alright i know theres some division on this board between different members with different interests. but bear with me here.

i got a speeding ticket tonight. my 2nd one in 4 yrs of driving. but you know what, 2 is enough. Im not a crazy driver or anything. never been in an accident. and i dont take it 2 dA strEetzzzz. but i do get a heavy right foot sometimes. when im just driving along, and im in a good mood, i sometimes like to feel how fast my car is.

I want to know though, for those of you that go to the track, how did you get started? i mean, what was the FIRST thing you did? what would you recommend? Also, what would my limitations be, having a convertible? I'd be open to getting a roll bar, or something to that effect. What do i have to do (if anything) about insurance? what are the costs like?

sorry for all the n00b questions. id just feel like i have a fast car, and i'd like to enjoy that without having to worry about moco's finest.

thanks.
-josh

alright i know theres some division on this board between different members with different interests. but bear with me here.

i got a speeding ticket tonight. my 2nd one in 4 yrs of driving. but you know what, 2 is enough. Im not a crazy driver or anything. never been in an accident. and i dont take it 2 dA strEetzzzz. but i do get a heavy right foot sometimes. when im just driving along, and im in a good mood, i sometimes like to feel how fast my car is.

I want to know though, for those of you that go to the track, how did you get started? i mean, what was the FIRST thing you did? what would you recommend? Also, what would my limitations be, having a convertible? I'd be open to getting a roll bar, or something to that effect. What do i have to do (if anything) about insurance? what are the costs like?

sorry for all the n00b questions. id just feel like i have a fast car, and i'd like to enjoy that without having to worry about moco's finest.

thanks.
-josh

Josh,

I'd look into a couple autocross events first to learn car control, then goto a DE. At least in an autocross enviornment, you have less risk. I think my first DE ever was a FATT @ Summit Point. Then I went to various other clubs hosting at Summit Point, VIR, BeaveRun, Heartland Park, etc....

Just be careful, once the autoX/DE bug hits.... its gonna be $$$ !!

Do some searching around on the forum for threads about this. There are several dealing with thoughts on insurance and DE/Autox's.

does the m roadster have roll hoops? Are they structural? If so, they should be sufficient for DE's with most clubs.

my first DE was also a FATT at Summit. Definitly look into the convertible / roll bar issue for different clubs.

do DE's with Car Guys Inc., or BMW CCA, Audi Club or even PCA...NASA is good also, FATT is blah blah so so IMO for novices because of instructor swapping through the day...just get on track. You don't need anything...your car is fine with factory roll bar hoops, check the ego at the door and forget that you think you know how to drive, start with an open mind and a clean slate...keep it safe, try and learn and most of all breathe and have fun :)

or BMW CCA


:nono
no 'verts.

check the ego at the door and forget that you think you know how to drive

Did you hear that 2004 HPDE Champion and Andy?? :rolleyes

Check the ego at the door ... who cares how many street races you've won :eek: :stickoutt

you can do the Hyperfest with NASA at Summit POint. They do it usually around july. It costs $40 for 20 min. on track with an instructor. Its a great way to get into DE's. After that you can do full day events thru clubs mentioned above.

Auto-xing in DC is a great idea too, but it can be hard to get a spot since registration for each WDCR event is usually only open for about 5 min before it fills up. Thats not an exaggeration. But if you are persistant you can usually get in.

I got started a few years ago when I lived in Indiana. I just bought a twin turbo Z and i wanted to learn to drive it better. By the end of the year my friend was usually FTD and I was 2 seconds behind (on street tires). Of course, it was a very small group, and I think one guy ran his john deere at the events. :)

After that I lied about going to driving school to get into a track day event at Putnam Park, IN. I said I had done all kinds of driving schools at summit point to get in. Beginning of the day I was waving everyone by, but by mid day my confidence had grown and I was passing all but 2 modded FD RX-7s and was running same lap times as a viper. Almost made a 911 turbo owner lose it trying to stay ahead of me. ha haha. Ok, bragging is ghey, sorry.

Point is, get into it, it is so much fun and doesn't have to cost a lot of $$ i dont care what people say. For 2 years i ran my street car on street tires, only cost me gas to and from the event, and a little extra wear on tires. finally i got some free old race tires to put on my stock rims and that was fun.

as for the street, just keep it to doubling speed limits on/off ramps, safest place to speed.

I havent made it out to any DE's yet, but I can reccomend autox as a great learning experience. Out of all of them, start with the BMW CCA events, they are the most relaxed, and usually have the most willing people on hand to jump in and give you some pointers. :)

I agree with Eric. Start with autox to get a feel of your car and learn good solid car control skills. I autoxed a few times before I did my first DE and the car control skills and muscle memory that I built up from autox really helped on the track. It helped me to get a good feel of the vehicle and recognize behaviors and most importantly, reaction to it became more instinctive.

The car control skills from autox actually saved me a couple times on the track.

I disagree with Jed. Instead of spending money on auto-x, spend a lot of money on mods before ever going to the track. Mods = fast, cool, tough, and safe.

Good point. Seat time is NO substitution for good mods.

Mod the car. Not the driver.

Horsepower wins DE races.

Sticky tires + sucky driver > seat time

Horsepower wins DE races.

VTEC :)

I agree with Eric. Start with autox to get a feel of your car and learn good solid car control skills. I autoxed a few times before I did my first DE and the car control skills and muscle memory that I built up from autox really helped on the track. It helped me to get a good feel of the vehicle and recognize behaviors and most importantly, reaction to it became more instinctive.

The car control skills from autox actually saved me a couple times on the track.

That's why I like Audi Club's DEs. For their beginner group (0-1 events), they actually take you to the skidpad, setup slaloms, etc (sutoX stuff) to teach people some basic skills before they are subjected to the track. Much safer to do it this way IMO than FATT or CarGuys, etc.

I can't believe no one's mentioned stick3rZZz :buttrock

I disagree with Jed. Instead of spending money on auto-x, spend a lot of money on mods before ever going to the track. Mods = fast, cool, tough, and safe.

Sweet. I must be an AWESOME driver then :)

That's why I like Audi Club's DEs. For their beginner group (0-1 events), they actually take you to the skidpad, setup slaloms, etc (sutoX stuff) to teach people some basic skills before they are subjected to the track. Much safer to do it this way IMO than FATT or CarGuys, etc.

good to know, thanks.