I had fun. :D

poo poo, I got drug to my dads boat instead of there :(

I had a great tim too but in negotating the access roads I scraped the right side of my car with cut branches on a bush while trying to avoid the pot holes. I don't think it will buff out. :(

Ouch… Mind if I ask who you were and what your run group/number was? I was C76 in the blue E46 M3.

It was great. I was so exhausted Saturday, slept forever that night.

I'm beginning to be able to 'talk' with the Redhead, a definite plus. I also learned how much that most excellent engine in the coupe masks the lack of driver ability - if you don't carry your speed through corners with the 325, you can't make it up with torque.

Great group, great weather, great skid pad... and, a new shirt!

Thanx to all who worked it, and those who drove it.

PeteinMD
'00 M coupe
'90 325i

Honestly, I've never really felt that power masks a whole lot in the corners. What really happens is that at a driver's school that only allows passing in the straights, cars that are faster around the track simply aren't allowed to make a lot of passes that they could make. When i was in my wagon, I got stuck behind a lot of cars that wouldn't let me pass on the straights, but held me up big time in the corners. Had it been anything competitive, I could have forced a lot of passes that simply aren't going to happen in a driver's school. Not that I want or expect that. And, uh, not that I had any issues on the straights this time. :D

My experience has been different. When I drove the coupe last year, I was never held up by traffic in front of me, and hopefully pointed by anyone who wanted to get by me. My left arm had a lot of exercise this weekend, pointing people by; that's the way it should be.

What I was refering to was the significant difference between the coupe and RedHead coming out of turn 1, turn 9, and turn 10. You simply didn't have the power/torque of the S52, and had to do a great deal more planning insofar as entry speed, modified line out of the turn, etc. I'm definitely a work in progress with this car, whereas with the coupe, the sheer difference in power made up for a lot of the planning necessary. Not to say you didn't need to control the power/line, but life was simpler with the power.

I continue to look forward to developing skills with RedHead, and hope they will transfer to the coupe when I take that back to the track.

Good to see you at the event, Nick; hope to see you at more this year.

Best,

PeteinMD
'00 M coupe
'90 325i

I dunno. I've found that in the M3 I have to do a MUCH better job of planning my line than I did in the wagon. Sure, I could make up on most of the other guys in the straights, but especially when you're late and trail braking, there isn't a whole heck of a lot of room to screw up your corners. And it felt absolutely horrible when I did. And I was carrying so much speed down the main straight that "late" braking involved me getting on the pedal hard BEFORE the first hash mark. In the slower wagon, there wasn't nearly as much of a penalty if I screwed up a corner. It didn't feel good, but ti didn't feel nearly as bad. And that was with screwups that were generally worse than any of the mistakes I made this weekend.

I believe that I got slight track pad fade, and i definitely boiled my fluid. Actually, my rotors are currently more pad deposit than metal, so I've left the track pads on, as I'm told they'll probably scrape that off if I drive the car for a few days with cold track pads. I'm giving serious thought to Castrol SRF. If not for autoxing, I would certainly be giving thought to a BBK.

Power makes up for a lot.
You miss your turn in with a higher power car and you can make up your exit speed with your right foot as soon as you pass the apex. You miss your turn in with a lower power car and there is nothing you can do except get back on line and keep on going.

I also find it easier to transfer weight with more torque.

BTW- 'B' group had a lot of schools under their belt. Many B students should have been in A but they do need to split the groups up.

If not for autoxing, I would certainly be giving thought to a BBK.

Are you using Ultimate Axxis on the track?
Larry at Carbotech who I trust very much has told me not to use them for DEs.
Great on the street though.

I started experiencing a mushy pedal mostly because this was my 3rd school on the same fluid and my pads where down to nothing. I swapped one corner set of brake pads for a slightly better one for my last session. Thank goodness one session was no brakes otherwise I would have installed new pads. I hate new pads until they are gassed which takes a few laps of HARD breaking.

No.

I think my PFC 97s were very much at the edge of their braking capacity. Hopefully, they'll scrape the crap off of the rotors over the next week.

Ouch… Mind if I ask who you were and what your run group/number was? I was C76 in the blue E46 M3.
I was running the turn 1 bucket at top speed.
The body shop gave me an $825 quote for the scrape. Most of it came out with swirl remover but there are deep scratches down the entire side. The branches had been cut back and were 1/4 or so in diameter.

I'm told they'll probably scrape that off if I drive the car for a few days with cold track pads. I'm giving serious thought to Castrol SRF. If not for autoxing, I would certainly be giving thought to a BBK.

I've never heard of pad transfer on hot rotors unless your swapping compounds and doing cold stops/not heating or bedding the pad with the seasoned rotor. I would not recommend track pads for street usage and cold stops.

