the origin.

Steve McQueen: "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting."

[M3 Esq]

Originally Posted by consolidated

Here's the origin.

Steve McQueen: "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting."

Great flick!

[Black Gold]

Originally Posted by gmcconn535

Why would anyone in their right mind take a $80k luxury car and tear it up on a track?

raises hand.....

except mine is only 70k and I paid 66 that makes it better, amirite? lol

Congrats OP, it really opened my eyes to how fun driving was and how much I sucked when I started and still suck haha. Its truly a freaking blast!

[FTS]

Originally Posted by gmcconn535

Why would anyone in their right mind take a $80k luxury car and tear it up on a track?

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

raises hand.....

except mine is only 70k and I paid 66 that makes it better, amirite? lol

Congrats OP, it really opened my eyes to how fun driving was and how much I sucked when I started and still suck haha. Its truly a freaking blast!

I'll play too

The "$80K luxury car" is a little confusing to me. Does that mean $80K is too much to drive on track or that the F8x is a luxury car not suited for track use?

If former: It is all relative. To some $80K is the price of their house, to others is just change laying around the house. In our club DE events, we have cars valued at $10K all the way up to $400K. There is no stigma between the drivers, they drive what they like. The rule of thumb is you need to be able to write off the whole car in case the worst happens, that $$$ varies widely between different households and individuals.

If it is the later: I wish I could actually intelligently comment, but I can only hope that the F8x is worthy of track driving to feed the hobby. Based on only few feedback thus far, it seems to be; may be not the fastest out there, but still enjoyable. Otherwise it would be a complete waste of money for me to have a 400+ hp car with good kinematics, manageable weight, and just drive on the street at 30% of its capacity. This would be a very unpleasant surprise for me, I can only hope.

[CanAutM3]

Welcome to the club of track junkies

It's a good addiction to have

[jbraslins]

It's def a crazy thing. It's hard to explain to your friends why you have a smile on your face in a photo of you next to your banged up car.

[armyav8tor]

Turn DSC off next time and report back! Lol

[M4TW]

Originally Posted by FTS

I'll play too

The "$80K luxury car" is a little confusing to me. Does that mean $80K is too much to drive on track or that the F8x is a luxury car not suited for track use?

If former: It is all relative. To some $80K is the price of their house, to others is just change laying around the house. In our club DE events, we have cars valued at $10K all the way up to $400K. There is no stigma between the drivers, they drive what they like. The rule of thumb is you need to be able to write off the whole car in case the worst happens, that $$$ varies widely between different households and individuals.

If it is the later: I wish I could actually intelligently comment, but I can only hope that the F8x is worthy of track driving to feed the hobby. Based on only few feedback thus far, it seems to be; may be not the fastest out there, but still enjoyable. Otherwise it would be a complete waste of money for me to have a 400+ hp car with good kinematics, manageable weight, and just drive on the street at 30% of its capacity. This would be a very unpleasant surprise for me, I can only hope.

The posters to whom you were replying were just being cheeky. I bet that if you lived near them you'd see them ahead of you in the line to get on the track with their new ///M's with no qualms about it at all.

I was mightily impressed with the quality of cars that oil rich Alberta spilled out to the track. There were plenty of cars worth much more than mine in attendance - three GTR's in the beginners group alone.

My instructor took me out in his car to show me a few things with the advanced group. He wasn't going full on with me as a passenger in his car, yet he was one of the fastest out there. In his 90's track prepped Miata.

I'm just starting out but I think I know enough not to bring ego or car snobbery to the track. I am confident that karma or stupidity will tend to select such folks out of the population.

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Welcome to the club of track junkies

It's a good addiction to have

Hey thanks. The group running the event were actually called track junkies. Fitting. And I agree, there are worse addictions.

Originally Posted by armyav8tor

Turn DSC off next time and report back! Lol

My first session was dry, but the other three were in the rain. Trust me, DSC was fully engaged at all times. I think I'll leave it on for a while and work my way up to MDM thanks.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by M4TW

The posters to whom you were replying were just being cheeky. I bet that if you lived near them you'd see them ahead of you in the line to get on the track with their new ///M's with no qualms about it at all.

I know Kenny was, but I certainly hope so about Glenn too, tough to tell sometimes

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by FTS

I know Kenny was, but I certainly hope so about Glenn too, tough to tell sometimes

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by Dave 90TT

No kidding! It begins with HPDE 1/2, then you make your way to 3, and then 4, and then time trials, and then you start wondering how you can afford a full race car for on of the race series, and where are you going to park the race car, and the trailer, and the truck to pull the trailer......

whoa whoa whoa lets slow down for a bit.

lets cover the basics first: suspension, brakes, an extra set of pads, another extra set of pads, additional just in case extra set of pads; extra bottles of fluids, some more bottles of fluids, just in case i use them up quickly so again, extra bottles of fluids, a spare set of tires on wheels, another spare set of tires stacked below the set of wheels with tires on them, and then for no reason a third set of tires; all taking up square footage of the home with the wife and neighbors thinking you started an autoparts small business on the side.

then you can graduate to the "how to build/store a race car" thoughts.

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by M4TW

And I agree, there are worse addictions.

no there isn't. if you haven't seen, there is track/mod addiction counseling available in the e92 m3 section.

[M3 Esq]

Originally Posted by pkimM3r

no there isn't. if you haven't seen, there is track/mod addiction counseling available in the e92 m3 section.

I participated in that. It doesn't help.

[M3NetNerd]

Q: How do you make a small fortune in racing?
A: Start with a large one!