Castrol SRF is overkill as is a BBK! If superblue fluid and good pads don't work, try ducting to the rotors (contact RRT in NoVA for a kit for your car...it works!)....I just use superblue in my racecar with Hawk HT14 or 9012 pads and ducting...it was only this year I went with a BBK, trust me you don't need to spend a lot of $$$ to stop!

I continue to look forward to developing skills with RedHead

is this what you call your E30? why's that? are you planning to make the E30 a dedicated track car and do some Spec E30 racing?

and hope they will transfer to the coupe when I take that back to the track.

unlikely. one is purely a momentum car and the other is a shorter geared torque car. The E30 with an M50 or S50B30 motor is a great hybrid that you may want to consider....

It was my first time out, I was C77 in the Green E36 M3. You might remember the car that made clouds of dust braking into 10 and 1. I had a little more than half the pads before Saturday and by the last lap on Sunday, the brake pad wear sensor came on. It was a great time, though, and driving on pads that didnt' like heat made me a better driver, I think.

I've never heard of pad transfer on hot rotors unless your swapping compounds and doing cold stops/not heating or bedding the pad with the seasoned rotor. I would not recommend track pads for street usage and cold stops.

Castrol SRF is overkill as is a BBK! If superblue fluid and good pads don't work, try ducting to the rotors (contact RRT in NoVA for a kit for your car...it works!)....I just use superblue in my racecar with Hawk HT14 or 9012 pads and ducting...it was only this year I went with a BBK, trust me you don't need to spend a lot of $$$ to stop!

I bedded the pads in pretty well in the week before. And the truth is that PFC 97s really do work quite well on the street. I can always engage ABS, which tells me that I don't need to worry about whether or not they'll stop the car. :p Now, the pad rattle is driving me nuts, but the rotors are cleaning up pretty nicely. They ought to be fine by this weekend.

Part of my problem is that at least for now, I really need the car to stay SCCA A-Stock legal. And the only brake change I can legally make is in the fluid.

It was my first time out, I was C77 in the Green E36 M3. You might remember the car that made clouds of dust braking into 10 and 1. I had a little more than half the pads before Saturday and by the last lap on Sunday, the brake pad wear sensor came on. It was a great time, though, and driving on pads that didnt' like heat made me a better driver, I think.
Honestly, it's too bad we didn't have a no brakes exercise... That's probably the single most useful thing I've ever done.

Hope I'll see you out there again.

Yeah, that sounded like it'd be very cool to do.

I didn't think there were any incidents over the weekend.
There was a spin in 10 and an off in 10 into the gravel trap, both in the instructor run group.

I didn't think there were any incidents over the weekend.
There was a spin in 10 and an off in 10 into the gravel trap, both in the instructor run group.
There was one car that went off a couple times in my group. The first time was RIGHT in front of me--about 1 car length. Fortunately, he exercised EXCELLENT judgement and had the wheel straight when he went off. No harm done. Unfortunately, he went a little too fast down the straight while trying to cool his brakes off, and went off down Turn 1 as well. Again, as such things go, he exercised excellent judgement and went off straight.

No damage.

I guess the "Shiny Side Up" Driver's School lived up to its name. I'm told this was the first NCC event on the Main Circuit EVER that no cars were damaged at.

I'm told this was the first NCC event on the Main Circuit EVER that no cars were damaged at.

What about the E46 that lost its bumper???

I guess the "Shiny Side Up" Driver's School lived up to its name. I'm told this was the first NCC event on the Main Circuit EVER that no cars were damaged at.

I doubt that. When it comes to driver error, they are usually in 3 and 10 and usually drivers with more car than talent. Technology will only keep you safe for so long. Then physics takes over.

The E46 with the bumper recently was in the body shop. They did not secure the bumper.

I'm told that two of four bolts were missing. Doh!

Would've happened at some point, no matter what.

I had fun. :D

Dude, your car was sweet lookin out there. Great color combo too. I was the assistant pit marshall (light blue shirt) with Steve and had a great time just watching, though a bit painful I wasn't driving. Can't wait till I can finally get on the track again. No brake exercises were quite interesting listening to everything on the radio and watching that instructor's Porsche go off in turn 10... wow :eyecrazy:

Dude, your car was sweet lookin out there. Great color combo too. I was the assistant pit marshall (light blue shirt) with Steve and had a great time just watching, though a bit painful I wasn't driving. Can't wait till I can finally get on the track again. No brake exercises were quite interesting listening to everything on the radio and watching that instructor's Porsche go off in turn 10... wow :eyecrazy:
Well, hopefully I'll catch you out there some other time. :)

Say hi if you see me.

(And thanks. :D )

I was a corner flagger on Turn 6 that Sunday - at least I think it was turn 6. I've got a question for those of you who drove. How in the world do you hear your instructor?! I did a ride-along with Miriam at the end of the day and I couldn't hear anything over wind/engine noise, combined with having my helmet on.

They yell real loud.
Seriously most instructors have an intercom.
I have my own built in just incase my instructor doesn't.